should i use TRS cables or just regular 1/4 inch cables for my monitor speakers? I asked the guy at GuitarCenter what was the difference and he told me they were shielded and that they're better but that's it...he didn't really explain to me and i'm not experienced with the cables in this nature. I just wanna know what would be the difference between the 2 cables and if they would really make a difference. At the moment, i sometimes get some radio interference from my speakers and i bought one TRS cable to see if there would be any difference but i really don't see a difference. I only get interference "sometimes" and other times i hear nothing. If anybody could help me with this i would really appreciate it, THX.

It depends on whether your speakers are powered or not. If they are and the output of your mixer or whatever you are plugging out of to get to your monitors IS balanced, then TRS is a good idea.

If your mixer or whatever only has unbalanced outputs, there is no advantage to using TRS cables.

There is a third scenario. Maybe your mixer or whatever only has unbalanced outputs. You can use a "hum stopper" box. It takes two unbalanced inputs and runs them through separate transformers to balance them. The output jacks are balanced TRS. This can help, for example, if you are trying to get clean audio out of your computer tower. The jack on the tower is usually a 1/8' mini TRS stereo unbalanced jack. Go from that to a splitter cable that has (or ends up with) a pair of 1/4" TS plugs. The go through the "Hum stopper" box and to your audio system.

More audio stuff at www.tyford.com

Regards,

Ty Ford