This week's Toolbox Tuesday deviates a little from the tool theme and goes the way of technology supplies. Though it's a bit of a departure from our normal posts, we still hope you'll enjoy reading it. Also, we updated yesterday's 4th of July buntings post with a few additional photos that show the colors just a little bit better. So head on over that way to check out the changes.

We've been working for quite some time on getting our whole house audio and fairly elaborate wiring project done in our house. Throughout this time, we've learned some critical lessons on where we should and shouldn't spend a little extra money to get better results. One of the most critical areas where I learned that extra dollars don't always make "cents" is in the realm of high cost speaker wire.

The debate about speaker wire is one that has raged on for what seems like ages, and a billion dollar industry has been formed out of this very hotly debated topic. From super pretentious audiophiles to Best Buy sales clerks to DIYers, most have an opinion about the best speaker wire that usually costs a boatload, but is said to provide the highest fidelity in sound, lowest signal loss, minimal distortion or interruption, and the "best possible listening experience," All this may be gospel to the preacher, but the simple truth is that it's all meant to sell you something that's overpriced, and really, all of the hype is really just sort of crap.

I know, I may have just touched a nerve there, and I hope you'll accept my apologies if you feel I've wronged you, but I mean no ill will. To be completely honest, I'm actually just trying to inform and educate you, primarily so that you can save some money down the road and help you put that extra cash towards items that matter (like speakers and components). However, if you're the owner of a "high quality" speaker wire manufacturer, or this industry somehow puts food on your table, you have every right to rant to me in the comments. Don't worry, I can take it, and maybe I'll even learn a thing or two.

As a young teenager I was bitten by the audio bug. What started with a basement boom box slowly evolved to a portable CD player, home theater, surround sound, car audio with thumping bass (hey, I was a teenager), and eventually, our whole house audio system that I love. Music and the technologies associated with listening to music anywhere have been a serious interest of mine for years, and I was one of those people who initially bought into the idea that Monster Cable, in all its stranded and shielded glory, offered a premium experience to me as a listener, and one that was worth the 10x price tag that came with the higher quality product.

The problem with my belief in the superior product was it was only based in the various advertisements I had seen, or from viewing the systems of others who also bought into the myth. I mean, how can you not believe something that says "You just spent a lot of money on your components, don't ruin it all with inexpensive speaker wire." It was a brilliant marketing strategy to say the least, sort of like buying insurance for your precious sound waves.