It seems like most of the affordable cable companies recommended on this site use a Belden product. I really don't know the Belden product from any other, except for the fact that the builder of my home recommended against them. Why would a home builder even be talking about cable you ask? Well, this builders main business is the cable business, they are a very large importer of Cat 5 cable nationwide. This "Hi-Tech" home I purchased is already pre-wired for a 7.1 system and features at least 1 port in every room with a eathernet, phone and coax cableports, (yes, even the bathrooms). Is this just a jealous Southern California rival, or is there some sort of magical quatum leap in cable quality above the Belden Brand?
Belden cables have for decades been considered the gold standard of cable technology. They offer excellent construction with top notch materials and consistent specs. They also cost a bit more than anyone else's "comparable" cable. Other cables might do as well as the Belden product for less money but with Belden you can always be assured of the best performance for the dollar spent.
I think they are trying to make a sale. As Jan says, Belden is one of the standards. At work we use Belden quite a lot in critical test instrumentation, need i say more?
I'm using Blues Jeans Cables for my HT interconnects & except for the speaker cables it's all Belden & works just fine.