HDMI Cables

[Cajuncowboy]

Is there much of a difference in quality from brand to brand? I see some for 80+ dollars and some for 15. Is there that big of a difference?

 

[trickblue]

Is there much of a difference in quality from brand to brand? I see some for 80+ dollars and some for 15. Is there that big of a difference?

Not that you'll likely notice...

I order all of my cables from HERE...

Great service, fast shipping and high quality...

You can't beat a 15' gold plated cable for $4.25...

 

[Concord]

Not that you'll likely notice...

I order all of my cables from HERE...

Great service, fast shipping and high quality...

You can't beat a 15' gold plated cable for $4.25...

Hey nice site...you're on a roll today.

 

[CowboyWay]

Do not waste your money on those ridiculously priced cables. For the most part and HDMI is an HDMI. You'll never tell the difference. Ever.

I read a write up once in an Audio Video magazine that once compared the highest end Monster stereo speaker wire to some Home Depot wire they sold. The Home Depot wire ran circles around the Monster stuff in their performance review. And the price??? You could buy 100 foot of the Home Depot wire for the price of 5 foot of the Monster cable.

Its all a ripoff. All of it. Save your money.

 

[Cajuncowboy]

Thanks. I should mention that I just bought a 50" Samsung 1080p plasma. Someone said that you don't need the high end with plasmas because plasmas perform faster than LCD and the new LEDs.

Is that right?

 

[Hoofbite]

Thanks. I should mention that I just bought a 50" Samsung 1080p plasma. Someone said that you don't need the high end with plasmas because plasmas perform faster than LCD and the new LEDs.

Is that right?

Someone?

Was he wearing a blue polo and khakis?

 

[Cajuncowboy]

Someone?

Was he wearing a blue polo and khakis?

Well, his name was Mike but I didn't think it was that important.

 

[CowboyWay]

Thanks. I should mention that I just bought a 50" Samsung 1080p plasma. Someone said that you don't need the high end with plasmas because plasmas perform faster than LCD and the new LEDs.

Is that right?

Sounds like a bunch of nonesense to tell you the truth.

 

[Kevinicus]

The only possible difference between cables is the quality of the shielding (i.e. it's ability to block interference from other devices and such). Generally that is really not going to be an issue. The actual data transfer between "different" HDMI cables is identical.

99.9999% of the time your basic $4-7 HDMI cables, like those from a site mentioned above (or monoprice.com), will work perfectly.

 

[thewireman]

The only reason to spend money on a higher end HDMI cable is if your going to wire a movie theater/concert hall and don't want "noise" interference so you would spend the extra money on the shielding aspect of it. Monster and companies like it use customer ignorance to their advantage and jack up the prices on their cables from around $3-4 per piece to $80-$100 per piece. It is quite astounding what Monster can get away with because people are to lazy to shop around or research.

 

[MetalHead]

The biggest rip off ever.
I buy mine here local in San Antonio at DF Countryman in the corner of Randolph Blvd and Weimer.
Bought a 10' gold plated for $6.00.
I asked the guy who sold it to me what was the big difference in price and he told me name and packaging.I hooked this cable to my Blu ray and works just as fine as any.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

what's an HDMI cable?

High Definition....something something

 

[trickblue]

what's an HDMI cable?

High Definition....something something

High-Definition Multimedia Interface...

It basically takes all of your video and audio (up to eight channels for surround) and puts it in one cable...

It's very handy...

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

I am going to disagree here.

I bought a 52" Sony and they gave me a hdmi cable that was rated around 400 or so.

I was told I should get the Monster hdmi rated at 1000 and I would see the difference.

Fact is, you can see the difference. More crisp, more contrast on HD channels.

To me it was worth getting the Monster cable. I bought the tv for the HD and the monster cable gives you HIGHEST DEFINITION.

 

[CATCH17]

You know they make dvi to hdmi converters?

 

[Hoofbite]

I am going to disagree here.

I bought a 52" Sony and they gave me a hdmi cable that was rated around 400 or so.

I was told I should get the Monster hdmi rated at 1000 and I would see the difference.

Fact is, you can see the difference. More crisp, more contrast on HD channels.

To me it was worth getting the Monster cable. I bought the tv for the HD and the monster cable gives you HIGHEST DEFINITION.

I would never buy an item from Monster.

They are the biggest scammers I have ever seen.

I really like Dr. Dre and wanna pick up his headphones but won't even bother because Monster makes them.

I will never buy into the "Monster Difference" no matter who is trying to pitch it. I have seen both and the difference doesn't exist.

Gizmodo has a few articles about it.

http://gizmodo.com/282725/the-truth-about-monster-cable-+-grand-finale-part-iii

I can't remember where I saw it but a website went head to head with 2 cables. One being very expensive gold plated (don't know if it was Monster so I am not going to say it was) and the other was a cheapo. IIRC, the actual signal difference was so small that it is not possible for humans to detect the difference.

 

[arglebargle]

There might be a difference apparantly, but Monster has been caught with their thumb on the scales before. Of course, there are other high end cable suppliers.

Long cable runs, especially built into house walls, seem to be where you should worry the most about cable quality. On short runs, not so much.

I have always discounted the fancy cable market, but in some circumstances it may pay to pay.

http://gizmodo.com/266982/attention-monster-haters-the-giz-hdmi-cable-battlemodo-has-begun

http://gizmodo.com/268788/the-truth-about-monster-cable-part-2-verdict-cheap-cables-keep-upusually

http://hd.engadget.com/2007/12/17/hdmi-cable-scam-used-to-fool-in-store-customers/

http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/23/monster-hdmi-difference-scam-still-kickin-in-frys-electronic/

http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/long-hdmi-cable-bench-tests/hdmi-cable-testing-results

 

[YosemiteSam]

I will say this about cables. (all cables, not just HDMI) I've found the mega cheap ones tend to have issues down the road and need to be replaced. (not with picture quality) The quality of the cable itself just sucks ***. As for HDMI cables or other *TV* cables that get installed and not touched again for a long time, you're probably OK. Though, if it's a cable that you use a lot (connect, disconnect) like USB, Firewire, etc, then I wouldn't waste money on a $2 cable that was made in China. It's not going to last.

Now, I'm not saying go buy high end ones, I just do not buy those $3-$6 cables or any cables off of Ebay. I usually just buy a cable of a respectable brand and then the cable usually last.

 

[TheCount]

Is there much of a difference in quality from brand to brand? I see some for 80+ dollars and some for 15. Is there that big of a difference?

No difference unless you're running REALLY long distances. The cheaper the better. I order my cables from Monoprice.com, and I've had no issues with cable durability from there. Be it HDMI, Optical audio, analog audio, etc.

As far as Monster, I think they are a despicable company. Years and years ago I worked at Best Buy and you should have seen what our discount was on their stuff.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Ladies and Gentlemen. I have said my piece.

I dont know about any scams with Monster. What I do know is that if any of you came to my house I could SHOW you the difference. Thats all that matters.

Opinion on the subject doesnt matter because FACT IS the cable did make a difference in my case. Maybe I got the bestest cable in the world. One in a million.