# HDMI 1.3 Cables... Are upscale interconnects worth the extra $ ?



## waculjr.903 (May 27, 2009)

Hello, I have read on several reviews from "tech. installers that HDMI 1.3a specs are the same from the $10 cable to the $120 Monstrous cables, you know what I really mean HA,HA. Has any one had the chance to try different ones and had seen and heard a difference? I purchased three Belkin 8' HDMI 1.3a's and have had good luck with them . I recently have been considering upgrading if it is worth it, Kimber, Audio Quest, etc.


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## Guest (Sep 19, 2010)

As long as it has the correct rating needed, and didn't have any manufacturing defects, a $5 cable should be able to do anything a $100 cable could do.


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

From my experiance with different brands of cables i really have not noticed a differance in the cables i got for free from the satilite installer to the ones i have paid what i concider high doller for. From what i have read, when you do a long run of cables you may want them to have a minimum 22AWG wire in them, otherwise i see no reason to spend the extra coin.:T


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

If you were to see a difference in HDMI cables, it would be pretty obvious. It would be that one would work when the other did not, or one would produce intermittent signals, or perhaps sparkles in the pix. For short differences, there is usually not much difference in most HDMI cables that are not defective. For longer distances there can be differences, but they usually have little to do with pricey branding. Conductor size and shielding, along with construction and geometry can have effects on how far you can run HDMI, but it is hard to generalize to a particular brand.


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## waculjr.903 (May 27, 2009)

The responses so far are the same as I have read in a few articles. I really appreciate the confirmation to what I was thinking. My cable runs (x3) are 8' cables, as they are partitioned in a cabinet... receiver on left, center channel speaker... in center of course, and dish hd box with blu ray player on right. Recently, I have been ocassionally hearing this high pitch digital chirp,sometimes once or three times in a row. This is getting aggrivating and looking to cure this. does it with bluray and dish, the dish only when watching HD. Was wondering if my belkin cables are not getting good connection within cable. Do I need to purchase new ones and can the ones I have?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Put simply its a digital signal it either works or it does not. The quality of the cable is "eye candy" nothing more.


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## waculjr.903 (May 27, 2009)

so you are saying if the cable was faulty, I would not get any sound at all and that this digital chirp noise is coming from something else? If so, what do I need to be looking at, sending my Onkyo tsxr 705 to onkyo to see whats wrong with it? There are only two common denominators here about the HD signal noise... cables, or a problem with my Onkyo AVR. I am hoping it was not the latter.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

waculjr.903 said:


> so you are saying if the cable was faulty, I would not get any sound at all and that this digital chirp noise is coming from something else?


Yes, It is very likely. 


> If so, what do I need to be looking at, sending my Onkyo tsxr 705 to onkyo to see whats wrong with it? There are only two common denominators here about the HD signal noise... cables, or a problem with my Onkyo AVR. I am hoping it was not the latter.


I would try another inexpensive HDMI cable first but I do suspect it is something else.


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## koyaan (Mar 2, 2010)

Don't forget about connectors! One of the major failings in the HDMI spec. is the connector's ability to stay where you put it. particularly in wall mounted display applications, the connector will often loosen our just plain fall out. Well made connectors can save an awful lot of aggravation.


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## Guest (Sep 20, 2010)

I forgot about the connector. I've never had one that was so bad, it fell out, but some are more snug then others. As long as the pins are all touching, it shouldn't matter, but some do feel better then others.

I can personally say that these are really nice. http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=181-776

In the future, I want to get a projector, and from a price point, I'm going to have to try monoprice.com for a longer in wall cable. All the cables, speaker wire and everything seem to get great reviews.


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## koyaan (Mar 2, 2010)

I bought my subwoofer cables from monoprice and found them to be very usable and well made.they have great prices and a huge selection of congigurations.


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## gsmollin (Apr 25, 2006)

waculjr.903 said:


> The responses so far are the same as I have read in a few articles. I really appreciate the confirmation to what I was thinking. My cable runs (x3) are 8' cables, as they are partitioned in a cabinet... receiver on left, center channel speaker... in center of course, and dish hd box with blu ray player on right. Recently, I have been ocassionally hearing this high pitch digital chirp,sometimes once or three times in a row. This is getting aggrivating and looking to cure this. does it with bluray and dish, the dish only when watching HD. Was wondering if my belkin cables are not getting good connection within cable. Do I need to purchase new ones and can the ones I have?


 I've never heard of an HDMI cable losing sound while the picture was good. The picture will abruptly fail with the dreaded "sparkles" when there is an HDMI problem. I think the sound links operate at much lower frequencies, and are good for longer distances. Certainly 8 feet is no issue. If you want to eliminate the cables, buy some Monoprice cables for a few dollars and replace your current cables. Don't throw money at the cables. The problem is probably in the AVR.


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## hakunatata (Aug 20, 2010)

It has been my experience that the higher end cables don't make a difference. Monoprice is a great place to pick up some long run inexpensive cables. But watch out for anything over 35 feet. I have been considering trying out balun wall plates from mono-price and running the HDMI signal over dual cat 6.


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