# Expensive HDMI cables are they worth it?



## Drfoxly

Hello - 

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11276_7-6845988-3.html?tag=nav

This is just one groups opinion.

From this article from cnet it states, the expensive HDMI cables are not worth the money.

I almost bought a Monster HDMI cable at $129.00 & stopped after reading this.

My question is: Can you see the difference?




Thanks


----------



## Mike P.

A few years ago I bought a 42 inch Sony LCD. I also bought a $99.00 1 meter Monster HDMI cable because I was told by the salesman "you need this". Later on I bought a $10.00 2 meter HDMI cable from e-Bay. I swapped cables one day and there was no difference in picture quality. As far as I'm concerned, from my experience with lengths of 2 meters or less, the Monster cable was a waste of money.


----------



## Sonnie

I have had very good luck with the el cheapo HDMI cables. Even Wal-Mart is ripping off people with their HDMI cable prices.


----------



## doubeleive

unless you think you can see the difference between .25 dot pitch and .26 dot pitch dont waste your money


----------



## Guest

I saved the receipts to my local purchases. Bought these instead.


----------



## eugovector

Monsta said:


> I saved the receipts to my local purchases. Bought these instead.


$10 for a 3' HDMI cable:scared: You got ripped off, should have gone to monoprice instead :T


----------



## drumdude

sheilding, wire gauge and such can make more apparent difference in an analog video connection. Digital is digital till it's gone. you either have the picture or you don't. Analog can get fuzzy, ghosting etc as length gets longer or cable quality is worse, but can still carry some resemblance of the picture. IMHO If it doesn't pixelate or lose the picture it's a good HDMI cable no matter the cost


----------



## Guest

eugovector said:


> $10 for a 3' HDMI cable:scared: You got ripped off, should have gone to monoprice instead :T




:wits-end:

(Thank you :T )


----------



## TheGovernment

Once I get to 10 posts I'll post a article about hdmi cables and how the expensive ones suck lol


----------



## TheGovernment

If you read the whole article it's pretty much what you'd expect lol 

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


----------



## DougMac

When wiring up my HT, I bought all my cables from monoprice. The prices seemed almost too good to be true. The three cables of most concern was the 25' HDMI to the PJ, the 25' component to PJ and the 20' RCA to the sub. 

I've had absolutely no issues with any. No hum with the sub and the component in looks as good as when I used 6' for testing. They're installing my Dish HD Saturday. My receiver has only one HDMI in, so I ordered more interconnects and a 4x2 switcher from monoprice based on my good experiences with them.

Doug


----------



## Guest

I have to agree with Doug. I have never had a problem with monoprice and have been using them for years. I don't think I would ever go for monster cables because I think money can be better spent elsewhere


----------



## tonyvdb

I have both a monster HDMI cable (came with my Samsung) and a $25 HDMI cable and there is NO difference between the two at all on my BluRay player.


----------



## Ironeagle

Is there a consensus from most enthusiasts that monoprice is the place to buy HDMI cables?
Both short (1 - 3 meters) and long (10 - 25 meters)?

Are there any other sites that are comparable to monoprice?


----------



## E-A-G-L-E-S

BlueJeansCable

I just ran a 40' of their tartan and have 0% issues. I was worried as previously my longest run was 20' and have read that at distances of ~40' and longer you can start to run into issues, don't know the science.
My Monoprice and BJC tartans of 3', 10' and 20' all work perfectly.


----------



## Anthony

I ran a 35' cable from Parts Express on one of my installs that has zero problems. The cable chain is basically DVD Player to Receiver (with the one in the box), Receiver to projector (the 35' monster).

No problems, excellent video quality, relatively inexpensive. Supposedly 35' is where the problems are supposed to start coming in and where quality *might* matter. I haven't seen it though.


----------



## E-A-G-L-E-S

Anthony said:


> I ran a 35' cable from Parts Express on one of my installs that has zero problems. The cable chain is basically DVD Player to Receiver (with the one in the box), Receiver to projector (the 35' monster).
> 
> No problems, excellent video quality, relatively inexpensive. Supposedly 35' is where the problems are supposed to start coming in and where quality *might* matter. I haven't seen it though.


HD is more information, no? So I would think with 480 resolution and the SD color gamut that long lengths are much easier to get away with with no issues at all, I'd bet up to 100'.


----------



## Anthony

Yeah, except this player upconverted to 720p, so I assume the full bandwidth was going over the link.


----------



## Eskimo

I've spent several hundred dollars in monoprice stuff wiring my theater - XLR's, interconnects, HDMI cables, TOSLINK, speaker wire (12, 14, & 16 ga), wall plates, you name it..

Been very impressed with the quality for the money.

I would have easily spent well over a thousand for what cost me ~300-400 with monoprice..


----------



## ISLAND1000

[My question is: Can you see the difference?]

I can't see paying the high price for "those special HDMI" cables . . . . or for high priced esoteric wires of any kind for any connections.
I was just thinking, my satellite antenna delivers the HD signal through plain old Belden shielded cable and several interconnects and it has runs of about 75 feet! Looks great.


----------



## lhymes

Wow monoprice is incredible. I used to use insane analog cables, but have always preached not spending an arm and a leg on digital cables, but wow. This site makes my cheapo cables seem completely overpriced. Now I've got a solid site to refer friends and family to.


----------



## Anthony

Yeah, even with my installer/bulk discount at Parts Express, monoprice often beats their prices. I don't know how they do it, but it's nice to have. Their inventory system is nice too, so you can see if something is backordered (PE has this feature as well).


----------



## imbeaujp

Thanks God ! In HDMI world, cheap is good !!!!

So we can spend money anywhere else !


----------



## southsound

Just another comment from a very satisfied MonoPrice customer. Every cable - HDMI, Toslink, Component, RCA Sub - even the 12x2 and 14x2 speaker cables in our home theater and greatroom - are from MonoPrice. I recently added a 50' 24ga HDMI between our Dish VIP 722 and a Panny 50" plasma. Works great. I also have a 50' Toslink - less than $10, but wonderful! The theater uses 35' DB15 to component cables. And the Panny 50" is mounted on an $18 MonoPrice 4114 mount. The only difference you will see between the Monster and MonoPrice cables is the dejected look on the salesperson's face when he learns you aren't going to make his next car payment with your cable purchase. :joke:


----------



## AZ Theatre

I CANNOT believe the prices of these HDMI cables in all the stores...

When I see a salesman talking up how great and better the most expensive cables are, I wanna kick him in the junk and scream at the customer to RUN!!!

The most I've ever paid for an HDMI cable is $20.00


----------



## ISLAND1000

BELIEVE it!! And believe that some . . . . "expert" actually reviewed the "boutique" cables and heard a difference. HaHAHAHA


----------



## tonyvdb

I think most people forget that we are talking about a 100% digital signal and as long as the wire inside is not broken the zero's and one's wont leak out of the cord. the only difference in quality would be the connectors on the ends of the cable. Unless your running over 30' a cheep $10 HDMI ($20 in Canada) cable is all you will ever need.


----------



## Strype

Big box stores, like Best Buy, work off a marketing strategy using loss leaders. 

They sell a TV at cost (or close to cost) which when you consider floor space, stocking $ display costs ... this tv sale is actually a loss to the store. But it gets customers in the door and the store knows the customer, once in the door, will spend even more. - a loss leader (the loss leads to other sales)

Where they make their money is the accessories. 
Power strips, specialty wires, bracket, remotes, batteries, DVDs and all the other "got to have it" widgets they are trained to tell you you need. These are all priced well above their actual cost so the store can make up for the loss of the TV sale and still turn a profit.

Monster Cable is a big scam ... not just with HDMI ... they always market the results of their own "tests" but the real results when placed on test equipment never equal gains worth the cost. People just think they are good wires because they have a HUGE marketing department that is constantly self proclaims quality ... and after hearing it enough times people start to believe. So, when it comes to HDMI it has been tested many times over that when <30' there is little to no performance difference in a $200 cable or a $2 cable.
(Side note: if you want to see what kind of person Noel is and his company Monster Cable really is... google the lawsuit they opened on Monster Mini Golf of Rhode Island)


----------



## Anthony

I agree with everything you said there. 

We had a discussion a while back when Blue Jeans Cables put Monster and their lawsuit happy management in their place. IMO Blue Jeans is everything that is right with capitalism and Monster is everything that is wrong with capitalism. 

Back on topic -- just hung a flat panel for my parents on Sunday. Ran a $5 Dayton (Parts Express) 2m cable through the wall. Picture looks perfect (not like I was expecting anything else).


----------



## levesquejc

I took the monoprice approach even b4 the article made it fashioable. I bought the large gauge, long run (I needed 30+ feet from components to display), bought 2 4X1 matrix boxes and all set. A lot cheaper and great results. Color and sound are great.
John:T


----------



## AZ Theatre

Anthony said:


> I agree with everything you said there.
> 
> We had a discussion a while back when Blue Jeans Cables put Monster and their lawsuit happy management in their place. IMO Blue Jeans is everything that is right with capitalism and Monster is everything that is wrong with capitalism.


X2...

For those who haven't or don't want to read the letter it is WELL WORTH IT! I nearly fell out of my chair when he suggested Monster send him the actual production drawings and an item in question so he could double check all the dimensions, material etc...


----------

