HDMI cables

J

jrg70

Weaksauce
Joined
Jun 23, 2004
Messages
84
Hello everyone,

I know this is an age-old question, but...

I need to get some HDMI cables to hook up some new equipment to a new HDTV display. Any local store is a total rip off. A quick google search brought me to cablesforless.com.

https://www.cablesforless.com/c-5-hdmi-cables.aspx

They have Standard quality, High quality, Commercial grade, Extended Length and In-wall cables. Is there really and difference between all these or is it just the Insulating Jacket that makes the difference here? I am going in wall on some of the runs, but only a short distance (about 4 feet) and I will be the one pulling the line myself; I should be able to do it without destroying the cable.

Anyway, any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks
 
checkout firefold.com
use coupon code OTPRIDE for a little discount
 
i just picked up some $10 cables from amazon that work fine. I'd suggest just going with an online store you are allready doing business with.
 
I, as well many friends I know, have bought from monoprice. All the cables have been excellent.
 
remember if you are transferring a digital signal all cables will act the same. whether its a 3dollar cable from monocable, or the 100 dollar monster. you wont see any difference.

no if its analog then thats another discussion.
 
I beg to differ from a performance standpoint. The more expensive "high bandwidth" cables are more suited for 1080 content. I had a cheap Wal-Mart $15 HDMI cable going from my cable box to the TV and the 1080 channels would stutter, picture and audio. Threw in a $130 Monster and no more problem
 
I beg to differ from a performance standpoint. The more expensive "high bandwidth" cables are more suited for 1080 content. I had a cheap Wal-Mart $15 HDMI cable going from my cable box to the TV and the 1080 channels would stutter, picture and audio. Threw in a $130 Monster and no more problem
Click to expand...
ie. Don't go TOO cheap, and don't buy it in the wrong place.
 
HydroBudz said:
I beg to differ from a performance standpoint. The more expensive "high bandwidth" cables are more suited for 1080 content. I had a cheap Wal-Mart $15 HDMI cable going from my cable box to the TV and the 1080 channels would stutter, picture and audio. Threw in a $130 Monster and no more problem
Click to expand...

But at the same time an HDMI 1.3 Category 2 cable from monoprice would have done the same. Basically what it comes down to is that if you are doing a short run, not near power lines pretty much any HDMI 1.3 Category 2 cable will run any signal up to 1600p. If you get a Category 1 cable you're not going to be able to run 1080p content over it.
 
well i have bought 3 hdmi 1.3 for 5 dollars i have htpc, hd pvr, xbox360 and i dont get no stutter audio and video is perfect. so i think you got ripped off from buying the 130$ monster cable. and im sure many people will agree with me.
 
Well, considering I'm an audiophile the HDMI cables were the only thing I skimped on since I thought like everyone else eg: they're all the same. It's simply not the case. The $130 Monster cable I bought is strictly for the cable box, the rest I bought RocketFish's high end cables for $80 a piece and am more than pleased with them.

Coming from Stealth RCA cables that ran me over $1100 a set I can appreciate the $130 cost of a cable. And $130 is cheap compared to my equipment.

To those that think I got ripped start playing in the $40,000+ range for your audio equipment and consider the alternatives. To those that use a home-theater-in-a-box on their 40" plasma a $20 cable is more than adequate I guess.
 
ok hydro see i didnt know you spent 40000+ on your home theater, see i think thats a big difference compared to a 13000 i spent on mine. if i spent 40000+ dollars on my hometheater then yeah i think i wouldnt skimp on my cables whether its speaker cable, hdmi cables ect.
 
HydroBudz said:
I beg to differ from a performance standpoint. The more expensive "high bandwidth" cables are more suited for 1080 content. I had a cheap Wal-Mart $15 HDMI cable going from my cable box to the TV and the 1080 channels would stutter, picture and audio. Threw in a $130 Monster and no more problem
Click to expand...

Since HDMI V1.0, 1080p has been supported along with 8 channel LPCM/192 kHz/24-bit audio.
I suggest that the cable was not up to the HDMI standard.

If using deep colour / x.v.colour there may not be enough bandwidth for 1080p on less than a HDMI V1.3 cable.
I dont know of any satellite boxes (or transmitted material) that support deep colour / x.v.colour though, so I doubt this was your issue.
 
I just had a cheaper cable stop working on me when I upgraded to a 1080p tv because it couldnt handle the bw of the 1080p signal so I went and purchased a monster cable to try it out and omg I dont feel bad spending a $100 bucks on a cable, I know a lot of people say monster is over rated and I took there advice but I actually see a noticable difference and now I can play my tv in 1080p with no fuzzys or just dropping the signal I thought it was my ps3 for the longest lol
 
I bought my cables from Ebuyer, they are:

HDMI-HDMI 2 metre £3.09
HDMI-HDMI 5 metre £4.89
DVI-HDMI 5 metre £4.80

Fantastic prices and all are great with 1080p.
You dont need to spend a lot, just buy from places that have verified good cables (ie they conform to the HDMI spec).
 
i have decent Phillips brand 6 foot hdmi cables, one from Walmart and one from Sams club. One on a PS3 and one on an Scientific Atlanta HD8300, going to a Samsung LN46A650, both work perfectly and were less than $30 each. Monster is hugely over rated compared to years ago. If you pay close to $100 or more you are throwing money away. Go browse avsforum.com or a similar home theater forum and you'll get the same answers.
 
I have two cables from monoprice and have no issues getting 1080p Blu Ray's to play smoothly.

If I was running near more power I would have opted for some better shielding but since theres nothing near them run parallel I didnt worry about going with really pricey cables. I am not running audio down them either hehe.
 
HydroBudz said:
Well, considering I'm an audiophile the HDMI cables were the only thing I skimped on since I thought like everyone else eg: they're all the same. It's simply not the case. The $130 Monster cable I bought is strictly for the cable box, the rest I bought RocketFish's high end cables for $80 a piece and am more than pleased with them.

Coming from Stealth RCA cables that ran me over $1100 a set I can appreciate the $130 cost of a cable. And $130 is cheap compared to my equipment.

To those that think I got ripped start playing in the $40,000+ range for your audio equipment and consider the alternatives. To those that use a home-theater-in-a-box on their 40" plasma a $20 cable is more than adequate I guess.
Click to expand...

HAHAHA. I have a similarly priced system and until recently bought into the spendy cables as well (Kimber, AudioQuest, Monster). They really make no difference as long as the cable is well constructed. There is a difference between cheap and inexpensive, but you are foolish for spending as much on cables as you claim.
 
For digital cables, DVI/HDMI/Optical etc, go for the cheapest cable available.

For analog cables, start with cheap cables then work your way up if you want. You might not need that $10 per foot audio interconnect when a $1-2 per foot will do the job and suit your ears just fine.

And another +1 for monoprice
 
The reason why people are recommending monoprice is because of the service and low price of a few people over at avsforum.com. Since then it has spread like a plague.

The problem with these cable threads is perception. The perception that if you spend more money or just the thought of upgrading to a better cable can justify a costly expense.

For the most part unless everything is full of static or wash out the only way you are going to get a fair comparison is have 2 TVs side by side with the same settings and around the same manufacture date.

If you need custom lengths go with bluejeanscable. That company rocks and builds high quality cables.
 
Spread like a plague implies negativity, when Monoprice is great. Bluejeanscable does have great cables and they are not AS overpriced as some brands, but they're still a ripoff. Yes, I know they use high quality Belden and Canare cable/connectors. They're still overpriced.

Cheapest cable available is not correct. Some digital/HDMI cables do fail it, but those that do will make it obvious with dropouts or sparkling in the video or popping/clicking noises in the audio, etc. But Monoprice cables do not do that (unless you get a defective one which can happen with any brand)
 
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