Pricey A/V Cables? Don't Be Fooled
Mon Jun 25, 2007 8:24AM EDT
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If you've ever been shopping for an HDTV at a big electronics retail store, you'll know the drill—basically, once the pushy salespeople hit you up for the $500 extended warranty, they steer you toward the $100 (or more) HDMI, digital audio and coaxial cables. Usually, these cables come in fancy packaging, the connectors are dipped in gold (literally), and you're told that if you're buying a $3,000 TV, you might as well throw down a couple hundred more for the very best cables. Don't fall for it.
Don't take my word for it, though. The experts at Ars Technica would be the first ones to tell you that a $100 Monster-brand HDMI cable delivers a better picture than, say, a $15 off-brand version. Their verdict? "Cabling is something of a racket, and while there probably is a difference between the medium-quality cables and the Monster Cables that cost $100+, I'm guessing none of us have systems that will let us tell enough of a difference to make the price worth it." (Read the full story for more details.)
I couldn't agree more. I recommend you pay no more than about $20 for an HDMI cable, $10-15 for an optical (or Toslink) digital audio cable, $10 for a component-video cable, and $10 or less for regular RCA-type cables. The sales dude may look appalled, but do yourself a favor and save your money.
Related:
Shopping for HDMI cables: who do retailers think they're kidding? [Ars Technica]
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27 Posted by ulm_atms on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:27PM EDT Report Abuse
This one is simple. The expensive cables were worth the money back when more signals were analog (ex, S-video, VHF, UHF). Even more so when you had a wad of cables behind you receiver, TV, etc.... You can actually see/hear differences in HD component/audio cables between the cheap brand and the higher dollar brand. However, with HDMI, Fiber optic, and 'Digital' coax, the cheap cables have no bearing over picture quality. The reason for this is that digital signals are imune to interference as that they do not rely on the voltage(sine) wave to get the video/audio information. They rely on what is called a square wave. Basically either 1 or 0. In digital world there is no such thing as 1.2 or .9, only 1 or 0. So in a nut sheck no interference is possible unless the cable is so bad that it cannot even pass a 1 or 0. If that is the case, the cable is broken in the first place. Here is the breakdown: Analog types (get the better cables) Standard RCA video (yellow connectors) Component HD video (Red, Green, Blue) Stereo Audio (red, white) S-Video (Round plug) UHF-VHF Coax (Good old standard TV connector) Channel 2-99 type cable from the old'n days Digital Types (get the cheaper cables) HDMI (Funnly looking retangle) Optical Audio (Square slot, round center) DVI (same as HDMI but larger, not many TVs have this) Digital Coax (RCA type, mostly used for audio - 5.1) Hope this helps someone from buying expensive cables for no good reason.
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28 Posted by sivad5353 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:25PM EDT Report Abuse
sams club has great prices on hdmi like $20, optical 15, component not really sure but i know they have them. If you are running hdmi your audio and video is not compressed.
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29 Posted by fvalls on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:04PM EDT Report Abuse
I think that this article is very misguided and misleading. Having the right cable is just as important as having the right TV and component. You get what you pay for. The average person probably doesn’t need higher quality cables but those who have better than average system should not cheap out on cables. For the record, I would never recommend monster cables because in reality they are not very good cables. They are to cables as Bose is to speakers. They are both well marketed overpriced products. For really good cables that make a difference buy Planet Waves or Audioquest cables. Of course you find these cables at Best Buy or Circuit City.
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30 Posted by joshlipe44 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:41PM EDT Report Abuse
This guy is a clown, I have read two of his articles now on HD and now on cables and he has no idea what he is talking about. The worst part about it is that people think that he knows what he is talking about.
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31 Posted by djbillietee on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:44PM EDT Report Abuse
CLreed1986: Check out www.monoprice.com they have component cables for the Wii, I am unsure about the PS3..... I really think the bottom line is this; if you are at a point in building your system where you want to try out different cables to find out if there really is a difference, go for it...I did, and there WAS a difference for my system...To be honest, if I am spending $100 on a cable, or a pair of interconnects, the Monster name will NOT be on it...For those of you looking at a new set of cables and don't want to break your wallet, check out mono price, or a better alternative to Monster is www.signalcable.com similarly priced, and miles above in SQ and build quality...
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32 Posted by c8j2h on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:16PM EDT Report Abuse
You can get a nice AV cable for only $6 shipped. http://www.amazon.com/HDMI-Feet-Super-Resolution-Cable/dp/B0002L5R78/ref=dp_return_1/002-0009697-9486438?ie=UTF8&n=172282&s=electronics&qid=1183677654&sr=8-1 Any skeptics should check out the product reviews.
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33 Posted by lt1sscaprice on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:58PM EDT Report Abuse
Got tired of using the monster speaker cables. Took up too much room and wouldn't allow me to move my entertainment center very close to the wall. They are just dust collectors. Cable was so heavy and thick it was hard to keep the pin connectors secured on the back of my stereo receiver/amplifier. Took them off and installed plain old electrical appliance lamp cord in dark brown. My JBL Studio Monitors never sounded better. Will shake the pictures off the wall as good as the Monsters did and less noticeable routing from speakers to receiver. I was in the music biz for 20 years and do have a trained ear. Not very scientific, but works for me!
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34 Posted by madcircle421 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:02PM EDT Report Abuse
i doubt anyone is gunna read down this far..but i have to comment... im in the military, trained in audio and digital cabling. price matters as much as materials used. most of the high end cables use "gold" with conducts better! Ie the signal flows faster through it. also a factor is the casing. there are types of signal loss that is due to whut your wire is shielded in. most high hend cables go out of there way to reduce as much signal loss as possible and that is mainly what you are paying for. to put this into perspective....your $20 HDMI cable(cheapest i found at Circuit City was $30) will probably have a 30-40% signal loss while the better chielded $100+ Monster cable has a signal loss of 10-15%. in the end that makes a big diffference in picture quality. your regular run of the mill consumer prolly wont pic up on this, but for those of us techy nerds...we will...and we pay for that difference. so if you really want the best you pay for it...if you dont care and are looking to save some cash and have a hum dum sound and picture quality....dont even bother with an HDTV in the 1st place! If yer gunna by that $4,000 HDTV you should know what you are getting into before you buy. do your homework!
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35 Posted by mcflycly on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:13PM EDT Report Abuse
Yes, it is extremely unfortunate that people take his words and the words of people responding as fact. Quite honestly this is really a moot point; though it may be worth arguing for the sake of developing a vast knowledge of all that is home theater, the issue in and of itself is pointless to argue because the home theater experience is different for nearly everyone. Let me start off by saying that component cables will not suffice for "anything other than true 1080p." Component cables are analog cables and though they will certainly carry resolution up to 1080p, they are, at the end of the day, still analog. By the general consensus, then, we can assume that higher quality cabling is required for component cables simply because they are analog (though for many other reasons as well). Furthermore, there are many differences in cables, even amongst digital ones. Two words that no one has even brought up to describe the difference between wal-mart HDMI cables and Monster HDMI cables are bit rate and bandwidth. You can build a tunnel and only let cars and trucks go through it, but if it's only a two-lane highway then there will be congestion and a lot of traffic crammed into a tiny space. Similarly, you can build an HDMI cable and only require it to send 1's and 0's, but if the bandwidth is low then there will be "congestion and a lot of traffic crammed into a tiny space." Better cables have higher bandwidth so you can fit a lot more information in with ease (for another example see comcast HD cable vs. AT&T Uverse). Bit rate refers, in laymen's terms, to the frequency at which all the information is processed in sources and displays. Cabling short of high quality will not handle the bit rate of a good high definition source to a good high definition TV. The result is some down-scaling and signal loss. Don't even get me started on the differences between HDMI 1.1, 1.3, and 1.3 (yes, there are different "versions" of HDMI cables, the Yahoo reviewer won't tell you about these kinds of things because he doesn't know about them...) But I digress. The point is, Home Theater is different for everyone. You can sit an elderly couple down in front of a 720p Vizio LCD and a 1080p Pioneer Elite Plasma and they won't notice the difference when it's hooked up to a good, digital HD source. Just the same, some people can tell the differences between a Sam's Club Cable and a Monster Cable and some simply can't. To generalize and say that $100 is the same as $20 when investing in a cable is just ignorant and near-sighted. The sky is truly the limit, not only with picture, source, and sound, but with cabling as well. I'm not telling you to go out and buy $300 worth of monster cable, but I will tell you the following. When investing in a Home Theater system, tailor it to your own specific lifestyle and needs. Cabling will follow suit appropriately.
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36 Posted by fushigiyuu on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:04PM EDT Report Abuse
Your ipod is not a head unit and there's no internal amp so therefore adding high quality cable is not going to make a difference in sound. The monster cable however, will last longer than conventional cable. Now to address the issue with cable. High quality will make a pretty significant difference in video/audio quality over low quality cables. If you don't have a high quality system or can't tell the difference when switching than just return the cables you bought. This is not meant to insult anyone, it just seems like the most common sensical solution. The issue with Monster cable. Someone nailed it earlier when they said these cables are the highest marked up items in the store. If you go to best buy, compusa, circuit city, etc there's not a single item in the store that is marked up higher. I wouldn't justify buying these cables unless you can find a local store in town that carry them and will allow you to negotiate the price on them. These stores still exist. If you pay full price on these, i'm sorry to say you've been robbed without a gun. When i purchase my system i believe i was able to get almost 50% off the cables alone. I bet you can also do searches on the internet to find better pricing. Hope this helps.
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37 Posted by steelburn1 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:40PM EDT Report Abuse
I know its not the usual
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38 Posted by jkenned70 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:36PM EDT Report Abuse
It's funny when people claim that "Pricey" cables = Better Sound. The salesmen are loving you people. HDMI for example is a digital signal of 0's , 1's , and 2's ....just digital signal. Pricey or not....doesn't make a difference. I buy the cheapest ones I can get my hands on. I've had good luck with Monoprice.com and seethebigpicture.net Both sell thicker insulated higher gauge cables.
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39 Posted by whippletp on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:44PM EDT Report Abuse
This couldn't be a more preposterous story. While the picture quality may not be enough to convince you to purchase a better quality cable, the BUILD QUALITY is far and away better with the pricier ones. I know, as I work for the number one consumer electronics retailer in America and we use the cheaper cables for hooking up display models to DVD Players, Blu-ray players, etc. We have to replace them regularly because they practically fall apart. Buyer beware! Some places, yes... But where I work we don't make commission, so why would I encourage you to buy a better, pricier cable if it wasn't going to benefit you? This story is absurd.
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40 Posted by nightgobbolin on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:38PM EDT Report Abuse
I do not work for any retailer or monstr company and I bought the "Hi-end" cables. There is a major difference in quality in both the manufactoring and performance. I own A Sony XBR LCD tv and I LOVE IT!
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41 Posted by letmroll on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:49PM EDT Report Abuse
I don't care what the author of this article says because he absolutely doesn't know what he's talking about!! The premium cables are better and anyone who really looks can see and hear the difference. Now on the other hand is it really worth the huge difference in price? Probably not, but if you're spending $4000 or more on all the other overpriced equipment why not go for the overpriced cables?
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42 Posted by gergg1 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:08PM EDT Report Abuse
There is a point many of you may be missing. You can get the same quality or better (compare the actual specs, like gauge and signal loss) in a non-branded cable. Look at Monoprice as an example. You are actually getting better quality (they have people do real signal testing) than many high end brands for about a tenth of the price. No, it is not like using wal-mart tires on a Ferrari or eating cheap food. It is more like getting better quality tires or food for a much lower price because you know how to shop. When you a "Monster" cable most of the cost is in the advertising, kick backs to the sellers, overhead, and huge profit margin. For most people who buy everything at a "big box" store, you probably wouldn't know any better and Monster is at least safe. I guess the people who shop at high end boutiques don't care about the prices anyway, so they might as well pay more for less. I just say shop around and see for yourself.
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43 Posted by slaapnutz on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:26PM EDT Report Abuse
I beg the differ. I had been using a $25 optical cable for my DVD player to my receiver and notice that subwoofer wasn’t hitting as hard as it should be. So I went to bestbuy and I told them my situation and they told me that it was the optical cable you are using. It is to thin and to cheap. You need to get one that is at least 4 meters thick. Well the sales associate showed me some cables and they were about $80 too $120. Well I took the $120 cable and hook it up and the sound that came out of my sub was amazing. The other speakers came out amazing also. So, for now on I buy the most expansive cables I can find, and I get better picture and better sound. I also get a lot of compliments and I always tell them to never buy cheap cables for your system.
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44 Posted by vipsphinx on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:36PM EDT Report Abuse
This just true facts
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45 Posted by tgr110 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:02PM EDT Report Abuse
Speaker cabling and digital inter component connectors are two entirely different ball games. If the signal is getting through without interference on the inter component connectors you would probably need some fancy electronic gadget to measure the difference. There is probably no advantage to the fancy name brands. Regardless, I admit I do use a monster DVI cable. For speaker wires the key is surface area of the wires. Increase the diameter and thread count and you get more surface area for electrons to travel on and then less resistance and improved performance. This can be herd as leo4yourloan mentioned in his “audio salon” demo. Switch from 16 gage wire thin to 8 gage high quality wire and you will hear improved audio clarity and be able to push higher volume levels with out distortion. You should also notice you amp will run cooler than it did before.
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26 Posted by shardinurpurplz on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:16PM EDT Report Abuse
In all honesty buying a 20$ HDMI cable for your 3000$ TV, is like putting Wal-mart brand tires on your Ferrari. Some one made a very good point earlier, go to a snooty "High-end A/V shop" they will show you the diffrence, and yes there is one. If cant tell the diffrence between a 20$ HDMI Cable and a quality one, you might as well take the TV back because you are blind.