Expensive gold-plated HDMI cables: A rip-off?

[KillrBuckeye]

The local Circuit City store is trying to sell my in-laws a $130 HDMI cable (Monster Cable brand) to hook up their new HDTV. I've been reading some customer reviews saying that since HDMI cables carry a digital signal, there is absolutely no difference in picture quality between a cheapo HDMI cable and a gold-plated one. Is this true?

They are also trying to push this $180 Monster Cable surge protector:
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Monster-Cable-PowerProtect-Surge-Protector-MPHTS1000MKII/sem/rpsm/oid/87372/catOid/-12927/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

It seems like a good idea to protect such a big investment, but are there more economical solutions? Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

[PhysX]

id say the surge protector is worth it. i worked at futureshop benfore "best buy canada"

and we use the on all of our tvs and ht's etc.

[bchur83]

A surge protector is good, but no need to buy one that expensive. I would get a good one around $50 or so. That should suffice. As for the HDMI cable, they are a rip off. Head on over to monoprice.com and pick up one for $20 or less.

[inkfx]

For a computer I've never used a surge protector like that. Like bchur said, something for around $50 would be just fine. Now as for the big screen I have in my house I've got something with a little more umph.

[KillrBuckeye]

For a computer I've never used a surge protector like that. Like bchur said, something for around $50 would be just fine. Now as for the big screen I have in my house I've got something with a little more umph.This is for a big screen HDTV and A/V components. Cheaper surge protectors don't come with the coax cable inputs/outputs, do they?

[RedDragonXXX]

If anything I'd buy one of the better surge protectors from Monster or Belkin.

Power Stage 3 (http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Monster-Cable-Power-Center-HTS3600MKII/sem/rpsm/oid/132834/catOid/-12885/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do)

^^^There are also cheaper versions.

As for HDMI cables you should be fine with any type, but Monster usually have best shielding that prevent signal loss, picture/sound noise...

You will never get clear answer on this, so you'll have to use your best judgment.

[Seven]

My family setup our HDTV a year or 2 ago, and it's been nothing short of incredible.

Skip the gold plated cables. Think about that, you're spending $130 to connect 2 pieces of hardware with a piece of metal. Come on.

Now the surge protector is different. My house's electrics are kind of unstable, but if you live in an area with lightning and stuff, you sure as hell don't want to hotbox your living room with magic smoke from your HDTV now do you?

7

[KillrBuckeye]

Okay, thanks for the advice. Cheap HDMI cable and midrange surge protector it is!

If anything I'd buy one of the better surge protectors from Monster or Belkin.

Power Stage 3 (http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Monster-Cable-Power-Center-HTS3600MKII/sem/rpsm/oid/132834/catOid/-12885/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do)Holy crap! :eek: I think that's overkill for my in-laws. The HDTV is the only expensive thing in their setup, and it's only a DLP at that. For the 5-10 heavy lightning storms we get per year, I think they'll be okay with the $180 unit (which is only $100 from techonweb.com).

[RedDragonXXX]

Okay, thanks for the advice. Cheap HDMI cable and midrange surge protector it is!

Holy crap! :eek: I think that's overkill for my in-laws. The HDTV is the only expensive thing in their setup, and it's only a DLP at that. For the 5-10 heavy lightning storms we get per year, I think they'll be okay with the $180 unit (which is only $100 from techonweb.com).

It's a good investment since you can connect allot of stuff to it and it does other things beside being surge protector.

I got Power Stage 2, I mean I had it but had to sell it. It's a great unit well worth the price considering how it improved my picture quality on TV by completely eliminating noise I had before.

[darthdana]

i never understood the expensive cable gigs for av in the digital age, its a digital signal, its either there or its not. I mean you could get a bum cable, but thats returnable.

[PhysX]

Although, digital info consists of “1s” and “0s”. If any of these are missing, typically a processor will try and compensate and fill in the missing info by guessing at what is missing. Depending on how good these processors do this, they may be some lack of quality in the signal. The more information that is in tact the better the processor can convert it into an Image. High bandwidth cables such as an HDMI cable that carries so much information; which consist of an HD digital video and digital audio; it is critical to get a high quality cable that will be capable of transmitting all that information as clean as possible.

The construction of our HDMI cables is far superior to all of the competition. Our connectors are encased in copper which is very important to prevent interference and signal loss from occurring. We use 99.9999% oxygen free copper and then coat the copper with silver on our higher end product. Our shielding is superior in regards to a 95% copper braid and 100% Mylar foil. On the higher end product we use three and four shields. We also increase the gauge of wire the higher you go in the line. In order to be able to run long lengths of HDMI you need to be able to maintain the signal integrity through out the run. If your shielding is poor you will incur signal loss which is detrimental to an HDMI signal. Also our proprietary dielectric maintains the proper impedance at all times allowing for long runs.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Happy Holidays,

Eric Vitug
Technical Support
Monster Cable

[KillrBuckeye]

Thanks for posting that. Still, most people who have tried both a Monster Cable and a generic-brand HDMI cable have reported no difference in image/audio quality (that's what I gathered from reading the customer reviews).

[noxqzs]

The construction of our HDMI cables is far superior to all of the competition.




I respectfully disagree on your oppinion. Although I do like your brand, your manufacturing process is not exclusive to Monster.

[aaronjb]

As for HDMI cables you should be fine with any type, but Monster usually have best shielding that prevent signal loss, picture/sound noise...

You will never get clear answer on this, so you'll have to use your best judgment.

Well, actually, the clear answer is that a cable is a cable is a cable, although guage is important. Head on over to avsforum, where professional home theater installers will tell you that "special" cables are a ripoff. Or do a google search. Cables are teh snake oil of AV.

Monster Cables are marketing, pure and simple.

[aaronjb]

Although, digital info consists of “1s” and “0s”. If any of these are missing, typically a processor will try and compensate and fill in the missing info by guessing at what is missing. Depending on how good these processors do this, they may be some lack of quality in the signal. The more information that is in tact the better the processor can convert it into an Image. High bandwidth cables such as an HDMI cable that carries so much information; which consist of an HD digital video and digital audio; it is critical to get a high quality cable that will be capable of transmitting all that information as clean as possible.

I want third-party blind results which show this to be the case. It's complete BS.

The construction of our HDMI cables is far superior to all of the competition. Our connectors are encased in copper which is very important to prevent interference and signal loss from occurring. We use 99.9999% oxygen free copper and then coat the copper with silver on our higher end product. Our shielding is superior in regards to a 95% copper braid and 100% Mylar foil. On the higher end product we use three and four shields. We also increase the gauge of wire the higher you go in the line. In order to be able to run long lengths of HDMI you need to be able to maintain the signal integrity through out the run. If your shielding is poor you will incur signal loss which is detrimental to an HDMI signal. Also our proprietary dielectric maintains the proper impedance at all times allowing for long runs.

Oh.. my.. goodness. Sorry to be so harsh, but again - BS. Please show me verifiable and reviewable lab results which show that any of what is said here has any measurable effect on signal quality.

Crap, crap and more crap. Consumers get ripped off on cables too much to sit around and listen to junk like this.

[PhysX]

I want third-party blind results which show this to be the case. It's complete BS.



Oh.. my.. goodness. Sorry to be so harsh, but again - BS. Please show me verifiable and reviewable lab results which show that any of what is said here has any measurable effect on signal quality.

Crap, crap and more crap. Consumers get ripped off on cables too much to sit around and listen to junk like this.

evitug@monstercable.com

[ajrettke]

Although, digital info consists of “1s” and “0s”. If any of these are missing, typically a processor will try and compensate and fill in the missing info by guessing at what is missing. Depending on how good these processors do this, they may be some lack of quality in the signal. The more information that is in tact the better the processor can convert it into an Image. High bandwidth cables such as an HDMI cable that carries so much information; which consist of an HD digital video and digital audio; it is critical to get a high quality cable that will be capable of transmitting all that information as clean as possible.

Sorry PhysX this is BS info your feeding us our your company fed you.
I'm a EE and I know how HDMI signals work and with the ECC in an HDMI signal there is no way it's going to be less quality. The CPU's so called "guess" is the ECC algorithym which is the same for every cpu. The s/n of your cables is high, but a 1db gain around the 90+ s/n level means instead of a chance of once in a trillion years of one bad audio or video frame it's a one in 2 trillian years chance. (those are obviously exagerations, but the fact is in the lifetime of your TV, you have a better chance of you and it being struck by lightning than either cable having a bad frame sent)

Only time I'd spend cash on higher gauge wire/less resistance is when using analog signals, that's when s/n level matters alot because thier no ECC to correct errors, no matter how small)

[rseven]

This (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10240&cs_id=1024004&p_id=2412&seq=1&format=2&style=) is all you need and all you need to pay. Don't allow yourself to be ripped off. Cheers! :beer:

[dfonda]

After my cable signal gets through all my splitters and coax, my $15 HDMI cable does just fine. I used a monster cable supplied by comcast for a few days and saw no difference.

[Randyman...]

These cables are for people who like to say they have "Munster" cable. The thing is, once you really convince yourself that this cable will look/sound better - it really will look better TO YOU. The signal will be identical, so will the picture - but the fact that you WANT it to look better (to justify your investment) will cloud your judgment, and you will convince yourself that it looks better (usually till you go to your grave).

Then someone does A/B Double Blinds - and the truths are revealed :)

The Human Brain is a weird (and easily exploitable) creature, huh? At least someone is profitting off it :rolleyes:

:cool:

[godofgorks]

I'll just throw my $0.02 for the surge. I bought my HDTV at circuit city on BF and they had a box of surge protector kits. The brand in NCIX and it included, the surge protector, lcd screen cleaner, and an HDMI cable. The whole kit was $50 and is decent. It has coax in/out, but there is a loss of picture quality on some channels, others are not effected. :shrug:

I just needed something cheap to protect it for now, maybe someday upgrade to something a little beefier, but college students can't get too crazy with their money. :)

[Enablingwolf]

The only reason I got higher end cabling was for vanity (not Monster, well could be, but I honestly don't know). Some of the cabling for my TV is visable. So I got nicer looking cables that matched the over all look of the enviroment.

Not because of what the maker says on the package. I wanted nice looking cables. The rest of my cabling is just standard connection wiring.

I matched my surge protectors to meet my current needs. Plus any possible upgrades in the future. I didn't go by looks or fancy pitches.

If you want a certain look, then high end 'could' be justified.

[jamesgig]

the lifetime warranty is nice, when I took my Xbox out of the cabinet for cleaning, I guess the optical audio cable got caught and broke. Monster cable sent me a new one in a few days no questions asked.

They do look nicer too. My Xbox ones are a braided green.

[snyper1982]

Go to monoprice.com, and get the cheapest one at the length you need. The cables are really good quality as well. As you have heard, it is a digital picture, and is either all or none. I have heard that on extreme runs(50+ Ft) you can get some image artifacts with the smaller AWG wire. Never buy monster cables, they are overpriced garbage IMHO.

[Murdochs_mad]

If you can't blag a free 'expensive cable' when you buy the TV don't buy the TV. All the big stores that sell white goods make s**t loads on what they sell. As far as the surge protector goes, its a good idea to get one by a company that will replace any damaged goods if the surge protector fails. Alternatively if its covered by your insurance, sod it, paying all that money for 'just in case' Get something back :)

[Vipasnipa]

Monster cables are snake oil. They're like the BOSE of the cable world. Just because you charge more for your product than a competitor doesn't intrinsicly mean that your product is better.

[Randyman...]

Monster cables are snake oil. They're like the BOSE of the cable world. Just because you charge more for your product than a competitor doesn't intrinsicly mean that your product is better.

But PhysX said they are awesome :beer: ( ;) )

:cool:

[PhysX]

But PhysX said they are awesome :beer: ( ;) )

:cool:

actually, the guy from monster said that haha. i was just relaying the info.

[Randyman...]

Ahh. I thought you were a Munster Employee pushing your product here ;)

Apologies...

:cool:

[Knacko]

Ask the salespeople what kind of cable they use on the display models. The Futureshop around here uses cables/power bars from the dollar store across the street.

[Randyman...]

I wouldn't buy the Cheapest Cables Made - but spending over $100 on a 6' cable is just stupid. If only I had that much money to WASTE!!! Life would be grand. I'd say $25-$30 is a good price point for a quality terminated DVI Cable.

I actually DIY all of my Mic and Line Cables with Canare cable and Neutrik connectors. I can match what Munster charges $79 for with about $20 in parts (and a little time for assembly). After DIY-ing literally hundreds of cables - I have saved Thousands versus paying Munster prices. Who needs a warrany when you can fix it yourself in less time than it takes to drive to the store? I guess DIY'ing a DVI-Cable is not as easy :p

:cool:

[Wiggles]

No need to buy a $100 plus cable unless your looking at running 50 ft or more, which means you'll just about being paying that anyways.

Just keep the cable (HDMI) away from electrical cords / speaker wires and it'll be fine. Larger guage is nice, but if your only running it a few feet, you can get away with the smaller guage stuff.

[Elephanthead]

Who buys surge protectors? That's why I have homeowners insurance. Anyway most major credit cards offer some built in purchase protection insurance, or buy the store accidental damage coverage, much better then a 150 buck surge protector that will probably fuse on when lighting strikes anyway.
Plus that way when your drunk brother in law throws his wii controler through the screen of your new plasma your covered.

[twEEkerAreUs]

Don't waste your money on buying over priced surge protectors and (Uber Monster Cable) because it is nothing more then a gimmick/scam. The reason just like every other electronic retail store, they make huge profit on selling cables because they mark them up big time...The managers/training force employees to sell sell sell and brainwash them how (Monster Cable is the best because they pay huge advertising dollars & provide brainwashing training) LOL

[d94]

dont get ripped off!
yes you can get em mad cheap online...my best solution?
sams club has philips gold plated thick HDMI cables for $22 FTW :cool:

[Mr. Roboto]

Another monoprice suggestion here. They rock.

[xilix]

Monster Cable products are the biggest ripoff ever. They charge about 600% more than they should for their products. The ONLY thing that Monster is good at, is making a good speaker wire. EVERYTHING else is a complete joke.