jbernardis

Quality of Digital Cables

This question has probably been asked several times. If it is a repeat, I apologize.

I've always heard that for digital cables such as HDMI, that it is not as important to get a high-end cable as it is for a cable carrying analog signals. Is this true?

I see 2 meter hdmi cables from monster that go for $130, but I also see 2 meter cables from unknown manufacturers for less than $10. This seems like two extremes, but there's probably someone in the middle who makes a cable for, say $40, that meets the need.

Nathan Stohler

Re: Quality of Digital Cables

When I bought my 60" Sony SXRD at Circuit City, I also bought an Monster HDMI cable for $110. I had not shopped around for HDMI cables, so I didn't know what to expect. That night, I looked a little bit online and found 6' HDMI cables on monoprice.com for less than $20. I bought one, and when I got it, I did a direct comparison and could not tell the difference. Obviously, I returned the Monster cable for a full refund.

I've discovered that HDMI cables are very often overpriced. There's no need to find an "in the middle" price. Buy the cheapest HDMI cable you can find that is the length and gauge you want. If you are concerned about quality, buy cables from someone with a good return policy, so you can do a comparison. Circuit City didn't seem to mind at all when I returned the Monster cable (I kept all the packaging).

--Nathan

SQMonte

Re: Quality of Digital Cables

From what I have learned, so long as the cable, HDMI for example, is capable of carrying the signal from one end to the other then it's sufficient. There is no grey area, either it works or it doesn't. Personally, I have decided to go with MonoPrice cables

Samsung LNS4051D 40" LCD HD Flat Screen
Onkyo HT-S790