The Great Video Cable Ripoff

[yumagah]

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with any maker or seller of video cables or hardware of any kind.

Audio-video cables seem to be an area where retailers try to jack up their profit margins. Shopping for a VGA monitor cable for my 37" LCD TV, I noticed prices all over the place, from $10 to over $50. On the label of Belkin cables, they recommend their $40 cable for LCD monitors over 17 inches. Well I used the ten buck cable instead and it works just fine. A digital cable is a digital cable - if it works at all, there is no significant difference in quality.

I noticed the same thing with HDMI cables. Circuit City stores were selling them at anywhere from $30 to $65, while at Menards, the same thing could be found for $15. And some online retailers are as cheap as $5. A review by CNET labs said there was no difference in quality at any price. This sales strategy of selling the same thing for twice the price did not work so well for Circuit City I would say.

Seems to me the whole Monster Cables product line is based on consumers who want to pay for a name and maybe some flashier looking tubing. But I know there are audio/videophiles who insist cables make a big difference. I am not one of them.

On the other hand, I bought some USB cables at a dollar store and none of them worked except to supply power. SO I guess there are some limits on cheap hardware.

[dun4cheap]

If you are a cable subscriber, a lot of cable companys will give your free hdmi or component cables.

You just have to ask.

[Constant Gardener]

The sales staff at our local store get extra commission when they sell premium cables. So they sell the expensive ones to those who seem willing, and recommend the generics to their friends.

The only time I have noticed a difference with premium cable was when we remoted some big analog monitors with fifty-foot, low-capacitance cables. Those were pricey, but the images were pretty good.

[Frank-0-Video]

Greetings ....

Just give me a cable in a little plastic bag stapled to a simple cardboard label and I'll be happy. Those hard plastic things they put cables and whatnot into now-a-days are a real royal pain!!!!

Thanx-A-Lot, Frank-0-Video

[Number Six]

yumagah - I agree with you 100%. For years I have been telling people that a cable is just a piece of wire, and that they are getting ripped off for spending crazy amounts of money to buy the expensive ones. My friend's son spent $150 for Monster Cables to connect to his new LCD TV because the "SALES PERSON" at Best Buy insisted that he would get a horrible picture if he used cheaper cables .

As to the dollar store cables - I use a lot of them, but the problem with them is the internal connection from the wire to the connector is very poorly made so they fail very easily. This is to be expected for these very cheaply made cables - that is why they only cost a dollar . But, I have also used moderately priced cables that failed in the same way - it is a stress point, after all.

[orsetto]

Totally agree with yumagah- its mostly bull, especially with video or digital wiring. With analog audio patchcords, I can hear a slight difference between them, but cost doesn't even enter into it: I have patchcords received free in the box with some of my gear that blows away any "premium" cables I've compared them with. There are excellent generic cables, and crap premium cables: its all in how they're made at the factory. Some of these cables must be insanely profitable for mfrs and dealers, though: I remember back in the last heyday of audio gear (the '80s), they were selling premium speaker wire at hundreds of dollars PER FOOT. Who in their right mind would pay that, even if they could easily afford it?

[jagabo]

Analog cable quality can make a difference when you're dealing with high bandwidth video or long cable runs. But price doesn't necessarily correspond to quality. I used to run 21 inch high res CRT monitors over VGA. I had a few VGA cables that delivered markedly fuzzy picture quality at 2048x1536 and others that were much sharper.

I use a $10 DVI->HDMI cable to connect my computer to my 46" HDTV (1080p, 60Hz, RGB) and the picture is perfect. I've never seen any evidence of bad transmission.

I use a similar $10 HDMI cable to connect my 1080p60 upscaling DVD player to the HDTV. I've never seen any evidence of lost data there either.

[edDV]

I'd say there are times when higher quality cables are needed depending on format especially for long runs. These can be sourced online at good prices.

Retail cables are overpriced 3x to 6x in most stores even Walmart. I did see a 6ft HDMI cable sale at a hardware store for $8. That is the lowest retail price I've seen so far.

[MOVIEGEEK]

Anything with the Monster label is a ripoff,retailers push them because they are high profit.Belkin cables are ok and are reasonably priced.When buying cables compare the AWG,usually the bigger the gauge the better it is.When buying HDMI cables look for "Cat.2 Certified" or "CL2".

[hech54]

Best speaker cable around....heavy gauge lamp-cord sold by the foot at Lowe's or Home Depot.

[Supreme2k]

Kind of like how they sell $50 usb cables when you can get them at dollar stores now

[JohnnyMalaria]

People hear a difference because their emptier wallets tell them that they have to.

For low frequency signals (audio), as long as the copper is thick enough to carry the higher currents from a powerful amp and, optionally, shielded then that's sufficient. All this directional jibberish is bollocks/baloney. The signals are AC....

For high frequency, generic coax cables are fine as long as the impedances are matched (typically 75ohm for video, 50ohm for scientific instrumentation). The only time I am fussed about coax is when I am trying to measure billionths of an amp in the lab. Watching a movie in the living room ain't that critical.

[TJK1911]

....I remember back in the last heyday of audio gear (the '80s), they were selling premium speaker wire at hundreds of dollars PER FOOT. Who in their right mind would pay that, even if they could easily afford it?

Asked and answered.

[VegasBud]

I did see a 6ft HDMI cable sale at a hardware store for $8. That is the lowest retail price I've seen so far.

I've been using several of these (for $5.98 each), and they seem every bit as good as much more expensive cables I have. Unfortunately, with shipping costs these days, it's probably only a good deal if you live in the Las Vegas area and pick them up at the warehouse. It works out well for us locals though.

[edDV]

These guys ship cables USPO for cheaper than UPS. I got 4 custom length cables in four days for under $40 including shipping. They are in Seattle (same company as Blue Jeans Cable).
http://www.tartancable.com/hdmi-cables/index.htm

[redwudz]

I usually buy my video cables from MonoPrice: http://www.monoprice.com/home/index.asp

I'm using a economy MP 40 foot HDMI cable to my HD projector. If there are any problems, I can't see them. Most digital signals are fairly immune to RF interference, so most of the 'Ultra cable' hype is just hype, IMO.

If you had a very low level signal or a very high frequency signal, I could see more reason for concern, but not with speaker cables, or strong digital signals that are generally less than a few Mhz in bandwidth.

[edDV]

I usually buy my video cables from MonoPrice: http://www.monoprice.com/home/index.asp

I'm using a economy MP 40 foot HDMI cable to my HD projector. If there are any problems, I can't see them. Most digital signals are fairly immune to RF interference, so most of the 'Ultra cable' hype is just hype, IMO.

If you had a very low level signal or a very high frequency signal, I could see more reason for concern, but not with speaker cables, or strong digital signals that are generally less than a few Mhz in bandwidth.

The idea with speaker wire is you need to keep resistance down especially with 4 ohm speakers. For that you need larger core (lower guage copper) as the length increases.

[jagabo]

Our local Fry's has 10 foot HDMI cables on sale this weekend for $4.

[redwudz]

The idea with speaker wire is you need to keep resistance down especially with 4 ohm speakers. For that you need larger core (lower guage copper) as the length increases.

I agree with that entirely. But common 16 gage lamp cord should be more than sufficient for runs up to 20 feet or so, depending on the speaker size. But I've seen 'battery cable' gage speaker wire pushed to unknowing audiophiles in the name of higher quality reproduction in some stores.

[edong]

Shoot. I already bought one of this.

http://www.thecableco.com/product.php?id=2288

[redwudz]

It probably accelerates the electrons past light speed.

[MysticE]

I usually buy my video cables from MonoPrice: http://www.monoprice.com/home/index.asp

I'm using a economy MP 40 foot HDMI cable to my HD projector. If there are any problems, I can't see them. Most digital signals are fairly immune to RF interference, so most of the 'Ultra cable' hype is just hype, IMO.

If you had a very low level signal or a very high frequency signal, I could see more reason for concern, but not with speaker cables, or strong digital signals that are generally less than a few Mhz in bandwidth.

The idea with speaker wire is you need to keep resistance down especially with 4 ohm speakers. For that you need larger core (lower guage copper) as the length increases.

This stuff is nice and priced right. It has all the 'official' high end dribble.

Oxygen free copper (OFC) is configured in a rope-lay configuration, 168 x 36 AWG wire construction

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=100-021

[nwo]

dIGITAL's Digital, hi end or low end.

[rhegedus]

Sometimes the shielding on cheapo cables is poor - I used to get ghosting from cable TV when I was watching DVDs as the cables for the two boxes ran side-by-side.

Was fixed with some more expensive cable, but nothing of the Monster price range.