HDMI Cables - The Biggest Scam
 

So, last night I got my new Sony 60" XBR2 set- my DVR box and DVD player both have HDMI output. My old TV didnt have HDMI, so I dont have the cables.

If you go to any run-of-the-mill electronics store (bestbuy, futureshop, sony store) they sell HDMI cables anwhere from $70 - $150 (for 3 - 6ft, canadian dollars).

THIS IS A SCAM.

HDMI connectors cost less than $1 each, and the cable is just insulated copper. Gold plating? Meh, makes no noticable difference (but only costs pennies anyway). You can purchase 6ft HDMI cables online for about $8 + shipping each.

The reason it is a scam? Digital signals suffer very little from interference and also suffer little to no signal degredation over these short distances (unlike analog, although high-end analog cables are a scam all their own to some degree).

Either the 0/1 gets to the other end or it doesn't. Is any cable going to be 100% all the time? NO! Can any human being notice the difference between a $70 cable and a $7 cable? NO!

PLEASE DO NOT BUY HDMI CABLES FOR MORE THAN $10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Noted!!!!!

i paid 30.00 for mine

6ft

Try to find dvi cables cheap that are over 12ft... :Oh crap And yes its a total rip off. :disgust

I just ordered 2 - 6ft cables from www.monoprice.com for a grand total of $40 (including shipping to Canada). There are cheaper places - but they were out of stock.

Also, here's a little article on gizmodo about the cable price-gouging

www.cablesforless.com for all of your cable needs. Fast shipping, tons in stock, very good quality. Top notch outfit!

Ebay has good cheap cables.

Yeah its nuts thats how they make money in those places, they sell the big ticket stuff too cheap and mark the stuff that goes with it up 500%

It's criminal. Someone needs to start an anti-expensive cable grassroots internet educational movement :thumbsup

Yep I got all my Home theater cables off ebay - paid less than $10 for digital audio and HDMI cables - With some research you can definitely get all the highend components for a fraction of the cost.

I remember one time I was helping my parents pick out some electronics at FutureShop. The salesman actually tried telling me that the HDMI cable I picked out (which was their cheapest model on display at a pathetic $60 Canadian) would have a shittier picture than the Monster Cable HDMI cable which was over $120.

I told the guy the signal is digital, there is not going to be a difference. He then made me look at two TVs they had set up side by side, one wired with Monster cable and the other with the cheaper Acoustic Research cables, and said "look at the difference in picture quality!"

I said, first of all, those are two totally different TV sets made by different companies, and second, they are using component video cables, not HDMI.

At that point he knew he wasn't going to get the bigger commission out of me, and he never even bothered to ask about the extended warranty. Fucking idiots. The sad part is my parents would have sprung for the Monster cable if I had not been there.

yeah monster cables are so overpriced

All cables sold in a store is scam.

My GF work at a Futureshop. I bought a printer yesterday, and there was no USB cable in the box. So I took the 3 meter long cable. Was 30$ + taxes. Guess, what, I paid 1,83$ at the staff price. And guess what again, they still make money with the 1,83$ !!

Here's a three pack of HDMI cables listed on Slickdeals for $18. It's showing up on the actual store page for $30.

http://www.supermediastore.com/hdmi-...meter-3pk.html

yep it's always a scam, never buy cables in a retail shop

Unfortunately that deal expired: http://www.slickdeals.net/index.php?...&searchtype=fp

But, $29.99 is still a good deal for three 6` cables with free ground shipping, certainly when compared to BestBuy or Circuit City. I'm ordering this now, and I won't need them for another month or two :)

http://www.supermediastore.com/hdmi-...meter-3pk.html

yea, same with other cables, like printer cables... you buy a $100 printer, and the sales guy tries to push you a $25 printer cable, same cable you can buy for $5 online...

Shit - here's a 6' cable for $5.99 US http://www.xpcgear.com/6fthdmi2hdmi.html

ya they arent cheap sorry.

Yeah, we ordered them yesterday morning sometime. I thought it looked strange when I clicked on the page today. Seems like a good enough deal considering what they're trying to get for them at Best Buy.

I've been using 2 HDMIs for about a year. One came free with a DVD player, another was bought from a cable outlet on eBay for around $25. I believe the MonsterCable BS is a scam. Sure, it might be a bit better - but $100 better? Crap. My cheapie HDMIs seem to work just fine. It's nice to be able to get rid of that giant ribbon of component cable.

not to mention HDMI cables apparently don't support 7.1 sound...

ummmmmmm.. HDMI cables transmit uncompressed digital video information only.

The reality is that there is no such thing as a 'better' cable. As long as it is an insulated piece of copper wire with two HDMI connectors on the end, they will all transmit data exactly the same.

no they dont, the new ones transmit up to 5.1 audio aswell.



I always thought Component Video was the best quality though?

ok.. i stand corrected.

hdmi 1.3 will handle 7.1 I believe.

cablewholesale.com is pretty good on long cables.

Yea that's where the electronic stores make their money. Selling shit like that to people who don't know any better. It's a easy sell too being they likely just spent at least $2k on the television.

you can find them online all day long for 5-20 where the stores are 50-100

ebay is where to go

I was under the impression CV was a wash with HDMI? I had them both running at the same time for a while, and couldn't detect a lick of difference when switching back and forth while watching HDTV. Perhaps metering equipment has demonstrated a superior transmission medium?

i could be wrong (again) but I dont think CV supports 1080p?

Yeah it's such a scam, I remember back in College when I sold Electronics for Sears we would sell TV's (there were no plasmas or LCD's at the time) and the TV's we would sell practically for cost. Where the money was made was on the stands! We would sell Sony TV stands for $300+++ it was crazy! The stands probably cost $15 in wood and were all disassembled, you had to put them together yourself!

We used to carry Monster Cable as well and I would tell people to their face that they were crazy if they spent money on them. You could go to Radio Shack in the mall and pick up the same damn wires without the monster cable logo on them for 90% less.

I see the same things now with Plasma wall mounts, they are $200+ in most cases and the wiring is way more expensive than it was.

I guess these electronics companies got to make money somewhere.

DH

What's worse is we make 6.75 commission off it haha

Ok here's the breakdown..

Are monster cables and accessories worth it image/sound quality wise? NO

Do you need quality cables? YES

Should you buy Monster? Only if it's the only quality product in the store.

See cheaper cables do inherit noise that affect signals, including if the signal is digital.

See digital requires bandwidth,,, more noise on the line and interference the less avail bandwidth. You wont notice it on anything under 720p with 5.1+ audio though. They're the only things that really need that kind of bandwidth.

Analogue is even more important. I wont buy high end audio cables or vdeo cables unless 720p and up though. I will go to the dollar store and pickup the shielded 1/4 inch thick cables. They are very well shielded.

Quality of construction is very important. Do you really want to put a cheap HDMI connector into your 2000 dollar TV? I sure as hell don't. HDMI breaks off very easy and if not perfect can fuck up the pins and sockets of the hdmi slots.

I picked up Futureshop's banded "Rocketfish" cables and its best of both worlds, Good shielding, decent connectors and still cheap enough.

It's a scam for sure. I have been bitching about this for a few years now.

It's a scam for sure. The stands are a rip off as well. I have been bitching about this for a few years now. They make next to nothing selling the TV and then ream you on the accessories to make up for it.



Ooops GFY hiccup.

congrats on your tv

Bought a laser printer for 100$(no usb cable came with it). The store was selling the usb cable for 30$+. I went to an electronics store and got a longer, better quality usb cable for 5$.

you guys nuts or what ?

sure it's makes some different, gold platted connectors are mandatory in high end stereo setups, I bet you dont feel difference between 5k and 10k stereo setup system =(

costco has a pretty good 'hd wiring box' complete w/ 2hdmi, 2 component video, subwoofer cable, optical, and a bunch of other shit, for about $80 i think... best in store deal if you don't want to deal w/ online.

Audio Cables - Fact & Fiction Revealed
An Interview with Gene DellaSala from Audioholics.com on Audio Cables

Q:
Can cables make an audible difference?

A:
Most definitely, but usually not for the reasons that many exotic cable vendors would have you believe. And the “difference” may or may not be a good thing. We refer to companies that produce high glossy cables constructed of elaborate metals and/or wrappings supported by fancy marketing to justify high prices as Exotic Cable vendors. We have seen many exotic speaker cables that actually acted like a tone control rolling off high frequency response due to excessive resistance and inductance, while we have seen other cables make a system sound bright because of their excessive capacitance causing the amplifier to peak its high frequency response. Be cautious about exotic cable vendors that do not specify cable metrics or downplay the importance of measurements.

Q:
What is the purpose of an audio cable?

A:
That’s a good question and certainly often a misunderstood one due to the bombardment of misinformation in the audio industry. The basic purpose of a cable is to transfer the signal from point A to point B unadulterated. At audio frequencies the goal is to minimize losses by controlling the amount of Resistance, Inductance and Capacitance. For speaker cables, we have found the primary concerns for optimal signal transfer is to minimize resistance, followed by inductance, while also keeping capacitance in check to eliminate the possibilities of amplifier oscillation or frequency peaking. For line level analog interconnects it’s a good idea to use cables that are low in capacitance and are well shielded to eliminate interference and external noise sources from mitigating into the signal. For video, good shielding and maintaining the proper characteristic impedance is vital. For more details on cable basics, I encourage your readership to review our Cable Budget Guidelines article.

Q:
Should I buy expensive cables?

A:
Provided that the cables are properly designed and meet your specific requirements I see no reason why you shouldn’t invest in quality, not necessarily expensive cables. However, many of the lavishly priced exotic cables are not designed well and more often the case than not, cheaper cables, which are usually not covered in bogus marketing literature, offer better performance and certainly better value.

Q:
How much should I invest in cables?

A:
We generally recommend about 5-7% of total system cost. Anything more would be better spent on higher performance electronics, speakers, room treatments or software.

Q:
Why do some cables cost so much?

A:
In my opinion, there are several reasons actually.

1) In HiFi, if a product doesn’t carry a very high price, it won’t be taken seriously by many audiophiles.

2) Many of the exotics are niche products that sell in low quantities to a limited market, thus in order to be profitable must carry a high price tag to pay for company overhead and marketing expenses.

3) Some of the exotic cables do involve higher material costs. While this may not improve the electrical or audible characteristics of the cables, it does usually improve their cosmetics and product appeal.

Q:
Who really makes cables, and who just puts their logo on them?

A:
Very few cable vendors, especially the exotic brands, manufacturer their own cables. Most of them buy large reels of wire from China and either repackage them locally or have them labeled with their Logo overseas. In fact we usually receive 2-3 emails/week from overseas vendors wanting to manufacturer and brand Audioholics.com cables for us. What do you think, good idea ?

Q:
Why is there so much confusion about cables?

A:
I suspect misinformation and low consumer awareness are the key reasons. Of course glowing subjective reviews and endorsements in audio publications don’t help this either. Many exotic cable vendors know the average consumer/audiophile has little or no background in electronics, yet they somehow have to justify why their products cost so much and why the consumer/audiophile needs them. So with that, the exotic cable vendor concocts marketing literature, usually in the form of a story, based on half engineering truths or misapplied engineering principles to lure you in. They often reject the proven fundamental truths that govern these principles and claim established associated theories cannot be verified through measurements or engineering certainties, but instead only through hearing. What they fail to provide however is repeatable statistical data and correlation that their cables do sound “better” for the reasons they tout. They often go one step further and claim it can take weeks for the consumer to hear the benefits of their cables since they require a break in period. In reality cable break in is another misnomer, which I suspect is used to convince the customer to keep the cables beyond the retailers return policy. In addition, statistically, the longer the customer keeps a product the less likely they are to return it.

Q:
Are there any industry cable standards?

A:
Unfortunately no. Organizations such as the FTC do not regulate cable vendor claims and most cable vendors are slick with their claims by how they phrase them by using terms like (can, may, in our opinion, etc). Their claim about solving a problem that really doesn’t exist is mostly nebulous. For example, if the vendor claims their cables resolve “Strand Jumping” ten times better than ordinary 12AWG Zip Cord, then since this problem really doesn’t exist, ten times zero is still zero.

Rest assured that Audioholics.com will always serve the consumers as the voice of reasons about cables and will question illegitimate claims made by any cable vendor when they surface on our radar screens. We are working to establish standards for the audio industry on cables as you will soon see in up and coming articles.

Q:
Why aren’t hardware vendors who design the electronics more vocal about cables?

A:
This is a rather complicated subject that I will try to answer as eloquently as possible without offending anyone. Many of the reputable hardware vendors I have spoken with feel exactly as I do about cables, at least privately. I suspect they aren’t publicly vocal about it because they don’t want to undercut their dealerships. Believe it or not, most dealer’s bread and butter result from cable sales. Cables offer some of the highest profit margins in the industry. It is not uncommon for a dealer to do in excess of $100K/month in revenues for cable sales where they would be lucky to do 1/4th of that in sales and maybe 1/8th in profit margins of say loudspeakers.