Another Opinion - A Matter of Integrity

[terrypaullin]

"I was reading your article, thinking to myself "gee, right-on, a guy who pushes honesty and integrity in the A/V world, how rare and excellent"... and then I saw your cable statement..."

Andrew, I can promise you there IS a visible difference in cable quality. When I first got in the business, I thought all the hype was just so much Marketing BS too. And, indeed, much of that hype is nonsense. The very high end is absolutely not necessary

[hharris4earthlink]

My experience is that some suppliers will sell you HDMI cable of any length without regard to actual performance. I bought a 35 ft length of HDMI cable that produced a digital picture with snow in it, just like an analog set with a weak signal. The supplier was nice about it, gave me a refund and told me I could keep the cable.

Henry

[terrypaullin]

Henry, at least the vendor had enough integrity to do the best he could for you. What we wish for, of course, is that he had had the right cable (that worked) for you in the first place, saving both of you time and energy. The fact that he didn't want the old one back (to get credit with HIS supplier) means that he paid so little for it in the first place, it just wasn't worth it.

I buy my HDMI cable through a wholesale chain called AVAD. Between AVAD and ADI, they cover 90%+ of all custom installers in the country. Avad sells HDMI cable in three categories. 1. "Standard" which come with NO performance guarantees. 2. A middle grade which they call something like "Select", is guaranteed to 25ft. at 1080i. 3. "Advanced" ensures 50ft. at 1080p. My point is, at least one serious supplier is making some attempt to point their customers in the right direction as a function of performance. B-T-W, a 50ft. cable certified to 1080p costs $175 - WHOLESALE!

I would like to know what you finally ended up with that cured the problem....................

[hharris4earthlink]

I originally wanted to have my PS3 on the side of the living room where I sit. I solved the problem by doing everything wireless and keeping the PS3 near the display thus avoiding the long cable. The PS3 now uses wi-fi to connect to the Internet and I use a wireless controller. This arrangement has the major advantage of keeping the wife happy; she hates wires in the living room no matter how cleverly I hide them.

Henry

[Ars6091]

To tell you the truth all the "debate" about cables makes me laugh, I mean what's the point?.....I bought a high end Monster HDMI cable for the $2,500.00 Sony HD set I bought....does it make a difference?....hell if I know....but I just spent over 2 grand on the set, I figured why go cheap on the cable?......maybe a $6.00 cable would have been just as good but either way, it's not like spending another $80.00 bucks for the Monster cable is going to put me in the poor house or something. Plus I have peace of mind.......It might not make a difference, but if you put them side by side it's obvious Monster is better made cable......whatever

[dabhome]

I agree if all you are buying is one cable then it won't make a difference. But, what if you are buying 5 or 6 cables. Now it starts to add up to real money.

I needed a cable for my XBOX 360, PS3, Cable Box, Oppo Digital DVD, PC, and from the amplifier to the TV. So at $80 a cable that would have cost $480.00. Not to mention various other cables for my WII, from the TV to the amplifier, digital cable from Oppo Digital to amplifier, cables from VCR (the wife still uses), and analog cables from multidisk CD player to amplifier)

Basically, cables can add up!!

David

[hharris4earthlink]

There's no reason that you can't position most of these devices near the HD display thus minimizing the length of the cable. Keeping the cables short and using wireless connections to controllers and the Internet can drastically reduce the cost since high quality is generally only necessary for the longer HDMI cables. Furniture stores sell two-tower shelf configurations with glass fronts and an adjustable space between for a HD display. This configuration not only keeps the cable lengths short, it hides the cables that would otherwise make your living room look more like a mad scientist's lair.

Henry