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Poll - Your Favorite HDMI Cable  

post #1 of 130
6/6/11 at 12:05pm
Thread Starter 
I'm a long time user of expense Monster cables including HDMI's. Now that I need two additional HDMI's I thought a poll would be an interesting way to ascertain AVS members opinions.

Please participate in and comment On this poll.

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post #2 of 130
6/6/11 at 12:29pm
^^^

- monoprice, tartan, etc. for shorties (anything up to 25')...

- bjc belden cable for long runs (25' and over)...

edit: where's the poll?
post #3 of 130
6/6/11 at 12:37pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ccotenj View Post
^^^

- monoprice, tartan, etc. for shorties (anything up to 25')...

- bjc belden cable for long runs (25' and over)...

edit: where's the poll?
You answered while I was creating the poll.
post #4 of 130
6/6/11 at 12:50pm
Monoprice
post #5 of 130
6/12/11 at 8:38pm
Monoprice is fantastic. I have told all my friends and neighbors about them.
post #6 of 130
6/13/11 at 12:01pm
Monoprice Monoprice Monoprice. All 8 of my HDMI cables,all 6 of my Component video cables and all 6 of my s-video cables come from Monoprice,and have never had any issues with any of them.They just work. No need for Monster cables with MONSTER prices.They don't work any better,they just cost more. G.
post #7 of 130
6/16/11 at 11:06am
Try audioquest forest hdmi. For me the cable is excellent.
post #8 of 130
6/16/11 at 11:10am
^^^

i would imagine it is... however, it's not any "better" than a MUCH cheaper cable...
post #9 of 130
6/16/11 at 11:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by greaser View Post
Monoprice Monoprice Monoprice. All 8 of my HDMI cables,all 6 of my Component video cables and all 6 of my s-video cables come from Monoprice,and have never had any issues with any of them.They just work. No need for Monster cables with MONSTER prices.They don't work any better,they just cost more. G.
There's more Monoprice cables running in our walls than any other brand. They just work...
post #10 of 130
6/22/11 at 8:06pm
Monster cables=BS!!!!!
post #11 of 130
6/23/11 at 12:10am
Another vote for Monoprice!
post #12 of 130
6/24/11 at 8:58am
Audioquest Cinnamon for the Blu ray player, Audioquest Forest for DVD, HDDVD and Sat receiver. After trying Monster, Sony and Vizio cables, Audioquest is an excellent improvement. To me the best cable.
post #13 of 130
6/24/11 at 4:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HDPERSON View Post

After trying Monster, Sony and Vizio cables, Audioquest is an excellent improvement. To me the best cable.

In what way?
post #14 of 130
6/24/11 at 4:56pm
I use Vanco Installer series.
post #15 of 130
6/24/11 at 11:38pm
i use amazon branded cables for all my shorter lengths - bd to receiver, tuner to receiver. They are cheap, work great and amazon is a company that i trust. why would i spend 50 + for a cable when i can get it for less than 10 with, imo, just as good quality.

i also have one blue jean cable that is 35 ft 23.5 gauge that runs from my my PJ though the attic to my receiver. It gets toasty up there....at $98 I get a cable with amazing quality with out the monster price.
post #16 of 130
6/25/11 at 5:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by msgohan View Post

In what way?

Color and clarity. Try one, if you don't see a difference return it. The construction of audioquest doesn't involve twisted wires but straight long wires that are uni-directional. The cables are cold soddered not the metal soiddering of the cheap cables. I found that the Cinnamon was too colorful for DVD upconversion and now use it for my dedicated Blu ray player. I use Forest for my DVD upconversion.

The Monster, Sony and Vizio all gave a good picture, but the audioquest gave me a visual and audio difference.

You know the thing I could never understand is individuals buying $3,000 worth of electronics and then paying $5 for a cable. LOL

Then again that is their choice.
post #17 of 130
6/25/11 at 5:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by iamjason View Post

i use amazon branded cables for all my shorter lengths - bd to receiver, tuner to receiver. They are cheap, work great and amazon is a company that i trust. why would i spend 50 + for a cable when i can get it for less than 10 with, imo, just as good quality.

i also have one blue jean cable that is 35 ft 23.5 gauge that runs from my my PJ though the attic to my receiver. It gets toasty up there....at $98 I get a cable with amazing quality with out the monster price.

Try a blind test with audioquest Cinnamon or Forest with your friends and I believe you will see and hear a difference. I know my friends and I did. If you don't think they are worth it, then retrurn them.
post #18 of 130
6/25/11 at 5:33am
^^^

please post a detailed description of your testing protocol...

then take a few minutes to do some research... it won't take you long to find out why what "you and your friends are seeing and hearing" is nothing more than placebo...

your mileage will NOT vary on this...

"I found that the Cinnamon was too colorful for DVD upconversion and now use it for my dedicated Blu ray player. I use Forest for my DVD upconversion."

please... all this does is further expose your ignorance about how this all works...

"You know the thing I could never understand is individuals buying $3,000 worth of electronics and then paying $5 for a cable. LOL"

umm... because the $5 cable works, maybe?

as long as you are bringing up "things you could never understand", if you take a few minutes, you'll gain a great amount of understanding about why your assertions in this thread are wholly incorrect...

i'm still shaking my head over the "too colorful" comment...
post #19 of 130
6/25/11 at 5:38am
Blue Jean Cables have good
post #20 of 130
6/25/11 at 9:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by HDPERSON View Post

...

You know the thing I could never understand is individuals buying $3,000 worth of electronics and then paying $5 for a cable. LOL

Then again that is their choice.

Excuse me, Mr. "HDPerson"...In another thread didn't you just post,

"The vizio tv is worth the wait. As for a 3d blu ray player, I purchased the Panasonic t110. The panasonic can convert 2d to 3d and has a great 2d or 3d picture."

In a different thread you then said,

"I purchased the dmp 75 (755 with hdmi cable) yesterday from Cosco for the purpose of playing DVDs. I set the picture quality to fine. I have the DVD and Blu Ray of Thunderball. The picture quality is excellent in both cases. Hard to tell the difference. Great little machine. I don't use the internet connection. I use the audioquest Forest hdmi, which is far better than the sony, monster and vizio hdmi cables that I had."

So you can't tell the difference between a Blu-Ray and a DVD and yet you can tell the difference between two different brands of HDMI cables? Huh? That makes no sense.

Perhaps you should spend more money on components and less money on cables if you're really trying to improve your picture? However it's your money to waste as you see fit. But, please don't advise others to waste money unless you have some credible evidence to back up your claim. So far you have not provided anything but that you can return the cables if you don't like them. Are you a dealer? If so, all you are doing is causing people to not buy these cables with the lack-of-arguments you've written so far.

Your credibility is shot on this forum. However, I'd still like to see your data (as we said in the other thread). Also could you explain how you did the blind test you referenced? You should at least be able to do that.

For those enjoying this thread in the future, let me reitterate -The only job of an HDMI cable is to get 1s and 0s from one end of the cable to the other end of the cable. If the cable is working properly, the same 1s and 0s that "enter" the cable will be the ones that "exit" the cable. Because of the error correction available, even some errors can be tolerated but due to encryption and the high bit rate any great amount of errors will result in no picture, a screen of a solid color, solid lines or sparkles. The errors will be highly visible. If you have a cable where you don't see any of these symptoms, you are getting all of the 1s and 0s that there are to send. Changing to a more expensive cable will just give you the same 1s and 0s you already had and will make your bank account smaller. It's that simple.
post #21 of 130
6/25/11 at 11:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by alk3997 View Post

Excuse me, Mr. "HDPerson"...In another thread didn't you just post,

"The vizio tv is worth the wait. As for a 3d blu ray player, I purchased the Panasonic t110. The panasonic can convert 2d to 3d and has a great 2d or 3d picture."

In a different thread you then said,

"I purchased the dmp 75 (755 with hdmi cable) yesterday from Cosco for the purpose of playing DVDs. I set the picture quality to fine. I have the DVD and Blu Ray of Thunderball. The picture quality is excellent in both cases. Hard to tell the difference. Great little machine. I don't use the internet connection. I use the audioquest Forest hdmi, which is far better than the sony, monster and vizio hdmi cables that I had."

So you can't tell the difference between a Blu-Ray and a DVD and yet you can tell the difference between two different brands of HDMI cables? Huh? That makes no sense.

Perhaps you should spend more money on components and less money on cables if you're really trying to improve your picture? However it's your money to waste as you see fit. But, please don't advise others to waste money unless you have some credible evidence to back up your claim. So far you have not provided anything but that you can return the cables if you don't like them. Are you a dealer? If so, all you are doing is causing people to not buy these cables with the lack-of-arguments you've written so far.

Your credibility is shot on this forum. However, I'd still like to see your data (as we said in the other thread). Also could you explain how you did the blind test you referenced? You should at least be able to do that.

For those enjoying this thread in the future, let me reitterate -The only job of an HDMI cable is to get 1s and 0s from one end of the cable to the other end of the cable. If the cable is working properly, the same 1s and 0s that "enter" the cable will be the ones that "exit" the cable. Because of the error correction available, even some errors can be tolerated but due to encryption and the high bit rate any great amount of errors will result in no picture, a screen of a solid color, solid lines or sparkles. The errors will be highly visible. If you have a cable where you don't see any of these symptoms, you are getting all of the 1s and 0s that there are to send. Changing to a more expensive cable will just give you the same 1s and 0s you already had and will make your bank account smaller. It's that simple.

I don't know why you are so upset. You should look at What HiFi magazine test results say on cables.

For me you have no credibility because I don't know you.

I see the difference when using a monster, sony or vizio cable compared to an audioquest cable on my 755 or 210, I even own a 110 for use with my Vizio. I use the 210 for my blu ray movies and my 755 for dvd upconversion so that I don't overwork the 210. You can't tell me that all hdmi cables are the same, because test results show other wise (although Vizio is close). The 210 and 755 are used for my Toshiba TV.

As for the Thunderball reference, the forest cable produced pictures extremely close in presentation between Blu Ray and DVD. Monster, Sony and Vizio showed a difference.

I have two copies of some movies that I own and showed my friends using different cables, the pictures. Changing machines and cables without them knowing which is which, they all could see the "Pop in picture quality and sound quality" from audioquest.

You being so upset because someone buys better cables should not be. If you wish to spend little money on cables for high priced electronic equipment that is up to you.

Please look at the test results and your own eyes.

I am not a dealer, just a person telling others about his experience.

I thought forums were for sharing experiences not for agendas. If you feel that cheap cables are the same as expensive ones (for monster I might agree) then that is your decision, but not mine.

Places like Best Buy will take a cable back, if it doesn't suit your needs, I did it with monster 1000.

Calm down please.
post #22 of 130
6/25/11 at 11:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ccotenj View Post

^^^

please post a detailed description of your testing protocol...

then take a few minutes to do some research... it won't take you long to find out why what "you and your friends are seeing and hearing" is nothing more than placebo...

your mileage will NOT vary on this...

"I found that the Cinnamon was too colorful for DVD upconversion and now use it for my dedicated Blu ray player. I use Forest for my DVD upconversion."

please... all this does is further expose your ignorance about how this all works...

"You know the thing I could never understand is individuals buying $3,000 worth of electronics and then paying $5 for a cable. LOL"

Protocol is in the previous thread.

umm... because the $5 cable works, maybe?

as long as you are bringing up "things you could never understand", if you take a few minutes, you'll gain a great amount of understanding about why your assertions in this thread are wholly incorrect...

i'm still shaking my head over the "too colorful" comment...

Check out the WHAT HIFI magazine test results and your own eyes, because without those two tests your verbage shows your ignorance. Try the Cinnamon and tell me your experience. I know about the 1s and 0s, do you know about signal lossnot significant to turn your screen black.

Until you try the Forest or Cinnamon your words are just words. You being upset also makes no sense.

I am not a dealer, do you deal in rocketfish hdmis? LOL
post #23 of 130
6/25/11 at 1:13pm
HDP, your well-reasoned and consistent-with-the laws-of-physics arguments are obviously being corrupted on the way from your keyboard to this forum. Is it possible that you have a cheap Ethernet cable somewhere in your network that is introducing logical errors into your posts?
post #24 of 130
6/25/11 at 2:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HDPERSON View Post

Check out the WHAT HIFI magazine test results...

I did! The reviewers seem to understand as little about digital transmission of audio and video as you do. If it doesn't produce sparkles or worse, any HDMI cable is up to the task. Changing it for another will not yield a change in contrast, hue, saturation, sharpness or any of the other attributes that we traditionally use to judge a picture. HDMI cable problems cause data errors, and the effects are not subtle. Colors do not appear a little less, or more, vibrant, they are just plain wrong. If you want to understand how HDMI cables work, check out the information available at Blue Jeans Cable.

This is not to say your experience is not valid. We all experience the world differently. Your experience, though, flies in the face of the science. So forgive us if we are skeptical.
post #25 of 130
6/25/11 at 3:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by schan1269 View Post

I use Vanco Installer series.

Same here.. Work perfect every time and don't break the bank.
post #26 of 130
6/25/11 at 3:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HDPERSON View Post

The construction of audioquest doesn't involve twisted wires but straight long wires that are uni-directional. The cables are cold soddered not the metal soiddering of the cheap cables.

According to Audioquest, their HDMI cables do indeed use twisted pairs and the connectors are wave soldered.
post #27 of 130
6/25/11 at 8:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HDPERSON View Post

...

I thought forums were for sharing experiences not for agendas. If you feel that cheap cables are the same as expensive ones (for monster I might agree) then that is your decision, but not mine.

Places like Best Buy will take a cable back, if it doesn't suit your needs, I did it with monster 1000.

Calm down please.

I'm actually quite calm - this is more amusing to me than upsetting although I have to admit a bit of annoyance that I can't explain things in a way you'll actually (be able to) understand.

If we just for a second assume you are correct, it means the following:

1) Bits are being changed inside the cable. HDMI only sends digital data, therefore the bits must be changing.

2) The bit changes are actually performing something constructive rather than generating errors

3) Any error correction bits as well as the encryption scheme is being modified in such a way as to allow the transmission to produce a valid picture with the modified bits

But, again, if we agree with you, then that leads to some interesting possibilities. Since cables shrink and flex differently at different temperatures, wouldn't a colder HDMI cable then produce a different (and possibly better) result? Shouldn't you therefore always try to keep the entire HDMI cable at a constant temperature throughout? I would think above freezing would be required but as cold as possible to reduce the friction of the 0s trying to get through the cable. Perhaps string the HDMI cable with cooling coils?

Would the direction of the cable in the Earth's magnetic field also affect the 1s and 0s? Wouldn't you want the 1s to be polarized horizontally so that they make it through the cable easier? So there should be a noticible effect is the cable is horizontal versus vertically oriented as well as whether the cable runs North-to-South or if it runs East-to-West. Based on the some recent analysis and some AB tests with friends, the best orientation seems to be North By Northwest. My friend George Kaplan strongly agreed with that assessment.

Also I believe if you reduce the effects of blue light frequencies on the cable it would also help your Blu-Ray player. So, using a blue magic marker to coat the cable insulator so blue light is reflected away would therefore provide less interference for a transmission to a Blu-Ray player. Of course for DVDs you would want use a red magic marker.

Yes, the internet is a haven for people who can spout opinions without a shred of evidence to support their claims. Unfortunately that leaves readers with the task of find out what is true and what is false. That is fine, except when someone tries to convince people to spend more money without trying to back-up the claim. It really is the modern day equivalent of the snake oil salesman from the late-1800s trying to cure diseases by selling liquids that had no medicinal powers.

Gotta run - Elvis is calling me from Mars and he hates being put on hold. Keep letting us know about that data you have. I'm sure it will be mind-bending!

BTW, I laughed my way through the WHAT HIFI reviews. The HDMI cable reviews were some of the most nonsensical reviews I've read. Thanks for the good laugh!!!
post #28 of 130
6/26/11 at 3:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by alk3997 View Post

I'm actually quite calm - this is more amusing to me than upsetting although I have to admit a bit of annoyance that I can't explain things in a way you'll actually (be able to) understand.

If we just for a second assume you are correct, it means the following:

1) Bits are being changed inside the cable. HDMI only sends digital data, therefore the bits must be changing.

2) The bit changes are actually performing something constructive rather than generating errors

3) Any error correction bits as well as the encryption scheme is being modified in such a way as to allow the transmission to produce a valid picture with the modified bits

You can laugh at an acredited magazine like WHAT HI FI for their extensive testing if you like, but you are ignoring evidence because you disagree with it. Also from what you say I know you have never purchased either Forest or Cinnamon, so again you speak without knowledge.

Your's is a typical reaction of someone not trying items or ignoring true testing. I am glad you are calm. Have a fun nice day.

I will never stop laughing at spending $5 for cables on a $3,000 system.

But, again, if we agree with you, then that leads to some interesting possibilities. Since cables shrink and flex differently at different temperatures, wouldn't a colder HDMI cable then produce a different (and possibly better) result? Shouldn't you therefore always try to keep the entire HDMI cable at a constant temperature throughout? I would think above freezing would be required but as cold as possible to reduce the friction of the 0s trying to get through the cable. Perhaps string the HDMI cable with cooling coils?

Would the direction of the cable in the Earth's magnetic field also affect the 1s and 0s? Wouldn't you want the 1s to be polarized horizontally so that they make it through the cable easier? So there should be a noticible effect is the cable is horizontal versus vertically oriented as well as whether the cable runs North-to-South or if it runs East-to-West. Based on the some recent analysis and some AB tests with friends, the best orientation seems to be North By Northwest. My friend George Kaplan strongly agreed with that assessment.

Also I believe if you reduce the effects of blue light frequencies on the cable it would also help your Blu-Ray player. So, using a blue magic marker to coat the cable insulator so blue light is reflected away would therefore provide less interference for a transmission to a Blu-Ray player. Of course for DVDs you would want use a red magic marker.

Yes, the internet is a haven for people who can spout opinions without a shred of evidence to support their claims. Unfortunately that leaves readers with the task of find out what is true and what is false. That is fine, except when someone tries to convince people to spend more money without trying to back-up the claim. It really is the modern day equivalent of the snake oil salesman from the late-1800s trying to cure diseases by selling liquids that had no medicinal powers.

Gotta run - Elvis is calling me from Mars and he hates being put on hold. Keep letting us know about that data you have. I'm sure it will be mind-bending!

BTW, I laughed my way through the WHAT HIFI reviews. The HDMI cable reviews were some of the most nonsensical reviews I've read. Thanks for the good laugh!!!

You can laugh at an acredited magazine as WHAT HI FI is if you want because it is evidence against what you stand for. You probably have never purchased Forest or Cinnamon, which means that you don't know anything about them either.

I am glad that you are calm, becuse ignorance is bliss.
post #29 of 130
6/26/11 at 3:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colm View Post

According to Audioquest, their HDMI cables do indeed use twisted pairs and the connectors are wave soldered.

According to Audioquest the only twisted wire is the ethernet wire. Video is on line explaining Audioquest makeup. If you have a chance you can look them up if you want.
post #30 of 130
6/26/11 at 3:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by petern View Post

HDP, your well-reasoned and consistent-with-the laws-of-physics arguments are obviously being corrupted on the way from your keyboard to this forum. Is it possible that you have a cheap Ethernet cable somewhere in your network that is introducing logical errors into your posts?

No my keyboard is fine. LOL

What I do find interesting are posters that ignore evidence by WHAT HJI FI magazine and/or have never purchased the audioquest cables to see the difference.

Instead I find that some individuals after buying one type cable and saying they are all alike. Now that is funny.
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