http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/ Engadget HD Comments for Monster Cable producing "speed-rated" HDMI cables http://hd.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://hd.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/Aug 29th 2007 12:57PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/Aug 29th 2007 1:13PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/
6' cables = $4.71]]>Aug 29th 2007 1:13PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/Aug 29th 2007 1:29PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/
HDMI cables right now are a rip off from just about every company selling them in stores.

Monster is a lot like Bose, marketing over product quality.

I will stick to brands like AudioQuest, Blue Jean or the ones I build myself based on Blue Jean cables. Well that and good old Home Depot wire for my speakers.

@The General

That site looks like it has some descent stuff as far as I can tell. Monoprice.com is another place that is similar that has what I would consider good quality HDMI cables for very reasonable prices. Looks like both sites are worth looking at.

]]>Aug 29th 2007 1:34PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/
It is this "cable quality awareness" that makes it so that the cheapest cable for anything at Best Buy is $20. For HDMI: $40. For the same cable that would have cost $10 before Monster came on the scene.


For most people, with the equipment they have, any Radio Shack level cable would do the trick. If on the other hand, you are putting together a $20,000 Audiophile quality system, you will already know what kind of cable quality you need (and what it can cost).

Today where everything is digital, cable quality matters very little (okay let's not get into audiophile territory where in audio applications a digital co-axial has to be at exactly 75ohms to prevent timing errors in the signal that show up as jitter that the person with the $6,000 CD transport connected to the $12,000 DAC will hear), and any Monoprice level cable will do the job.

For my video setup I'm using Monoprice all the way. For my audio setup - don't ask. ]]>Aug 29th 2007 5:57PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/Aug 29th 2007 1:35PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/
Ima see what there stock has been like the past 6-months because people gotta be buying stuff for them to pull a move like this]]>Aug 29th 2007 1:42PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/
Maybe it's not working, so they make these graded things just to trick people into thinking, "oh look, this has a higher grade, I should definitely buy it."

*shrug*]]>Aug 29th 2007 2:01PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/
Where would Worst Buy and their Kool Aid drinking stooge employees be without them.

No way to make a living, ripping folks off who don't know any better.]]>Aug 29th 2007 2:15PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/Aug 29th 2007 2:18PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/Aug 29th 2007 3:30PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/
but most of the consumer electronics sales people don't know any better either.

All we can do is keep getting the word out: spread it far and wide that no one need spend over $15 on a digital signal cable of standard consumer-home-theatre length (6'-10').]]>Aug 29th 2007 3:28PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/
I've been using Monster HDMI cables for a while now, and the picture on my LCDs seems to "pop" more than other brands I've tried (Blue Jean and Dayton included). I've been fortunate enough to get mine from eBay at drastically reduced prices, however, some even in their original packaging. While I have little interest in these new "speed-rated" ones, I've done enough side-by-side comparisons at home to know what I like.

Not everyone detests Monster (or Bose for thst matter), and buying from them doesn't necessarily mean an uninformed or excessive purchase. Just my two cents; please don't start flaming me.]]>Aug 29th 2007 3:26PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/
Just a FYI.]]>Aug 29th 2007 5:24PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/
I'm much more impressed with the BlueJeans Cable Series 1 bonded HDMI cables:

125ft run with 1080p60
http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/dvi/index.htm

Bose and Monster don't make crap per se, they just charge too much for what they do offer. There are much better products on the market at comparable prices.

Think of it like buying a Corolla which is not a bad car, but now buy a Corolla at 7series prices. Similar situation with both Bose and Monster.]]>Aug 29th 2007 3:55PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/]]>Aug 29th 2007 5:57PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/File under "go back to high school physics".]]>Aug 29th 2007 6:39PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/Why do you think CAT5/6 ethernet cables are specially made but not just "any x many strands of copper laid straight in a plastic tube" ?
There are a few things that go into the design of good cables, both quality of copper and layout/twists to ensure good signal strength over the wire and insulation from environment and other nearby cables.

For short lengths (really anything under 2-3 meters) you can use the cheapest HDMI cable. But for anything longer and if you are piping 1080p signal and x.1 channel LPCM audio through it, you will start to see corruption and "packet loss"/jitter in bad cables.

That said, I agree with people here in that Monster generally makes sub-par cables that are very expensive.
]]>Aug 29th 2007 7:39PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/
I have a 50ft HDMI cable from monoprice that costs about as much as Monster's 6ft cable, and I have yet to see any problems using it with 1080p video. That's supposedly unusual, but not many people need that much length. In a regular home video setup, just about any cable is fine.]]>Aug 29th 2007 8:57PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/Aug 29th 2007 9:39PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/
If an HDMI cable is bad or defective, it will show clear and obvious breakup and/or sparkles.

There is NO difference between a working cheap cable and a working expensive cable. The image quality is 100% identical.]]>Aug 30th 2007 12:10PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/Aug 29th 2007 10:24PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/Aug 30th 2007 12:38AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/Aug 30th 2007 6:04AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/
Which is nice considering I buy all my cables at close-to-cost.

I tend not to sell Monster unless a customer specifically asks for it, mainly because as much as everyone on the 'net complains about how much margin is on Monster's cables, there is way, way more margin on stuff like Acoustic Research, Blue Jeans or Philips cables. (About double, in terms of percentage)
]]>Aug 30th 2007 10:55AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/Aug 30th 2007 1:53PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/Aug 30th 2007 11:43PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/http://hd.engadget.com/2007/08/29/monster-cable-producing-speed-rated-hdmi-cables/
My monoprice $5/6ft and $7/15ft HDMI cables work perfectly, and don't leave me feeling like a sucker.]]>Aug 31st 2007 1:24PM