HDMI cables

[BEK-46P]

What is a decent amount to spend on one of these? There are lots of el-cheapos on eBay under $10, but are these any good? Or is it worth forking out a bit more? I'm connecting Full HD TV with 3D Blu-ray home theatre.

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[poita]

i spend about $50 on them, nothing too over the top but still decent

run PS3, laptop, boxee box with them no worries.


if you got money burning holes in your pocket buy monster cable

[guy 27]

i spend around $50 per meter on them. can't remember which brand they are but they do the job well enough.

if you got money burning holes in your pocket buy monster cable

please don't unless you can use it as a tax write off.

[poita]

sorry forgot the /sarcasm

[Jerram]

aussiehifi, where I used to work, sold 1.5m HDMIs for around $30, and 10m ones for $109. They are of chinese origin (though of solid construction with use of gold plating where necessary) and we volume imported them but to be honest I don't think I ever had one fail on me in all the shop displays we used them in or at home where I have a few. Since HDMI is digital the quality of cabling in no way affects the end result like analogue cabling does (eg. RCA).

by the way I don't work at aussiehifi anymore and I'm not really trying to plug them, just I remember they have what would seem fair pricing on their HDMI and other Interconnect cabling (which you won't find nearly anywhere else, at least in stores you can actually go to)

by the way make sure you wire up as follows

HDMI Blu-Ray - Amp - make sure that secondary audio on your blu-ray is off (so you get TruHD & HD-Master if your amp can decode them)
HDMI Amp - TV
Fiber Optic (Toslink) TV-Amp (for 5.1 HDTV audio through your multichannel)

Alternatively if your Amp and Blu-Ray are the same unit (which it seems like they might be) then you just need 1 HDMI and of course your Optic for TV audio return.

[BEK-46P]

Good info, cheers.

As you expected, I have a 2-in-1 Blu-ray/receiver unit (not ideal, but it was free). I'm having trouble outputting the TV audio into the receiver. I have an optical cable coming from the TV's output into the receiver's input. Any thoughts?

[Shadow110]

I've got custom made ones worth about 300p/m.
But I got them for free ;-)

[JohnBu]

For your connection, I would recommend just a basic HDMI V1.4 version.. so generally not the cheapest ones.

If they are short runs, say 5 metres and under, and you don't need it for 3D TV - HDMI V1.4, you are wasting money if you are spending more than the most basic of cables.

I'm not saying a the cheapest ones are great, because the connector themselves can be cheap, but if they work, they work.

I've used the $2 ones and they work, no difference to my $30 ones.

In some respects, I prefer the cheaper ones as they tend to be more flexible.

I bought a bunch of $2-3 ones and keep them as spares or give them away.

I just hate to see people spend more money than they have to... i.e. $100 HDMI cable to connect their 480P DVD to their 720P TV.

[JohnBu]

Alternatively if your Amp and Blu-Ray are the same unit (which it seems like they might be) then you just need 1 HDMI and of course your Optic for TV audio return.

Generally, the home theatre in box are quite nasty.... I scored a free Panasonic Blu-ray one with my TV. I wouldn't even bother with Toslink from the TV to the HTIB, RCAs will do as the sound quality is pretty damn shit compared to a standalone amp and decent speakers TOSLINK will be the same as RCAs.

[Ice]

I've not noticed the difference between a cheap $10 one and a $279 monster from HN. I've been told the only difference is that the slightly more expensive ones are better insulated with a teflon material. Otherwise they are massively overpriced.