CABLES

[Dave Watterson]

The Australian consumers' magazine "Choice" made the news with a story that there is no statistically measurable difference in both picture and sound quality between high-end HDMI and TOSLINK cables and their much cheaper rivals. Many retailers only offer the much more expensive products claiming that they somehow perform better. Even with cables up to ten metres, where you can pay up to six times more for some brands, the difference is small. They say "Although the results were slightly in favour of the more expensive brand for longer lengths, the differences were not enough to conclude any brand delivers a significantly better result."

"Those with vested interests have been over-hyping the benefits of shelling out top dollar for HDMI cables with nothing but bluff to back up their case," said CHOICE spokesman Christopher Zinn.

One manufacturer named by Choice said "We are still waiting for permission to speak on this issue however Choice is only one voice. There are literally millions of consumers around the world who have purchased our product and they are not beating down our doors to say that they have been sold a dud product. Either Choice believes that every consumers is stupid in that they have not picked up the quality difference between the cables that come with a TV"

You can read the Choice report here: http://www.choice.com.au/viewArticle.as ... es+rip-off

I guess we have all had our doubts ...

Please do not name specific brands if you comment on this story.
This is a public forum and any manufacturer who believed their product libelled here could cause problems.

Dave

[billyfromConsett]

It's nice to hear about research that agrees with my own experience.
I bought a two meter HDMI cable for about £5 from ebay. It has gold plated connections, and as far as I can tell, works perfectly. I then bought another couple of them which are also fine.

Try buying HDMI cables from any high st shop - as long as you treble the price for non branded non gold plated, or go way higher than that price for a nicely boxed branded cable.

[Chrisbitz]

As long as they conduct electricity, they should work fine!

Audiophiles can't tell the difference between high end cables and coathangers

As if we really needed this proof! "Experts" will always buy expensive stuff to prove how expert they are!