A/V "Audiophile" Digital Cables - am I going crazy, or are they?

maybe it's those guys with the short cables

 

Just when you though it couldn't get any worse... Even What HiFi seem slightly skeptical.

 

My thoughts exactly. Now don't get me wrong, I am sure there are CHEAP digital cables that are crappy enough to cause a problem. In the majority of cases though, an inexpensive cable will suit your needs just fine.

There are very few situations where I would even consider spending more on an HDMI cable, and that is related to the length of the run. Even then, that only justifies spending $20 on a cable instead of $5.

 

I spent 15£ on a 15 meter HDMi cable for my projector, but unfortunately the shielding was so poor the the cable was unable to deliver 1080p over that distance. I then spent 40£ on a cable with better wires and shielding and it works perfectly.

So yeah, unless you have to move a signal over a long distance like me - cable quality doesn't really matter.

 

Best speaker cables I ever had were made from CAT5 from a 'recipe' off TNT audio. Cheap, made a difference to some crap I got from Richer Sounds.

There is a bloke called 'Russ Andrews' selling cables and other stuff, anyone who wants a laugh should go to his site and look at his wares and prices.

 

http://www.russandrews.com/product....&customer_id=PAA1306020011399ZWRFNTJQXJZKRFQN

 

21 odd grand on cables.



DO IT !

Let's put that in perspective. You could buy some very nice cables for £18 and have £21.369.57 to spend on some other stuff...like a mortgage.

 

Digital processing of course makes a difference, we all know that, but digital cables...as long as they are shielded and of good quality, you won't have any issues...complete rip off otherwise.

The power cables..."expensive" cables, ie. £30, will only make a difference on a really, really awful electricity supply, according to some (not me). Cables make a difference...but anybody who falls for spending thousands on cables...truly a case of more money than sense.

 

In digital, the signal is either on or off. No matter how much noise is introduced by the cable, the end result is still either on or off. Power cables are even more ludicrous. If you have a nice and stable 50Hz 230V mains (for the UK), you will get nice and stable 50Hz 230V mains out of the other end, no matter what the cable. If you have choppy, 40-60Hz 200-240V mains, then no matter what the cable, you will still get that out of the other end. In fact, the worse the cable the more inductive it is, therefore dampening the signal changes. In other words, a cheaper cable is better, when using a very unstable mains connection. This is all my ideas, so I don't expect much of it to be true

 

Well, I think this subject has been thoroughly debated .

When I first came to the world of digital cabling, I too was stuck in the "analogue" way of thinking: higher quality cables mean better quality signals, meaning better sound/picture quality. For analogue, that still holds up. However for digital, it really is just about the build quality. I still won't buy a £5 HDMI cable, because the chances are that it'll be of really poor build quality and will break easily. Yes it'll still show a perfect picture, but only when it actually stays connected properly and doesn't fall out of the socket, fall apart, fray, etc. To be honest, £10-£20 is about the most I'd spend on digital cables. I don't want to spend £50 odd on an HDMI cable, but I don't want to spend £5 on one that I'll end up replacing frequently.