MONSTER WIRE.... Yay or Nay ? (long)

B-Line · #1 12-31-2006, 05:56 PM

Hey All,

As Christmas is the season of buying, I have gotten some plasma's for around my house/office.
Every time my bro and I get into the mode of TV shopping, we get into a debate on the wire's neccessary to accomodate a quality picture.
As many of you know, buying HDMI, Composite, Digital Audio, etc. cables can be VERY expensive. I thought it would be interesting to start a dialogue about when and where cabling is overkill.

For example, HDMI cables seem to come (from Monster) in 3 different sizes. 600, 800, 1000. A 1000 gauge wire (12ft.) can cost a couple hundred bucks. So the question is, is it really going to give you a better signal than a 600 gauge cable?
-- Now before we jump into this conversation, it's important to note that any hi-grade cable is going to be an improvement over crappy low grade cable. But when you start making values on the difference between 600 gauge cable and 1000 gauge cable, is there really any difference?

Lets say for example, you are running HD Direct TV. That signal is coming into your receiver on a COAX line anyway. And since digital is simply transferring 10011000101. Why should the cable make a difference except to block out interfearance?
-- Some people have said that companies like MOSTER have made hundreds of millions of dollars selling people stuff they don't need. For example, huge gauge wire and power conditioners. (My electrician has told me over and over that California's power is very consistent (at around 118) or something and there is NO need for expensive power conditioners... It does not improve quality of signal.

So I guess one of the questions here is, diminished returns. When do we reach diminished returns on cables and what is just a waste of money. Of course for speakers it's important to run thick wires, and you should always use HDMI vs. S-video, etc. but at what point are we just spending more money on stuff we don't need?

I recently bought a 1080p plasma and hooked it up to my PS3 for blue-ray. I connected it using a 600 gauge wire from monster (vs. a 1000 gauge wire for monster) and I could not imagine this tv being capable of having a better picture regardless of wire. The picture is insane.. So who is buying these 1000 gauge wires?

Thanks, B

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B-Line · #2 12-31-2006, 06:05 PM

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....sc=Electronics

Just looked it up on Best Buy. An 8' cable has three choices for HDMI.
1) grade 600 = $101.99
2) grade 800 = $127.49
3) grade 1000= $219.99

B

LeMansX5 · #3 12-31-2006, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B-Line

Lets say for example, you are running HD Direct TV. That signal is coming into your receiver on a COAX line anyway. And since digital is simply transferring 10011000101. Why should the cable make a difference except to block out interfearance?

No use spending more money for digital. The signal is "there" or "not there". I have HD DirecTV setup and I buy from newegg.com for my 1080p and its very good reception. Monster cables are very overpriced.

ekaz · #4 12-31-2006, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeMansX5

No use spending more money for digital. The signal is "there" or "not there". I have HD DirecTV setup and I buy from newegg.com for my 1080p and its very good reception. Monster cables are very overpriced.

But they look sooooooooooooooo pretty.

SuperGreg · #5 12-31-2006, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeMansX5

No use spending more money for digital. The signal is "there" or "not there". I have HD DirecTV setup and I buy from newegg.com for my 1080p and its very good reception. Monster cables are very overpriced.

There are much less expensive alternatives out there.

Aimster · #6 12-31-2006, 07:24 PM

Monster cables are expensive.
You are paying for the name.

They have no performance difference over regular cables.

smallfries · #7 12-31-2006, 08:27 PM

I bought my cables from monoprice.com . forget monster cables

SANguru · #8 12-31-2006, 08:36 PM

echo what everybody else says. Overpriced, overrated, and over insulated which does nothing.

B-Line · #9 12-31-2006, 09:36 PM

Monster or not, there are different thickness of cable which returns to my original question, where do we reach the point of diminished returns?

There are good cables, better cables and cables that are "just right".. And since none of us are running million dollar theaters, I would assume there is a price to performance ratio that exists with cables where certain cables cost much more cause of thickness but do absouletely nothing in terms of quality.

I know Monster is overpriced and was only using them as an example. Other companies have different gauge thickness also which they also charge more for.. So what is the threshold of quality?

B

AutoXer · #10 12-31-2006, 09:44 PM

Agree. Monster cables are overpriced, the guys at BestBuy, Circuit City etc. get lots of commission when they sell those. That's why they are being pushed so hard!

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