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This week it was announced by the BBC Consumer Affairs program 'Watchdog' that many of us are being conned into buying more expensive cables which we really don't need!
The report made the following revelation..
"Because what an HDMI cable is doing when it transfers pictures onto a screen is actually very simple, and it either works or it doesn't".
The actual program was broadcast after a customer 'Mr.X' contacted Watchdog to complain about the way his local Currys PC World store was selling HDMI Cables.
The program revealed that in many stores, staff were telling customers that a more expensive cable will give better pictures. This is NOT TRUE!!
A full transcript of the program is available below, you can also watch a clip of that revealing broadcast in the same link.
The Truth about HDMI Cables - BBC Watchdog Report
If you feel you have been mis-sold an expensive HDMI cable from the above mentioned stores you may be entitled to a refund, see the above link for further details.
So in view of this revelation, no doubt some of you have been aware of the industry mis-selling techniques for some time, even Sony recommend you buy their cables but why? There is currently no clear evidence that one cable is better than the other.
Okay so some cables do look the part with their shiny gold plated plugs, some are even made flat but clearly whether you pay £5.99 or £59.99 the image will be the same.
For me personally, I have tried a number of different cables, both cheap and expensive and asides build quality I have never been able to spot the difference.
Sometimes we are easily fooled!
Dr.Slinky McVelvet - Inventor of the word 'Mellifluous' - 30.12.14
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That's some very good advice, shielding is an absolute must but then it's not always easy to tell which are shielded better than others.
No doubt the proof is in the eating as they say! I find with many cheaper products they skimp on packaging and don't tell you much about the specifications of the cables.
I always like to go for well constructed cables and preferably from a well known brand. Not all brand names are expensive. I bought some great HDMI High Speed with Ethernet cables from Amazon to go with my DN1040 made by a company called 'Cablesson'. They've been around donkeys years and the build quality is superb.
Prices were spot on too, £5.99 for a 2 Metre or £4.99 for 1 Metre
I can't fault them for the price and I reviewed them as such on Amazon.
Next stop, speaker cables! Now there's another money spinner!!
Speaking about 'Cablesson' - that was the brand of cable I purchased a little while ago, and was 'dead on arrival' - I went back to my tried and trusted Pro Gold Red. I guess, you win some, you loose some 
See this thread : HERE
In regards to speaker cable. Try this one (works great for me) : HERE - I used all 50 meters by the way 
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@Quinnicus wrote:Speaking about 'Cablesson' - that was the brand of cable I purchased a little while ago, and was 'dead on arrival' - I went back to my tried and trusted Pro Gold Red. I guess, you win some, you loose some
In regards to speaker cable. Try this one (works great for me) : HERE - I used all 50 meters by the way
I guess most manufacturers let the odd dead cable slip through the net now and then, you only need a stray blob of solder or a mis-wired connection to mess things up.
Those Pro Gold's are pretty slick looking, funnily enough I have several almost identical cables and Amazon certainly have a number similar designs to chose from. I have to wonder if there's one big cable company producing them on mass for all the other suppliers.
I decided to change mine when I purchased my DN1040 mainly because I wanted something a little more flexible and which would not cause too much strain on the plugs. The Pro Gold style of design although superb I found were a little heavy and stiff and prone to slipping out when dusting. Of course that's only my personal experience and HDMI sockets seem to vary from one manufacturer to the next. My DN1040 seems to have quite loose fitting sockets.
It seems your tastes are much like mine for speaker cables, I bought some exactly like that only branded as SHARK' from Maplins, I like the flexibility of this type of cable.
Heh heh, I think Scart died for me when my VCR got replaced, I've got a big box full of redundant cables now, maybe I'll melt them down and flog the copper!
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@JapanMan2 wrote:I've bought both cheap and more expenssive HDMI cables (no more than £15 though).
The cheap ones have lasted as long as the more expenssive ones, however they do feel cheap in compasiron.
It's good to know that we're not all so easily fooled! £15 quid's a touch expensive for me nowadays but I've paid upward of that in the past. I was easily fooled to begin with! 
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@Quinnicus wrote:Want an expensive HDMI cable :
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/audioquest-coffee-39-4-hdmi-cable-white/1267764.p
WOW !
Now you're talking.., stupidity with brass knobs on!
About 15 years ago Maplins were selling pure silver speaker cables priced £30,000 p/metre!!!! I always thought it must have been a typo in their catalogue but never actually bothered to check.
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