Has anyone here ever tried a super high end hdmi cable?

polkfarmboy

I was wondering if anyone here has an experience with ultra high end hdmi cables? I just got a great deal on a $1100 silver starlight hdmi cable and I am now thinking maybe I should not have bothered and put the cash towards something else

B Run

I think i'd be better spent towards something else personally. I definitely think there's a benefit to not using cheap low end hmdi's, but something like the Audioquest cinnamon probably would work just as well. I use their pearl hdmi's in all my setups and like them a lot, good cable for the money. Just my .02.

nooshinjohn

Shopping at Coconut Audio again PFB?

headrott

I am interested in hearing what you think of the Silver Starlight HDMI cable. I have almost purchased one a few times. Did you win this one?: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wireworld-Silver-starlight-6-High-Speed-HDMI-cable-2-0m-/261227211221?pt=US_Cables_Snakes_Interconnects&hash=item3cd25ae9d5

I may just buy a Pangea Audio - HD-24PCe - HDMI Cable - 4% Silver Plate HDMI cable. It uses PCOCC copper which in my experience has been very good. The other two I am considering are the PSAudio I2S-12 cable or the Audioquest Vodka cable. Anyone have experience with any of these 3 HDMI cables?

B Run

headrott wrote: »

I am interested in hearing what you think of the Silver Starlight HDMI cable. I have almost purchased one a few times. Did you win this one?: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wireworld-Silver-starlight-6-High-Speed-HDMI-cable-2-0m-/261227211221?pt=US_Cables_Snakes_Interconnects&hash=item3cd25ae9d5

I hope not, it's from China with no packaging I guarantee that's a fake.

headrott

B Run wrote: »

I hope not, it's from China with no packaging I guarantee that's a fake.

That's why I didn't bid on it. Don't feel like sending more money to China. But, the seller did offer a money back guarantee on the cable if it's "not as described". He does state it's a genuine Silver Starlight HDMI cable.

BlueFox

headrott wrote: »

I may just buy a Pangea Audio - HD-24PCe - HDMI Cable - 4% Silver Plate HDMI cable. It uses PCOCC copper which in my experience has been very good. The other two I am considering are the PSAudio I2S-12 cable or the Audioquest Vodka cable. Anyone have experience with any of these 3 HDMI cables?

I have had the Pangea for a couple of years now. I bought it since the length is 6 meters and I heard HDMI has issues with long runs. So far it has performed well. I have recently made upgrades to my TV power, and power to the HT electronics, and the picture is stunning. How much of that is due to the cable I don't know.

polkfarmboy

I would never buy that stuff from china :eek:

headrott

BlueFox wrote: »

I have had the Pangea for a couple of years now. I bought it since the length is 6 meters and I heard HDMI has issues with long runs. So far it has performed well. I have recently made upgrades to my TV power, and power to the HT electronics, and the picture is stunning. How much of that is due to the cable I don't know.

Thanks for the info BF. You haven't used any other HDMI cables in your set up? I just need a 2 meter and for $75.00 it seems like a good deal.......

headrott

polkfarmboy wrote: »

I would never buy that stuff from china :eek:

LOL! Guess it wasn't you that won it. If it's a real Silver Starlight, it was a good deal however.

mantis

Not worth it at all. There is no sonic or performance benefits unless your going long distance. Even then once the goal is achieved , you can't make it any better.

There are some poor quality HDMI cables on the market. They are not worth free.
What I have learned over all the years HDMI has been on the market is a good quality cable constructed and terminated correctly for the length needed to complete the task is all you will even need. If you keep trying to make it better with better materials , no sonic or visual benefits are gained.

I have tons of different HDMI cables and I have tested the living hell out of all of them. What I have found is Audioquest no matter what level you buy performs to spec. There is no change in picture or audio from Pearl to Chocolate. However comparing Audioquest HDMI to other brands I have noticed a difference in audio purity and clarity in picture. Not so much in picture quality as I thought I saw less grain. But switching back and forth the gain remained.

After I heard a difference in audio , I tried out lower and higher end cables. I didn't notice any differences at the 1m to 3m lengths. I have not however tested longer run cables of higher quality vs lower quality from Audioquest. But I have ran many 16m to 20m HDMI cables from many different companies and the only ones that work every time is Audioquest. We usually use either Forest or Cinnamon level cables with no flaws. Can't say that about all the others I have used at those lengths. Many have failed and I refuse to use them anymore.

So with all my research and learning from the Engineers that built them , it's quality of materials , construction and most important termination. Once all these things are perfect or as close to perfection as one can make them , your done.

I will challenge anyones high end HDMI cable from 1 to 3 meters in length against Audioquest Cinnamons any day of the week and twice on weekends. I don't care how high end you wanna go.

BlueFox

headrott wrote: »

Thanks for the info BF. You haven't used any other HDMI cables in your set up? I just need a 2 meter and for $75.00 it seems like a good deal.......

It replaced a less expensive cable that just barely was long enough, so it kept getting disconnected. I can't swear to any picture improvement since it has been a few years. I can say it is well built, stays connected, and provides a great picture.

F1nut

I use MIT HDMI cables. Like BlueFox, "I can say it is well built, stays connected, and provides a great picture."

zingo

Nope, but I keep the runs as short as possible.

jon s

While I agree good cables can make a perceivable difference in picture and sound, I seem to lose all interest in it when the Avengers beat the crap out of Loki and his minions.

It's just that you pay that much money for an incremental difference of diminishing returns. Why pay 20x the cost for a regular cable for a 5% improvement in quality? Are you really going to notice the details when things are flying all over on the screen?

Now, if you are speaking about an audio system... I can see spending the money for improved definition and soundstage when you are concentrating on the music itself.

Tornado Red

For anyone interested, this is Bob Pariseau's, over at AVS, take on HDMI cable lengths:

If the audio works without problems at 720p or 1080i, but still fails at 1080p (or 1080p plus Deep Color), than that is strong evidence of marginal cabling. Try upgrading your HDMI cables. Keep in mind that HDMI is an end to end protocol so the problem could be the HDMI cable on the OUTPUT side of the AVR. If you have any adapters, wall plates, daisy-chained cables, HDMI switches, or other gizmos in the HDMI path, they alone could be the cause of the problem. Also note that for HDMI, too *SHORT* of a cable can give just as much problem as too *LONG* of a cable. The sweet spot length for HDMI between any two devices is 6 feet (2 meters). So an 18 inch HDMI cable could very well cause problems, as non-intuitive as that must seem. This has to do with how the HDMI chips "equalize" the signal on the cable to try to make longer cables work more reliably.

Habanero Monk

I know for my 75' HDMI <Ethernet Cable> HDMI run I had to use the 24AWG HDMI and STP CAT6. But it is ROCK solid. I think that entire setup cost $75.

The cable is monoprice and the 24 AWG is well built. I think I have an extra pair if someone wants to see or I could dissect and post pics.

polkfarmboy

I sold my Wireworld Ultraviolet and would have loved to have done a side by side using the dual ouputs of my sony bdp. I have noticed a difference using the ww Starlight and ultraviolet against some cheap cables so surely the silver starlight is a step up from those for the price it commands

bondslex

Wow! Expensive.