Inside the HDMI cable scam
Comments
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DarqueKnight wrote: »There really is no need for anyone to elaborate. Just use the same common sense and reasoning you would use for any other consumer purchase.
And there lies the problem with the hardcore Luddites, no common sense, but a high level of Know-It-All-ness, coupled with zero experience.Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes
Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables
Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
Three 20 amp circuits. -
The complications and controversy stem from the fact that music is played to be heard by human beings, whose nonlinear ear-brain hearing systems are far from fully understood. Since no one knows exactly how to model the human auditory system, no one knows exactly what engineering measurements are appropriate to evaluating the performance of audio equipment. A smidgen of some kinds of distortion may sound worse to the ear than larger amounts of other kinds. So ultimately, the only way to judge audio equipment is by listening to it. Hence the controversy: subjective human perception
H9"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Puritan Audio PSM136 Pwr Condtioner & Classic PC's | Legend L600 | Roon Nucleus 1 w/LPS - Tubes add soul! -
And there lies the problem with the hardcore Luddites, no common sense, but a high level of Know-It-All-ness, coupled with zero experience.
It just never ends does it?
Some audio enthusiast person, who is having a discussion with other high performance audio enthusiasts, says he installed $1000 speaker cables on HIS system and heard a big improvement. Some people will take that to mean that EVERYONE should be using $1000 speaker cables on their system.
Some audio enthusiast person, who is having a discussion with other high performance audio enthusiasts, says he installed $1000 speaker cables on HIS system and heard a bigh improvement. Some other person pops up demanding PROOF that the $1000 cables sound better than lamp cord.
Should everyone who wears business suits be wearing $3000 business suits?
Do the people who wear $3000 (or more) business suits need to prove why their suits are better than the sub-$500 off-the-rack suits from JC Penneys?Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country! -
I feel just awful in a business suit, no matter what the cost.
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darqueknight wrote: »there really is no need for anyone to elaborate. Just use the same common sense and reasoning you would use for any other consumer purchase. Let's apply your question to other fields of merchandise:
"some say a $100 off-the-rack men's suit can perform just as good as those tailor made 1000 dollar suits. Any truth to that i ask?"
"some say a $3000 used car can perform just as good as those 100,000 dollar sports cars. Any truth to that i ask?"
"some say a $100 set of tires can perform just as good as those 1000 dollar high performance tires. Any truth to that i ask?"
in the three previous examples, most people have no difficulty understanding that under certain use circumstances:
There may be little or no performance difference between a $100 suit and a $1000 suit.
For traveling to work and the grocery store, there may be little to no difference between a $3000 used car and a $100,000 sports car.
For normal driving, with a vehicle of modest to low performance, there may be little to no difference between a set of $100 tires and a set costing $1000.
In some systems, there will be no discernible difference between lamp cord and a $1000 high performance, well engineered speaker cable. However, i would hope that people would have the presence of mind to match the performance level of cables and other accessories to the performance level of the electronics and speakers in their audio and video systems.
+100000Polk RTi A7's FrontPolk CSi A4 CenterPolk Tsi 100's SurroundOnkyo TX-RZ50:)Oppo BDP 83 (Collecting dust)MIT Terminator 3 Speaker CableMIT Terminator 2 IC's (Oppo 2 chan)Signal Cable HT TWOEpson PowerLite Home Cinema 1080Hisense 55 U8GBelkin PF 60 Power Center -
TonyB I didnt say I use lamp cord, I said some people "Say" there is no difference. The only reason I mentioned it here was because of the current insignificant performance characteristics there is between HDMI cables, and how that may also be carried over to other cables used in our gear.
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TonyB I didnt say I use lamp cord, I said some people "Say" there is no difference. The only reason I mentioned it here was because of the current insignificant performance characteristics there is between HDMI cables, and how that may also be carried over to other cables used in our gear.
I understand. You have to understand that in any buisness,be it audio or oil changes, snake oil exists. Some go out and buy a 50 buck snake oil interconnect cable and expect their system to be transformed. As stated above, you have to match the level of performance with your cables to your gear. Throwing a 500 dollar cable on some white van speakers,driven by a 300 dollar AVR isn't going to do anything. Lastly, get yourself over to another polkie's joint for a listen. Experience counts. Now, the difference may be slight to you and not worth the investment but I can say as fact,the higher up the food chain you go with your gear,the more cables make a difference.HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
I have been saying this for years. Well put.DarqueKnight wrote: »There really is no need for anyone to elaborate. Just use the same common sense and reasoning you would use for any other consumer purchase. Let's apply your question to other fields of merchandise:
"Some say a $100 off-the-rack men's suit can perform just as good as those tailor made 1000 dollar suits. Any truth to that I ask?"
"Some say a $3000 used car can perform just as good as those 100,000 dollar sports cars. Any truth to that I ask?"
"Some say a $100 set of tires can perform just as good as those 1000 dollar high performance tires. Any truth to that I ask?"
In the three previous examples, most people have no difficulty understanding that under certain use circumstances:
There may be little or no performance difference between a $100 suit and a $1000 suit.
For traveling to work and the grocery store, there may be little to no difference between a $3000 used car and a $100,000 sports car.
For normal driving, with a vehicle of modest to low performance, there may be little to no difference between a set of $100 tires and a set costing $1000.
In some systems, there will be no discernible difference between lamp cord and a $1000 high performance, well engineered speaker cable. However, I would hope that people would have the presence of mind to match the performance level of cables and other accessories to the performance level of the electronics and speakers in their audio and video systems.
DanDan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
(Polk advertising "Monster Cable" inside)Agreed. What does it say that?
I thought it was a PSW10 subwoofer box that I saw, but I'll check and see. Perhaps (hopefully? :-) ) I was mistaken... -
My $0.14 HDMI cable I purchased from Ama##$.ca will link my flat panel and BD player just fine.Polk RTiA1 - front
Polk CSi A4- ctr
Polk PSW303 - sub
Polk RTM6750 satellites - surrounds
Pioneer VSX 1020
Panasonic DMP BD55 - Blu-ray
XBox 360
Panasonic Viera 42" 1080p plasma
Logitech 880 universal remote
Bell HD 6131 with ext 750 gb hd
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My $0.14 HDMI cable I purchased from Ama##$.ca will link my flat panel and BD player just fine.
Maybe put some snake oil on it
HT and Music Rig
Receiver- NAD T765 HD
Mains- Polk Audio Monitor 70
Center- Polk Audio CS2
Surrounds side- Polk Audio Monitor 60
Sub- Polk Audio PSW505
Windows 7 Media Center
T.V.- 40" Sony Bravia LCD 1080P
Blu-Ray- 80 GB PS3 -
Lastly, get yourself over to another polkie's joint for a listen. Experience counts.
I SO want to do that!
Ken.......can I come listen to your SDA's? --Gary--
Onkyo Integra M504, Bottlehead Foreplay III, Denon SACD, Thiel CS2.3, NHT VT-2, VT-3 and Evolution T6, Infinity RSIIIa, SDA1C and a few dozen other speakers around the house I change in and out. -
(Polk advertising "Monster Cable" inside)
I thought it was a PSW10 subwoofer box that I saw, but I'll check and see. Perhaps (hopefully? :-) ) I was mistaken...
highly doubt this as I've seen pretty much all the polk sub boxes out there (except some older models like the LSI and PSW650) and never seen that saying on them.
