I need a 15 ft HDMI-HDMI cable for a plasma TV. Needs to be "in-wall" rated. Is MONSTER worth it? Thanks.

Question

Any other installation suggestions? Thanks for any help you can provide.

Answer 1

I have used monster cables for my guitar and bass set up for the last 5 or so years.  Never had a problem with any of their cables, or surge protectors.  I'm not sure about HDMi cables, but most of their stuff is guaranteed for life.  If it ever goes bad(not that they ever do), you can just return it at any store that carries the product, and receive a new one no questions asked.  Definitely worth it.

Answer 2

At 15 ft and for in wall installation you should use a better than "budget level" cable. You want to be sure the cable has as high bandwidth capability as possible to "future proof" yourself.

That said, here's (1st link) an article on the difference between inexpensive (Monoprice.com) and expensive (Monster) HDMI cables. In essence it say budget is fine for shorter distances but longer distance or higher resolution warrant better cables. That said, there is still no valid (i.e. other than "name branditis") reason to pay Monster prices. For example Monoprice have a 20 ft, HDMI 1.3 rated, in-wall cable for $26 (2nd link)

One of the better cable manufacturuers -- should you want something a little more "future proof" without Monster prices is BlueJean Cables (3rd link). Their top quality cable ... usable to 100 ft! and better than Monster ... is $51 for a 15 ft.

Answer 3

Absolutely not!

Monster is overrated and definately overpriced!

Educated yourself about Monster's marketing and advertising scams and save yourself some money.

The High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a licensable audio/video connector interface for transmitting uncompressed, encrypted digital streams, this includes audio and video. There are different versions of HDMI cable 1.0, 1.1, 1.3, 1.3a and so on. Each subsequent version uses the same cable but increases the throughput and capabilities of what can be transmitted over that cable, basically bandwidth. The HDMI specification does not define a maximum cable length. As with all cables, signal attenuation becomes higher at longer lengths. Opportunistic cable manufacturers have marketed electrically identical 6-foot cables for as little as 10 dollars, all the way up to hundreds of dollars. Because the digital datastream is less susceptible to interference than its analog equivalent, the picture quality is 100% similar on properly functioning cables, regardless of price, especially for short cables.

In short ; 1) if you have short runs, any HDMI cable should suffice and 2) stay away from price gougers such as Monster who do not even advertise what gage wire they use but depend on fancy marketing schemes and pretty packaging.

I've included a couple links to where I buy all my cable from in addition to an article on The truth about Monster Cables.

Answer 4

You can also try http://www.ramelectronics.net/

They are knowledgeable, friendly and cheap.

Answer 5

I like the quality of Monster but not the price. If your looking for a really low price try this site.

http://www.bestcableforless.com/search_h...

But here's a quality cable for a lot less than Monster. It's made by Ethereal.

http://www.escstores.com/index.asp?PageA...

This site has a better look at it but for a higher price.

http://www.ipcrepublic.com/ETHEREAL-HDMI...

I get these at wholesale and pay even less. So I know they can sale them for these price's and still make money. But the cool thing is they are nice cables.

Hope this helped.