Monster Cable Myth/Scam: Choosing an A/V cable

A Science & Engineering OnLine Laboratory Notebook

This is the laboratory notebook of Damon Bruccoleri. Here you will find engrossing, thoughtful and fun commentary/opinion. Leave a comment and let others know what you think about any post here, view my photo gallery, or sign my guestbook.

"...one of the strongest motives that lead men to art and science is escape from everyday life with its painful crudity and hopeless dreariness, from the fetters of one's own ever-shifting desires. A finely tempered nature longs to escape from the personal life into the world of objective perception and thought." - Albert Einstein

Latest Notebook Entries

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Monster Cable Myth/Scam: Choosing an A/V cable

A while ago I uncovered the hoax being played on the unknowledgeable public by Monster Cable, Best Buy and Circuit City. I know how they started and propagated this scam. Somehow the 'rule of thumb' that the cables should cost 10% of the cost of an HDTV set was foisted upon the public by these ruthless marketeers. Why should you pay 10% more for your HD set and get a bunch of cables in return? That's a bunch of #$@*! Don't get me wrong, Monster Cables are fine durable cables. There are much better competitive alternatives on the market. The salesmen at these store will tell you that you MUST HAVE the best cables or your picture will suffer. That's a bunch of patooie. Any decent, durable wire will carry the digital signal. There is no such thing as degredation of an HDMI digital signal. It either works, or it doesn't.

An example of a good cable set to get is from Costco. This set only costs $50 for a set of four good quality cable. There will not be any 'signal loss'. Costco has an exceptional return policy. Return it at any time for any reason. Anyone can purchase from their web site, you need not be a member.

admin4 at 1:00 PM | (10) Comments | Add a comment | Permalink

Commments

Dude said...

Sounds like you're endorsing Costco cable.....mmmmm?

Wednesday, December 13, 2006 11:39 PM

Damon said...

I should add to the 'notebook' entry that I have no affiliation with Costco, except to be a customer and paid member. I make no commission, kickback or anything.

Thursday, December 14, 2006 6:13 AM

Dude said...

That sounds much better!

Monday, December 18, 2006 12:16 AM

Kent Beuchert said...

I bought a Phillips DVD player for $69 from Ciorcuit City and when I asked where their HDMI cables were the guy showed me the wall where the Monster Cables were - $100 for a 3 footer, I believe. I got on th internet and went to several places, each of which has prices for standard quality cable of round $6 for a 6 foot length (Monster charges $129 for a 6 ft cable) and $3 for their gold clad copper models. Shipping was $1.85. You are right baout digital signlas - if the picture shows no mising pxels, then you've received the signal perfectly and can't possibly do any better. CC BB and Monster get away with this because they are often sellng to people that don't know crap about HDTVs. As the public learns about the technology, that will be the end of Monster Cable.

Sunday, January 07, 2007 6:38 PM

Damon said...

Kent, Thanks for that example. The sales people there are ruthless. Did they try to talk you into a Monster Surge Suppressor?

Monday, January 08, 2007 6:36 AM

Smarter than you said...

Sorry to say, but you guys need to brush up on your EE stuff. Monster may or may not be a scam, never actually used their cables, but to say that a digital signal can't degrade, just honestly makes you clueless. Cables matter, ALWAYS.

Monday, January 15, 2007 6:47 PM

admin4 said...

I am a digital engineer for 25 years with a BS and an MS. I am a licensed PE in the state of NY. You get the idea. The HDMI signal is digital. That means 1 or 0. Sorry you were duped by these people. The Monster cables are not bad, just over priced and over hyped.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007 7:09 AM

Fred said...

Agree - I think an obvious Monster deception is the failure to put the wire guage on speaker cable. Everyone else stamps 12, 14, 16 guage or whatever on their spools, while Monster let's you belie4ve that a lot more insulation (Monster??) will give you a better sound. Not saying they are bad but they certainly give new meaning to caveat emptor.

Sunday, July 27, 2008 7:34 PM

SI Engineer said...

I'll back up admin4 on that. I too am an EE with a BS and MS and work in the high speed signal integrity field (right now at 6 Gbps). Monster and Best Buy scam the public with their cables. Certainly Monster cables are well made, but I get the same quality from my $4.95 HDMI cable from NewEgg as their $100 cables. Read the HDMI spec, or get an EE to do it for you. HDMI is not a terribly difficult signal to recover because the clock is shipped with the data (unlike other standards like SATA). While bit errors may occur with poor cables, the transmitter and receiver in your equipment have as much or more to do with it. HDMI also has error correction, so 1 or 2 bit errors do not equal bad pixels anyway. It's a shame that Monster and BB get away with fleecing the understandably uninformed public (this stuff is complicated, after all).

Sunday, March 08, 2009 9:36 AM

SI Engineer said...

Sunday, March 08, 2009 12:33 PM