I buy all my cables, switchers, etc from monoprice.

Hell... even bought a longer power cable from them for my PS3

Huh??? Hubcaps prevent air from leaking out of tires?

Based on what I've read, it only makes a difference over very long distances.

That's what I thought it does. Am I wrong?

Hubcaps / Wheel covers are decorative items that either go over the hub (center) or the wheel/rim.

You are probably thinking of the valve stem or valve stem cap. (The valve stem being where you connect the hose to put air into the tire and the cap being the little cover that screws on the end)

They're just cables, people.

ACTUALLY...

It's the screw-on tire air valve stem covers/caps that can help in stopping air leaks.

Some of then look like these:


OH, DOH! & WHAT DO YA KNOW? &

What Mr. Music said!

(That's why they call me, 'The Edit King'! )

-TEK!

HDMI is a digital signal. Either the picture is produced as intended or it isn't. With analog, you have degradation over distance with things being made worse if you use poor quality cable.

Monster cables are somewhat like Bose - you pay a lot for the marketing campaign. But Monster *does* make a good quality product (and we'll leave Bose out of the argument right there ). I would never consider using a cheap analog cable. You're doing your viewing experience an injustice if you do. But I cannot fathom how Monster expects people to believe that their HDMI cables can produce a 'better' quality picture when the picture is digital in nature??

Ironically, all my cables, including my HDMI cables, are Monster. I use them for three reasons: 1. I'm a reseller, so I get good pricing 2. The quality of the cables, especially the ends where a lot of wear and tear happens, is first-rate and 3. if a cable fails, it'll be replaced immediately, no questions or hassles.

That all being said, if I didn't get the pricing I do, I wouldn't touch Monster HDMI cables. I'd still buy their analog stuff, but that's it.

My $.02

First of all, you can't compare BJ cables with Monster Cables! They have the same strategy as monoprice, but then with higher quality components.

You can get to the point where certain 1's get low enough in voltage to look like 0's. What this means is a poorer quality cable may not manifest it’s shortcomings on better designed equipment.

I don't get it. On page two, you said that you had no experience with monoprice, then here you say that bluejeans use higher quality components. I haven't used bluejeans cables, so I won't comment on the quality of their cables, but I own/use monoprice and monster cables, and you can compare the two; they have comparable quality.

Seriously, monster cables are just as good as monoprice cables. Don't let people fool you into thinking that monoprice cables are better.

Yes, and a Kia car is as reliable as a Toyota, since they're both cars correct? Oh wait, I haven't driven a Kia so I can't comment...

Gizmodo did a proper shootout among a $250 Monster 35 ft HDMI cable, a $35 Monoprice 35 ft HDMI cable, and a $54 Monoprice 50 ft HDMI cable. Some choice quotes from their conclusions (emphasis theirs):

"It never pays to buy a Monster cable first."

"I have no doubt, given our testing, that Monster cables can outperform other cables in video formats that are not yet in use. What does this mean for a consumer? Does it make sense to spend $300 now on a 50-foot cable, assuming you will spend thousands to upgrade all of your video equipment around it in the next few years? Logic dictates that the answer is no."

"The only people who should buy Monster cable are people who light cigars with Benjamins."

Couple of stories regarding the excellent cables from monoprice;

About 16 months ago I went from a Infocus X1 projector to Optoma HD70. I used the same cheap component cables which run in my attic and are about 25 ft long. Almost immediately I noticed a very faint double line almost like a double image of sorts. I troubleshooted every way I new thinking it was some sort of grounding. I checked all connections carefully. Finally I ran another cable but not in the attic, just laying in my theater room. Image was perfect. No problems. So I ordered a new component cable from monoprice and ran it in the attic. Image was perfect, no problems. Since the cables go right past the furnace I'm assuming the crappy cable was picking up interference from it, the monoprice does not.

Because of that experience I replaced 100% of my cables with monoprice and also ran an HDMI cable. All in the attic. No issues at all.

Last week I upgraded to Dish HD since I got a new HD tv for the living room at x-mas. I had ordered a mess of cables from monoprice. To my surprise the dish dude was very knowledgeable and knew his stuff (we talked equipment, best way to hook up, how I could get and external HD for the DVR, etc, etc). He agreed to help me hook up all my equipment, so I passed him the end of one of the monprice HDMI cable and he took one look and said "wow, this is some heavy duty nice cable, must have been expensive".

I believe cables do make a difference. In college I worked at the highest high end audio store in Dallas (there was no surround sound then). We sold many different types of speaker wires and interconnects. But I also don't believe that more money always gets you better. I also believe that once you get to good or very good, you start getting a diminished return on your investment. To go from very good to great is a very, very small step and very expensive (IMHO this applies to most things in audio video). So do I believe the monoprice to be the best available? No of course not. Do I believe it to be very good? Yes I do. Do I believe better is available? Yes, only ever so "slightly" better? And the cost for the "every so slightly better" is a lot and in my set up and in my situation, not near worth it. Do I think Monster is better? No, I think it is worse.

I spent about 20 minutes today explaining to a customer that he didn't need to buy the $130 monster HDMI cable that Best Buy was trying to hawk to him for his PS3. I wrote down Monoprice.com on one of our business cards and I hope he listened to me. His wife was agreeing with me 100% but he looked skeptical the entire time. He kept saying "But Best Buy said this, Best Buy said that. The Monster cables have a higher khz rating which gives it better picture quality yada yada yada"

Some people never learn. -_-

You said you never used monoprice cables, not blue jeans cables, right? Then shouldn't that be ... "Oh wait, I haven't driven a Toyota so I can't comment..."?

Wow. So, you have never had a monoprice cable, never used one, yet you know BJ cables are higher quality. How is that possible? Seriously. Sit and re-read your statement. Think about it. That's right. Let it sink in.

You are stating something as fact, but it's not. It's your opinion. You are welcome to it, but don't state something so resolutely, when it's clearly not fact.

Monoprice.com definitely made some money from this thread. I have some Wii component cables in my cart now as we speak, and I just heard about the place about 10 minutes ago.

Not directed at me I know, but I am using both in my set up right now. I personally prefer BlueJeans, I honestly think they are of better quality. I still recommend Monoprice, I'm using their HDMI cable for my 1080i DVR.

Can someone please recommend the best splitter to purchase at MonoPrice.com when my HDTV has only one HDMI input, but I have two HDM players (red and blue) with their own HDMI cables?

My knowledge of techie stuff is equal to J6P. Generally, I try to find a smart guy and then play follow-the-leader! Thanks to all for pointing the way to MonoPrice for my HDMI cables! Now, which is the best splitter to buy? Thank you in advance for sharing your knowledge with those of us who are lost in this high-tech arena!

I'm using one of these right now in my setup, and it works perfectly, but it does require that you actually get up and push the button to switch the input:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

But there is also a new model coming in (at least I think it's new, I haven't seen it before and it still can't be ordered yet), that is 1.3 certified, powered, and remote-controlled:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

Either of these would probably serve you well.

No.

As a rule, I buy all my cables from Amazon.com. You just can't find any inexpensive cables at Best Buy, Circuit City or even Radio Shack anymore.

I bought a component video cable for $5.00 and a coaxial digital audio cable for $2.00. Somethign those crooks at the electronics stores would have charged at least $35.00 a piece for the MONSTER brand name and an inconsequential gold plating.

And one could argue that there IS a difference. I personally don't think so but it'd also be nice if these stores would at least give you the option of choosing the more inexpensive choice.

at the BJC cheerleader.

It just seems suspicious about the love that monoprice gets from some forum members. Makes me wonder if they're affiliated.

I have a combination of BJC cables (HDMI), QED (speaker cable) and Monster Cable (analog)

Read what I wrote earlier:
"I have no experience with monoprice, but I do believe in 'you get what you pay for'. So either monoprice has to be a miracle store that can deliver top notch cables for dirt cheap, or somehow somewhere they use lesser quality components in their cables/connectors."

Let's turn things around. Have you tried more expensive cables? Perhaps they *ARE* an improvement. So stating that monoprice is the holy grail without testing other cables is equally not a fact.