Video Asylum

Posted by JoeLip (A) on March 31, 2006 at 21:51:19

In Reply to: Cheap vs expensive HDMI cable posted by La Dolce Vita on March 26, 2006 at 07:21:30:

Hi,

Just yesterday they delivered my new 50" SONY XSRD rear projection TV. It is an unusually high resolution device. I had purchased 2 sets of AR HDMI cables in preparation for the delivery (DirecTV H-10 and an upconverting Panasonic DVD player). Although I was pleased with the performance of the Panasonic's HDMI performance, the sat performance was really disappointing, even on HD. I tried going back to the component video outputs on each and the performance improved, telling me the relatively cheap AR cables (actually they were $85/2meter) were lacking in the performance department. I went to the store where I bought the SONY and procured an Audioquest HDMI-X just to see. Wow, what a difference. Straight back again to get a second, and now I'm in high rez heaven. The funny thing is the AQ cables only set me back an additional $14 each. Go figure. I think that bottom line is always purchase cables with the expressed understanding that they can be returned for a refund if they don't work out. I have used some AR interconnects in the past and they were fine, so I was a little surprised by the poor performance of the HDMI cables. In my case, the more expensive AQ’s were a must.

Hope this helped, Joe