Electronics Retailer Busted in Video Cable Quality Hoax
Monster Cable makes some great looking cables. In the world of connectors, the cable manufacturer's color schemes and aesthetics are unmatched. But do they actually make your television signal look better and your stereo signal sound better?This claim (by Monster itself) been a point of contention that many have attempted to prove, but a little scam found at a certain unnamed electronics retailer shows that some are being a little dishonest in attempting to show that supposed difference.
The above picture from CrunchGear shows a setup where people are asked to see whether they can see the difference between high-priced Monster Cables and the lower-priced alternatives you can buy online at places like monoprice.com and bluejeanscable.com. However, this is far from a fair test. Where the "Monster" image is run through one of the company's HDMI cables, offering a high-definition digital picture, the other image is run through a set of low-definition composite cables.
It's a cheap trick, definitely. Don't fall for it yourself. In general, the cheapo cables are just fine for typical home theater setups -- any place where you're running less than six-feet worth of cable. It's only when you're running long lengths of cable, the sort you might install in your walls, that you may just want to think about upgrading.
And if you're a serious high-end sound buff, you already knew all this and have your own favorite silver-lined, oxygen free cables anyway, right?
From CrunchGear
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Richie @ Dec 14th 2007 5:09PM
Best Buy in Ocoee Florida did something very similar to this with high def dvd player. They have 2 exact tvs next too one another with one hooked up to the high def dvd and the other to a "regular" dvd player to "show you the difference". All they did was lessen the contrast, brightness and sharpness on the "other dvd" to make the picture quality look bad. We took the remote and adjusted it back and you couldnt tell the difference between the two. Scammers.
Jonathan H. @ Apr 7th 2008 5:19PM
I suppose next you're going to tell me that lamp cord (zip cord) has the same sound qualities as some of the lower end audiophile cables. It all boils down to how good one's ears are & do they know what to listen "FOR or TO" or what to look for when listing to cables or vidio.