Are Monster cables for plasma TV worth the cost?

Question

I've just purchased a 42" plasma tv(420p, 720p,1080i).
Farjouda dcdi processor. Regular digital cable feed. No plans to upgrade to hd anytime soon. I was going to buy Monster cable(THX ULTV1000) to replace the supplied rca cables. The cost has given make thought to investigate before spending the money. Is there an appreciable difference to justify the expense? Should I look at a cheaper Monster cable or should I just stay with the supplied cables?

Answer 1

No.

Monster cables are certainly well built. Top notch in fact. But they are incredible overkill unless your home has some unusual problem with stray RF noise.

Regular shielded cables from Radio Shack or even Wal-Mart will do the job just fine in 99% of the cases.

This is especially true if the cables are sending digital data like an HDMI cable. With digital, it either gets through or it doesn't. There is no analog wave to be distorted.

Answer 2

Video signals can be transmitted either using analogue (composite, S-video, component, VGA) or digital connections (DVI, HDMI). For digital connections, it is generally accepted that cables don't make a difference when the distance involved is less than 3 meters. The digital signal either goes through as 1s and 0s or not – if the signal doesn't get through, you simply won't get anything showing up on the screen.

Analogue signals, however, can be influenced by the quality and diameter of the connecting cable (therefore affecting the conductance and hence transmission of the signal), and also external interference (for example radiofrequency) disrupting the signal. More expensive cables will – generally – provide better conduit and shielding and so minimize signal degradation.

Whether this signal degradation can be appreciated by the average person is another matter... so far there has been few if not no evidence from double-blind controlled testing that any expert can reliably differentiate between a $50 cable and a $200 one. In the end the choice is yours... Monster cables are widely regarded to be overinflated in price for the quality, I myself would go for professional broadcast-quality cables for the same price or cheaper over at Blue Jeans Cable.

Answer 3

Yes and no. True, better connections give a better picture. But can most people recognize the difference between a $100+ wire and the one that came free in the box? probably not. Honestly, unless the wire your using now is frayed or broken, I'd say that money would better be invested towards an upgrade to HDTV in the future.

Having said that, there *IS* a vast improvement to be had by upgrading the type of wire used, i.e. using RCA's instead of coax cable, or component video instead of RCA's. You said your using a digital cable box, that box likely doesn't have component video, but it may have s-video connections. If that's the case, $15 spent on a decent s-video cable may be money well spent.

Answer 4

I work in retail and took 2 years of electronics repair, monster cables are worth the cost. The reason being is that in our modern world, elecromagnetic waves are flowing everywhere, cell phone, radio, tv ect.. Because of this the inexpensive cables are suseptible to standing interference meaning that these electromagnetic waves are disrupting the trasmission, not a lot but a little. monster cables have much more insulation that protect the signals from the outside interference and thus a better picture. If your not running High def yet it won't make a noticible difference because standard def is such a low quality signal that so many mistakes are made during the up conversion of the signal that a little extra from the cables won't matter.

Answer 5

We got them, for our new 42 inch plasma.....I hate to say this but think it needs to be said for the benefit of anyone thinking of getting one, NOT WORTH THE MONEY........ours is a samsung, my husband did a ton of reasearch before buying it and we got it on line.....it was much less $ than any retail store even with the shipping, it supposedly has 6 speakers, built in, has photo card etc.....but the sound is horrible...it is horrible....the bass is turned off basically and it still is all blurred to listen to as the bass is still making it so you can;t really understsnd it, plus it kills my eyes,,,,have had nothing but problems with them since we got it....there I got that off my chest....the speakers are in the back which we think is the problem.....reception (hi def) is okay but no better than our old projection big screen, really,,,,,,,I realise this was not your question but had to say that for others....he got the monster cables and he thnks (just asked him) that it does make a difference....

Answer 6

If you want better quality cables, go out to walmart or kmart and buy one of thier premium cables. Yes monster cables are built well but they are also overpriced.

Answer 7

yea they are deffinetly worth it because you can get great deals on them with the movie packages. you can also complain and tell them your going to switch cable providers unless you lower your rate, and they will if you are persausive enough. it is expensive but is def worth the investment if you are looking for HD and a lot of movies

Answer 8

Yes. Better cable = better transfer of data = better picture quality.