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For the average consumer, A/V cables are usually an afterthought when it comes to purchasing gear. We spend most of our time researching the big ticket items and rightly so.
When you’ve just forked over $1,200 for a new flat-panel and Blu-ray player, spending $75 on HDMI cables seems reasonable. But most A/V experts advise against it. The main reason being a $10 6-foot cable typically performs just as well as one priced five times that. Some manufacturers have sold cables for as much as $500!
“Price differences are not untrue in any product category, although it might be more egregious in the world of cables,” Steve Venuti, President of HDMI Licensing, LLC, told Electronic House back in August. “Our main concern is compliance. If a cable meets compliance and sells for $10, while another similar cable sells for $100, we don’t get into that. Certainly consumers could be surprised by the cost of cables at retail, but that’s a market factor that we don’t get involved with.”
There are situations which call for spending more on a higher quality cable. If there’s more than 50-feet between your components, you should research your options before buying the cheapest cable possible (Read: What is the Maximum Run for HDMI Cabling?).
Here’s a look at some of the online retailers with a reputation for selling good HDMI (and other) cables at low cost.
Monoprice.com
Gizmodo, CNET and most of the folks over at Audioholics all recommend this online retailer. You’ll find cables of all types, gauge and lengths. We found a foot of HDMI cable for as little as $3. A warning to the average consumer, the wide array of cable specs can make you dizzy. Make sure you know exactly what type of cable you need.
Bluejeans Cable
Bluejeans Cable also comes highly recommended by many “pro”-sumers. Like Monoprice.com, you’ll find cables of all types. There’s also an “HDMI information center” loaded with questions, answers, articles and other resources. When we visited the site, there was a 25 percent off sale on 24 AWG Silver-plated copper HDMI cables.
Amazon.com
As any Amazon.com veteran knows, you can find products from various retailers. A quick search revealed a 6-ft HDMI cable for $4.54 (via SuperMediaStore). We also found cables made by Cables to Go, Eforcity, Bargaincell and Mediabridge. If your total purchase exceeds $25, you receive free shipping.
CablesforLess.com
The site with the best motto: “Saving the world… from High Priced Cables since 1996.” They break up their HDMI cables into categories: high quality, standard quality and commercial grade. A quick glance under the “standard quality” category finds cables as low as $6.59 for six feet.
That’s four of the top web sites for buying good cables on the cheap. Do you know of any others? Let us know in the comments below.
DH Labs in Florida has the only award winning HDMI 1.3 cable in the market. Their pricing is very low.
They also manufacture everything with the best possible North Amercia material and metals. Everything they produce is from the US! They empoy Nasa metalulgists and most recording stuios use their cables, including Classic, all the spin-offs from the Hit Factory, Warner Brother’s, etc.
They use the best Teflon dielectrics and mirrored pure silver and pure OFC.
They are in the Hall of Fame on Audiogon.
Please buy American! Don’t support the junk that’s coming in from Asia…no Teflon, pot metals, poor assembly and our US dollars do not come back.
I’ve had great dealings with Bluejeans Cable…there is no reason to spend a arm and a leg on cables with these guys in business. Great quality and fast shipping.
I have ordered from all of those, Those are definitely the best places to get quality cables cheap +1 other. http://www.totalsignal.com Order from any of those 5 and you just can’t go wrong.
When it comes to HDMI cables, I practically swear by Blue Jeans Cable. Not only are their prices low, you do not get a cheap cable, or cheap feeling cable. I’ve bought around 10 HDMI cables from them and they are incredibly robust and work perfectly. Unfortunately, while I havent bought many from BJC, when it comes to analog cables, the rule of thumb is the more you spend, the better they get, to a point. In my experience, I have had good results with Audio Quest, Analysis Plus, and Tributaries (especially their component video cables!).
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Puhhhleeeeze Terry, what a JOKE! This article is about quality cables on the CHEAP. Not a commercial documentary on a$$-raping. You don’t get SH*T from your well made Teflon dielectrics and pure silver wires & connectors that you can’t get from a well made Monoprice, CablesForLess or other reputable budget priced company (with THOUSANDS of positive PUBLIC reviews I might add) made cable, except maybe an STD, because you deserve it for being so ignorant. With HDMI for example, either you get the signal or you SEE that you don’t, it’s THAT simple. No need for all the overcharging on hyped up, uneeded, useless features or gloss.