Are The Expensive HDMI Cables Really Better?

So your at the electronics store and the salesperson tells you you need to invest in a better HDMI cable to get the best picture and sound quality out of the equipment you just purchased. Is he right? If you don't buy that better cable will you be ripping yourself off? Short answer, no... But don't get mad at the salesperson, the cable manufacturers have been promoting their "better HDMI" propaganda for years and using trickery to make that salesperson believe there is a difference.

HDMI Standard Has Built In Error Correction.

The technical side to the way HDMI cable handle data has been discussed in hundreds of articles across the internet, on of my favorite can be found here by CNET . Because they have all done such an excellent job I'm not going to go into the same information here. Just know that, in short, what goes into the cable comes out the same and if noise gets to the signal there are excellent error correction standards in place to fix it...

The Nordost Valhalla 2

This is the most insane cable I know of. All of the copper conductors are pure silver coated. Why???

Binary B6

We use the Binary B6 and other cables from the Binary line. They are high speed, have quality gold plated ends and are very flexible (ideal for working with behind equipment), best of all they are inexpensive and we have used them for years with no issues...

So when the salesperson says you need the better cable...

Keep in mind, he has probably been exposed to tricky sales gimmicks from the cable company's rep and may not know better. Just tell them no thanks and find a good quality inexpensive HDMI cable, you and your wallet will be happy you did.