the only time i feel its justifiable to buy an "expensive" cable is if you'll be running it a giant distance away. (and please note, when I say expensive, i mean paying 15 bucks for HDMI instead of 5)
As a matter of fact the only time i'd want to buy cable period is if i broke my previous one.
IIRC gizmodo did a double blind AB test between high grade cables, standard grade cables, and copper coat hangers. apart from a few lucky guesses no one could tell the difference until they extended past like 10 feet.
EDIT: I shoudl also clarify that sometimes, buying a slightly less bottom-of-the-barrel cable is worthwhile, for example my current logitech in-the-box cables for my z5500's suck such balls in terms of durability and kinks and stuff that its impossible to run them through the walls, so i bought some nice thick cabling from my local everything-under-the-sun store for about 15 bucks/100 feet or something. works like a dream. also I'm wishing i spent more than 4 bucks on my HDMi cables because the ones upstairs i think are getting worn or broken at the connectors.
Edited by shrimants - 6/20/11 at 1:08pm
