[music_man]

in the audioquest line. the difference between each step is not huge. however the cumulative difference to the diamond is profound. i showed many people that know nothing about a/v and they were stunned. audio cables at some point i even second guess myself. with the diamond hdmi there is no question. of course a $100 cable is better than a free one too. it depends what the rest of your equipment is. i would not put a $1,500 2m cable on a $400 tv obviously. i am sure there are probably even better high end cables. the thing is from a free cable to a $100 one there is a difference but it is sort of hard to be sure. with the diamond compared to a free cable or even a $100 one there is no doubt whatsoever. audio cables are largely subjective(even though i am a fan) and have been questioned many times. the hdmi cable every one could see. i did not tell them which cable was which. as soon as i switched each person to input 3 where it was at there jaw dropped. it was between a free cable, a $500 cable and the diamond. i just wonder what an even better cable is like and if it stops making a difference at some point. btw, i have nothing to do with aq. in fact i think their power cords suck. furthermore i would certainly have chosen a better brand of high end hdmi had it been at the store. nonetheless it is certainly good enough for me. i think an even better cable may exceed the limits of my xbr hx929. of course as always,ymmv. if you are interested and can demo something like this i feel it is worthwhile.
 
editops, i see there is a thread on hdmi cables going. the consensus is a $5 one is as as good as a $1,500 one. so i have no idea what explains what we all saw. perhaps input 3 on that tv is far better. i have no idea. anyways, i am happy with my cable.

 

[Aevum]

Its quite common for electronic stores to miscalibrate or use component/composite cables on the "other leading brand" television so you see a differance. Monster actually had a scam going where they got people to buy 99-300 dollar cables by showing a TV plugged in to a HDMI next to another TV using an RF cable. clearly a 1080p image looks alot better then a 480i image. im still amazed they didnt get sued for fraud.
 
Every test done by every major A/V review site or magazine showed the same result, for devices 15 feet or less from each other the $9,95 wallmart special will do the trick,
 
What people dont get is that an HDMI cable is a digital data cable. not an analog cable, there is no variation of the data coming in from one side and coming out the other. either it gets there or it dosnt but it dosnt change. so either theres an image or there isnt but the image quality does not vary.
 
For connections beyond 15 feet you should look in to shielded cables. but the whole cold tempared gold plated braded by virgins and bathed in the blood of hungarian mountain goats BS should be ignored in general.

 

[music_man]

well, after the fact and all i have read thus far....it looks like i was duped into buying a $1,500 cable. yikes! i will say it seems to look better than a free cable that came from dish. i am also guessing a $10 cable is better than the free one and as good/the same as the aq diamond. oops. now get this.....no return policy on cables where i bought! hmm. i wonder why?
 
 
i do have to ask though. how do people claim they here a difference in spdif/toslink cables? aren't those digital just like hdmi? we don't have to have the actual "argument" that ensues. i am just wondering if spdif/toslink is digital in the same exact manner that hdmi is. albeit transfering a different type of data i suppose. the weird thing is every magazine touted expensive spdif/toslink cables but they all refuted the merits of any expensive hdmi cables. ah well, looks like i am one of the other suckers born every day. hey, it looks nice! i mean the actual cable not the picture lol.