Monster Cables, Monster Ripoff: 80% Markups

Comments

1. mike says:
   February 8, 2008 at 4:02 pm

   If you think Monster cable is a great deal, I’ve got some pristine ocean-front property in Kansas I’d love to sell you.
2. GOKOR says:
   February 8, 2008 at 4:03 pm

   I love all the stuff on that list that Radio Shack doesn’t even sell. Either way, yeah, it’s retail, no one is going to sell an item for what they bought it for. However, a lot of their stuff at Radio Shack they only get a 1 or 2% markup, meaning the 249.99 you get your ipod for, they’re only getting a few dollars on for selling it to you. They want you to buy accessories at any retailer because that’s how they make their money.
3. Grandjester says:
   February 8, 2008 at 4:08 pm

   I have torn the head off many a RS saleman who tried that crap on me. I work in the Pro A/V Industry and Monster Cable is the greatest fraud ever perpetuated on consumers. They have tested a LAMP CORD against Monster and the pros could not tell the difference.

   As for HDMI, it is a STANDARD not a CABLE. So any cable sold with that designation is just fine.
4. DeLarge says:
   February 8, 2008 at 4:08 pm

   @Bobblez: I agree with you when you state “There is an array of factors that go into play in cables”. So in my case I ran my very own subjective test that bring my own rule of thumb: short run, go cheap; long runs, buy the best wire you can afford or make you feel that you are making a fair bet.

   Let me explain further:
   Because cheap wire and cables are… cheap, I bougth both cheap (CC) and some “high end” Monster cable (MC).
   I ran listening tests using CC vs. MC blind test (friend helping me) and found that short runs for interconnecting devices: DVD, CD player, reel deck (yep, I have one and I use it) to the receiver. There is no audible difference for me.

   Long run speaker cable is a whole different history. I had already installed CC in my HT (about three years old). So I ran the same test with brand new Oxygen free cooper wire. Blind test again. Results?: THERE IS a difference, not only in sound reproduction but it was measured as a full 1 dB of loss (using a Radio Shack decibelimeter).

   I also note that CC (three year old then) plastic coating was becoming hard. My now two year old rewiring is flexible as new.

   Run your own tests, and make the best selection that fills your ears and eyes and fits your pocket.

   Time changes rules of thumb. I remember the Hi-Fi one that said: “50% for speakers, 50% for equipment”.

   .
   I agree that every component on a system whatever it is affcts/modifies the final result.

   If you have a Buggati Veyron, you can put low octane gas, probably you are not going to reach top speed by, say, 10 or 20 miles…. but you are still well over 200Mph!!!

   Or you can go and put some speed index N tires (up to 87 Mph) in your Veyron and save some serious buck on tires. But you can’t really enjoy the full experience because you will blow your tires (an sure you too) if you go fast.

   In any case. It is a matter of pure and personal choice.
5. GOKOR says:
   February 8, 2008 at 4:13 pm

   @kable2: 1. He can’t do anything for you about the price of the cables he is selling you. 2. He’s only going to know what his supervisors tell him about the cable and sincerely not care about your whole lecture, meaning you’re making yourself look like a douche.
6. StevieZ83 says:
   February 8, 2008 at 4:23 pm

   you can’t really make radio shack the bad guy here, at least we sell our own brand of cables too, which is much cheaper than monster, bby and circut city don’t, or will even try to not sell it to you.
7. Swoop41 says:
   February 8, 2008 at 4:36 pm

   @Gorky: Not to mention money is lost on most laptop sales.
8. Benjo says:
   February 8, 2008 at 4:37 pm

   Hey, wow. Moster Cable is overpriced. That’s the news of the century.
9. Swoop41 says:
   February 8, 2008 at 4:38 pm

   @StevieZ83: Actually at Best Buy they will try to sell you their private label cables first, because there is more markup in them.
10. Swoop41 says:
    February 8, 2008 at 4:39 pm

    @StevieZ83: Actually, at Best Buy they will try to sell you their private label cables and accessories first, as they are more profitable.
11. Dude27 says:
    February 8, 2008 at 4:52 pm

    MC is overpriced at big retailers, but not if you’re clever enough to find yourself on the internet. I bought my MC Ps2/3 component for 12$ and 5$ shipping. I tried it versus my generic mad catz component: I put the mad catz in my trash… and I now enjoy a cleaner (less jaggies, less flickering, richer and more defined image on GT4 in 1080i with my PS2
12. cygnusx8 says:
    February 8, 2008 at 4:56 pm

    Yes Monster cables are a rip off but it seems everyone has singled them out. They are not even the worst offenders. Take a look at Nordost which sells 1.5m Valhalla cable for around $5,000 or on the extreme side look up Transparent audio Opus MM cable which is about $30,000 for a pair of 1.5m speaker cables. Now those are some profit margins!
13. PerpetualCarouse says:
    February 8, 2008 at 5:00 pm

    OMG Consumerist!

    What’s next? Designer handbags don’t really cost thousands of dollars to make? Kobe beef isn’t really that much better than regular beef?

    Shocking.
14. spruance says:
    February 8, 2008 at 5:03 pm

    Ugg, so many half-accurates in the comments.

    The statement made in the post itself is 100% accurate, with one catch: “Here’s the thing: digital cables, by definition, have no signal loss. A cable is either digital or it’s not.”

    That statement is entirely true, but IF and ONLY IF the signal reaches the other end not degraded.

    There’s a number of criteria that a cable is measured against, including cross talk, ingress noise, and attenuation. All three indicate ways that by the time the signal reaches the other end, the signal is unreadable, and so the signal is definitely “or not”.

    I have a 6′ HDMI cable that degraded from perfectly functional to doesn’t work in about 3 months. The cable itself is physically fine, it didn’t break or anything. The signal is just so badly attenuated that the receiver can’t decode the output and provide video or audio.

    So, what am I saying? Buy good cables, but not stupidly expensive ones.

    Gold plated connectors are never the answer. While connection points are where you lose the most signal strength, your connection is specified by end to end performance. If you (the maker) require gold to make the end-to-end signal within spec, you built the cable wrong.

    I’ve had extremely good luck with monoprice.com’s cables. A replacement HDMI cable cost me about $6, and i’ve used it for two years now happily.
15. cenobyt says:
    February 8, 2008 at 5:03 pm

    Hi all,

    The title of this is somewhat misleading. You can’t just say 80% markups because people read that as a rip off. It’s not. No one in retail will ever look at that, nor should we. It’s all about margins (profits). That’s how companies stay in business. When they’re gone because they didn’t make any profit then we bitch because our favorite store isn’t there anymore. Almost all Monster cable gets the retailer about 45-50% profit. That is standard for almost all accessories. Once you pay the sales guy/gal who sold it plus all of their benefits plus the bills etc, maybe you’re at 20% profit. Now sell a TV which is on sale for some stupid price and guess what, you lost money even with that Monster wire thrown in at it’s 80% markup. Just doesn’t hurt as much.

    This is the same for all game systems. if you can’t sell the game or the extra controller then you lose money.

    So if making a slim profit in the electronics industry is unacceptable to you then perhaps as others mentioned, stop your bitchin and buy the cable on ebay.
16. moro5150 says:
    February 8, 2008 at 5:07 pm

    I thought the price was due to the LIFETIME WARRANTY.
    I used to work at a musical instrument shop and always saw the cost ridiculously low, compared to retail. But I was also instructed to: “even if someone buys a cable and walks out the store and burns it, and turns it back, we have to give him a new cable” NO kidding. Store policy back then… The question is..
    Do they still have the lifetime warranty for ALL cables? or was it only instrument cables AND is it really worth that much
17. bbbici says:
    February 8, 2008 at 5:08 pm

    I was under the impression that 100% markup is the norm in retail, for everything.
18. cenobyt says:
    February 8, 2008 at 5:11 pm

    Also for those that have no idea how to figure out what a retailers profit is, here is the formula;

    (retail-cost)/retail

    So as an example
    Item | Retail Price | Wholesale Price | Profit Margin
    MONSTER BLK TLIT MNT-37IN | $179.99 | $109.74 | $70.25

    (179.99-109.74)/179.99= 39% profit

    Not that great considering this is an accessory on a retail floor. Most other mounts exceed the 45%-50% mark.
19. ZerothOfTheLaw says:
    February 8, 2008 at 5:17 pm

    Yeah, this is pretty much accurate. I work in the canadian version of Radio Shack, The Source by Circuit City. We carry all the same stuff, and often, when converted, have the exact same profit margins.

    An example would be an “Ultimate HDMI Cable”, 16 feet long. It sells for $160 CAD, when Wholesale is about $16. Its not a monster cable either, but our store brand.

    How else are we supposed to make money, when our TV’s only have a profit margin of $50 or less? When our computers make us less than $10 profit? Thats not even taking into account employee wages, power, rent, transportation… We need to make a profit somewhere.

    Then again, I’m not really apologizing, but justifying the actions of companies. They have to make money somehow, right?
20. MYarms says:
    February 8, 2008 at 5:35 pm

    Best part about knowing a Best Buy employee? Buying cables that normally run between 50 and 70 bucks for 3 dollars or less.
21. xbigdoggx says:
    February 8, 2008 at 5:54 pm

    Those prices with the exception of the ones in the negative are not wierd at all. In fact those prices are actually very good considering. Im not by any mean saying monster is better than any one else or anywhere near worth the price. But the standard in retail is to take a cost and double it. It is called keystoning. The one thing that consumers always forget is that the cost over wholesale is not all profit. A store has costs to operate.
    Employee cost.
    Utilities
    Rent
    Inventory
    Insurance
    and numerous other things. Really go talk to your local anything store. I would bet 6 figures nearlly all of their products are marked double what they pay. I know I have had a small retail store for 20 years and if I make a 50% margin which is double cost. I actually take home maybe 12% So of $100 I make on a $200 item after paying all expenses I make $12 so if I have a $2000 day which would be probably what a radio shack makes in a day. The owner of that store probably made $250 so the owner essentially makes $25 an hour and thats hardly the kind of money rip off artists make. Really monster would be the rip off for charging so much but maybe that is just proportional to their costs. The gold and this and that may be questional as to whether or not it helps but if they feel it does and they spend the extra then they probably have to charge more.
    Anyway my point is they are all hardly ripoff people. If they are you should see margins at your local grocery. It would blow your mind. $0.10 Apple for $0.50 or even a dollar thats 80% and 90% margins Thats 500 and 900% markups.
22. raistlinmaj says:
    February 8, 2008 at 5:57 pm

    What the hell is Radio Shack doing in business anymore? Do they still sell Olympus crap? Yay for Radio Shack selling crappy ass Aquos LCD’s for a rip off amount. I only go to Radio Shack (and it is a shack) for connectors. That’s it. Who is their right mind goes there for anything else? Crappy overpriced shit they sell. Doesn’t surprise me that Monster licks their chops having them sell their crap. Radio Shack and Monster cables. Oh the irony.
23. dlab says:
    February 8, 2008 at 6:22 pm

    I rarely disagree with stuff that Ben posts, but as a musician, I object to the claim above.

    Yes, expensive HDMI cables ARE a rip-off, because of the the very definition of digital technology. Cables for analog use are an entirely different story — quality affects the amount of shielding used, thickness of the insulation, and the quality of the connector hardware as well as the actual solder points between cable and connector. Monster cables have the most beautiful solder points — high-quality cable joined with beautiful gold-lated hardware wrapped in heat-shrink rubber tubing. I started them after years of re-soldering generic guitar cables that would only last me 2-3 weeks before going bad. I still use the 20-foot, 1/4 inch angled jack Monster cable I bought 8 years ago as my primary cable going from my guitar to my amp, and it still sounds as good as the day I bought it.

    And finally, Monster cables have a lifetime warranty — if they go bad, send ‘em back and get another one.
24. Bargaineering.com says:
    February 8, 2008 at 6:28 pm

    Add another vote to monoprice.
25. aliencam says:
    February 8, 2008 at 6:44 pm

    prety much every cable has a monster markup on it. the best place I go to buy cables is [cablesforless.com] i actually often find cables that i like BETTER there than i can find in the store (little things like better protectors on ethernet cables, and things like that)

    and i found a 25 ft “high quality” HDMI cable there for $35.85, so not as cheap as under $20, but still really cheap.
26. badgertale says:
    February 8, 2008 at 6:46 pm

    I don’t know why wveryone is bitching about the difference between wholesale and retail. There is supposed to be mark ups as much as 3x the wholesale price. That’s how they make a profit whether it is in accessories or not; it all depends on what the market will bear and what you think items are worth. Flashy claims and marketing are what it’s all about, baby (a-la George Costanza)!

    Do your research! Doesn’t hurt but it does take time.
27. Skeptic says:
    February 8, 2008 at 6:48 pm

    BOBBLEZ AT 09:39 AM
    After reading through all the posts, I really realize how incredibly stupid this Take the Monster Pro guitar cable: they discovered that analog bass frequencies travel slower and towards the core of the cable and that treble travels faster and towards the outside. A simple braided cable over a long run will end up with a time separation (delay) between bass and treble. The Monster Pro has a solid core with a braided exterior on the main conductor, ENGINEERED to minimize audible delay.

    Ahem. Electricity travels at near light speed. There is no way on this earth you heard a phase problem with the analog audio signal traveling down your mono guitar cable.
28. SillyBrit says:
    February 8, 2008 at 7:00 pm

    > Here’s the thing: digital cables, by definition, have no signal loss?

    Ummmm, that’s a VERY limited view.

    Data sent digitally 1′s and 0′s is represented as a voltage. You *will* lose a voltage over most cables, it’s fundamental physics. Lose too much of the ‘difference’ between the 1′s and 0′s and you will have a job differentiating between those two states.

    If you look at the testing done on this the “higher quality” cables (especially longer cables) have usually give a much sharper image due to there being less loss involved and therefore less the TV or whatever hardware you are use has to try and ‘guess’ at to repair the image.

    I still don’t think it by any means justifies the ridiculous markups involved though!

    The question you have to ask is whether the length of cable and picture quality you want justifies spending extra to get more than the basic cables. (In the case of that markup though, maybe when I get the 60″ flat screen and win the lottery).

    As always, do your research before buying.
29. Skeptic says:
    February 8, 2008 at 7:01 pm

    BY MYARMS AT 12:35 PM
    Best part about knowing a Best Buy employee? Buying cables that normally run between 50 and 70 bucks for 3 dollars or less

    Best part about monoprice? Not having to know a Best Buy employee…
30. helloitabot says:
    February 8, 2008 at 7:02 pm

    “Here’s the thing: digital cables, by definition, have no signal loss. A cable is either digital or it’s not. As long as its built to HDMI standards, the only difference between a “fancy” digital cable and a no-name one is the price.”

    Here’s where you are wrong. Each type of digital cable/transmission protocol has a different length at which the signal could degrade significantly enough to confuse a 1 with a 0 at the receiving end. At a certain length ALL digital cables will cause errors. That’s why they don’t make certain cables past a certain length. USB, Firewire etc all have a maximum length. For an HDMI cable of 6 feet or less, it probably is impossible for this to happen even with the cheapest cable. But buy a super cheap 50 foot HDMI cable and you may see artifacts on your screen. The electronic pulses that represent ones and zeroes can only travel so far. This is also a bigger issue with S/PDIF digital audio connections which use regular red/white RCA cables. When digital signal is transmitted through wires, it uses a different impedance than regular audio and they have cables designed specifically for this. That being said, all monster cables are a rip-off even ones for analog audio.
31. IndyJaws says:
    February 8, 2008 at 7:34 pm

    Radio Shack’s actual cost is considerably lower than listed here. As others have pointed out, they take their net cost and add in overhead (shipping, inventory costs, advertising, etc.) to get a “wholesale” price.

    I remember back in the 90′s when I sold computers…a 6′ parallel printer cable retailed for $14.99 and had a wholesale cost of 16 cents and a net cost of under a dime. Sad thing is, we made more profit on the sale of a printer cable than the computer, monitor and printer combined. And customers always wondered why we didn’t just toss it in for free!
32. flashing12 says:
    February 8, 2008 at 7:36 pm

    @unklegwar: I was about to make the same comment….my company is a monster distributor and either the kid who sent in this list is full of crap or Radio Shack’s buyer should be fired because the wholesale pricing is wayyyy too high in most cases
33. kpfeif says:
    February 8, 2008 at 7:40 pm

    My favorite comment regarding Monster Cables by a BB employee [regarding a optical digital audio cable]…

    Him: Ugh, you’ll want to choose a Monster Cable.
    Me : Why? It’s optical – it uses light.
    Him: Yeah, well, Monster’s Cables are faster.
    Me : The light goes faster?
    Him: Yeah.
    Me : If Monster has figured out how to make light go faster, they’d better get into some other business other than audio cables.
    Him: [confused look]
34. settsu says:
    February 8, 2008 at 7:41 pm

    I greatly appreciate what Consumerist does, but this is far from an exposé. While Monster products’ mark-up is quite healthy, it’s not exceptional for consumer electronics accesories.

    While I can’t recall the exact dollar amounts, I do remember the surprise/shock when looking up employee pricing, especially on house brand items, during my short stint at the “Big Blue” electronics chain. If my memory serves correctly, think margins of at least 200-300% for common items (batteries, RCA cables, etc.)

    How about keeping the focus on things that have an affect on day to day life, like monopolistic utilities, health insurance, or almost ANY staple food item (don’t get me started on bread, cereal, et al…)

    Keeping consumers from being duped by their own naivete is all good, but c’mon modestly high profit margins on HDMI cables is a little too “Local Nightly News”-shocking.
35. flashing12 says:
    February 8, 2008 at 7:41 pm

    @bbbici: Nooooo, not everything. Flat screen TVs on sale are often at or even below cost making high margin accessory sales and extended warranty sales critical to stay in business. Unfortunately declining ASPs (average selling prices) on electronics makes it impossible for everyone to make a fair profit…stress the word fair. If no one makes a profit, then no one stays in business. It’s the way of the world!
36. mergedwarrior says:
    February 8, 2008 at 7:56 pm

    I thought everybody knew this.

    I always buy cables online, Bestbuy wants 60 bucks for a 8 inch SATA cable from Dynex. Seriously.
37. wjenning says:
    February 8, 2008 at 8:00 pm

    OK…time for a reality ‘reality’ check.

    It is common practice in nearly ALL retail to “keystone” many products. This is trade speak for ‘margin’. Non-loss leader products (um, think bread, milk, eggs, etc.) that are commonly bought, have lower margins and lower markups. But many products sold at retail are offered at double to wholesale cost. That’s standard.
    There are variable in all trades….check out vitamins, health & beauty aids.
    Monster cables may or not be a ‘rip off’, but that isn’t an argument made by ‘revealing’ the difference between wholesale and retail. The cables are a rip off if they do not provide any advantage in relation to their expense. Radio Shack is a rip off if they add undue markups on products that don’t do what they claim or do not outperform lesser priced options. But wholesale and retail practices do not, in themselves, constitute ‘fraud’. Grow up.
38. dangj307 says:
    February 8, 2008 at 8:05 pm

    “Here’s the thing: digital cables, by definition, have no signal loss. A cable is either digital or it’s not. As long as its built to HDMI standards, the only difference between a “fancy” digital cable and a no-name one is the price”

    This isn’t entirely true. You can get sparklies in digital cables. HDMI/DVI wires can’t dream of having 200ft lengths like good component wires. Please retire this myth.
    [forum.ecoustics.com]
39. bigzdotorg says:
    February 8, 2008 at 8:20 pm

    I used to work for BB. Not a fan of Monster in particular, but that’s besides the point. Is it that difficult to comprehend capitalism? For that matter, marketing and branding?

    As a society, we do not value one cable the same as the other – if so, there would be no Nike, LV, Mercedes, Coke, etc. etc.

    For every major brand / product out there, there is undoubtedly at least another ONE that is the same, if not better.

    If you thought that Monster was making cables for the benefit of the world, then, well, good for you. They’re here to make money – and I imagine, so are you – so get over the fact that someone else is doing it well.
40. NoBSsteve says:
    February 8, 2008 at 8:33 pm

    @MANTARI:
    Your friend is right, frequency-dependent transmission of digital signals is known as dispersion, and is a type of transmission loss that causes distortion in transmission lines that cannot handle the applied frequency range of the digital data. This is exactly why “digital lines are lossless by definition” is false. When dispersion happens, you put a square wave in on one end and get a rounded waveform with a smaller amplitude on the other end. Signal correction tries to correct this by looking for areas of the waveform that are significantly higher than others and defining them as a digital 1.

    Also, whoever it was that mentioned the sales rep talking about the bass signals traveling over the surface of the wire (I don’t remember who it was because there are a lot of posts here), the rep was actually correct. Except that it’s not just the bass signals that travel along the surface, it’s all signals. In a transmission line, electrical signals only travel along the surface of the wire. Bigger gauges provide more surface area. Stranded cables provide a bit more surface area in an equally sized cable due to the additional surface area of the individual wires.
41. thetard says:
    February 8, 2008 at 8:55 pm

    I generally agree with the theory of if its a digital cable any kind of signal loss between brands will inaudible. As far as anything analogue that uses copper goes Monster cable does make a difference, especially in the pro audio realm, I have tried several guitar cables and monster is one of the best, the only noise you get comes from where it should… the guitar. I worked electronics retail for seven years so this article was not a surprise at all for me. Virtually all of the accessories you will find at any electronics store has these kinds of mark-ups, from the cheapest to the most expensive. Like other people here have said “it’s were they make their money”.
42. oachalon says:
    February 8, 2008 at 8:59 pm

    I am really enjoying reading all these comments. I work for a small electronics company and one of the items we sell is audio video cables. The chinese manufacturer we get our cables from is the same one that belkin gets their cables from. Monster also gets a majority of cables from them. They also make the av cable that comes with the nintendo wii. As an example our cost for a 6 ft hdmi cable is $3.57. Same cable as monster cable and belkin, my company just doesnt have their name on it and we just get it in standard black color. I guarantee monster cables cost is even less. So people saying that monster cables are better quality than another companies cable is wrong, they are buying them from the same chinese manufacturer. (Monoprice gets their cables from a different manufacturer but still very nice cables). Also I have to laugh about people talking about their lifetime guarantee and they have no problems replacing it. Of course they will replace it no probhlem you just paid $100 for a $1.50 cable. It reminds me of the movie tommy boy.

    Tommy: Let’s think about this for a sec, Ted, why do they put a guarantee on a box? Hmm, very interesting.
    Ted: I’m listening.
    Tommy: Here’s how I see it. A guy puts a guarantee on the box ’cause he wants you to fell all warm and toasty inside.
    Ted: Yeah, makes a man feel good.
    Tommy: ‘Course it does. Ya think if you leave that box under your pillow at night, the Guarantee Fairy might come by and leave a quarter.
    Ted: What’s your point?
    Tommy: The point is, how do you know the Guarantee Fairy isn’t a crazy glue sniffer? “Building model airplanes” says the little fairy, but we’re not buying it. Next thing you know, there’s money missing off the dresser and your daughter’s knocked up, I seen it a hundred times.
    Ted: But why do they put a guarantee on the box then?
    Tommy: Because they know all they solda ya was a guaranteed piece of shit. That’s all it is. Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for right now, for your sake, for your daughter’s sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality item from me.

    They can send you all the replacements you want because their margin is so huge.

    Everyone have a nice day and save your money buy the cheap cables they are the same.
43. thetard says:
    February 8, 2008 at 9:02 pm

    @laserjobs: Actually strand count matters too. The electrons actually pass through the outsides of the copper not the center. The more strands there is the easier it is for the electrons to bounce from strand to strand as they move down the wire. If you had just one center conductor it would be much harder for the electrons to move down the wire.
44. x23 says:
    February 8, 2008 at 9:05 pm

    @Dude27:

    and for the quality, in my mind there is NO alternative to MC when you want quality.

    agreed. people come up with all sorts of inane justifications for being ripped-off.
45. Dude27 says:
    February 8, 2008 at 9:25 pm

    I do not feel ripped off when I bought it (PS2 component) for 12$, I would have felt ripped off if for the same exact cable I would have paid 4-5x this price at Best Buy.

    I felt ripped off however when I bought the mad catz component cable for 15$ in a EB games which compared to my new MC is completely crappy…

    Of course, MC is not the finest cable out there especially if you have 2000-5000$ to put in a cable, but for me it provides sufficient high quality to be very happy… for a fair price online…
46. mavrc says:
    February 8, 2008 at 9:55 pm

    Back in the day when I had my own retail computer shop, it was fun to buy an IDE cable for $1 and resell it for $9.99 (plus tax, of course.)

    Cables have always been exceptionally high margin items. Just buy the damn things from Amazon or Newegg or something. You can get 2 cables for 1/8 of the price of one Monster Cable and have a spare on the shelf if one of them breaks.
47. HeartBurnKid says:
    February 8, 2008 at 10:00 pm

    I’ve run my computer monitor with a generic DVI cable and with a Monster cable, and noticed no difference whatsoever. This may not exactly be a scientific test, but it has all the meaning in the world to me.

    (And no, I didn’t pay Monster’s outrageous prices — I got it for $10 from a local outlet store)
48. nick_r says:
    February 8, 2008 at 10:05 pm

    All I know is, $15-20 is about right for an HDMI-DVI cable.
49. lorensingley says:
    February 8, 2008 at 10:39 pm

    It is kinda unfair to say a 20 cable is not as good as a 50-90 dollar one because there are differences in the spec the cable has been built to meet. Yeah, you just bought a 10-15 dollar HDMI cable, thats great, but will it pass 1080p with 12 bit deep color support? Will the signal be consistent past 3-4 meters? A lot of cable supprisingly have those problems.
    There are high and low grades of HDMI and people should be aware so they don’t waste time and money if they have nice gear. DVIgear.com is a good source for learning about these differences.
50. dognose says:
    February 8, 2008 at 11:02 pm

    Yeah, that last column should be “profit” profit margin is a percentage. [www.teenanalyst.com]

    Even Radioshack is getting ripped off on these prices though!