What's your favorite HDMI cable for under $100/M? Please note your equipment (source and display), as well as other, if any, HDMI cables you've compared. Don't just say "this cable is the best" and that's it. Back it up.
I bought WireWorld Silver Star 5/2 2-3 years ago and that was my only experience until recently when I had sold them due to system changes an needing different length. I'm regretting that now since I didn't need to sell them after all. I haven't found a replacement as of yet. I did however try AQ. Started with Forest and didn't care for it. PQ was notably off. Then Chocolate. A good improvement, but still nowhere near what I was used to with WW SS 5/2. Then Carbon. Better. But still not quite there. Not the same color punch, vibrancy, clarity, dimension/depth,..etc. Then I picked up some cheap Dynex $30/1.8M cable at Best Buy to hold me over in the meantime. And I have to say, I was surprised by how decent it looked. It challenged the very foundation of pricey high-end cables, or at least those priced not much higher. It still doesn't have the PQ of the WW, although during true HD broadcast and Blu-ray the line between them starts to get blurred. I would need the WW SS 5/2 to know for sure. But having only this to use I could be satisfied. But I'm not. So I'm trying to find the best HDMI cable for under $100/M (higher if discount or used).
Pangea which are sold by Audio Advisor for well under $100.They make 2 models which only differ in the % of silver and price.I have replaced my HDMI 3 with no loss of quality.
If you look at The Cable Company website, you'll see that the Wireworld Starlight 5.2 HDMI cables are presently being sold at deep discounts. I picked one up and found it to be much better than what I had.
I am using an LG BH200(BD/HDDVD)>LG 50PC5D. Nothing fancy but I recently tried a couple of Neotech HDMI cables and was surprised by the improvement.
There were a lot of issues I was having with what they call "black crush" that were really improved with the new cables. Shadowing on dark scenes is a lot better for sure. Otherwise, the improvements seem to be more on the audio side--better intelligibility of vocals and better bass are the two most obvious things that I noticed.
Not sure of the model # but they look like the NEHH-4200 on the Neotech site. Triple shielded etc. Neotech supply cable to a lot of high end cable companies if you were not already aware. Retail is around $80 on this cable.
I would get another WireWorld silver starlight 5.2. These are good as they get and they are on closeout now so you can get a great price now. If you replace the stock cords on your video gear (HDTV's too) with BETTER power cables, your see just how good these HDMI cables are...
Transnova: No, I meant what components do you have? I wanted to know what cables people compared to and the HT gear being used.
Audiojedi: Thanks. I haven't heard of Neotech. I'll check it out.
Hifisoundguy: WW got it right when they made the SS 5/2. Btw, I use PS Audio PW AC3 and Jewel power cords with all HT gear, plus a PC. Big improvement. HiFi Tuning SilverStar fuses also made big difference with BDP.
I'm going back to WW SS 5/2. Already ordered. It'll be interesting to see what changes, improves. Sometimes it helps to downgrade so you can appreciate what you had and see/hear what's been missing.
I have several systems,but thePangea HDMI cables are in a system consisting of an Integra DHC 9.9 pre-pro,comcast HD cable box,Pioneer Elite DV-48 DVD player,Samsung 3600 Blu-Ray player(also for streaming Netflix),Rotel RMB 1095 amplifier,and a Pioneer KURO KRP-500M 50" Plasma TV.I have used Monster Ultra 1000 and Audioquest HDMI 3 cables in this system prior to the Pangea cables.
I'm already noticing an improvement with PQ from the single WW SS 5/2 HDMI cable, even downstream between A/V Rcvr -> Plasma (still using cheap $30 Dynex cable between Cable Box -> A/V Rcvr, also BDP-> A/V Rcvr). It took a couple hrs to start settling in, but already I noticed this liquidity to the image, more dimensional, better depth, stillness, focus, and clarity, also colors are more saturated, vibrant. Much more pleasing to the eye. Order another one for BDP->A/V Rcvr.
Both 5/2 versions are silver-clad OFC, but it's the cable design and 16 vs 24 conductors. Given the price for Silver Starlight 5/2 right now, yes, it's worth it. But Starlight would be fine if you haven't seen the Silver Starlight, or for HD Tuner.
I just received my third and final SS 5/2. Now my HT system is complete. The PQ is incredible. Much better then I remember. It really came together after I installed the second one between the HD Tuner->A/V Rcvr to complete the video chain from source to plasma. The picture looks so much more cohesive compared to the other cables. It looks stunning. Unreal. Hard to describe. You have to see it yourself. And much better then AQ Carbon. This cable still holds it's own.
Has anyone compared the Pangea HDMI to the BetterCables Silver Serpent HDMI? I have the Silver Serpent, but have never tried the Pangea one. I too am using the Audioquest HDMI-3. Maybe it is time for a switch and save some money.
I replaced my stock power cord with a diy dh labs power plus with wattgate connectors and the silver starlight hdmi 5.2's colors really POPS OUT at me now!...
I am still elated over being back with the WW SS 5/2 HDMI cable after a few weeks (previously owned about 3 years ago). The PQ has improved. It's incredible with both HD broadcast and Blu-ray. I watched a BD which I had viewed with previous setup/cables and it looked much better then before. AQ Carbon can't touch this. No comparison. I haven't tried others, but I'd put this up against almost any other HDMI cable at any price. Of course the quality level of the source equipment matters too. No sense using with outclassed gear.
The WireWorld silver starlight 5.2 is much better after you put three coatings of teflon tape over the whole cable. My HD picture looks very film-like with very vivid colors after doing this tweak to it!.. The three coatings teflon tape lowered the noise floor a lot!
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