Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16285 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: SLx
• Model: ELAN2.4M
• Released on: 2007-11-25

Customer Reviews

Top quality at a bargain price
HDMI cables generally seem to be criminally over-priced. Even the 'own brand' supermarket options are ridiculously expensive. This raises two questions: why are they so expensive, and do you get what you pay for?

I think they're expensive because high definition TV is still considered to be a relatively new technology so shops can and do charge more for it. It's not because these cables are particularly expensive to manufacture. I agree that in the case of analogue audio/video cables, generally speaking the more you pay the better the signal quality (especially over longer runs). However, I don't think this holds true for digital signals like HDMI.

Digital signals consist of a rapid flow of digital information - ones and zeros - which are decoded back into an analogue signal by your TV/amplifier. The whole point is that there is no signal loss with a digital signal (unlike analogue) - either the signal reaches its destination perfectly intact or it doesn't. There's no way that the data can be 'better quality' down one cable than another - they should be absolutely identical. So there's no scientific reason why one HDMI cable should be better than another (at least in terms of signal quality). Forgive the geeky description - I'm a software engineer!

I've seen several side-by-side trials of HDMI cables on TV (e.g. 'The Gadget Show') and on the web - none of them has concluded that expensive cables produce better results. Usually, there's no difference at all.

All that being said, Sparta Elan HDMI cables are *excellent value for money*. The signal quality is as perfect as with any other HDMI cable, and they are well manufactured. The braided cable feels pretty solid and has gold plated plugs to prevent corrosion. It complies with the latest HDMI v1.3 standard which may be important in years to come when equipment catches up. It even looks nice and has a lifetime guarantee.

There really is no down side - just buy one!