HDMI cable advice for connecting components to receiver

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paulgj

Audiophyte
Hi there,

I have read in a few locations (including Monoprice.com) that when connecting components to a receiver rather than directly to a target device (thinking Blu-ray to TV) that you should use thicker gauge HDMI cables to compensate for the additional resistance.

I currently have a 28 gauge HDMI cable between the blu-ray and the TV but am thinking am needing two thicker cables when connecting it to the TV using the receiver as the intermediary device.

So from what I can gather 24awg would suffice but am also wondering if using redmere cables would be a good alternative to the thicker HDMI cables. Would using redmere cables between the Blu-ray and receiver AND between the receiver and TV be OK or would regular 24awg hdmi cables be better.

Thank you
Paul
 
avliner

avliner

Audioholic Chief
Howdy Paul and welcome to the forum!!

To be honest, I've never heard about a thicker/thinner gauge issues on HDMI cables though... Having said that, there are several HDMI "thin" cables available now, with prettty good results, BTW.
I'll tell you what, I do have a 40' Redmere cable from the splitter to the PJ and it's been working like a charm, since day one.

IMO, the HDMI caveat starts from 15ft onwards, specially if these cables are not powered at all, but if if you choose the Redmere's, you'll be golden under any circumstances, though ;).
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
Was there a question in there? For short runs, like 10ft or less, AWG should have little or no influence at all, so you can run smaller AWG/ thinner cables if you like. What device you're connecting to also shouldn't be a factor either, in terms of AWG. Larger AWG for shorter cables is completely backwards, so I wouldn't listen to whomever said that :)
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
Cables have speed ratings, and there are only two speeds of HDMI cables: Standard and High Speed.

Any high speed cable is required to pass 1080p video across it regardless of the length. Standard speed cables are only required to pass 1080i video.

In my experience, even cables only rated as standard speed, often handle 1080p video just fine, but they are not guaranteed to do so.

That said: There are certainly cables which are 'standard speed' rated only at lengths of 6'. These ultra-thin cables from different manufacturers typically handle 1080p just fine, but aren't guaranteed to do so at that length.

For example: Extron HDMI Cables & Adapters - HDMI Micro Series

The 1.5 and 3' micro HDMI cables are high speed rated, but the 6' cable is clearly labeled as standard speed.

Getting a larger gauge of cable, to replace an existing high-speed cable will not give you better zeroes or ones, so replacing the cable is pointless and won't help things. If you are having video dropouts, or other actual issues, then the cable may be poorly constructed, have a defect in it, be picking up some interference, etc. There are dozens of reasons why a HDMI cable may not work properly, but on shorter lengths, I have almost never run into issues.

In fact, on shorter lengths, I put together a review of the Parts Express Super Slim HDMI cables which I found to be excellent and a class value leader in price to performance.

super slim hdmi cable - Parts Express Ships Fast and Ships Free.

I use the cables with HDBT extenders, and other devices to my A/V receiver, and directly to/from components as allowed within my system, and have had zero, and I mean ZERO issues when using them. I probably have 10 or more within my system at the moment. Plans are to include a likely upgrade to put in another dozen or more.

I rarely use, and rarely recommend thick HDMI cables except for long haul runs of 25' or more. Then I typically recommend 22AWG to reduce the number of problems.
 
P

paulgj

Audiophyte
thanks for all the replies, I appreciate the clarification regarding HDMI and AWG. I think my setup will be fine as my runs are not that long (6ft cable from blu-ray to receiver, 6ft from receiver to TV).

Good to know about the thinner cables now available.
 
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