Cable prices over types

[JerryLove]

Some time ago, not long after discovering Audioholics, I ordered my first custom (didn't come with the equipment) HDMI cable. I'd read a lot of good things here about BlueJeans, and went to their site and liked it, and ordered the cable. It arrived and all has been wonderful.

Well. I got a new receiver, and it doesn't like the HDMI out from my Cable Box. So I pulled out some RCA-style cables and hooked it up Component Video.

"Those cables are too long; and the colors don't match" I told myself, "I know, I'll order a set from BJC and clean that up".

So I went out to the site and spec'd out a set.

"$58 for 6ft? I paid half that for the HDMI" (to be specific, I paid half that to buy twice-as-much of their second-best HDMI).

Well, maybe I just under-appreciated the cost of component video cables. That is 6 connectors after all. So when I saw a 1/8" - RCA that I could replace the cruddy one on my PC with, I spec'd that out for 10ft.... $45.

The question of my story: Does that sound right? BJC talks a lot about the complexity of good HDMI cable: should it be half (more like a quarter based on some of their Chinese stuff) the price of a 1/8"-RCA cable?

Is there a good reason for that three-fold increase in price? If so, what?

 

[Electone]

Shop here:

www.monoprice.com

 

[j_garcia]

The component cable isn't just 6 connectors, it is 3X the cable as well, however I know those cables cost less years back because I got my 6 footer for about $30. It may be that either something has gone up in price or they are selling less of them, or both so the cost has gone up. I prefer Bluejeans quality to Monoprice when it comes to cables like this. I have only bought HDMI and DVI cables from them in the last few years, so I hadn't noticed the price difference.

 

[highfigh]

Some time ago, not long after discovering Audioholics, I ordered my first custom (didn't come with the equipment) HDMI cable. I'd read a lot of good things here about BlueJeans, and went to their site and liked it, and ordered the cable. It arrived and all has been wonderful.

Well. I got a new receiver, and it doesn't like the HDMI out from my Cable Box. So I pulled out some RCA-style cables and hooked it up Component Video.

"Those cables are too long; and the colors don't match" I told myself, "I know, I'll order a set from BJC and clean that up".

So I went out to the site and spec'd out a set.

"$58 for 6ft? I paid half that for the HDMI" (to be specific, I paid half that to buy twice-as-much of their second-best HDMI).

Well, maybe I just under-appreciated the cost of component video cables. That is 6 connectors after all. So when I saw a 1/8" - RCA that I could replace the cruddy one on my PC with, I spec'd that out for 10ft.... $45.

The question of my story: Does that sound right? BJC talks a lot about the complexity of good HDMI cable: should it be half (more like a quarter based on some of their Chinese stuff) the price of a 1/8"-RCA cable?

Is there a good reason for that three-fold increase in price? If so, what?

Being too long and not having matching colors doesn't matter to the equipment and unless the length is extreme, it won't matter to the signal, either. If it does, you can always put a component distribution amplifier on it. I used regular coax and crimp-on F connectors for a job in '03. These weren't the ribbed ferrule or compression F connectors, either- they're pretty cheap with smooth barrel but that's what the distributor had at the time. The coax is nothing special, either and I was there on Saturday to finish programming a new remote. It still looks great and the runs are all over 30'. I used a label maker to ID the cables for RGB and used a CE Labs component distribution amp.

Marketing. Sometimes, I feel like opening a small shop that sells nothing but cables, terminals, accessories and connectors.

 

[KurtBJC]

HDMI cable prices would be crazy-high were it not for the low cost of Chinese assembly services. For component video, and for most other RCA or 1/8" terminated cables, we're using broadcast-quality connectors. I can buy a whole Chinese HDMI cable, assembled, for less than one Canare RCA plug costs me (retail at Markertek.com is currently $3.88/plug, to give you some idea, and although I get 'em cheaper than that, I probably don't get them as much cheaper as you'd guess), and there are six of those Canare RCAs on a component video cable set; add to that the cost of the Belden cable, and the American labor involved in assembly, and it's just a more expensive proposition. We have resisted the temptation to go to Chinese assembly on these products because it would limit the customer's flexibility of ordering (we'd have to stock fixed lengths, colors, etc. rather than build-to-order) and because, frankly, we'd rather build it here. In the case of HDMI cable, although we have made a valiant effort to come up with a practical and economical US-termination system (and we haven't given up yet...), there is no practical alternative to Chinese assembly.

Kurt
Blue Jeans Cable

 

[JerryLove]

Being too long and not having matching colors doesn't matter to the equipment and unless the length is extreme, it won't matter to the signal, either.

I know

It's running just fine over the mix-mash of red, white, and yellow RCA cables, some going back decades, which were freed up as my gear moved over to digital signals. My decision to look at updating my cabling is entirely about aesthetics.

 

[JerryLove]

HDMI cable prices would be crazy-high were it not for the low cost of Chinese assembly services. For component video, and for most other RCA or 1/8" terminated cables, we're using broadcast-quality connectors. I can buy a whole Chinese HDMI cable, assembled, for less than one Canare RCA plug costs me (retail at Markertek.com is currently $3.88/plug, to give you some idea, and although I get 'em cheaper than that, I probably don't get them as much cheaper as you'd guess), and there are six of those Canare RCAs on a component video cable set;

So "the connectors are wicked-expensive by comparison"? OK. That makes sense. (This has always been an honest question, not a rant).

add to that the cost of the Belden cable, and the American labor involved in assembly, and it's just a more expensive proposition.

That has me a little confused. My custom-length HDMI cable from BJC was, I thought, a Belden (all but your cheapest two) cable with a Chinese-made connector attached "locally" (custom length after-all).

I'm very happy with my BJC HDMI cable (I've recommended your company repeatedly). A cost-benefit analysis of getting component-video cables (compared to continuing to use my existing re-purposed cables) tells me I should put the money in the "new speaker" fund, but I can understand that more expensive connectors means more expensive cables.

Thank you for the response.

 

[KurtBJC]

That has me a little confused. My custom-length HDMI cable from BJC was, I thought, a Belden (all but your cheapest two) cable with a Chinese-made connector attached "locally" (custom length after-all).

Yes, it's Belden (if it's Series-1, Series-F or Series-F2 cable). We have it made in bulk in the US (Monticello, Kentucky and Richmond, Indiana, specifically), and then we ship it to China for termination. We don't do "custom" lengths in HDMI currently, but we do offer a larger selection of lengths than any other vendor that I know of. We are continuing to look at being able to offer custom lengths by coming up with a good in-house termination method (well, really, we have one; but the backshell situation is unsolved), but at the moment that's not available and we rely on a very good Chinese assembly house (I just spent the morning here meeting with two men from that company, who are in the country for CEDIA) to do the assembly work.

At the moment, we're the only vendor, so far as I know, who uses a US-made cable stock; if we do get to the point of assembling some cables here, we'll be the first to do that, as well...but it's not easy to do. We can do it, but it's so expensive and time-consuming that it isn't competitive.

Kurt
Blue Jeans Cable

 

[Toroid]

Hi Kurt just wanted to say thank you for bringing to the market a fantastic quality cable for the money as I enjoy blue jeans cables in my system. Keep up the great work!

 

[JerryLove]

It looks like it's not just the connectors. I'm looking to do a long run of component now, and the cheapest 100' at BJC is $200, on a cable BJC reccomends only for short runs. The next cheapest is $278.

 

[tbergman]

It looks like it's not just the connectors. I'm looking to do a long run of component now, and the cheapest 100' at BJC is $200, on a cable BJC reccomends only for short runs. The next cheapest is $278.

For a long run like that, couldn't you use some RG-6 with RCA ends? seems like it would be cheaper to buy bulk coax and save some money.

 

[JerryLove]

For a long run like that, couldn't you use some RG-6 with RCA ends? seems like it would be cheaper to buy bulk coax and save some money.

I'm lazy. But yea: I'll do something similar.

 

[MidnightSensi]

100' premium, terminated, on Monoprice for under 50 bucks.

The quality of cable at Monoprice seems to be good too. I bought some XLRs lately, and they are seriously some damn knobby cables, but still made with supple rubber.