Time to upgrade/change HDMI cables (Van den hul flat vs Audioquest pearl)?
Hi there, I have some van den hul flats which are about 3 years old and whilst they are v1.3a cables (and I don't need 3D) I was wondering how they stack up against the latest HDMI cables, namely the WHF 2012 Award winning Audioquest Pearl cable.
Has the cable technology moved on to the point where the current award winners surpass older designed cables in performace and quality despite being about a third/quarter of the original price of the Van den huls a few years ago?!
Hello Robert
The predominant opinion you'll get round these parts is that there will be no difference. The consensus is that digital data either arrives intact or it doesn't, there is no opportunity for analogue-style variance like blacker blacks, whiter whites, sharper picture, better contrast, better sound, etc unless the cable is faulty or damaged.
However this is at odds with professional reviews, including those published by What HiFi.
Therefore my advice would be to either borrow the Audioquest Pearls from a dealer, or strike an agreement where you can buy them but return them for a full refund if you perceive there is no difference.
Hope that helps.
You're thinking of the wrong forum, there's no consensus here on anything!
Fair point. By 'consensus', read that to be 'the collective view of those contributors most likely to voice [type] an assertive opinion'. 
Or "the collective view of those contributors most likely to use such a thread to voice their various conspiracy theories on WHF's advertising policies"
IMO. as you have perfectly good quality, fully functioning cables, I wouldn't worry about replacing them until you need different lengths, or one develops a fault or something.
Cables don't become rubbish overnight.
Gosh, an on-topic post - that's not supposed to happen! Especially one with sensible advice in it!
However, yes, completely agree 
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