Beware of Over-Priced Cables from Curry's

wizzywick · 04-09-2016, 15:39

Just bought a JVC Soundbar from Curry's and obnviously I needed to buy a Digital Optical Cable in order to connect it to the TV. Curry's had one for £29.99. Yes, that's right, £29.99. This meant the Soundbar that I wanted which was £69.99, would actually have costed £99.98. They offered me £2.00 off the price of the cable for buying Soundbar and cable together.

My mate was with me thankfully and told me not to spend £30.00 on a cable. The bloke in Curry's looked annoyed and said "But we guarantee ours for life".

The cable in Curry's was 1 metre long.

Homebase had a Digital Optical Cable for £4.83. Some £25.00 less. It might not be guaranteed for life, but for a fiver it doesn't need to be. So, if you want to buy a Soundbar from Curry's and need the optical cable, don't pay their prices. I think it is extortionate to pay so much for something that is available elsewhere for much, much less.

The Homebase cable is 2 metres long.

anthony david · 04-09-2016, 16:03

You will find hundreds of similar posts about overpriced cables on this site, especially from Curry's. I'm not a fan of Poundland stuff but once you pass the £5 mark most things work OK, you may get one better made for a few pound more. The exceptions are SCART cables with cheap ones often being troublesome but few people use them now. Even their faults can often be cured by snipping a few wires in the plug at the TV end. (Google if you ever need to know which ones).

jwball · 06-09-2016, 15:45

They get paid commission.

No-One · 06-09-2016, 16:01

It's a similar thing with their care plan offers. I bought a printer from them last year and they were trying to push me into buying the extra coverage too. I was only paying £35 for the printer (The same price as a set of replacement ink cartridges). At that price if it failed after a year I'd just buy another one.

AlanO · 06-09-2016, 17:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by No-One

It's a similar thing with their care plan offers. I bought a printer from them last year and they were trying to push me into buying the extra coverage too. I was only paying £35 for the printer (The same price as a set of replacement ink cartridges). At that price if it failed after a year I'd just buy another one.

To be fair - their price on extended warranties has dropped alot - looking on their website if the product is under £ 150 the warranty is £ 10 for a further 2 years and offers instant replacement and accidental damage.

So, actually not a bad deal in some ways - especially as they don't bother repairing such items and just replace them.

d'@ve · 06-09-2016, 18:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by anthony david

You will find hundreds of similar posts about overpriced cables on this site, especially from Curry's. I'm not a fan of Poundland stuff but once you pass the £5 mark most things work OK

Poundland and asda £1 one metre HDMI cables are just as good for 90% of people and purposes and if they ever fail (none of mine ever have) it's still cheaper to buy a replacement or three. Amazon Basics cables are OK too at £3.99 for 2 metre cables.

AlanO · 06-09-2016, 19:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by d'@ve

Poundland and asda £1 one metre HDMI cables are just as good for 90% of people and purposes and if they ever fail (none of mine ever have) it's still cheaper to buy a replacement or three. Amazon Basics cables are OK too at £3.99 for 2 metre cables.

I've had problems with really cheap HDMI cables - Amazin Basics ones seem fine though.

barbeler · 06-09-2016, 19:41

I'm convinced that my gold-plated platinum hdmi cable gives me a far higher resolution picture than my previous one.

Nigel Goodwin · 06-09-2016, 19:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlanO

I've had problems with really cheap HDMI cables - Amazin Basics ones seem fine though.

As someone who does service and installation on hundreds of TV's etc. we come across far more expensive HDMI leads that are faulty rather than cheap ones. I suspect it's due to their excessive (and pointless) weight.

However, the biggest problem we've had recently is failure of HDMI leads provided with Humax STB's - they must have had a duff batch, as we've had quite a few fail (with similar intermittent faults) over the last couple of months. Previously, as with pretty well all manufacturer supplied HDMI leads, they have been faultless.

anthony david · 06-09-2016, 20:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by barbeler

I'm convinced that my gold-plated platinum hdmi cable gives me a far higher resolution picture than my previous one.

Suggest you do a double blind test, sad to say you will be disillusioned by the result. Digital either works perfectly or it doesn't work at all. Apart from slightly more expensive cables being perhaps better made they don't work any better although they may possibly radiate less interference but that is normally only a problem concerning Freeview reception, usually because of poor signal levels and poor quality aerial cable.

d'@ve · 06-09-2016, 20:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by anthony david

Suggest you do a double blind test, sad to say you will be disillusioned by the result. Digital either works perfectly or it doesn't work at all. Apart from slightly more expensive cables being perhaps better made they don't work any better although they may possibly radiate less interference but that is normally only a problem concerning Freeview reception, usually because of poor signal levels and poor quality aerial cable.

I think he was joking...

anthony david · 07-09-2016, 10:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by d'@ve

I think he was joking...

Possibly but you never know on DS do you, dafter things seem to be suggested almost daily.

blueisthecolour · 07-09-2016, 11:37

Can we not just get a sticky for 'Curry's rip-off cables'?

It's really about time someone launched a proper campaign to educate people about this. How many vulnerable people have been exploited by this? It's no different to the PPI scam.

Actually I can already imagine the sales calls "You could be eligible to claim up to £5,000 back from Curry's cable misselling. Claim now".

Decepticons1 · 07-09-2016, 14:51

Amazon is where I generally get my cables from. Curry's prices are a bit insane on some things, probably to help pay for the inept staff they have.

Philip Wales · 07-09-2016, 15:07

I've replaced all my "provided" HDMI cables with the braided ones from Amazon, they're very good and look nice, only problem, they're quite stiff and a bugger to "cable mange"

1andrew1 · 07-09-2016, 15:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwball

They get paid commission.

They used to until 2007 but don't now. http://www.dixonsretail.com/media-ce...e#.V9AgwoWcHIU

chrisjr · 07-09-2016, 15:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philip Wales

I've replaced all my "provided" HDMI cables with the braided ones from Amazon, they're very good and look nice, only problem, they're quite stiff and a bugger to "cable mange"

Can't you get a cream for that?

(or is there an "a" missing somewhere in that?)

Nigel Goodwin · 07-09-2016, 19:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philip Wales

I've replaced all my "provided" HDMI cables with the braided ones from Amazon, they're very good and look nice, only problem, they're quite stiff and a bugger to "cable mange"

So what were you hoping to achieve by the change? - or was it purely for the visual appearance of the cable which you like?.

barbeler · 07-09-2016, 22:20

I think I got my current ones in a pack of two from Lidl and they seem as good as you'll ever need. I sold my gold-plated platinum ones for scrap and made a huge profit.

Orbitalzone · 07-09-2016, 22:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by barbeler

I think I got my current ones in a pack of two from Lidl and they seem as good as you'll ever need. I sold my gold-plated platinum ones for scrap and made a huge profit.

Yes lots of gold to be recovered on those leads

I bet there's probably a couple of microns width of gold plating.

And you're right, I found using gold plated cables got my resolution up from 640x480 to 1920x1080 which was most impressive on my Sony 14" crt with an HDMI to Belling Lee adaptor.

To assist some forums members, I should point out some or all of the above it likely to be completely untrue.

LION8TIGER · 07-09-2016, 23:08

Audio Quest have a good one out, yes its a bit pricey but works wonders if you read the first 5 star rating. Its Here.

d'@ve · 07-09-2016, 23:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by LION8TIGER

Audio Quest have a good one out, yes its a bit pricey but works wonders if you read the first 5 star rating. Its Here.

And Only £2,299!

Hilarious reviews though!!!

chrisjr · 08-09-2016, 09:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by LION8TIGER

Audio Quest have a good one out, yes its a bit pricey but works wonders if you read the first 5 star rating. Its Here.

If you want a laugh check out the claims made for their ethernet cables

http://www.audioquest.com/ethernet/diamond

A 1.5m cable can be had for the very good value price of £1029

https://www.audiovisualonline.co.uk/...et-cable-1-5m/

AlanO · 08-09-2016, 11:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

As someone who does service and installation on hundreds of TV's etc. we come across far more expensive HDMI leads that are faulty rather than cheap ones. I suspect it's due to their excessive (and pointless) weight.

However, the biggest problem we've had recently is failure of HDMI leads provided with Humax STB's - they must have had a duff batch, as we've had quite a few fail (with similar intermittent faults) over the last couple of months. Previously, as with pretty well all manufacturer supplied HDMI leads, they have been faultless.

Well since I've not used any "expensive" ones I wouldn't know what their reliability is

But when I've used some cheapies from eBay they have caused some issues, whereas Amazon Basics ones seem pretty sound and have behaved without problem. And whilst they're a bit more expensive than the Poundland or eBay options, they tend to be sub £10 and behave consistently.

Soundbox · 08-09-2016, 11:13

I don't think enough people take an interest in what makes for good sound and picture. Its really not about spending money but about sound design and good materials.

I will be honest and say that I have wasted hundreds of pounds on 'hand built' and 'audiophile' that that was not of sound design but made to sound good with terms such as 'hand picked components' and similar. Same with cables, I have wasted hundreds of pounds.

But it was not until I made friends with a audio designer that it was explained to me - and it is not clear by just looking. Its about signal path and components that degrade the sound and image not being used. The simplest units with least components are often better that the top end units with many capacitors, muting relays, electronic switches and op amps etc. Same with cables. A basic good quality copper cable terminated with some decent plugs works fine, but so many cables are junk when you cut them open with improper screening and thin cores.

04-09-2016, 15:39	#1
wizzywick Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Berkshire Posts: 27,915	Beware of Over-Priced Cables from Curry's Just bought a JVC Soundbar from Curry's and obnviously I needed to buy a Digital Optical Cable in order to connect it to the TV. Curry's had one for £29.99. Yes, that's right, £29.99. This meant the Soundbar that I wanted which was £69.99, would actually have costed £99.98. They offered me £2.00 off the price of the cable for buying Soundbar and cable together. My mate was with me thankfully and told me not to spend £30.00 on a cable. The bloke in Curry's looked annoyed and said "But we guarantee ours for life". The cable in Curry's was 1 metre long. Homebase had a Digital Optical Cable for £4.83. Some £25.00 less. It might not be guaranteed for life, but for a fiver it doesn't need to be. So, if you want to buy a Soundbar from Curry's and need the optical cable, don't pay their prices. I think it is extortionate to pay so much for something that is available elsewhere for much, much less. The Homebase cable is 2 metres long.

04-09-2016, 16:03	#2
anthony david Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Posts: 3,469	You will find hundreds of similar posts about overpriced cables on this site, especially from Curry's. I'm not a fan of Poundland stuff but once you pass the £5 mark most things work OK, you may get one better made for a few pound more. The exceptions are SCART cables with cheap ones often being troublesome but few people use them now. Even their faults can often be cured by snipping a few wires in the plug at the TV end. (Google if you ever need to know which ones).

06-09-2016, 15:45	#3
jwball Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Nottinghamshire Posts: 1,233	They get paid commission.

06-09-2016, 16:01	#4
No-One Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: Rutland Posts: 924	It's a similar thing with their care plan offers. I bought a printer from them last year and they were trying to push me into buying the extra coverage too. I was only paying £35 for the printer (The same price as a set of replacement ink cartridges). At that price if it failed after a year I'd just buy another one.

06-09-2016, 17:35	#5
AlanO Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 1,902	Quote: Originally Posted by No-One It's a similar thing with their care plan offers. I bought a printer from them last year and they were trying to push me into buying the extra coverage too. I was only paying £35 for the printer (The same price as a set of replacement ink cartridges). At that price if it failed after a year I'd just buy another one. To be fair - their price on extended warranties has dropped alot - looking on their website if the product is under £ 150 the warranty is £ 10 for a further 2 years and offers instant replacement and accidental damage. So, actually not a bad deal in some ways - especially as they don't bother repairing such items and just replace them.

06-09-2016, 18:36	#6
d'@ve Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Darn Sarf Posts: 28,743	Quote: Originally Posted by anthony david You will find hundreds of similar posts about overpriced cables on this site, especially from Curry's. I'm not a fan of Poundland stuff but once you pass the £5 mark most things work OK Poundland and asda £1 one metre HDMI cables are just as good for 90% of people and purposes and if they ever fail (none of mine ever have) it's still cheaper to buy a replacement or three. Amazon Basics cables are OK too at £3.99 for 2 metre cables.

06-09-2016, 19:04	#7
AlanO Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 1,902	Quote: Originally Posted by d'@ve Poundland and asda £1 one metre HDMI cables are just as good for 90% of people and purposes and if they ever fail (none of mine ever have) it's still cheaper to buy a replacement or three. Amazon Basics cables are OK too at £3.99 for 2 metre cables. I've had problems with really cheap HDMI cables - Amazin Basics ones seem fine though.

06-09-2016, 19:41	#8
barbeler Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 11,705	I'm convinced that my gold-plated platinum hdmi cable gives me a far higher resolution picture than my previous one.

06-09-2016, 19:44	#9
Nigel Goodwin Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: North Derbyshire Posts: 41,789	Quote: Originally Posted by AlanO I've had problems with really cheap HDMI cables - Amazin Basics ones seem fine though. As someone who does service and installation on hundreds of TV's etc. we come across far more expensive HDMI leads that are faulty rather than cheap ones. I suspect it's due to their excessive (and pointless) weight. However, the biggest problem we've had recently is failure of HDMI leads provided with Humax STB's - they must have had a duff batch, as we've had quite a few fail (with similar intermittent faults) over the last couple of months. Previously, as with pretty well all manufacturer supplied HDMI leads, they have been faultless.

06-09-2016, 20:03	#10
anthony david Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Posts: 3,469	Quote: Originally Posted by barbeler I'm convinced that my gold-plated platinum hdmi cable gives me a far higher resolution picture than my previous one. Suggest you do a double blind test, sad to say you will be disillusioned by the result. Digital either works perfectly or it doesn't work at all. Apart from slightly more expensive cables being perhaps better made they don't work any better although they may possibly radiate less interference but that is normally only a problem concerning Freeview reception, usually because of poor signal levels and poor quality aerial cable.

06-09-2016, 20:40	#11
d'@ve Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Darn Sarf Posts: 28,743	Quote: Originally Posted by anthony david Suggest you do a double blind test, sad to say you will be disillusioned by the result. Digital either works perfectly or it doesn't work at all. Apart from slightly more expensive cables being perhaps better made they don't work any better although they may possibly radiate less interference but that is normally only a problem concerning Freeview reception, usually because of poor signal levels and poor quality aerial cable. I think he was joking...

07-09-2016, 10:54	#12
anthony david Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Posts: 3,469	Quote: Originally Posted by d'@ve I think he was joking... Possibly but you never know on DS do you, dafter things seem to be suggested almost daily.

07-09-2016, 11:37	#13
blueisthecolour Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: South Posts: 10,858	Can we not just get a sticky for 'Curry's rip-off cables'? It's really about time someone launched a proper campaign to educate people about this. How many vulnerable people have been exploited by this? It's no different to the PPI scam. Actually I can already imagine the sales calls "You could be eligible to claim up to £5,000 back from Curry's cable misselling. Claim now".

07-09-2016, 14:51	#14
Decepticons1 Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Posts: 456	Amazon is where I generally get my cables from. Curry's prices are a bit insane on some things, probably to help pay for the inept staff they have.

07-09-2016, 15:07	#15
Philip Wales Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: South Wales Posts: 5,866	I've replaced all my "provided" HDMI cables with the braided ones from Amazon, they're very good and look nice, only problem, they're quite stiff and a bugger to "cable mange"

07-09-2016, 15:13	#16
1andrew1 Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 3,981	Quote: Originally Posted by jwball They get paid commission. They used to until 2007 but don't now. http://www.dixonsretail.com/media-ce...e#.V9AgwoWcHIU

07-09-2016, 15:20	#17
chrisjr Forum Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Reading Posts: 27,916	Quote: Originally Posted by Philip Wales I've replaced all my "provided" HDMI cables with the braided ones from Amazon, they're very good and look nice, only problem, they're quite stiff and a bugger to "cable mange" Can't you get a cream for that? (or is there an "a" missing somewhere in that?)

07-09-2016, 19:56	#18
Nigel Goodwin Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: North Derbyshire Posts: 41,789	Quote: Originally Posted by Philip Wales I've replaced all my "provided" HDMI cables with the braided ones from Amazon, they're very good and look nice, only problem, they're quite stiff and a bugger to "cable mange" So what were you hoping to achieve by the change? - or was it purely for the visual appearance of the cable which you like?.

07-09-2016, 22:20	#19
barbeler Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 11,705	I think I got my current ones in a pack of two from Lidl and they seem as good as you'll ever need. I sold my gold-plated platinum ones for scrap and made a huge profit.

07-09-2016, 22:33	#20
Orbitalzone Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Sussex Posts: 12,173	Quote: Originally Posted by barbeler I think I got my current ones in a pack of two from Lidl and they seem as good as you'll ever need. I sold my gold-plated platinum ones for scrap and made a huge profit. Yes lots of gold to be recovered on those leads I bet there's probably a couple of microns width of gold plating. And you're right, I found using gold plated cables got my resolution up from 640x480 to 1920x1080 which was most impressive on my Sony 14" crt with an HDMI to Belling Lee adaptor. To assist some forums members, I should point out some or all of the above it likely to be completely untrue.

07-09-2016, 23:08	#21
LION8TIGER Forum Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 7,984	Audio Quest have a good one out, yes its a bit pricey but works wonders if you read the first 5 star rating. Its Here.

DS Forums

Beware of Over-Priced Cables from Curry's

07-09-2016, 23:40	#22
d'@ve Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Darn Sarf Posts: 28,743	Quote: Originally Posted by LION8TIGER Audio Quest have a good one out, yes its a bit pricey but works wonders if you read the first 5 star rating. Its Here. And Only £2,299! Hilarious reviews though!!!

08-09-2016, 09:11	#23
chrisjr Forum Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Reading Posts: 27,916	Quote: Originally Posted by LION8TIGER Audio Quest have a good one out, yes its a bit pricey but works wonders if you read the first 5 star rating. Its Here. If you want a laugh check out the claims made for their ethernet cables http://www.audioquest.com/ethernet/diamond A 1.5m cable can be had for the very good value price of £1029 https://www.audiovisualonline.co.uk/...et-cable-1-5m/

08-09-2016, 11:12	#24
AlanO Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 1,902	Quote: Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin As someone who does service and installation on hundreds of TV's etc. we come across far more expensive HDMI leads that are faulty rather than cheap ones. I suspect it's due to their excessive (and pointless) weight. However, the biggest problem we've had recently is failure of HDMI leads provided with Humax STB's - they must have had a duff batch, as we've had quite a few fail (with similar intermittent faults) over the last couple of months. Previously, as with pretty well all manufacturer supplied HDMI leads, they have been faultless. Well since I've not used any "expensive" ones I wouldn't know what their reliability is But when I've used some cheapies from eBay they have caused some issues, whereas Amazon Basics ones seem pretty sound and have behaved without problem. And whilst they're a bit more expensive than the Poundland or eBay options, they tend to be sub £10 and behave consistently.

08-09-2016, 11:13	#25
Soundbox Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: The garden of earthly delights Posts: 4,509	I don't think enough people take an interest in what makes for good sound and picture. Its really not about spending money but about sound design and good materials. I will be honest and say that I have wasted hundreds of pounds on 'hand built' and 'audiophile' that that was not of sound design but made to sound good with terms such as 'hand picked components' and similar. Same with cables, I have wasted hundreds of pounds. But it was not until I made friends with a audio designer that it was explained to me - and it is not clear by just looking. Its about signal path and components that degrade the sound and image not being used. The simplest units with least components are often better that the top end units with many capacitors, muting relays, electronic switches and op amps etc. Same with cables. A basic good quality copper cable terminated with some decent plugs works fine, but so many cables are junk when you cut them open with improper screening and thin cores.