rapalloav Hdmi Cables Any good?

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mrhaboobi

165 posts

Master Geek

#691409 25-Sep-2012 22:42

JimmyH: Whenever I look at RapalloAV I have no issue with the quality of the products. The pricing, on the other hand, is *ludicrous* on the things I have looked at. A multiple of what I would pay for an essentially identical item from the likes of Jaycar or Monoprice. I don't mind paying something of a premium for local support, but not circa 300%!

Regarding what cables to run, the best option if you can manage it is to run conduit. Then you can pull through whatever cables you want and, if standards change, pull through a different one.

Yup running 25MM conduit, but that seems tight for connector heads, not sure on the legality of 32MM conduit.?

geekiegeek

2513 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#691469 26-Sep-2012 05:47

I have 2 long run cables from Rapalloav, 1 25mtr and 1 15mtr. I could have gone cheaper but wanted to be sure they would "just work" the first time round.

Have had great service over the years from Rapalloav including returning an HDMI switch that didnt play nice with my equipment (nothing wrong with the switch - thats just the joy of HDMI sometimes).

mrhaboobi

165 posts

Master Geek

#691493 26-Sep-2012 08:03

geekiegeek: I have 2 long run cables from Rapalloav, 1 25mtr and 1 15mtr. I could have gone cheaper but wanted to be sure they would "just work" the first time round.

Have had great service over the years from Rapalloav including returning an HDMI switch that didnt play nice with my equipment (nothing wrong with the switch - thats just the joy of HDMI sometimes).

Thanks, thats good feedback. ok so rapalloav is my preferred option, with 2 cat6 in the wall just incase, just got to get them to lower the price ;) must be time for a clearance sale guys ? ;)

networkn

Networkn
32349 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#691548 26-Sep-2012 09:36

mrhaboobi:
geekiegeek: I have 2 long run cables from Rapalloav, 1 25mtr and 1 15mtr. I could have gone cheaper but wanted to be sure they would "just work" the first time round.

Have had great service over the years from Rapalloav including returning an HDMI switch that didnt play nice with my equipment (nothing wrong with the switch - thats just the joy of HDMI sometimes).

Thanks, thats good feedback. ok so rapalloav is my preferred option, with 2 cat6 in the wall just incase, just got to get them to lower the price ;) must be time for a clearance sale guys ? ;)

Good luck with that. He sells cables all day every day with that pricing.

mrhaboobi

165 posts

Master Geek

#691551 26-Sep-2012 09:48

networkn:
mrhaboobi:
geekiegeek: I have 2 long run cables from Rapalloav, 1 25mtr and 1 15mtr. I could have gone cheaper but wanted to be sure they would "just work" the first time round.

Have had great service over the years from Rapalloav including returning an HDMI switch that didnt play nice with my equipment (nothing wrong with the switch - thats just the joy of HDMI sometimes).

Thanks, thats good feedback. ok so rapalloav is my preferred option, with 2 cat6 in the wall just incase, just got to get them to lower the price ;) must be time for a clearance sale guys ? ;)

Good luck with that. He sells cables all day every day with that pricing.

Yeah i know but i can dream ;)

dns15

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#691575 26-Sep-2012 10:31

I've been buying long HDMI cables from Rapallo for a number of years, and they have all worked all the way up to 25M
I know quite well if ever there was a problem they would stand by the product and replace it.

Not all long HDMI cables are the same, if you don't have 24AWG on anything 15m and over, expect problems. Very few out there advertise the AWG but rapallo does. It's not worth while putting a cheap long HDMI cable in the wall when you don't know what AWG it is, it's just too hard to replace later if you have problems. Spoken from the mouth of an AV installer. Buyer beware

mrhaboobi

165 posts

Master Geek

#691578 26-Sep-2012 10:37

dns15: I've been buying long HDMI cables from Rapallo for a number of years, and they have all worked all the way up to 25M
I know quite well if ever there was a problem they would stand by the product and replace it.

Not all long HDMI cables are the same, if you don't have 24AWG on anything 15m and over, expect problems. Very few out there advertise the AWG but rapallo does. It's not worth while putting a cheap long HDMI cable in the wall when you don't know what AWG it is, it's just too hard to replace later if you have problems. Spoken from the mouth of an AV installer. Buyer beware

Any chance you have used the dynamic cables, they are also 24awg and half the cost.. so wondered if they were any good :)

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dns15

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#691596 26-Sep-2012 11:27

Dynamix is 28 AWG all the way up to 10M..
Their 15M is 26AWG and the only cable they have at 24 AWG is a 20M

The minimum recommended HDMI ratings for cables are:
28 AWG up to 5M
26 AWG up to 10M
24 AWG above 10M, 25M is probably the max you can get on an HDMI cable without using a repeater

Rapallo follows this standard
Most people don't like to follow this formula because copper is expensive, a 15M 26AWG cable is a hell of a lot cheaper than a 24AWG

When you're looking at HDMI cables you have to compare apples with apples ... And no I've never tried dynamix before

driller2000

935 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

#691886 26-Sep-2012 20:02

i have also had a 1m hdmi cable in use for 4 years running through me wall/ceiling to my projector and it hasn't missed a beat

as others have said murray was good value to deal with too

mrhaboobi

165 posts

Master Geek

#696116 4-Oct-2012 13:16

So have decided to go with rapallo av for the cables, yes they are a bit more expensive, but local support and all that i think would be worth while.. Thanks for the feedback.

mrhaboobi

165 posts

Master Geek

#702421 17-Oct-2012 11:58

So some feedback on my experience with cables.

I obtained a 20m cable from an alternative manufacture. got it home plugeed it in, didnt work, ps3 -> tv no joins or anything else, wouldnt work at 1080p. did work at 1080i but flickered alot.

I then bought a rapalloav 20M cable, first thing i noticed was the thickness of the cable, it was significantly thicker than the dynamix one. both are 24awg cables so why one is thicker i dont really know but it was. the rapallo stuff looked to be of good quality.. Shipping was also very quick and i bought some other bits aswell. the HDMI plugs ends were also smaller on the rapallo stuff so loook to be well suited to in wall installation

Plugged the cable in not expecting any different result to the dynamix stuff, but wouldnt you know it, worked first time at 1080p. Was very happy with this result, picture was clear, no flickers and to make things worse i actually had the cable coiled up aside from a 1 meter at each end during my testing, so even in a coiled situation they worked perfect..

I actually spoke to the alternative manufacturer , and they did say their cables were not always going to work when > 10m ( after i tried it ), rapallo on the other hand said absolutely theirs would, and they did..

So spend the slightly extra on the rapallo gear, at the end of the day what it cost me in time and shipping to get the first cable pretty much would have covered what the rapallo cost at the end of the day. Not all HDMI cables are equal,.

Big thumbs up to the rapallo av guys, they answered numerous questions and gave some advice which was appreciated, i hope anyone else looking at a >10m cable considers buying their gear as it will work and if it didnt ive no doubt the team would help get something suitable working.. and given my stuff had to run in wall i couldnt really risk a dodgy cable.

One bit of advice, the cables are thick, allow a little extra length if you have tight bends to run the cable, i thought i would try and get away with 17.5m rather than 20 to save costs and also i thought to myself less distance = better chance of working, but the 20M cable works perfect and a bit of slack in the cable is handy, also consider buying some 90degree connectors, i think i'll have to pick up a couple of those from rapallo to make my connections a litttle easier in tight positions, you may not need them, but i think in my situation i will :)

Thanks rapallo av..

Note: i dont work for rapallo, im just a regular person who has spent way too much time looking into HDMI cables and trying to get tv distribution in our new house.. :)

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