Are Monster cables all that?

[stefan]

people all over say monster cables are a rip-off. some of the following links (all related) may be convincing enough:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/03/a...ter-cable-and/
http://consumerist.com/362926/do-coa...monster-cables
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums...2&postcount=28


this is quoted from the original source in a thread on an audiophile internet forum

We gathered up a 5 of our audio buddies. We took my "old" Martin Logan SL-3 (not a bad speaker for accurate noise making) and hooked them up with Monster 1000 speaker cables (decent cables according to the audio press). We also rigged up 14 gauge, oxygen free Belden stranded copper wire with a simple PVC jacket. Both were 2 meters long. They were connected to an ABX switch box allowing blind fold testing. Volume levels were set at 75 Db at 1000K Hz. A high quality recording of smooth, trio, easy listening jazz was played (Piano, drums, bass). None of us had heard this group or CD before, therefore eliminating biases. The music was played. Of the 5 blind folded, only 2 guessed correctly which was the monster cable. (I was not one of them). This was done 7 times in a row! Keeping us blind folded, my brother switched out the Belden wire (are you ready for this) with simple coat hanger wire! Unknown to me and our 12 audiophile buddies, prior to the ABX blind test, he took apart four coat hangers, reconnectd them and twisted them into a pair of speaker cables. Connections were soldered. He stashed them in a closet within the testing room so we were not privy to what he was up to. This made for a pair of 2 meter cables, the exact length of the other wires. The test was conducted. After 5 tests, none could determine which was the Monster 1000 cable or the coat hanger wire. Further, when music was played through the coat hanger wire, we were asked if what we heard sounded good to us. All agreed that what was heard sounded excellent, however, when A-B tests occured, it was impossible to determine which sounded best the majority of the time and which wire was in use. Needless to say, after the blind folds came off and we saw what my brother did, we learned he was right...most of what manufactures have to say about their products is pure hype. It seems the more they charge, the more hyped it is.

[Sombeech]

no. They're definitely overrated and overpriced.

My cousin works for Kimber Kable. Excellent stuff. www.kimber.com

[Alex]

I buy all my cabling from http://monoprice.com 2 day shipping and the cost is 10% of the retail cables at BB or RC Willey.

[stefan]

no. They're definitely overrated and overpriced.

My cousin works for Kimber Kable. Excellent stuff. www.kimber.com

excellent stuff? sounds like hanger wire is good enough, yo

[DiscGo]

The cable at Radio shack is literally the exact same thing as Monster cable under a different label.

[JP]

Yes

[Iceaxe]

With the new digital stuff your signal is either good or bad.... nothing in between. So any cable that works is good enough.

Anther big rip-off at the moment is HDMI cable. Some stores like RC Willey's are charging $100 for a HDMI cable, of course they tell you their expensive cable is required to make it work right. Even Walmart is nicking you about $35 for an HDMI cable. I've been buying my HDMI cable off the web for about $6 from these guys MyCableMart.com

[icthys]

Monster Cable is good cable but way over priced. I can make cables with the same quality for at least half the price. They do throw one heck of a party at the trade shows. I've seen Santana and Frampton to name a couple that Monster gets to come in and play for their private parties. This year they had the biggest BBQ I've ever been to with all the food and beverages we wanted all served by some very good looking ladies. They also gave out gifts all day long.

Kimber Kable = good stuff

I've been in the high end audio for over 8 years now. I believe good quality cables make a difference...once you reach a certain point. Where is that point? It depends on the person and their ear. I can hear things and tell differences that 90% of people can't. I don't buy expensive cables. The reason I don't is I don't have the equipment to benefit from expensive cables. When I do, I'll have nice cables.

If anyone wants some good cables I can make some really good cables for a great price. Don't pay the prices at the retailers. I can't make HDMI cables but I can get them through my distributor and get you a great deal.

I need to start posting my tech tip newsletters again.

[M00km0nster]

There is a good debate around about this, and yes, the cheep 'os work just as well as the overly priced ones. It works, or it does not.



http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/field-not...ble-266616.php

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/feature/t...lly-268788.php

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/hdmi-cabl...iii-282725.php