Are Monster Cables really worth the $$$ ??? (1 Viewer)

[Mike Cuvelier]

It seems that the same 50ft roll of 12 ga Sound King speaker wire can also be found here for 18.95. Does anyone have any experience with StartElectronic?
Thanks,
-Mike

 

[Adil M]

Next time I have a customer who asks what do I need to wire all this up:
A) Use the cables that came w/ it b/c there are no differences
B)You should never use the cables that are included. Here you need all this MonsterVideo3 stuff $$$.
C)Why don't you try this cheaper Monster THX wiring, even though I believe the Monster Video 2 is a better made wire that will give you better picture/sound.
D)Let me tell you how to make your own wires that will be better then these premade Monster cables. All you need to do is order some Belden cable, some WBT or Eichman connectors, a soldering iron, a crimper, you'll need to practice some to get good at it, and then you're all set. The DIY is half the fun.

My answer is C. Not everyone is DIY and how in the hell do I convince them to go to Bettercables if they want it now and the Monster cables are good enough wires for their 32" tube.

 

[Sean L]

My speakers, sub, and receiver all arrived today . The A/R Pro interconnects & Sound King speaker wire should be here tomorrow. I'll wire everything up tomorrow night/Saturday morning and post first impressions shortly thereafter.
Thanks for all the excellent advice!
Sean in Nor Cal

 

[Lee Scoggins]

I have always had good luck with Cardas, one of the oldest high end cable manufacturers.

The termination quality is superb and the cable design seems an ideal fit for my tubes and Maggies stereo combination.

 

[Sean L]

I have had my system up & running since Saturday with the products (A/R Pro interconnects, Sound King Wire, Dayton Bananas) recommended in this thread and I am happy to report that my new HT KICKS ASS!

Thanks again everyone for all the great suggestions.

Sean in Nor Cal

 

[Alan_MD]

I took Barry BB's advice and ordered all my interconnects from Accessories for Less (A/R Pro Series) and my 12ga. speaker wire and banana connectors from Parts Express, total was $203.80 and that includes 2 day shipping so I will have all the stuff for the weekend.

I bought some bulk Monster 12 ga speaker wire and the local Radio Shack is out of banana plugs. I've heard alot of descriptions of which banana plugs to hook them up to. I want the twist on, not the solder-on kind. I don't want to make any more mistakes in ordering and add to the vast collection of wires and plugs I already own and can't use.

Which part number did you order from Parts Express? Was it #Part Number 091-330, "GOLD BANANA PLUG PAIR COMPRESSION STYLE" for $3.25/3.45/pair?

 

[JamesKr]

I used the Parts Express #091-1260 banana plug and love them. They cost $6.95 for two pair (2 red/2 black) and are side-entry compression.

I haven't used the #091-330 plug but they are $3.45/pair

 

[Sean L]

Which part number did you order from Parts Express? Was it #Part Number 091-330, "GOLD BANANA PLUG PAIR COMPRESSION STYLE" for $3.25/3.45/pair?

No, I am using GOLD BANANA PLUG PAIR SET SCREW STYLE, part#
091-1165, $4.50 ea (1-9) $3.90 (10+). I bought exactly 10 since I have a 5.1 system.

This was my first experience with banana connectors and I found these easy to use and haven't had any problems in the past month...


Good Luck.

Sean in Nor Cal

 

[Mark Austin]

Cables or anything cannot be judged by how much it costs to make. Value or worth can only be judged by the individual, and what he feels it does to his system.

 

[Phil Mays]

I have mostly Kimber Kable on my system. I could tell a difference (maybe in my mind for the price paid). However I auditioned their s video @$95 and could not tell a difference between that and the radio shack gold series that I got on clearance for .99 cents Needless to say I returned the Kimber S-video.

 

[Mike Matheson]

Wayne,
Those component cables from Wal-Mart & Target sure are attractive from a $ standpoint, but component cables are an area where quality cabling can often be seen to make a difference. Bandwidth issues, etc. The larger the display, or if HD signals are being passed, the more likely cables may make a difference.
Some related posts:
AR HT 192 - 12' componet cable for $55.80
(a nice summary of some inexpensive component cables and their materials) Acoustic Research Component cables?
Regards,
Mike

 

[Jose T]

Folks seem to knock their products but I've tried them and they seem well worth the money.

 

[Jeff Kohn]

Those component cables from Wal-Mart & Target sure are attractive from a $ standpoint, but component cables are an area where quality cabling can often be seen to make a difference. Bandwidth issues, etc. The larger the display, or if HD signals are being passed, the more likely cables may make a difference.

Tell me about it. I originally used one of those cheap component cables from Target for my connection from HTPC -> HDTV. With Avia I could see that I was getting major Y/C delay errors. Replacing the component cable with one from Acousting Reseach (which still wasn't that expensive) completely cleared this problem up.

 

[Walt Park]

BTW, I was just wondering. What are you listening to when you say things dont make a difference?

Until fairly recently, I didnt really believe that cables made much difference. So I bought a pair of interlink 400, and a pair of monster ref 2 analog rca's. At the time it was hooked up to cheaper stuff. Older Sony carousel (only rca out) luxman integrated amp circa late 80's, and Jamo E800's. Thats not what you'd call "Audiophile" stuff. But I can tell you that even on the cheaper stuff, I could hear a not so subtle difference between the $40 interlink 400, and the $100 ref 2 with the only difference being the 1 meter cable between the cd player and the integrated. That being said, I dont plan on keeping either since I did order the silver serpents from bettercables. They came yesterday and I havent really been able to listen to them yet, which is my plan for tonight.

I had the speaks hooked up with 12 ga OFC from Home Depot (35 C/foot). I tried the DIY cat5 braid from the tnt website (I have access to cheap/free cat5 from discarded network stuff so it was a $5 experiment for me), and I a/b'd them with the 12 ga home depot wired to the same amp, with one going to each post on the bi-wire, but with the bridge. Once again, there was a not so subtle difference.

I guess I wonder why other people don't hear a difference. That setup is not really fancy by any means ($120 plain jane cd player that's 6 years old, 300/pr speakers, and a non-fancy old reciever)so I dont think it's just something you hear on expensive systems. I also dont think it's just me as I tried blind a/b's and both of my roomates picked out the "upgrades" as sounding better.

The original question is about cost, and I agree with the arguement that a $100 cable doesnt sound 5 times better than a $20 cable. But I don't understand why people say they can't hear a difference between the two. I dont think my hearing is particularly good, or trained, and in fact I know I have slight hearing loss in my left ear from a stupid childhood accident, but I know I can hear it.

 

[RobWil]

I always wondered (doubted?) that there was much of a difference in cabling. I did a test some time ago. I had a very nice HK cassette desk (TD4400) and also a very nice HK cd player (HD7600II) both hooked up to an HK AVR25.
The cd player was hooked up using Monster Interlink 400's (not the new, supposedly improved ones) and the cassette deck had Interlink 300's. Well the Interlink 400's absolutely blew the 300's away on both components...the 300's absolutely sucked in comparison. Today I have the same cd player hooked up to an HK AVR520 and I've been playing around a little. The cd player has analog, digital coax and optical audio outputs so I hooked up all 3 at once and switched back and forth with the OSD. I was using the same Interlink 400's for the analog, a Monster THX I100DCX for the digital coax and an Interlink Lightspeed 100 for the optical. The optical and analog settings were right next to each other on the OSD so that was a very easy test, but the coax was a little trickier but basically I could tell no difference at all between the three. Then I looked at the analog audio cables connecting my sattelite receiver and noticed they were Interlink CD's. I have no idea when I bought these or where they came from but I decided to try these in place of the Interlink 400's and do the same test.
Well I was amazed at what I heard and could easily tell the difference in these compared to the coax and optical outputs. The music from this cable sounded much fuller and the bass was much more musical sounding and very tight. The others sounded hollow in comparison and the bass boomy and slightly muddled. Needless to say I left these cables on the cd player and ditched the other ones. Only problem is that now I'm wondering what else is out there that might blow these away!

 

[Parker Clack]

Or is bettercables.com another "ultimate ripoff"?

I no way are bettercables a ripoff. If you are ever curious as to why so many people cannot believe the difference that bettercables make just pick up a set and try it out for yourself. They have a very generous return policy if you aren't satisfied.

Parker