Better cables vs monster (1 Viewer)

[elMalloc]

I'm sure this is no contest, but I have a monster video 2 1M component cable for my DVD playe to TV.

I'm getting the panasonic 36" HDTV TAU with a panasonic RP56 so I was going to spend $90 for the 2M monster video 3 component cable.

I think I can hook it up fine with ony 1M though...so is the $99 serpent better cable 1m component cable a good buy over monster?

-ELmO

 

[Rick Castro]

Just my 2 cents,
Have been a Monster Cable user for years now. Probably the 2 most single reasons being that they are available just about anywhere and they usually have fairly competitive prices for their wire. Three months ago I upgraded my whole HT speaker system to Klipsch Reference series. Being the center and 2 fronts could be biwired I started looking for speaker wire and found that Bettercables made wire that was close to same pricing as Monster Cable(I did some serious research on wiring ie: brands,guage,blah,blah,blah). I started with one set of biwired speaker lines from Bettercables, so if they didn't meet up to my expectations I didn't waste too much money. Honest opinion I could not believe the difference. Before I knew it my whole system was redone with Bettercables, including component line from DVD. Again just my opinion, but both the audio and video greatly improved with these new cables. Money well spent in my book. Lines replaced were:Reference 2,Video 3(component and s-video),Digital coax 100,12 and 16 guage cut to length speaker wire. Hope this helps...

 

[Chu Gai]

please share how you performed your evalutations

 

[Rick Castro]

sure thats easy...its a simple case of "Before and After". The difference in both audio and video were noticable. Video had a sharper and more colorful image. Audio wise, my high freqs were more crisp while my low freqs had a much tighter punch resulting in a more reference sound. Since I had both wires handy I could switch between the two quickly, and literally see and hear the difference. Having testing equipment and cd's were just more proof for me when I had to change some video calibrations. Even the simple THX test on a handful of DVD's confirmed it. It was not hard to see for me, but I come from a background of roughly ten years of high end SPL car audio competitions and a few years of HT experience so that may give me a better edge on these sort of issues.

 

[Elbert Lee]

I'm glad that the upgrade to Better Cables has been a beneficial upgrade for you Rick. However, to accurate compare the cables, one must try the "M" series cables from Monster. On my smaller system, the upgrade from regular Monster speaker cable to the bi-wire pair of M1.2 and M1.4 biwire made a huge difference. I firmly believe that the definitive Monster product line for HT enthusiasts should be the M series and not the stuff sold at the big chain stores. I'm trying to get my hands on a set of Better Cables for a back to back comparison.

Elbert

 

[Bob McElfresh]

I think I can hook it up fine with ony 1M though...so is the $99 serpent better cable 1m component cable a good buy over monster?

The stuff they sell through the web sites use the high-quality Canare connectors and Canare/Belden coax. It's typically the same stuff used in the recording studios and is reguarded as some of the best you can get.
While BetterCables is good, they are a bit pricy. If you look, you can get a better price. Some sites are:
Link Removed
ebay - Cable Solutions (search for "Canare")
Avcable.com (Gepco)
KustomKables.com (Canare)
Wickedcables.com (RG59 Belden/Canare cables)
RhinoCables.com (Belden)
Heartlandcables.com (Canare)
CobaltCables.com (Canare)
There are others.
Good Luck.

 

[Roel_S]

I'm using the A/R Component Cables for my DVD and the A/R S-Video cable for my digital cable along with the A/R audio cables and found them to be similar to the Monster Cable. I've borrowed my friend's Monster Cable to see if I see/hear anything different and as far as I could see/hear there's no difference.

The only difference I notice was when I swab to a regular RCA cable and there was a slight lose in audio and the picture wasn't as clear.

just my 2 cents.

 

[Jason Spencer]

How does the Radio Shack Gold series compair to Acoustic Research? They seem a little less expensive, but if also less quality, I'll spring. Don't think it'll make a big enough difference for me to go up to monster (or better) for the price...

 

[Mike Matheson]

Jay,

Generally speaking I prefer the Acoustic Research Pro wires to RS Gold series. Haven't noticed a difference sound-wise, but I do like AR's RCA plugs better.

AR definitely has a better optical cable than RS (cheaper, too).

Haven't tried AR or RS component cables though.