Are Monster Cable products really worthwhile?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by EddieVanHalen, Jan 17, 2017.

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  1. EddieVanHalen

    EddieVanHalen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Are Monster Cable really worthwhile? Are they really the quality one is paying for them or its price is just to pay for the brand?
    Are they serious cables for a high quality audio set up or their products are just a fad?
     
  2. audioguy3107

    audioguy3107 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Atlanta, Georgia
    I think the Monster Cable "fad" passed about 15-20 years ago......they used to be one of the only higher end cable companies back in the day but now are more mass market than anything. I'd look elsewhere but of course it all depends on your budget.

    - Buck
     
  3. Ntotrar

    Ntotrar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tri-Cities TN
    Do wires matter? The eternal question... Monster products maybe. Only you can be sure if they are worthwhile to you. Synergy: "good" wires can make it or break it. Very subjective.



    :-popcorn:
     
  4. EddieVanHalen

    EddieVanHalen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    A friend of mind thinks Monster Cable products are the holy grail of cables. I also think they were good back in the day but now they are chinese made cables with the Monster Cable badge on them. I think they're HDMI cables are too overpriced. Sure they look good and they are able of passing a 4K video signal but so is my 5 meter inexpensive HDMI cable I bought to Amazon that has never given me a problem and it has a great building quality.
    Primewire - 5m cable de HDMI - Ultra HD 4k HDMI | Alta velocidad con Ethernet | 4K Ultra HD 2160p / 3D / ARC y CEC | Cable de blindaje triple + blindaje de conector y contactos | cobre: Amazon.es: Electrónica »
     
  5. GuildX700

    GuildX700 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    New stuff, not so much. Their old stuff was built very good.

    I've been using a dozen pairs of Monster Cable half meter lengths of their high end Interlink 800 series for about 25 years now and they have held up well. VERY well made and still function perfectly. The only issue is the ends are so well made that they have such a strong clamping force that they are hard to remove once you finally get them on.

    I don't "hear" cables much so don't ask how they sound. They should transmit the signal without changing it. That's what these do.
     
    Brother_Rael and Tony Stark like this.
  6. F1nut

    F1nut Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Mars Hotel
    Having purchased the original high end Monster speaker cable, the light grey/beige colored one, not the clear jacket junk, and being able to compare it with a more current cable such as the MIT Shotgun, I can say without question that the Monster cable is seriously lacking.
     
    bruce2 likes this.
  7. Joseph.McClure

    Joseph.McClure Forum Resident

    Location:
    Memphis, TN
  8. ky658

    ky658 Senior Member

    Location:
    Ft Myers, Florida
    Gotta agree, I too have the old Interlink cables and they are holding up just fine. I even bought their Monster HTS 1000 MKIII 8-Outlet Power Center With Clean Power about 12 years ago since moving to Florida and would swear by that thing.
     
  9. Synthfreek

    Synthfreek I’m a ray of sunshine & bastion of positivity

    I'll satisfy the popcorn munchers. Crap company where I don't care if their products are top-notch, you can keep that garbage. Sue happy wangholes.
     
  10. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Innocent Bystander

    As an ex-Monster factory rep, I'd say...nope. Synthreek's got it nailed.

    Cheers,
    Larry B.
     
  11. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    Better than generic , but not much. Buy some decent wire.
    Just don't like the way Noel Lee does business.
     
    forthlin, MaxxMaxx4 and Grant like this.
  12. I don't know if I'd buy a ton of it to rewire or connect my gear, but the old Thorens 160 turntable I recently acquired came with a Monster RCA rewiring that sounds fantastic. I have no compulsion to spend any more money to have it rewired with today's latest fad wires, either.

    Best,

    Bill
     
  13. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    YOU CAN TOW A CAR WITH MONSTER SPEAKER CABLES, ABOUT ALL THERE GOOD FOR.
     
    Wngnt90 and MaxxMaxx4 like this.
  14. rhubarb9999

    rhubarb9999 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA
    Monoprice is all you need. :hide:
     
  15. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    I like Monster wire.
     
    George P, Gavinyl, jjh1959 and 2 others like this.
  16. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Their RCA plugs damn near took off the female RCA jacks on my equipment

    Though well-built, I was never impressed with their cables or their sound.

    I'm using one of their power conditioners that I inherited from my sister.

    I have other brands of interconnect that i'm much happier with.

    I think Noel Lee is a very unethical guy with the way he makes his money suing anyone who dares use the word "monster".
     
  17. PhilBiker

    PhilBiker sh.tv member number 666

    Location:
    Northern VA, USA
    Monster got majorly hosed by Dr. Dre with his Beats headphones. They developed the headphones and Dre took the design and had others manufacture it.

    Their cables are of generally good quality. Nowhere near the "holy grail", but not bad. Prices are high for what they offer IMO. They protect their IP very aggressively.
     
  18. brimuchmuze

    brimuchmuze Forum Resident

    What exactly is so hard about making a cable that it can't be done in China?
     
    Brother_Rael likes this.
  19. PhilBiker

    PhilBiker sh.tv member number 666

    Location:
    Northern VA, USA
    Nothing. Cables should be hilariously simple.
     
  20. brimuchmuze

    brimuchmuze Forum Resident

    Should be the easiest piece of the puzzle? Someone will correct me on that I guess.
     
  21. cadeallaw

    cadeallaw Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dayton, OH
    I suppose you can buy the cables from China, slap a battery across the dielectric of the cable in Taiwan, and get them cryogenically treated in Sheboygan, WI... easy peasy
     
  22. The Pinhead

    The Pinhead KING OF BOOM AND SIZZLE IN HELL

    I use it because it's the lowest end of the high end, or one step above zip cord:D. Has served me well.
     
    George P and Manimal like this.
  23. LEONPROFF

    LEONPROFF Forum Resident

    I think some are good, I think some are crap. I recently moved and one optical cable and video cable no longer work. Tack that on to two s-video cables that quit years ago. That being said I bought some second tier, mark II?, I thought sounded awesome and brought my stereo to the next level. Have not tried any other high end cables though.
     
  24. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Mr. Kotterrrrrr!!!! MIT Cable!

    I have a couple of pairs of #2 and 4 interconnects, and they sound damn good!
     
  25. Kristofa

    Kristofa Enthusiast of small convenient sound carrier units

    Location:
    usa
    Must be the turbine ends. Those suck so bad. I blame damage on my fixed RCAs of one of my CD players.

    OP beware of the turbine ends. Not all of the Monster interconnects have them.

    I still use their subwoofer cables and speaker wire for my surrounds. The speaker wire will likely be the next swapped out, but it was inexpensive and did the job. But I think I would like to try Blue Jeans speaker wire since it is cheap as well.

    You can usually find LOTS of used Monster cables at thrift stores if you want to try them out for cheap.
     
    PhilBiker likes this.
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