Audiophiles can't tell the difference between Monster Cable and coat hangers.

[Turin39789]

Originally posted by: QueBert

Originally posted by: slayer202

Originally posted by: QueBert
one thing I like about Monster Cables, they're incredibly easy to bend and route. I have their pro series audio amp kit cables running for my car stereo. No other brand I looked at had the same quality. It's like they're made out of silly putty how easy it is to bend them and get them to go where you want. Sound any better? nope not at all, but was worth the $200 IMO for how greatly they helped make the install that much easier, and it look cleaner than I could have done with generics. No other brand with the exception of the Kicker, which cost about the same would have given me the same results.

some of us are ummm... superficial? haha that's why I pay 12 bucks for a SATA cable that should be $3, just because it has a nicer look I spend more. It sucks to be superficial

$200 to get a cable that bends easier? wanna buy some tap water from me? It tastes REALLY good!

like putty, in car audio you have very limited space so the more bendable the cable is the better the install will go. I'm talking about the amp wire here not the RCA ones. find me 0 gauge wire outside of Monster or Kicker that bends like putty and doesn't try to bend back to being flat out and I'll buy it. I don't know how they did this, because internally it's going to be nothing but copper. But somehow they managed to make it bend and squish like jelly's inside. I would *seriously* pay $200 again for this, but that's just me.

Because inside it's a thin core of 18awg with silly putty to flesh it out to 0awg?

 

[imported_Lothar]

The idea that one needs gold plated, diamond encrusted cables to get decent audio quality is in itself idiocy.

 

[LongCoolMother]

monster cable is like the BOSE of interconnects. Its crap for people who don't know any better. All in the marketing. You can get far higher quality interconnects for much lower prices if you knew where to look.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Monster Cables are quality products that are overpriced by a factor of 10.

 

[Aluvus]

Nothing better than a link to a blog, that links to a blog, that links to a blog, that links to a forum post from 3.5 years ago. Web 2.0 indeed.

 

[biggestmuff]

Originally posted by: QueBert
one thing I like about Monster Cables, they're incredibly easy to bend and route. I have their pro series audio amp kit cables running for my car stereo. No other brand I looked at had the same quality. It's like they're made out of silly putty how easy it is to bend them and get them to go where you want. Sound any better? nope not at all, but was worth the $200 IMO for how greatly they helped make the install that much easier, and it look cleaner than I could have done with generics. No other brand with the exception of the Kicker, which cost about the same would have given me the same results.

some of us are ummm... superficial? haha that's why I pay 12 bucks for a SATA cable that should be $3, just because it has a nicer look I spend more. It sucks to be superficial

Into what vehicle was it installed?

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: biggestmuff

Originally posted by: QueBert
one thing I like about Monster Cables, they're incredibly easy to bend and route. I have their pro series audio amp kit cables running for my car stereo. No other brand I looked at had the same quality. It's like they're made out of silly putty how easy it is to bend them and get them to go where you want. Sound any better? nope not at all, but was worth the $200 IMO for how greatly they helped make the install that much easier, and it look cleaner than I could have done with generics. No other brand with the exception of the Kicker, which cost about the same would have given me the same results.

some of us are ummm... superficial? haha that's why I pay 12 bucks for a SATA cable that should be $3, just because it has a nicer look I spend more. It sucks to be superficial

Into what vehicle was it installed?

a Ford Taurus, and to Turin39789 if it's just 18 gauge wire padded to look like 0, shit shouldn't something have blown up by now? 1,200 watts on 18 gauge ain't gonna be pretty

 

[spidey07]

Interesting that they used distortion boxes, aka woofers and tweeters for their comparison.

-edit-
Try that on electrostats/planar speakers and then maybe I'll bite.

 

[randay]

Originally posted by: Aluvus
Nothing better than a link to a blog, that links to a blog, that links to a blog, that links to a forum post from 3.5 years ago. Web 2.0 indeed.

LOL. dont these people check thier sources? wtf.

 

[Kirby]

Props to the Monster Cable guys. That's one hell of a business model.

 

[Ricochet]

Originally posted by: Lord Evermore

Originally posted by: venkman
Monster Cable has defenders? I mean other than those that work for the company?

Not so much defenders, as "people who are defensive about having paid for Monster Cable products".

Having suckered into purchasing a $120 Monster toslink cable when I was an HT newbie, I can provide no defense whatsoever. In fact I felt like a chump. If there's a company that's worse than Bose: Monster has to be it.

 

[Greenman]

You guy's just don't get it.
Almost everyone has heard of Monster cables, and most of those people know they cost an arm and a leg, that's the important part. It's a status thing, it shows you have money to throw away. It's like buying a Rolex, it doesn't do anything any better than a Timex, it just costs a hell of a lot more.

Sell the sizzle, not the steak.

 

[Safeway]

Monster cables can cost as much as the television they are connected to. The only thing in this category I would ever buy would be an advanced surge protector/energy scrubber. Separate grounds for audio equipment drastically decreases fuzziness and buzz.

 

[rockyct]

Well, at least this is better than headphone audiophiles paying $500 for a power cable for their amplifier. That's right a six foot cord between the outlet and the amp.

 

[dbk]

Originally posted by: Lothar
The idea that one needs gold plated, diamond encrusted cables to get decent audio quality is in itself idiocy.

I always wondered about that. So, it makes no difference? It's all a gimmick?

 

[Soundmanred]

The only reason gold is used is to combat corrosion, which shouldn't be an issue to begin with unless you use your audio equipment on the deck of a boat.

 

[Mahaguru]

Then they were not real audiophiles. Remember the princess and the pea story? Yeah it's like that.

 

[imported_Lothar]

Originally posted by: dbk

Originally posted by: Lothar
The idea that one needs gold plated, diamond encrusted cables to get decent audio quality is in itself idiocy.

I always wondered about that. So, it makes no difference? It's all a gimmick?

Yes to both questions.

 

[Greenman]

Originally posted by: rockyct
Well, at least this is better than headphone audiophiles paying $500 for a power cable for their amplifier. That's right a six foot cord between the outlet and the amp.

There is a thread around here with a link to a $22,000 power cable.

 

[ethebubbeth]

Relevant:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2002/11/25

 

[gorcorps]

"Studies" like this make me sad... and the people who call themselves 'audiophiles' and eat this shit up makes me even sadder. Before I go ranting here, I just want to say while I don't consider myself an audiophile I am more picky than most. But I AM a metallurgical engineer and have quite a bit of experience when it comes to metals, alloys, and how they're made and used.

First, while it may be a surprise to some of you that a coat hanger could produce that good of sound, it really shouldn't. A conductive metal will conduct, that's all there is to it. Gold conducts a bit better than copper which conducts better than lots of other metals but the fact of the matter is that many cheap metals will conduct well enough for speaker wire for most to not tell the difference. But that doesn't mean there's no reason to go with the cheap metals every time... you pretty much get what you pay for here. As mentioned before Gold is highly corrosion resistant. Add that with great conductance and you have a perfect metal to use for such applications. Copper and Gold are both also of the "face centered cubic" crystal structure which is known to be of higher ductility than other metals. This means they can be bent, twisted, and formed more easily without worrying about breaking them. Try to bend a coat hanger at the same spot a few times and it'll snap long before copper or gold wire of the same gauge. So with gold and copper you have a material that conducts electricity well, and can be warped without much worry. Can you really ask for a better material for a cable?

So where does your money for monster cables go? Into shielding which is quite important, warranties which many other companies don't offer, and durability. I use monster cables for my guitar setup because I can step all over them, run over them with chairs, etc without having to worry they'll short out. And if they do? It gets sent to monster for a replacement.

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: Mahaguru

Then they were not real audiophiles. Remember the princess and the pea story? Yeah it's like that.

And this is why companies like Monster cable continue to be profitable!

Originally posted by: gorcorps

So where does your money for monster cables go?

My bet is the marketing department ... Monster cable isn't especially well made by any means.

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: gorcorps

So where does your money for monster cables go? Into shielding which is quite important, warranties which many other companies don't offer, and durability. I use monster cables for my guitar setup because I can step all over them, run over them with chairs, etc without having to worry they'll short out. And if they do? It gets sent to monster for a replacement.

Shielding is irrelevant on speaker wire. Signal leads particularly unbalanced stuff it makes a difference. (really depends on length of run and environment) As for pro audio, Hosa is just as durable as Monster and far cheaper. I prefer to make my own snakes and buy only Neutrik brand connectors.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: Greenman
You guy's just don't get it.
Almost everyone has heard of Monster cables, and most of those people know they cost an arm and a leg, that's the important part. It's a status thing, it shows you have money to throw away. It's like buying a Rolex, it doesn't do anything any better than a Timex, it just costs a hell of a lot more.

Sell the sizzle, not the steak.

but a Rolex has swiss movement, watching a second hand glide rather than "tick" is a huge improvement. That is actually worth the price difference to me lol. Monster cables, the best you can do is argue they might be made better, but it's all just opinion. Nobody is going to say the tick of a timex is anywhere close to as bad ass as the swiss movement of a Rolex man

Monster is status and they tend to look nicer, my car audio setup was pretty sweet *before it got stolen lol* monster cables just looked better, and since I had it set up where everything was viable it did add to the visual appeal of my setup. Monster cables are expensive, so are shirts from Ambercronie & Finch(SP?) and they don't hold up any better than the $6 dollar ones I get from the swapmeet. Monster cables are also made like tanks, I have ran over my USB cord with my chair that has rollerblade wheels about 5 thousand times and it's still ticking

 

[NanoStuff]

Originally posted by: nkgreen
Props to the Monster Cable guys. That's one hell of a business model.

I agree. Monster Cable and Bose are perhaps my two favorite companies. Authentically, that's not sarcasm. I wouldn't buy any damn thing they sell, but they certainly don't need my money.

They are kings of capitalism and for that they have my respect. If you find a new and creative way to part a fool with their money, that's more money being taken from a place it doesn't belong and returned into more productive ventures such as investment, charitable donations, and rational consumerism.

I would prefer that people be smarter and effectively eliminate 'fake' markets, but if they're going to mismanage their expenses, it might as well be on copper wires and paper cup speakers.