Are Monster Cables worth it?

[cantdrv55]

I just bought a home theater system and 52" LCD HCTV. I priced Monster Cables and was just floored. I spent big bucks on the system and didn't expect to pay big bucks for the cables too. Are Monster Cables that good compared to thick a$$ regular speaker cables? I listen to music and watch UFC more often than watching movies. My wife's viewing habits are the exact opposite. Clean sound is more important to me. Will I be able to tell the difference?

[nostatic]

No.

www.monoprice.com

[legion]

There was some article where some stereophile tested the expensive cables against the cheap ones and even coat hangers....

He filled a room with audio experts and told them the cheap cables were the expensive ones and the expensive ones were the cheap ones. He played the same music on both.

The verdict?

No one could tell the difference. The "audio experts" universally liked the cables they were told were more expensive, regardless of what was actually used...

[cantdrv55]

Thanks for the link, Nostatic. I'll definitely buy my HDMI and speaker cables from there.

You guys saved me a bunch. Thank you very much.

[island911]

digital signal will simply cut out if the cables are real crap. The signal won't get there any faster or cleaner than with cables that are simply good enough.

[Stanley]

Originally Posted by nostatic

No.

www.monoprice.com

I was honestly going to post the same exact thing. Monoprice owns.

[87coupe]

Save your money and skip the monster cable. For speaker wiring, do buy proper connectors and seal the ends so the copper cores aren't exposed. My buddy used romex with great results

[chuckw951]

Originally Posted by nostatic

www.monoprice.com

Thanks for posting the link. Unfortunately now I know how much I've overpaid for cables!

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I doubt $55 electrons perform much differently than $5 electrons.

[HardDrive]

No.

[gchappel]

Speaker cables can certainly change the sound of your system. Some cables are brighter, some will sound quicker- some were boomy and sounded horrible on my system. I found no correlation with sound and expense. Try a handful of different cables if you are looking for that last 1% of what you consider to be a glorious neutral sound.
Analog interconnects make a little difference, I think. The differences are so subtle, at least on my systems, that I really can't confirm differences. I ended up making my own out of 25g silver. They may be better than the ones that come in the box.
I have been unable to tell any difference in digital cables- except some are too short.
Gary

[mthomas58]

Originally Posted by cantdrv55

I just bought a home theater system and 52" LCD HCTV. I priced Monster Cables and was just floored. I spent big bucks on the system and didn't expect to pay big bucks for the cables too. Are Monster Cables that good compared to thick a$$ regular speaker cables? I listen to music and watch UFC more often than watching movies. My wife's viewing habits are the exact opposite. Clean sound is more important to me. Will I be able to tell the difference?

I ordered all my cables here. I've got my Plasma mounted above the fireplace and all my components in the hall coat closet 20' away.

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/

[whiskyb]

I'll second the vote for bluejeanscable.com I could not find any short cables for hooking up different components. Shortest was about 3' Had them make me all my cables and staggered each set by a few inches to keep everything neat on the hook up side. Great quality and price

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by chuckw951

Thanks for posting the link. Unfortunately now I know how much I've overpaid for cables!

+1. I've got to get smarter about this kind of stuff.

[ramonesfreak]

you said nothing about the equipment you bought. Very high end stuff tends to be neutral sounding and the personality of the wire can be heard or not heard, depending on what you choose.

If one is paying many thousands of $ per piece of equipment, the last thing you want to do is degrade or alter the hi-fidelity sound with poorly chosen cables and wires. then again, sometimes you do...if say your CD player is too bright, you can choose a wire or cable that takes the high end off a bit

If you bought average department store stuff you will likely not notice any difference in wires.

[chuckr]

I agree with what Scott said.... high end equipment is best suited to the better cables/wires.
With the mid range stuff, it is not going to matter. It is best to at least get good cables/wires
after all, your system is as good as its weakest link.Home Depot has 12 gauge copper wire pretty cheap.

[Gogar]

No.

The ONLY redeeming quality of Monster Cable is if a cable goes bad, you can take it back to the store and get a brand new one for free, no questions asked.

But it's still not even worth it.

However, if you're using Coaxial Digital outs anywhere, make sure you use a 75ohm coaxial cable and NOT a regular, (red or white) RCA cable.

[rick-l]

Originally Posted by srandallf

you said nothing about the equipment you bought. Very high end stuff tends to be neutral sounding and the personality of the wire can be heard or not heard, depending on what you choose.

If one is paying many thousands of $ per piece of equipment, the last thing you want to do is degrade or alter the hi-fidelity sound with poorly chosen cables and wires. then again, sometimes you do...if say your CD player is too bright, you can choose a wire or cable that takes the high end off a bit

If you bought average department store stuff you will likely not notice any difference in wires.

What is that expression in the OTP&R forum Keep drinking the cool-aid

[Porsche_monkey]

Monster cables are the cool-collars of the A/V industry.

[MBAtarga]

http://consumerist.com/362926/do-coat-hangers-sound-as-good-monster-cables