Monster Cable Kicks Butt?

Funny how it goes sometimes. My experience with Monster wire was the the opposite, soundstage disappeared, everything got duller and flatter. But I recently had to use a pair of Radio Shack gold ended interconnects temporarily and guess what, it was able to hold it's own against a $200 interconnect. Synergy happens sometimes Just stay happy for a while, while the goin's good. Martin

But what were the cables you just sold?

I credit Monster with making me realize that cables mattered. To make a long story short, I replaced Monsters with a pair of AQ I had received free a year or two before, and it was painfully obvious that the Monsters were grainy and muffled.

KP

I had bad luck with the monster twist bananas. The AR ones weren't any better. Even the "piercing" twist-lock one never gave nearly as "solid" of a connection as crimped on spade lugs, or bare wire on the binding posts. The difference was clearly audible. Even my non-audiophile brother would hear the difference, and were were using the same 8ga. monster speaker wire at the time.

The best bananas I've used are the "flat" screw-type bananas you find with most "scientific" equipment. Those old a connection with the bare wire like "nothing else." And come to think of it, so do the BNC terminiators on most coax, lol. I wonder if there is a connection (no pun intended)?

As for other monster cable... The 2m and 0.5m toslink isn't bad. Both sound better than the 1m, go figure! I also at one time, had some 400i series (I think that was what it was called) interconnects. They weren't bad. They charge you way to much for what you get (no surprise with cables). And transparent, they are not. They are a little veiled in the lower mids, and bottom end. At least when I switched to audio quest, I sounded a lot clearer down low. I think those AQ's were cheaper, too. but even the AQ's weren't perfect. I switched them out for better AQ's, then Wireworlds, now I running mostly Straight Wire. I think I finally got the mids and lowest to sound "correct" with my system.

monster cable may be OK, but it's far from transparent. Some say their ICs act like "filters." I dunno if I'd go that far. But they sure aren't transparent. You could probably due better for the money, IMHO.

An for FWIW, some say the straight wire encore II's I'm using aren't all that transparent, either. But one thing they are is "synergetic" with my system. Someone might have a system where monster cable is the synergetic match. So I guess, in that case, they'd be appropriate. Use you ears....

Mar00, You are exactly correct. This thing with cables is wild. I do believe everyone should use decent cables, but these people who spend thousands on cables has been fooled into believing something that's not there.I myself have tried various cables(some in the $200-300.00 range). I simply sold them bought some cheaper monsters, then enjoyed the music. Spend the money on good speakers, and don't waste your time and $ on this cable fraud.