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How good is Monster 2.4 bi-wire?

I have a pair of Monster 2.4 bi-wire i got for around $250 on ebay last year. They were a huge improvement over my old cable. But i was wondering if i could do better for around the same price. Or should i start somewere else first. My system 2 adcom gfa-555mkII bridged mono, adcom gtp-450, marantz 6000ose cdp, b&w 602s2 and monster 1000i ic's. Any advise would be welcome. I want to upgrade, just don't were to start.

thans
tommy
tommy583
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,291 posts
 
Tommy, you have a very nice system. The Monster is a very good cable and you won't really do better at the price you got them. Don't see any obvious weaknesses, but you can always upgrade your source components to good ends. Large gains in sound quality can always be gotten from paying careful attention to set-up and speaker/listener placement.
tommy583 OP
73 posts
 
Thanks for the kind words onhwy61. I've been thinking of adding tubes somewhere in the chain. Maybe a tube cdp to smooth things out a bit.

tommy
mikesinger
572 posts
 
i found it to be a excellent cable. i am not a monster cable fan ( ie mass market crap ). but this is a excellent cable as is the 2.2s single wire cable.

i use them with:

pse studio v mono blocs ( transparent)
arc ls-12 ( just sold )( transparent)
marantz sa-8260 ( a little warm)
xlo signiture 2.2 ( neutral)
alon II ( very revealing)

the 2.4s displaced a $2200 of tara in my system. i have tried many other cables in my system costing 3 to 4 times as much and i havent found them. i live in san diego,ca and harmonic tech and acoustic zen is right down the street).

if you are looking to upgrade, i would suggest:

phillips sa-963 sacd player ( start with the source) audible illusions / arc ls2bmkII pre-amp ( great preamps for the $$)
muse 160 stereo / muse mono's/pse studio v mono's ( these were all $2k to $3k amps that can be found for $500 to $700 that have clarity, imaging, transparency and will allow the musicality of your source and pre to come through ( the adcoms have no transparency in the mids and highs). they are also just as dynamic.

as far as interconnects - xlo type i or signiture 1 are very transparent and can be had for a resonable price. i found the cardas too warm with no image specificty ( from hexlink 5 to golden cross )also the tara decade and air 1 was a little to warm.

i think with the above system you will be surprised.

i have compared the phillips 963 to the sony sacd 555, 333, and 999 and the dodson 217 da and it blew it away. i went with the marantz because of the redbook playback. the sound quality you get for so little money is amazing.

hope that helps !!

mike
flemke
596 posts
 
I sold my 2.4's this year becouse my new speakers are not bi-wired. The price I paid was about the same and had no plans on selling them. The only thing monster makes that is any good. Try out some new I/C's. Some Audioquest Pythons are are great deal at the current $200 used.
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