Monster Cable: Worth It? Not Really.

[Jeremy Charette]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/top/the-truth-about-monster-cable-+-grand-finale-part-iii-282725.php' target='_blank'>http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/top/the-truth-about-monster-cable-+-grand-finale-part-iii-282725.php</a><br /><br /></div><i>"The only people who should buy Monster cable are people who light cigars with Benjamins. Fortunately for Monster, there are plenty of those people. They're not even suckers, they are just rich as hell, and want the best. This testing did not prove that Monster is not the best. It just proved that the best is, for the most part, unnecessary."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/monsterhdmit.jpg" /><br /><br />I was looking for some information on cabling (I'm re-doing my A/V system), and came across this article. Gizmodo did a series of articles about a month ago, comparing Monster HDMI cable to various less expensive HDMI cables. The conclusion? Not worth it. Not even close. For analog cable, shielding makes a big difference. In this digital age, problems like shielding and signal degradation are far less prevalent than they used to be. The $30 generic cable is just as good as the $300 Monster cable in nearly every real world situation. Just for reference, I'm not biased against Monster Cable. I've got $1000 of it sitting behind my A/V rack. Every interconnector is Monster in my house. Guess I wasted a ton of money! :lol:

[Chris Gohlke]

I've been using monoprice for a while and have been extremely satisfied, but it is nice to see an article that confirms that they make good stuff.

If you are interested, monoprice also has GREAT prices on wallmounts for flat panel TVs. For example - Adjustable Tilting WALL MOUNT Bracket for LCD Plasma (Max 165Lbs, 37~65inch) - Wide - is $29.42!!!!!!

[Jason Dunn]

Guess I wasted a ton of money! :lol:

Yup, you're a sucker. :lol: Digital is binary, either off or on, either working or not...so the quality of the cable only matters insofar as it needs to make a full connection with the port. Beyond that...doesn't matter much.

I'm a big fan of buying cables off eBay - I usually get good quality cables for super cheap.

[ironguy]

I am also a big fan of monoprice. When I got my HDTV last Thanksgiving, Circuit City tried to get me to buy a 6 ft Monster HDMI cable - only $89! I bought one from monoprice for $9 and have had no issues whatsoever. I have since bought numerous cables from them and all have been great.

Another big area of ripoff is speaker wire. Monster speaker wire is big $$. I bought Acoustic Research (AR) spool wire, flat, 100 ft, for $40. Add $12 of connectors and I have all my speaker wire, rather than spending a couple hundred on Monster.

[Jeremy Charette]

I will say, cheap coax cable does suck. That's one place it's worth it to pay extra (or roll your own quad shielded).

[Felix Torres]

Guess I wasted a ton of money! :lol:

Not necessarily.
Any of those Monster cables analog?
Monster specs make a difference on analog interconnects.
An itty-bitty difference that only dogs and golden ears can hear, but a real one nonetheless. 8)
But for Digital applications? Monoprice all the way...

[RichL]

I'm a big fan of buying cables off eBay - I usually get good quality cables for super cheap.

That's a great tip. I got some great quality component cables custom-made via a seller on eBay. They're exactly the right length, so I don't have a mess of wires behind my home cinema kit. :)

[jmulder]

It's worth noting that the Gizmodo article did recommend high quality (e.g., Monster) cables for in-wall installations, especially longs runs, but that's a pretty rare occurence.

They also explained that although digital signals are just 1's and 0's, the longer a cable is, the more the signal degrades because the voltage difference between 1 and 0 becomes less, therefore making it more difficult to tell between a 1 and 0. High quality cables with superior shielding can help reduce that degradation.

That said, I think Monster cables are extremely overpriced and I'd rather suffer than pay their prices.

[Jeremy Charette]

Guess I wasted a ton of money! :lol:

Not necessarily.
Any of those Monster cables analog?
Monster specs make a difference on analog interconnects.
An itty-bitty difference that only dogs and golden ears can hear, but a real one nonetheless. 8)
But for Digital applications? Monoprice all the way...

They're all analog, except for the SPDIF cable. Going forward though, I'm looking to stick with digital connections only.

[David Horn]

We have similar cables in the UK, but the best is a $240 2m component set.

Having a physics degree and being naturally skeptical of such things, I asked for a side by side demo of the expensive cable vs the cheapest on their best 50 inch LCD TV, on the premise that I would buy that if there was a noticeable difference.

To my surprise, the salesman agreed and went off to set up the demo. He called me over and showed me a set with PIP running, with the expensive cable on one side and their cheap as chips SCART cable on the other. To my horror, one picture was significantly better than the other.

While frantically trying to come up with an excuse to weasel out of the deal, I reached behind the set and pulled out the SCART cable out of curiosity. The good picture vanished. The salesman looked like he wet himself! :)

So no, I would never buy more expensive cables. The only time I think there's a benefit is on extrememely high end sound equipment.