101 Reasons Why NOT To Buy Monster Cable

[krowten]

Of course my favorite reason is this:

2006 CES Monster Display

http://www.audioholics.com/news/trad...nd-other-goofs

Monster Cable Files Law-Suit for unauthorized use of the word “MONSTER”.
Defendants include:

Monster Garage (Discover Channel)
Monsters Inc (animated feature)
Monster House (animated feature)
Monster Park

links:
http://monstervintage.com/Monster ...20products.htm
http://www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/...terCable.shtml


Deceptive Displays At Future Shop ( Owned by Best Buy USA ).

This was a Side by side demo that has "Monster Cable" video cable vs. Competitor video cables on separate TV's. The TV using monster cable looked amazing. The TV using a competitor cable looked like crap. However, if you looked behind both TV's, the competition was a 49 cent composite cable and Monster used component. If you didn't already know, composite cable provides the lowest picture quality and component cables generate excellent picture quality . If I used $1 RCA cables from a looney store and used them as a component cable, I guarantee that it would look better than composite.

Monster Cable Demo That Uses Only One Video Source

Again, it was another side by side comparison. But this time the Demo didn’t even have separate video sources. Both poor and superior images shown in the side by side test patterns were coming from a single video source using stock composite cable. How asinine is that, the freaking demo didn't even use “Monster Cable”. It was basically just playing a DVD video of a test pattern. One side was all distorted to represent the competition and the other half had a crystal clear pattern to represent Monster. From the photo, you can see the DVD player and the lone composite cable.

photos from hidden camera of both Future Shop Displays

http://www.hometheaterfocus.com/home-theater-canada/future-shop-monster.aspx

Canada's Largest Retailer Future Shop Chickens Out Of $10 monoprice vs $300 Monster Component Cables Challenge :

After seeing those bogus demos, some guy in Canada challenges Future Shop rep to cable showdown. $10 Monoprice component cable vs Monster's most expensive $300 component cable. Apparently, mid level manager welcomes the challenge but chickens out. Probably someone higher up the food chain already knew what the outcome would be.

http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=520802


Monster Cable Fires 120 Employees, But Still Overcharges For Accessories

So Monster Cable fires 120 workers and moves operations to Mexico to reduce costs. Too bad the consumer doesn't see this cost savings.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/12/13...-for-accessor/


Scientific Analysis Reports:

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/field-not...ble-266616.php

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,121777-page,1/article.html

Please share this info with friends and family. Let's make sure they don't spend money on a product that has a 300% mark up.

 

[ErinH]

The "proof" for me that I will never buy Monster products again is when I had a friend who is an employee of BB buy me an optical cable.

It's pretty well known that BB employees pay about 5% above cost.
The optical cable regular price was $139.
He paid $43.


Monoprice and parts express will be the only ones getting my wire business.

 

[fmw]

The "proof" for me that I will never buy Monster products again is when I had a friend who is an employee of BB buy me an optical cable.

It's pretty well known that BB employees pay about 5% above cost.
The optical cable regular price was $139.
He paid $43.


Monoprice and parts express will be the only ones getting my wire business.

Unfortunately, your friend overpaid for his cable.

 

[Alex2507]

Let me ask you guys if you would buy their products on eBay. Before I found AH I had picked up a few fiber optic lines for less than $20 a piece. At the time I thought I had struck gold. It was my first time.

 

[Halon451]

To the OP, this is a good post - the more I got into this hobby and learned along the way (trust me I'm still learning), the more silly it seemed to spend that kind of money for a piece of copper wire, no matter HOW fancy the shielding and jacket around it looks. I suppose the cable's dialectric has some mystical properties that we mere mortals can't comprehend or something...

I can't go into the Big Box store without some salesman trying to push this stuff on me. It's rather annoying, and can draw too many people into the hype, that wouldn't otherwise know any better.

 

[m_vanmeter]

I truly "cringe" when I see people spending hundreds of dollars on cables and order extra Toslink optical, HDMI, and component cables whenever I place an order with Monoprice.com I keep them for friends and family who buy into the home theater craze and just can't wait a couple of days for mail order to arrive. They use the cables to set up their systems and order what they would have needed from monoprice to return to my "loaner cables". There are always some cables that don't come back.............but at monoprice.com prices, I can live with that.

 

[krowten]

Here's a Future Shop salesperson bragging that he made $80000 and another $115000. I wonder what products they sold that earned them the most profit.

http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/s...d.php?t=520802 post # 101

 

[mtrycrafts]

Let me ask you guys if you would buy their products on eBay. Before I found AH I had picked up a few fiber optic lines for less than $20 a piece. At the time I thought I had struck gold. It was my first time.

It is or can be all about the cost. Don't feel bad though, that cable is not too bad at that price. Besides, now it is a cheap reminder and a cheap lesson in your continuing education process and mine

 

[mtrycrafts]

Monster Cable Files Law-Suit for unauthorized use of the word “MONSTER”.
Defendants include:

Monster Garage (Discover Channel)
Monsters Inc (animated feature)
Monster House (animated feature)
Monster Park

....

Talking about those lawsuits. These are nothing. I have seen on line over time, posted by others, how many lawsuits and intimidating they are over this. Hundreds of lawsuits. Monster Snow angels or something. A clothing store with something like Monster something, and it goes on an on.
then, the bigger corps, like Disney, sign some kind of agreement and now Monster is in Disney's, wbes sites as a link or something. With the amount Monster has amassed, they can afford to go after everything even if it is just to intimidate and they loose in the end, the winner is financially broke.

They are predators, period.

 

[Alex2507]

Mtry, when you put it like that, seems like avoiding Monster at ALL costs is the right thing to do. In the end, better can be had for less and bullies always suck. The End.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Mtry, when you put it like that, seems like avoiding Monster at ALL costs is the right thing to do. In the end, better can be had for less and bullies always suck. The End.

That is all you can do and should do. They are bullies and predators. How could that clothing store dilute their name? How could that snow bunny or snow angels, some such, dilute their name? And, this is just the tip of the hundreds of such actions they have taken over the years, hundreds.
They either want you to sign a business deal with them, a fee up front and a % of your income, change your name totally, or get out of business. And with their money power, they can wear you down, even if they cannot win, you cannot afford to pursue a case.
That is one reason why so many here and elsewhere will steer you to other cables, principles.

 

[gus6464]

That is all you can do and should do. They are bullies and predators. How could that clothing store dilute their name? How could that snow bunny or snow angels, some such, dilute their name? And, this is just the tip of the hundreds of such actions they have taken over the years, hundreds.
They either want you to sign a business deal with them, a fee up front and a % of your income, change your name totally, or get out of business. And with their money power, they can wear you down, even if they cannot win, you cannot afford to pursue a case.
That is one reason why so many here and elsewhere will steer you to other cables, principles.

Since I worked at BB in the past I have tried to steer clear of brands which have absolutely insane markup. For the most part anything Monster, Rocketfish, Dynex, Geek Squad branded cables, and Pioneer Plasma TVs. You guys wouldn't believe the insane markup on Pioneer Elite Plasma. I would rather spend over a thousand less on a Panasonic and have it ISF calibrated.

 

[digital_low_thd]

Monster Cable

Wire and cable should NOT be as expensive as they are.

Fancy shielding and other "features" do NOT make your speakers sound better. If you are delivering power at a power level of 5 Watts to maybe 100 Watts to your speakers, and the cable is not thousands of feet long, then just about any piece of wire would do the trick.

On the other hand, if your amplifier is built with some low-quality brand of audio amplifier chip, your speaker wires could just act like giant antennas to radiate the noise all over your home.

Harman used the D2Audio "brick" for a while (maybe they still do). NAD is still trying to make the Zetex design (or DDFA, or Class Z or Acoustar, or whatever brand name it is) work just like Theta was trying to do with Zetex for over a year until they sold the company just before CES2008. Several companies use ICE power audio boards. These companies buy other people's boards or reference designs, drop them into their box, and sell the public on the idea that they are amplifier designers. I even heard one company at CES still talking about The Flying Mole. Maybe it didn't sound good, but at least The Flying Mole and IcePower sort of worked. It amazes me how reputable amplifier companies are willing to drop some cheap digital amplifier into their product. The Sonance Booth even had some amplifier brochures referring to "Class T" by Tripath. That had to be old considering the status of TriPath.​

And, if you saw the Monster display at CES2008, you would know that Monster does not need any more of your money to stay in business.

Besides, over at the International Business Park area of CES, there is no shortage of Shenzhen Sue's ready to give you all the cable you need at the bargain basement price you need to afford the good stuff elsewhere in your system.

So, don't succumb to the "add on" impulse buy of additional cable that the dealer tells you is "needed." You are likely to find better stuff at Home Depot.

 

[bandphan]

Since I worked at BB in the past I have tried to steer clear of brands which have absolutely insane markup. For the most part anything Monster, Rocketfish, Dynex, Geek Squad branded cables, and Pioneer Plasma TVs. You guys wouldn't believe the insane markup on Pioneer Elite Plasma. I would rather spend over a thousand less on a Panasonic and have it ISF calibrated.

since it got bumped..... So whats this mark up on pioneer elite plasmas??????? any different than panasonic???????? the mark up is set by the retailer based on what the market commands, right or wrong?

 

[solomr2]

Monster earned their reputation as a leading cable maker way back when they were highly respected in the professional recording and studio industry. But then somewhere along the way they shifted their focus to consumer products and have since relied too much on their reputation. While I can't fault them for making money and charging whatever the market will bear, it does certainly make me shake my head when I hear what people are willing to pay for their cables.

Since discovering Monoprice and Bluejeans on this forum, I have saved a bundle on cables, and I have willingly referred both of these fine companies to my friends and relatives, who often give me good feedback about their experience with these companies.

But I will remind you all, the consumer is responsible for how they spend their money. Everyone's value/quality perception is wired differently. Many people will pay top dollar for a given brand name just because they believe that brand to have superior quality (real or not). Others will pay for brand name cache. And yet others will pay because they just don't know any better and don't have the time and/or the resources to educate themselves better to make more informed decisions. This latter case is becoming increasingly easier or more difficult, depending on who you ask. The Internet is a great resource for networking and sharing information, but it is also the medium for vast distribution of disinformation. You decide what is real and what is fake.

 

[agabriel]

I run 12 gauge home electrical wire, from home depot, to my speakers. They sounds great, although they do take a few extra minutes to setup (not as flexible as lamp wire). I paid $15 for around 300ft, so for the money savings I can live with the few extra minutes I spend anually working on it.

The joy of going digital it this debate can finally be put to bed

 

[Soundman]

good info! I've never had any desire to buy Monster cables. They are just too expensive regardless of their business practices. Monoprice all the way, Baby!!!!!!

 

[Hi Ho]

since it got bumped..... So whats this mark up on pioneer elite plasmas??????? any different than panasonic???????? the mark up is set by the retailer based on what the market commands, right or wrong?

The markup on Pioneer Elite plasma sets is rather large. It is definitely larger than Panasonic. I don't know exact numbers but I know there is a real reason that the salesmen would rather sell an Elite over a Panasonic... more money.

 

[evilkat]

The markup on Pioneer Elite plasma sets is rather large. It is definitely larger than Panasonic. I don't know exact numbers but I know there is a real reason that the salesmen would rather sell an Elite over a Panasonic... more money.

Despite the price, almost every review I've read about pioneer elite displays have heaped praises upon those TVs. After having seen one at BB, I completely understand why. Never realized that it had a huge markup though...I thought all that quality came at a price!

 

[mtrycrafts]

... I would rather spend over a thousand less on a Panasonic and have it ISF calibrated.

And, you'd still be $$$ ahead.