How do you guys shut the monster cable lovers down?

[mtrycrafts]

...in the beginning.

I think we all have a 'in the beginning' story in our audio life
After all, we are not born all knowing audio and snake oil prevention.

 

[mtrycrafts]

.., drive their Prius's to work, .

I resent that comparison

 

[mtrycrafts]

...let you hear more of the music with deeper, tighter bass, better imaging, and powerful dynamic range ...

That would be good if our hearing was great enough to hear all that excellence, but it is woefully short of that goal

 

[mtrycrafts]

.. That tube will probably increase the capacitance of the cable,...

Or, will it reduce inductance in a minuscule amount?
Where is than neutron guy whan you need him.

 

[Alex2507]

Bose 901 speakers sound very good ----have you heard them ??

I've heard them too and at a Bose store with a specially built reflective wall to make make them be all they can be. Yeah they sounded good but $1,400 for the speakers may be a little steep for what you get and if you add in the cost of the angled reflective walls ... well, how much money you got anyways?

I heard some Def Tech 7002's once which walked all over the 901's. The price is comparable if you factor in me building the walls. Have you ever heard the 7002's? Oh yeah, you own a pair.

 

[GO-NAD!]

I do question the quality of their products. I've had speaker cable that had plastic in the middle of the copper. For the price I paid it should have been all copper.

You're right! I take back what I said! I now remember having some of that same wire!

 

[GO-NAD!]

That is a tough challenge indeed. Unless he is a worthy friend to keep, don't bother explaining.

Oh, I'm leaving that sleeping dog alone. I take enough stick from friends and family about my audioholism as it is!

 

[skers_54]

Or, will it reduce inductance in a minuscule amount?
Where is than neutron guy whan you need him.

It might. It might not. Depends if the tube was cryogenically frozen

I think jimmy is somewhere on nick inventing a time-travel collar for his dog...

 

[j_garcia]

That thing is supposed to be a dielectric, though whether or not it actually does anything for the sound is anyone's guess.

I don't usually shut the MC people down, I just let them believe they invested their money wisely. All you need to do is show them the way so they do not make the mistake again. Or you could always just point and laugh

 

[MatthewB.]

When I got my deal on my Monster speaker cable I noticed a slighty better "clarity" but noted that was more to the fact that I went from a 16 gauge to a 12 gauge cable. But the clarity was very very slight, but could hear things that were once hard to distinguish, but now I could tell what they were. But also feel that any improvement would have occurred by using any brand 12 gauge speaker wire. I just happened to find an online dealer who had bought all of Circuit Cities inventory on Monster speaker cables and were selling them at prices lower per foot than Home Depots standard wire.

 

[JerryLove]

Another cause of percieved change (well real change) can be improved contact. If a contact has oxidized, then there can be interference in the electrical signal. The act of unplugging and re-plugging a cable can improve contact and change sound. I'm not sure how applicable this is to speaker cable, but I would expect it on patch cable.

 

[Clownfish]

Ok, I'll fess up, I recently bought MC...

I made a last minute decision to purchase a blu-ray player for Fathers' Day, and BB had them on sale.

It was THE ONLY cable they carried in the store.

From reading/finding these forums, I've learned a lot. I knew I was getting ripped off, but I was kinda over a barrel. I also bought a blu-ray disc, and wanted to plug and play that same day. I didn't want to drive all over town to trying to find another store that carried HDMI cables. It was Fathers' Day after all... so I just sucked it up, and bought them. The gift was well enjoyed. Next time, I'll better plan ahead, though.


As for BOSE BASHING,

I don't need to "follow the crowd" to an opinion. I owned one.

My spouse convinced me, along with the sales guy, it would sound sooooo great! It would sound better than my old Kenwood, JBL monitors, and JBL 14" sub, take up less floor space, look better, and fill the room with music or movies...

Besides, my brother-in-law has 3 Bose systems in his home rolleyes and told my spouse nothing could be better than Bose. I didn't understand how those cute little speakers could put out the volume, or sound of my large, black, boxy JBJ's... I was informed by my brother-in-law and the sales dude that the technology Bose used made it possible...

Long story short, that's how I found these forums.

I hated the Bose soooo much, but I couldn't figure out WHY. The music just didn't sound right, or the same, but I couldn't exactly explain it, at the time.

After reading the Bose sticky, now I do.

I then printed the information, and showed it to my spouse. I finally proved that I wasn't crazy, or had hearing problems.

I plugged my fugly (per spouse ) old vintage stuff back in! And enjoy it a whole lot better than the Bose, even though I need to replace a dry rotted woofer!

How's that for dislike?

.

 

[Adam]

Ok, I'll fess up, I recently bought MC...

Hmmm...where is that "ban" button...I know it's here somewhere.

[I own some, too, that I bought years ago. Fine cable, but just not worth the retail price.]

 

[MatthewB.]

I mentioned earlier that I got a free Monster HDMI cable and wouldnt you know it, two days ago it went out on me, picture kept losing signal, so I had a replacement 3.00 cable and plugged that in and wouldnt you know it, it works great and my picture hasnt had any issues since. For some reason the Monster HDMI couldn't keep a good connection.

 

[NicolasKL]

There's a saying that you cannot reason someone away from a position they did not reach through reason.

I suppose that never stops me from trying.

A more nuanced version of the 5-year-old "respond with 'why'" method comes to mind.

"On what do you base your belief that monster cable will produce a better sound than lamp cord?".

Depending on their answer, ask for the basis of that knowledge. It will almost universally come back to "someone told me"... and it will be a salesman, buddy, or magazine.

At that point, question some combination of bias (salesman and magazine) or their source of knowledge (salesman and buddy).

BTW: this system should only be used against a position that is actually wrong.

PS: It is possible that they will refer to some "demo" in the store. These are generally rigged (see roger-russel's article on speaker wire for one example... in fact, it's a good read regardless), but will likely require a little research or significant questioning to find the problem with.

I love Roger Russell:

Perhaps, someday, Ken Kessler and several other audio perverts will condescend to take a controlled listening test.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I love Roger Russell:
Perhaps, someday, Ken Kessler and several other audio perverts will condescend to take a controlled listening test.

That will never happen. They, all of those reviewers, etc, would have to turn in their 'golden ear' club membership Or, they would have nothing much to wax about in a review concerning sound quality

 

[highfigh]

Ok, I'll fess up, I recently bought MC...

I made a last minute decision to purchase a blu-ray player for Fathers' Day, and BB had them on sale.

It was THE ONLY cable they carried in the store.

From reading/finding these forums, I've learned a lot. I knew I was getting ripped off, but I was kinda over a barrel. I also bought a blu-ray disc, and wanted to plug and play that same day. I didn't want to drive all over town to trying to find another store that carried HDMI cables. It was Fathers' Day after all... so I just sucked it up, and bought them. The gift was well enjoyed. Next time, I'll better plan ahead, though.


As for BOSE BASHING,

I don't need to "follow the crowd" to an opinion. I owned one.

My spouse convinced me, along with the sales guy, it would sound sooooo great! It would sound better than my old Kenwood, JBL monitors, and JBL 14" sub, take up less floor space, look better, and fill the room with music or movies...

Besides, my brother-in-law has 3 Bose systems in his home rolleyes and told my spouse nothing could be better than Bose. I didn't understand how those cute little speakers could put out the volume, or sound of my large, black, boxy JBJ's... I was informed by my brother-in-law and the sales dude that the technology Bose used made it possible...

Long story short, that's how I found these forums.

I hated the Bose soooo much, but I couldn't figure out WHY. The music just didn't sound right, or the same, but I couldn't exactly explain it, at the time.

After reading the Bose sticky, now I do.

I then printed the information, and showed it to my spouse. I finally proved that I wasn't crazy, or had hearing problems.

I plugged my fugly (per spouse ) old vintage stuff back in! And enjoy it a whole lot better than the Bose, even though I need to replace a dry rotted woofer!

How's that for dislike?

.

You may be able to have the woofer reconed. Call around or look here for reconing service references.

One thing you might want to know and many people don't realize is that women and men don't hear the same way. The sensitivity to certain frequencies is very different.

 

[highfigh]

I love Roger Russell:

Get a room!

 

[Clownfish]

You may be able to have the woofer reconed. Call around or look here for reconing service references.

One thing you might want to know and many people don't realize is that women and men don't hear the same way. The sensitivity to certain frequencies is very different.

I'm going to order one of those refoam kits. It's just the foam that's dry rotted in one spot, on one speaker.

I'll refoam both, since it's just a matter of time before the other rots out too. I checked on this site, and I think it's an easy enough DIY project for me to handle.

No, I didn't know men and women hear differently. That's very intresting.

That may explain a lot, actually, in my situation.


With the Bose system, it just seemed like it didn't sound "right". I'd played the same CD's for years, and they just sounded "different" on the Bose.

I couldn't explain to anyone what exactly was wrong, at the time, just that it was... wrong.

I would turn on MTV, and just play it through the regular TV speakers, and bypass the Bose. To me, it actually sounded better.

When I read the Bose stickey, it was a real *Ah-HA* moment.


As you can tell from my signature, my spouse never disliked the Bose.

.

 

[highfigh]

No, I didn't know men and women hear differently. That's very intresting.

That may explain a lot, actually, in my situation.

That explains a lot in every situation.

They hear differently, they think differently, they remember things differently, they want different things, etc.