If you could buy Monster cables...

[Audioholics]

My total bill (not including the speaker and Sonicwave cables) was approximatley $3,500.

Obviously you're not hurting for money, but I'm curious - what was the ratio of the cable cost as compared to the entire system? What did the rest of the components run you?

 

[Sleestack]

Obviously you're not hurting for money, but I'm curious - what was the ratio of the cable cost as compared to the entire system? What did the rest of the components run you?

Def Techs: $5200, B&K: $3000, Mitsubishi Diamondscan $6500, Sharp Aquos 26'": $2000. Sony NS 999 ES: $700, Monster HTS 5100 + 2000: $700, Dell XPS: $2500, modded Xbox and PS2: $800 , Zektor switches : $1000, Panasonic and JVC DVD players: $500.

That's a total of about $22,900 for "office equipment." I spent an additional $4500 on wires and cables. Each of the items listed above uses at least one of the cables or wires I purchased. I'm not sure if that cable to equipment ratio is completely skewed, but in retrospect I probably could have been comfortable slicing the cable/wire cost in half.

 

[Nick250]

Def Techs: $5200, B&K: $3000, Mitsubishi Diamondscan $6500, Sharp Aquos 26'": $2000. Sony NS 999 ES: $700, Monster HTS 5100 + 2000: $700, Dell XPS: $2500, modded Xbox and PS2: $800 , Zektor switches : $1000, Panasonic and JVC DVD players: $500.

That's a total of about $22,900 for "office equipment." I spent an additional $4500 on wires and cables. Each of the items listed above uses at least one of the cables or wires I purchased. I'm not sure if that cable to equipment ratio is completely skewed, but in retrospect I probably could have been comfortable slicing the cable/wire cost in half.

You could have cut your cable costs by at least 90% by purchasing Radio Shack Gold series cables and speaker wire. They will sound the same as the expensive stuff (assuming the expensive stuff is properly made). Live and learn.

IMHO YMMV yadda yadda

 

[mustang_steve]

I would have just said make your own interconnects. Canare RG6 with their crimp system would be well within his price range, and yield some rather nice results. Oh, and canare makes a variant of their standard RG6 cable that has a stranded center as well, which is more flexible and better suited towards their RCA connectors.

Really making interconnects is easy...it's far less painful than learning to ride a bike or use roller skates, let's put it that way

 

[Privateer]

My total bill (not including the speaker and Sonicwave cables) was approximatley $3,500.

Or you could have bought some nice Canare 4S11 and had the same performance for 95% less.

 

[Slice]

You could have cut your cable costs by at least 90% by purchasing Radio Shack Gold series cables and speaker wire. They will sound the same as the expensive stuff (assuming the expensive stuff is properly made). Live and learn.

IMHO YMMV yadda yadda

I was discussing Monster's business practices with a Radio Shack employee just recently. Without me asking, he freely said that R.S. employees are required to talk up Monster cables and not bring up their own cables with customers.

I bought all my system interconnects from Blue Jeans www.bluejeanscables.com and am very satisfied that I got my money's worth ~ $550 for 34 well-made custom cables, not including speaker cable.

Sleestack - is it too late to return the Monster stuff?

- Slice

 

[Sleestack]

It's kind of too late to return the Monster stuff b/c most of it is in use already or opened. I appreciate all the advice here, but this time around I'm just going to live with my mistake, as costly as it may be. As long as the M and Z series cables are of high quality I think I'll have to accept the fact that I paid a 900% premium. I should have realized I was being a retard when I paid $100 for Xbox Monster cables, $500 for a set of Monster M SACD analog cables and $200 for 1 meter of Monster M components cables. I know when I start building my main home entertainment system I'm going to heed the advice given here and use the savings to buy an extra component... or two.

 

[Rowdy S13]

Repeat after me,

Blue Jeans Cable
Blue Jeans Cable
Blue Jeans Cable

I fully agree with this statement. I used to have all monster untill I found Blue Jeans Cable. I needed a 12' run of componet video cable and the price was right from "BJC" so I figured I'd give em a try. All I can say is WOW the cable looks awsome (Probably the nicest Ive ever seen) and performed amazing. Believe it or not I noticed a big change in picture quality just changing cables. Well anyway after having that for about a week and seeing how much better it was in everyway I changed EVERY cable in my system and havent looked back.


Sean

 

[warnerwh]

So glad to see someone learning the truth about wire. As far as i'm concerned it's outright fraud in many cases. People are being shortchanged on their system by sales people lying to them and convincing them to spend hundreds on wire when they could have had a better tv, speakers or dvd player.

 

[MDS]

I know when I start building my main home entertainment system I'm going to heed the advice given here and use the savings to buy an extra component... or two.

Wow! You spent $30K and it's not even your 'main' system.

 

[Sleestack]

Wow! You spent $30K and it's not even your 'main' system.

I guess it is all relative. I have some audiophile/record collector friends who spend almost that much on a single turntable.

I'm not looking to spend more than I have to, but from what I hear, just the proper acoustical treatment for a large home theatre room can run around $20K. The way I see it, movies and music are two of the greatest pleasures in my life. Rather than fill a large living room with overpriced furniture that will get used once a year, I'd rather make a dedicated home theatre that my family can enjoy. As for my home office..... every man needs his cave.

 

[MDS]

I wasn't criticizing you Sleestack, just marvelling at how much you put into your system.

I spend alot of time in my home office as well because I can often work from home, but I couldn't justify spending that much for the office. Of course, your office might be much larger than mine too. For the main home theater room, sure I can see it. It adds up so quickly...

P.S. Does 'sleestack' have anything to do with the creatures of the same name from the old show Land of the Lost? Apologies in advance if it's actually your last name.

 

[Sleestack]

I wasn't criticizing you Sleestack, just marvelling at how much you put into your system.

I spend alot of time in my home office as well because I can often work from home, but I couldn't justify spending that much for the office. Of course, your office might be much larger than mine too. For the main home theater room, sure I can see it. It adds up so quickly...

P.S. Does 'sleestack' have anything to do with the creatures of the same name from the old show Land of the Lost? Apologies in advance if it's actually your last name.

Didn't think you were criticizing me. No problem.

I can't really justify spending that much on my home office either, but my impulsive side had a different opinion.

You are absolutely correct on the LOTL reference. Not the best show, but some memorable creatures.

 

[MDS]

You are absolutely correct on the LOTL reference. Not the best show, but some memorable creatures.

My sister bought the dvd set and we watched it for hours. Pretty cheesy graphics compared to what we have now, but it was enjoyable to watch and re-live the past. One thing I learned from that show when I was a kid was NEVER let your feet dangle over the bed - you are just asking for a visit from the sleestack if you do that.

 

[BuddTX]

While I would always shop around, I think that high end consumers that frequent AV forums have always stated that Monster has high quality cables, just that they cost too much!

So, yes, I would CONSIDER Monster at a lower price point, but again, I would look around.

 

[Privateer]

I bought all my system interconnects from Blue Jeans www.bluejeanscables.com and am very satisfied that I got my money's worth ~ $550 for 34 well-made custom cables, not including speaker cable.

Hell yes, I did the samething. I took all my "high end" cable out and replaced it with blue jeans cable.

 

[Privateer]

I'm not looking to spend more than I have to, but from what I hear, just the proper acoustical treatment for a large home theatre room can run around $20K.

This is another field were high end products will be marked up just like cables.

 

[jaxvon]

Very true, but unlike cables, they can really make a BIG difference in your sound. Every dollar spent on room treatment is a lot more justified than every dollar spent on cables (above the basic cost of connecting your system with proper cables).

 

[jamiefox94]

I would have to agree. I'm not much fond of monster cable. all it is, is rebadged made in china cables.

No, I would not buy Monster products at any price. I don't view that company and its founder as the type of business people that I would want to receive any of my cash. I think that their business model is immoral, gross, and disgusting to put it rather bluntly!

Such business tactics were commonly used in the music promotion biz many years ago, until it was outlawed. It was called "payola" and deemed to be an unacceptable way of doing business. Now, here it is again - another "sheep in wool's clothing" come back to haunt us yet again. If the public only knew just where all of their dollars actually go when they purchase Monster products, they would probably avoid buying them in the first place.