Is Monster Cable worth it?

[Timmy245]

hey everyone
im a real newbie to this subject so a bit of help hear would be greatly appreciated
what im asking is whether monster cables are worth their price i have the following
Panasonic 37" LCD
Ps3
and klipsch f-1 (5.1) package (in a bedroom so i didnt see the need in going any better)
i havnt bought my amp yet as im unsure of what to go for atm (going off the subject hear but any suggestions would be appreciated between $1000 - $2000)
back to the monster cable though im looking to get
2 hdmi = $700 - $800
1 coaxial = $100
and a sub cable = $250
^^
these are all monster cables but surely im being very highly quoted because for me that much money to fork out on 4 cables is ridiculous.
yes i will pay this amount of money if it gets me the best quality i can physically get, but are the cheaper cables exactly the same please let me hear your thoughts on this one as i have heard from some people (no not retailers) that monster is definetly the best and from others that a $5 cable will be exactly the same
anyway please help me make the right decision here to get the best from my speakers
Thanks in advance
Tim

 

[OttoMatic]

No, Monster Cable sucks for a number of reasons. Check out www.monoprice.com or www.bluejeanscable.com for all your cable needs at totally reasonable prices. Just search this forum for the hatred toward MC.

Good luck!

 

[Timmy245]

cheers mate
much appreciated quick and to the point
thanks for the quick reply aswell!

 

[highfigh]

hey everyone
im a real newbie to this subject so a bit of help hear would be greatly appreciated
what im asking is whether monster cables are worth their price i have the following
Panasonic 37" LCD
Ps3
and klipsch f-1 (5.1) package (in a bedroom so i didnt see the need in going any better)
i havnt bought my amp yet as im unsure of what to go for atm (going off the subject hear but any suggestions would be appreciated between $1000 - $2000)
back to the monster cable though im looking to get
2 hdmi = $700 - $800
1 coaxial = $100
and a sub cable = $250
^^
these are all monster cables but surely im being very highly quoted because for me that much money to fork out on 4 cables is ridiculous.
yes i will pay this amount of money if it gets me the best quality i can physically get, but are the cheaper cables exactly the same please let me hear your thoughts on this one as i have heard from some people (no not retailers) that monster is definetly the best and from others that a $5 cable will be exactly the same
anyway please help me make the right decision here to get the best from my speakers
Thanks in advance
Tim

That much for 4 cables is a huge waste of money. Go to the top of the Audioholics home page and look for the reviews, where there are several articles about this.

The people who say Munster is the best have drunk the Kool Aid and it has blocked the part of their brain that listens to other ideas. It's like being in a cult and many of the people in this cult own/love/want to have a relationship with their Bose speakers.

Hype doe NOT make an audio system sound better- good design does.

 

[Timmy245]

thanks for the heads up mate
by reading around im starting to realise monster is a massive business who love to rip people off BIG TIME!

 

[Adam]

IMO, Monster cable works just fine but is generally significantly more expensive than other cables that work just as well.

I say this because I agree with the others that you shouldn't waste your money on buying Monster cable, but I don't want you to think that the stuff is junk. If someone gives you a Monster cable for free, (a) take it and hook it up with glee and (b) tell the person that they shouldn't buy any more of that stuff.

 

[Timmy245]

another thing going a bit off the topic of monster here
when i connect the speaker cable to my floor speakers (in my case klipsch f-1s) they have 4 spots in where the speaker cable can go (2 red and 2 black) ive heard from friends if your only using 2 go on the diagonal with the cable but when i look at store setups the speakers that have 4 spots for cable, they just have them next to each other sorry if this message is so hard to comprehend (mostly cause im so much of a newb with this stuff)
to make it easier R=Red B=Black
so you have the back of the speaker and (mine) look like this
B, R
B R, so do i put the cable into the ones with the commas next to them
or should it be like this
B, R,
B R also while im asking if it should look like this << does it matter if i go top or bottom?
once again really sorry for being so new on this kind of thing but i really appreciate you guys helping me out
thanks again!

 

[Timmy245]

thanks for the reply adam!

 

[Adam]

Timmy, I don't understand what you're asking about the connections. So, I can't answer it for sure. I will say this - you need to make sure that you connect the terminals on the speakers to the correct terminals on the receiver or amp. I honestly don't think that it makes any difference in terms of the wire routing (relative to those four connections) on how you do it.

 

[Timmy245]

Thanks again for the help Adam
greatly appreciated!

 

[Timmy245]

is it also recommended that i use banana clips instead of putting the wire straight in or will soldering the speaker wire be just as good

 

[Rickster71]

Hi Timmy, Adam is correct.
Also, if I may add this; make sure there is a jumper in place, between the two red lugs and the two black lugs.
There should be a metal jumper (on the speaker) to maintain continuity between the common lugs.
( the two red are connected, and likewise the two black lugs)

Don't bother soldering, putting the wire directly in the lug is great.
If you have banana jacks, use them for easier swapping out of the speakers later.

 

[Timmy245]

Thanks very much for the help Rickster71!
appreciate it

 

[Adam]

Rick is totally right for connecting to two jacks on each speaker. I want to add something. If you are connecting all four speaker posts on each speaker to a receiver/amp, then you do NOT want to have those jumpers in place. They will cause a short circuit between the amps.

 

[Timmy245]

Thanks for that
and thanks everyone for all the info (for me) i need a lot of it

 

[Kn9Sly]

worth it?

Not sure if this had alreacy been posted but check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIf8HLZK6a8

 

[Adam]

Not sure if this had alreacy been posted but check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIf8HLZK6a8

Long, but interesting. No big surprises, though.

 

[highfigh]

another thing going a bit off the topic of monster here
when i connect the speaker cable to my floor speakers (in my case klipsch f-1s) they have 4 spots in where the speaker cable can go (2 red and 2 black) ive heard from friends if your only using 2 go on the diagonal with the cable but when i look at store setups the speakers that have 4 spots for cable, they just have them next to each other sorry if this message is so hard to comprehend (mostly cause im so much of a newb with this stuff)
to make it easier R=Red B=Black
so you have the back of the speaker and (mine) look like this
B, R
B R, so do i put the cable into the ones with the commas next to them
or should it be like this
B, R,
B R also while im asking if it should look like this << does it matter if i go top or bottom?
once again really sorry for being so new on this kind of thing but i really appreciate you guys helping me out
thanks again!

Red is positive, black is negative and yes, it matters. If you connect the high pass input out of phase/reverse polarity, the overlapping frequencies will cancel and you'll have a deep trough in the response. Most speakers I have seen that come ready for bi-wiring have a pair of metal plates that will mount to both red or black terminals, for those who won't be using them that way. If they were supposed to be wired against the normal color code, they would only be adding confusion. There's really no reason to wire them diagonally when they could be wired in line inside of the cabinet.

Ask your friends for the reason to wire them diagonally. I'd like to know.

 

[Timmy245]

will do highfigh
thanks for the heads up

 

[Timmy245]

Not sure if this had alreacy been posted but check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIf8HLZK6a8

Thanks for the vid
very interesting