As an amazed consumer, I must take a moment to rant about Monster's pisspoor pricing, offerings, and intertwined, subversive tactics used to, practically, coerce the large majority of a/v merchants (e.g., Best Buy, Circuit City, The Good Guys, Radio Shack) to forefront Monster products, and in some cases, carry nothing but Monster products.
MONSTER PRICING COMPARISON
I equipped my system almost exclusively with Canare cables. I purchased the following Canare products from Blue Jeans Cable:
Component Video Cable, Canare V3-5CFB, 3 foot
Item Amount: $42.25 USD
Quantity: 2
Total: $84.50
Subwoofer Cable, Canare LV-77S, 12 foot
Quantity: 1
Total: $25.00
Stereo Audio Cables, Canare LV-77S, 3 foot
Item Amount: $30.50
Quantity: 2
Total: $61.00
Digital Coax Audio Cable, Canare LV-77S, 3 foot
Quantity: 1
Total: $15.25
Canare LV-61S 6-channel SACD/DVD-A Audio Cables, 3 foot
Quantity: 1
Total: $75.50
Canare Grand Total: $273.75
Now, for the same products, at the
approximate same quality level (see below re "Offerings") from Monster, were I to purchase Monster products online from the discount merchant Wild West Electronics, let us look at the cost difference:
Monster Cable 300 High-Resolution Component Video Cable, 1 meter
Item Amount: $69.00 USD
Quantity: 2
Total: $138.00 USD
Monster Cable MonsterBass 300
Subwoofer Interconnect Precision Powered Subwoofer Cable, 12 foot
Quantity: 1
Total: $39.95
Monster Cable Interlink 300 MkII Solid Core Techno Audio Interconnect Cable, 1 meter
Item Amount: $29.95 USD
Quantity: 2
Total: $59.90 USD
Monster Cable Interlink Coaxial Digital Interlink Cable, 1 meter
Quantity: 1
Total: $39.95 USD
Monster Cable Interlink 300 MkII Solid Core Techno SACD/DVDA Audio Interconnect Bundle, 1 meter
Quantity: 1
Total: $89.95
Monster Grand Total: $367.75
Price Difference Analysis
Monster: $367.75
Canare: $273.75
Total Difference: $ 94.00
That is unacceptable! And if I were to purchase the same Monster products from the major retailers, the difference would be even worse. Further, one could certainly argue that the Canare products I purchased actually compare more appropriately to a much "higher-end" Monster product, such as the Interlink 400 or M850 series, if not higher.
MONSTER OFFERINGS
To make matters worse, Monster intentionally confuses the consumer into buying a level of product that they just don't need by offering up to
17 different levels of "quality," for a single product, each level costing the consumer more and more. For example, let us take a typical Monster product and examine the crazy levels of "quality" offerings and corresponding prices:
Product: Monster Stereo Audio Interconnect Cables (pair), 6 feet and/or 2 meters
Standard THX Audio Interconnect: $ 17.95*
Interlink 100 Quality Interconnect: $ 29.95
Interlink 200 Balanced Interconnect: $ 39.95
Interlink 250 Audio Interconnect w/ Precision Machined RCA Connectors: $ 49.95
M350i Interconnect: $ 50.00
Ultra Series THX 600 Audio Interconnect: $ 59.95
M550i Interconnect: $ 65.00
Interlink 300 MkII Solid Core Technology Audio Interconnect: $ 69.95
Ultra Series THX 800 Audio Interconnects: $ 89.95
Interlink 400 MkII Advanced Bandwidth Balanced Audio Interconnect: $ 89.95
M850i Interconnect: $ 100.00
Ultra Series THX 1000 Audio Interconnects: $ 115.95
Interlink Reference - Reference Quality Audio Interconnect: $ 129.95
Z100i Audiophile Performance Interconnect Cable: $ 199.95
M950i Interconnect: $ 200.00
Z200i Reference Advanced Audiophile Interconnect Cable: $ 279.95
Sigma Retro Gold Interconnect Cables: $1,500.00
*THX pricing adjusted to six-foot lengths, as Monster THX cables come only in 4 or 8ft lengths.
(See, e.g.,
Monster Analog Interconnects.)
Okay, we're talking about the same basic item here -- six-foot analog stereo interconnect cables (i.e., a pair) w/ RCA connectors, and just look at all the confusion Monster provides the customer in trying to decide what they should buy! And note that Monster describes each level as, "good," "better," "best," "ultra," etc. to make the consumer feel that they need to buy a higher level product to get the most out of their system. Taken to an extreme, $1,500 for a pair of six-foot stereo analog cables!! Unbelievable!
MONSTER COERCION
With all that said, it simply amazes me that wherever I go to look at a/v products, it seems that the name "Monster" is everywhere. It is ubiquitous and practically omnipresent. To the unknowing consumer, it seems pure and natural to buy Monster products -- but just look at the mess one faces when going to by such products, both by their expense and crazy offering levels! It's a travesty! Someone needs to smack Monster around the block.
Rant over.
