ren9328

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I have tried many different types of speaker cables throughout the years. Some of these include Monster products, MIT, Audioquest (Crystal speaker cables), and Kimber Kable. Hands down the Type 2 is a very good speaker cable, not just for the money but at any price. It is far superior to Monster and it is really only slightly outperformed by my much more expensive ($$$$$) Crystal series and by the Kimber 8TCs.

Where there may be an advantage is in the case of large floor standers of low impedence and low sensitivity (my Dynaudio Contour 3.3s). With my small listening room system which consists of Dynaudio Contour 1.3s, Bryston 2B amplifier, PS Audio 4.6 preamp, and a Cambridge Audio CD player there is virtually no difference. This small simple looking sound system receives more jaw dropping looks than any larger system that I have owned. Friends and acquaintances just cannot believe the massive performance level that can be produced by a pair of speakers that are only 15 inches tall. This goes back to proper set-up and component matching.

For those of you considering a pair of these speaker cables the price is right and you have very little to lose. I am using them on a system that costs $5k and could not be happier with the performance level.

Price Paid:  $68.00 from HCM Audio

Summary:
I purchased 8 foot cables pre-terminated with banana plugs to connect my PSB Alpha A/V's to my Marantz SR5300. They replaced Monster Cable XP cables that I had used for many years. The difference is quite dramatic. Both highs and lows are more pronounced and natural sounding. Dynamics are much improved, making music sound more like the artists intended. No more muddy bass or hissy, grating treble. For not much more than basic wire prices, the improvement is worth the money and then some.

Strengths:
Great performance for the price, high quality construction, much easier to work with than I expected.

Weaknesses:
Absolutely none for the price I paid.

Similar Products Used:
Monster Cable Original and XP.

Price Paid:  $125.00 from Trutone Electronics

Summary:
I'm in the midst of fine tweaking my HT. The last step was to upgrade all of my speaker cables. Running Type 2+ to my surrounds. For $1.25/foot Canadian you can't go wrong. Once the cables have broken in, I'll post another review. So far the sound is just fine. 4 stars for the price/quality.

Strengths:
Price; cable jacket; flexibility; able to run it through my speaker stands; solid conductor; able to bi wire.

Weaknesses:
none so far.

Similar Products Used:
generic stranded speaker cable.

Price Paid:  $2.00 from fairview hifi

Summary:
for 1.95 a foot CANADIAN this cannot be touched i use it for my rears. These produce some serious detail that my 5.00 a foot monster Z1 reference cannot produce but i still choose to use the Z1 for my fronts because they produce a much better bottom end.

Strengths:
Detail Detail Detail looks good cost (amazing bang for buck)

Weaknesses:
very small gauge hard to work with lacking bottom end

Similar Products Used:
monster xphp straight wire duo monster xp monster original monster Z1

Price Paid:  $51.00 from private seller on eb

Summary:
I have only word for this cable...EXTRAORDINARY performance for the price. I did read that this cable is best for warmer sounding systems and since my Marantz SR-880 receiver certainly qualifies I think this speaker cable was a perfect match. I purchased 3x15 foot lengths for my front speakers... perfect!

Strengths:
Oh where to begin. I only wish I had picked this as my speaker cable 6 or 7 years ago. For the money it just can't be beat, it finally allows my medium-priced system to shine like I always thought it could and to discover that some of my other cables are much better than I thought (Van de Hul interconnects, Canare GS-6, XLO Twinax Plus) and others worse like the Thundercable and coaxial cable I had! Simply put it has great transients, soundstaging and depth. Sounds are now clearer, better defined and good recordings now have added depth and imaging (the phone ringing scene in the Matrix when Neo goes to see the Oracle is an awesome example). I'm sure that there are better cables but given my cost of under $2 per foot Canadian it ranks as a fantastic deal for the budget conscious.

Weaknesses:
The cable itself has no weaknesses in my opinion. In fact it is so revealing that you find you can easily find the weaknesses in your system whether it be the coaxial cable or interconnects! I was amazed how I could now hear how the bad cables made the soundstage collapse and sounds became muddy, confused and softer. Before the Type 2 I found myself turning up the receiver to compensate but now can remove the offending cable and put in better quality ones thus forever removing the problem.

Similar Products Used:
Kimber 4PR (no comparison, the Kimber is a good speaker cable for the price but lacks the air, imaging and detail of the Type 2), Wireworld Solstice (chops off the bottom end terribly and rolls off th