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Review NaN of
, from Long Island, NY
Price Paid:
$200.00
from Harvey's NYC Summary:
The M1000i was purchased, based on comments at this site, to replace a 12-year-old pair of Monster Reference A's, the predecessor to the original M1000 (I still have one pair of the original M1000). I recently hooked a Kimber Illuminations DV-75 digital cable to my new DAC. The Dv-75 works beautifully, but it does have a slightly elevated high end that sits just below the border of being shrill. Because my original M1000's were good at reducing effects like this, I hooked up a pair of new M1000i's. They've burned-in for 2 months now, curbing most the grunge and grain when they were first heard. As others have noted, they're rather on the warm side - not too bad, because if you're going to err it's best to do so in that direction, where the ear is more forgiving. The overall sound from this cable is softened, however, to the point of obscuring detail, especially from the upper midrange on up. Side-to-side and back-to-front spatials are pretty good, with decent focus, but grouped images and instruments tend to merge into a hazy mush where individual components are impossible to spot. Due to increased bass and recessed highs, the overall effect is somewhat cavernous and muffled -That is, the cable does some warm and cozy things, but the sum total renders the output as tonally incorrect. Elevated midbass and recessed highs make guitars, pianos, and accordians sound out of tune; a trombone or french horn sounds disconcertingly tuba-like. The tubby base and vanishing details get more irritating the longer you listen. Despite all the heavy bass, it really doesn't go that low. What's there is ill-defined. Orchestral crescendos are so softened and hazy that a good blast from a piece like 'Star Wars' produces not an galvanizing rush of trumpets, drums, and strings, but simply an onslaught of confused, fuzzy mush. SOme users commented about grain in the high end; the grain is actually in the upper midrange, as a c-note from any vocal piece will quickly testify. Sadly, at one point I replaced the M1000i with the ten-dollar plastic wonders that shipped with my CD player. There was immediate improvement in chromatic balance and detail. Later, I patched in my original circa-1990 M1000 pair: behold, all was beautifully restored! Alas, that older pair has its home between my Adcom preamp and Dynaco amp. Don't waste your $$ on this product. Strengths:
Like many current Monster products, this one excels as brilliantly-packaged industrial waste. Weaknesses:
Poor tonal balance, loose and tubby low end with no "real" extension, mushy highs, upper midrange crust. Similar Products Used:
Vintage Monster M1000 and Reference-A.
OEM-supplied junk cable.
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