noticable improvement over some cheaper wire. price if you shop around.

not the best, price if you don't shop around, won't compete with the high quality cables(and shouldn't even try).

I can't believe this speaker wire has gotten such bad reviews? Notice I said wire because comparing bulk speaker wire to custom made cables is crazy. First off if I spent $100 or more for couple of 10' cables they sure better sound better than some wire I can pick up for $.50 a foot. I have used this wire in long runs and find it holds the quality of the sound better than 16 or 18 gauge wire. My system is not an exspensive one using an Onkyo 8211 reciever and 4 Wharfedale 7.2 bookshelf speakers. I find an improvement in sound quality using the monster over some cheaper wire. I just don't have the money for the good stuff in the lenghts I need so will keep using this what I consider to be above average wire. I give it two 4 ratings because it gets the job done and hey you get what you pay for.

Similar Products Used:

most 18 16 14 12 gauge speaker wire. Radio Shack, Acoustic Research, other cheaper stuff.

Slightly better than no cable at all, but not by much.

Too long to list here.

Bought these as an "emergency" while I was moving in with my bride-to-be and the heavy stuff was in storage. The sound is closed-in, confused, vague bass and fuzzy treble, poor focus, etc., cetc. Gee, sounds just like lamp cord. I took it to an engineer's electronics shop and he took it part and checked it out. The reason this stuff sounds like 16-gauge lamp cord is because it *IS* 16-guage lamp cord with a heavy plastic wrapper. Fortunatel;y, I was able to re-install my much pricier Monster M1 speaker lines before I went insane. Actually, just before retrieving the M1's, I hooked up plain old Radio Shack 18-guage solid-core hookup wire (about 50 cents a yard). Hmm. The guys at Stereophile were right -- that Radio Shack wire was dirt cheap but acutally sounded pretty good (not great, but decent focus, good sonic balance, nice soundstage). Stay away from Monster's basic product lines in every category -- it's just worth it.

Similar Products Used:

Radio Shack 18-guage solid-core hookup wire (much better). Monster original M1 Time/Phase cable. Still hard to beat, but probably no longer made.

In my book, this is the only Monster Cable product that's worth buying. When used in my karaoke system (separate from the HT system), they add better dynamics and midrange clarity. I haven't tried braiding them but theoretially it would give them immunity from RF noise.

cheap

cheap

I used this Monster speaker wire for several years thinking I was getting the best from my system. A few months ago, I came across some Audioquest type 4 and hooked it up. I was very surprised, and thought the speaker fairy had come and replaced my speakers. Since then, I have upgraded all my cables to Kimber and Audioquest. If you have a decent system and are using cheap Monster cable, you are screwing yourself. Spend a few bucks a foot and get some better cable. I was as skeptical as anyone could be, but IT DOES MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE!!!

Similar Products Used:

lamp cord from Wal-mart is very similar

Stronger signal production. Strong bass.

Muddy sounds. Thin like highs.

This cable is a upgrade from walmart bulk speaker wires. You can here the difference. The over all audio signal does not sound clear. The higher string voices sound "thin", like you block the holes on the violins. The bass sounds muddy. This one is at least not for classical music. However, for rock and roll and theater, some people may like the characters. At least the bass punch sounds stronger than many fine wires like Audioquest's $100 wires.
I still want to give it to my friend as a good gift, because I am sure it sounds better than his out of box speaker wires. My friend doesn't listen to music a lot and therefore would not realize how "clean" is important. However he will sure tell the difference between this one and the bulk one and appreciate the sound at now. I would not recommend buying this product. However, I do not agree that this one only deserves a single star either. It does sound "Better" than thin bulk speaker wire in any sense. However, there are many better cables out there. In this sense, it is an over appraised product by monster itself. If it is not for this reason, I would have giving it a four star rating.

Similar Products Used:

Audioquest slate like cable (10 years ago model, much thinner than the slate)

Plenty of current capacity, sounds OK, reasonable price

Crappy crimp-on pins and rubber "sleeves"

I bought these mostly because they were cheap, and for the price I have no real complaints except for the crappy crimp-on pins that don't provide good contact with speaker and amp terminals. If your gear will accept 12-gauge bare wire, cut 'em off and just stick the wire in the binding posts. Of course, you could always just go to an electrical supply store and buy 20 feet of 12-gauge wire for about $13 and save a few bucks, unless you find these really cheap, like I did. I'm using the two pairs I bought on my "B" system and on the front L&R channels of my HT system, and they're fine for those applications... but I wouldn't recommend them for use with a good system. If you want to go cheap, get the Acoustic Research cables for about the same price. Or spend $59 for the cheapest Kimbers.

Similar Products Used:

14-awg wire from electrical supply shop

At Circuit City they push this speaker cable for all their mid-fi systems. I never noticed the model number if there was one and Monster Cable website does not help identify this cable either. For $40 a 10-foot pair, they seem well made and are what you would expect if you were a mid-fi sort of guy(or gal) -- they look like the cable on the Monster Cable Site.
Well, they are a colossal waste of money if you care what the cables sound like.
For the same money, Audioquest, for instance, will sell you their F-4 speaker wire and a mid-fi sort of guy would feel very cheated at the quality of the cable. However, sounds like and looks like are not the same in the high-end.

To cut to the point, these well-made cables sounded like crap and I could not enjoy the music through them. Muddy, ill-defined everything. While the Audioquest cable sounded like music and let you probe the recording. I think the Monster cable gave a bigger, but much murkier sound than the Audioquest.

The Monster cable was constructed like super-zip cord, and I have had a previous high-end experience with the salesperson pushing a speaker cable that looked like super-super-zip cord. That was many years ago, even.

Conclusion 1: zip-cord does not make for good speaker wire, no-matter who is selling it. That is why, no high-end cable today is constructed like zip-cord.

Conclusion 2: don't trust salesman, but truth is high-end dealers will bend over backwards to satisfy you.

Oh, yes, I will submit a review of the Denon DM-3 that I used for the comparison. Quite suberb mid-fi stuff, almost hi-end. Just mate it with real speaker wire, and wire does make a huge difference.

What is a review for budget cable doing on a page with all these high-dollar cables? I've simply got to share a secret. Buy some Original (I found some on close-out for .39 a foot) and braid it. Finish it of with some good connectors and you've got one hell of a great cable. The difference in clarity and low noise between braided and unbraided is startleing. Of course, this is no surprise since a parallel cable run is essentially an antenna.

I've been using Monster for several years now and am very satisfied. It delivers great sound over a long distance, which is very important if you are planning to wire your house, or add an extension. It sure beats zipcord! However, I still have the feeling that I might have been ripped off. Before you buy Monster, go to RadioShack and get their "SuperWire" or whatever it's called. It looks just like Monster but is cheaper. Although the Monster Cable delivers good sound, it seems a bit expensive compared to other, similar alternatives. 4 stars.

When I replaced my cheap no-name brand of speaker cable with this stuff, the change in the sound was dramatic enough to compare with a downgrade of both my amplifier and my speakers. Everything turned into mud, and the bass was way too boomy and exaggerated. I never thought that speaker cables could make THAT much of a difference. I've got a Denon amplifier and recently acquired Energy eXL:26 loudspeakers... decent stuff. When I gave up on Monster and put my old cable back, the sound returned to all its glory. Next time, I've got to do more research!