Price Paid:  $150.00 from Circuit City

Summary:
Forget the advertising hype!! Quality interconnects make a HUGE difference in sound quality!! The Z100i has been a wonderful addition to my sound system. Why? Specifically, the bass is now deeper and fuller. The soundstage is wider. High frequencies sound natural without harshness. The Z100i is a discernible, qualitative improvement over Monster Reference II interconnects ($100 at Ciruit City and/or Best Buy). The Z100i's improve overall clarity and resolution significantly. Music sounds less congested, more spacious, with a "live" presence. For true audiophiles in quest of the "musical nirvanna" $150 for a 1 meter pair of Z100i's is a small sum to pay!! My system consists of the following components: Harmon Kardon 3470 Stereo Receiver Wharfedale Emerald 99 Tower Speakers Sony 601ES CD Player JBL PB 12 Subwoofer 12 gauge Monster speaker cables with finishing pins bi-wired into my Wharfedale speakers. Monster Z100i interconnects (1 meter pair)

Strengths:
A significant improvement over Monster Reference II interconnects. Wide soundstage, deep bass, controlled high frequencies. Very, very musical. Punchy!! Good clarity and high resolution sound quality without a lot of congestion. Low background noise. Darn good cable in my opinion!! Makes a BIG difference in my system. I listen to CD's only.

Weaknesses:
$150 for "good wire" remains problematic for many enthusiasts. Not a bargain. Nevertheless, well worth the $$$ for a very significant improvement in sound quality.

Similar Products Used:
Monster Reference II interconnects

Price Paid:  $105.00 from 6th Avenue Electronics

Summary:
At first I was quite skeptical about the difference these audio interconnects would actually make in sound. However, ever since hooking them up to my SCD-C555ES Sony SACD player, I have experienced a more spacious and deep soundstage along with a greater clarity that spans the entire frequency spectrum, especially treble. The music's dynamic structure is preserved very nicely. When comparing them to TOS Link and digital coaxial, also Monster and in the CD format, I have found the Z100i's to be substancially better (soundstaging and clarity). For now I only have one pair of Z100i's (for two channel reproduction of CDs and SACDs on my SCD-C555ES) but I will soon upgrade all of my audio interconnects to them, on both the SCD-C555ES and my DVP-S7700. All in all, I am very pleased.
My system.....
Sony STR-V555ES
Sony SCD-C555ES
Sony DVP-S7700
Sony KV-36XBR400
Sony SAT-HD100
Sony SS-M7A (ES front channels)
Sony SS-M1CN (ES center)
Sony SS-M3 (ES rear)
Velodyne SPL-1200
Monster Power HTS3500 line conditioner
----All cables, video and audio, are Monster cables

Strengths:
Soundstaging(increased depth and width) Increased clarity over entire frequency spectrum(especially treble)

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
Monster Cable 300 MkII and 400 MkII audio interconnects

Price Paid:  $105.00 from 6th Avenue Electronics

Summary:
At first I was quite skeptical about the difference these audio interconnects would actually make in sound. However, ever since hooking them up to my SCD-C555ES Sony SACD player, I have experienced a more spacious and deep soundstage along with a greater clarity that spans the entire frequency spectrum, especially treble. The music's dynamic structure is preserved very nicely. When comparing them to TOS Link and digital coaxial, also Monster and in the CD format, I have found the Z100i's to be substancially better (soundstaging and clarity). For now I only have one pair of Z100i's (for two channel reproduction of CDs and SACDs on my SCD-C555ES) but I will soon upgrade all of my audio interconnects to them, on both the SCD-C555ES and my DVP-S7700. All in all, I am very pleased.
My system.....
Sony STR-V555ES
Sony SCD-C555ES
Sony DVP-S7700
Sony KV-36XBR400
Sony SAT-HD100
Sony SS-M7A (ES front channels)
Sony SS-M1CN (ES center)
Sony SS-M3 (ES rear)
Velodyne SPL-1200
Monster Power HTS3500 line conditioner
----All cables, video and audio, are Monster cables

Strengths:
Soundstaging(increased depth and width) Increased clarity over entire frequency spectrum(especially treble)

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
Monster Cable 300 MkII and 400 MkII audio interconnects

Price Paid:  $75.00 from Good Guys

Summary:
I'm sorry. I really am. I can't quite give this one the most objective opinion possible since I don't have enough experience with other cables (other than the ones hanging off the back of my stereo system.. and there are QUITE a lot of them, all upper-crust mass market..), but I'll start by saying that my system sounds the best that it ever has. Even with my last receiver, the 'lowly' Onkyo TXDS575X, the soundquality was ridiculous. Absolutely incredible. "Yes, but how much did this pair of cables have to do with it?" For kicks and giggles, I hooked my DVD player (mentioned later) to my receiver with the aforementioned digital coax, and was able to do A/B switching, comparing the Z100i cables to the digital coax (and, presumably, comparing the D/A converter in the DVD player to the receiver as well).
With the digital coax (not the -cable's- fault, I'm sure), the music was .. well, it was good, but not nearly AS good. Bass was lifeless and just (actually) not really there, and the soundstage was comparatively muddled. I then switched to the Z100i's and the speakers gained new life; bass was tight (well, as tight as it can be through Original Monster Cable, I guess), and BY GOD WHEN I PLAYED PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, ORIGINAL CAST RECORDING, SARAH BRIGHTMAN WAS SITTING RIGHT ON THE TOP LEFT SIDE OF MY TELEVISION. NO JOKE. They did age well, too; getting some play time in improved their sound just a bit more. With my system now, voices in CDs that are recorded well will literally leap to life in the center of the room; a bizarre illusion indeed, but I've never heard a system do that before (except my boss's, but his ran him about $30k). I certainly don't have a system to par with his, but these cables are an integral component of it. So I imagine part of the improvement was from using the DVD player's D/A converter, part of it was from bi-AMPing the front speakers, and part of it was from the cables. I noticed significant improvements each step of the way.

The crap I have (now):

Onkyo TXDS696 recevier (great receiver, buy one)
Wharfedale SP87 front speakers (the only speakers in this review that I'll bother mention.. more on those later)
Panasonic DVDA-7 DVD player (one of the good things I bought from the same company that sold me the Z100i's. I won't name names but it wasn't where -I- work. Fantastic DVD player. Paid pennies on the dollar for it.)
Original Monster cable, bi-AMPed to the front speakers (how? Zone 2 outputs off of receiver, formerly the B speaker outputs. So this means I have to activate Zone 2 when I listen to music, and change the main volume AND the Zone 2 volume when I want to adjust volume. Does it irritate me? Yes. Does it sound like garbage when I want to watch a DVD in surround sound and Zone 2 doesn't activate? Yes. Does it SIGNIFICANTLY improve the sound of a bi-ampable speaker? Yes. Do I ever watch movies anyway? Heck no. I'll listen to music for an hour and a half before I turn on a movie. Biamping the speakers made an absolutely extraordinary difference for the positive on my power-hungry Wharfedales.)

In short - my system is nowhere near a 'real' system (and what I'm in the process of saving up for, buying my speaker cables first.. can't wait to toss my OMC for some Nordost Blue Heavens), but right now the performance is great using the cables and setup, and I can't quite -yet- see why people dog on the OMC for being muddy and boomy, because mine are neither. I'll make up my mind when I switch to the Nordosts. These interconnects surprised me though. soulbreaker@qwest.net

Strengths:
Clean sound. Absolutely extraordinary (for the stuff I got). Strong bass, excellent soundstaging. Lots of pretty crap involved in construction, like the wire mesh around the jacket. Impressive looking cables, but they sound good too.

Weaknesses:
Company I purchased it from doesn't honor Monster's lifetime warranty.

Similar Products Used:
For this particular connection -
Monster 100 series digital coax

Summary:
These cables take a while to break in but when this is done things really shine. These cables made my system sound much more controlled both with high and low frequencies and made the imaging precise. An excelent buy.

System used is Musical Fidelity A300 integrated amp
Rotel RA971 CD player
Accusound Phase One Speakers

Strengths:
Excelent soundstage, good tight bass but best of all, very controlled and accurate high frequency

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
QED Qnect2