These are great sounding speaker cables.. have had them in my Def Tech 7002's and CLR 2500 system for years and before that on my old speakers. Wide soundstage, plenty of depth and tight bass. Clean highs. Vocals sound real and natural. I would put these cables up there with some costing much much more... Buy these, if you can find them. they sound really good!

Is as good as your equipment. Absolutely gorgeous to look at. Well built. If your amp has the energy, these will carry it beautifully.

That damn burn-in time will kill you.

These speaker cables scared the heck out of me. When I connected these cable between my Harman Kardon Signature 1.5 amplifier and my NHT 2.5i speakers. I was warned that they need an awful lot of time for burn-in. But DAMN, not this long. But low and behold, they came alive on day. Depending how good the signal that gets to them, they will shine for you. I listen to a lot of Mapleshade recordings and SACD's. The Z2's hold there on very well. But I must admit that they make me curious on how good would the Z3's sound. Oh well for now I'll will stick with "Damn Good". One day maybe I can upgrade to " Oh My GOD"! P.S. Any of you that don't have an isolated grounded hospital grade outlet, you would do yourself a wonderful favor by adding one. Plug your conditioner into it. Then also plug your amplifier into it. What an upgrade!

Similar Products Used:

Monster XP, MCX 2s, and others

Outstanding soundstage.

Takes about 200-300 hrs. to break in.

I bought this cable after listening to a couple of cables from Kimber and listening to the Z1. I thought all of them sounded very good, but I thought that the the Z2 did a better job all around, especially in the upper range. Now, I don't claim to know what a perfect or completely flat sound is, but I know what sounds good to me. I will say that these cables need to have time to break in before they work their magic. There is one reviewer(Matt)who is probably reviewing Monster interconnects and not speaker wire, since 3 meters is mighty short for speaker cable runs. The soundstage with these cables became wider and deeper. Are there better cables out there, of course there are, but I think these will compete with any in their price range and a few priced a little higher.

Similar Products Used:

Products from Kimber and Monster Z1

not many at the price,but they look great.

sound worse than the cheaper Z1(Z1 is excellent).

These speaker cables sound good to anyone who has not heard anything else or are upgrading from the zip-cord,but anyone who has an expeirienced ear will find out that they are over priced.The 50% cheaper Z1 sounds better and is a better value.The Z2 are not bad at all but they are not a good value.For $150 I would get a pair of MIT T2 or even MIT T3.The Z2 looks great with it's nylon jacket.Some will buy it for the nylon jacket alone,but I would'nt.Every wire in this article I own except the Z2(took it back and got two pairs of Z1).

Similar Products Used:

Z1,MIT,Audioquest,M series

Rich sub-bass/bass, sparkling treble, good imaging/soundstage, detailed yet soft sounding, the best for great DVD impact!

Not as natural sounding as other cables

Just got 2 pairs of Z2 to power my Dynaudio 1.3 with a bi-amp setup. In the same time, I ordered a pair of 8TC to do a 4TC/8TC combination. After a week of break-in, I found the 8TC absolutly not impressive and returned them. Compared to both 4TC and 8TC, the Monster Z2s were just incredible. I describe the "Monster Magic" as a detailed yet soft sound. The sound seems a little dampened but details retrieval is incredible. Maybe that's what is called low-noise intertransients. Sub-bass has more impact out of my 6.5", treble are clean, sparkling while laidback. Midrange and vocals: this is were this cable does not really shine; the 4TC are just doing a better job there. To me, after having swapped and swapped cables, Monster is head and shoulder above the crowd in terms of price/quality. Don't mistake about it. These Z2s are just incredible cables. What happened after I compared them and kept them? I re-audiotioned all myCDs and DVDs.... They have just improved my system in a bigger way than any other cables in the same price range.

Similar Products Used:

Nordost Flatline, Audioquest Indigo, Kimber 4VS, Kimber 4TC and 8TC, Axon8, Zip 12 gauge, Flat Zip 14 gauge Radio Shack...

Great sounding; good looking; well made.

None.

In my humble opinion, and with my system, I consider this cable the point where the law of diminishing returns sets in. I originally had some of the lower-end Monster M-series speaker cables in my system. Unsatisfied with the sound, after much research, I upgraded to these. The difference was enormous. The Dynaudios now throw up a huge soundstage, probably because both macro- and micro-dynamics have improved. If you have a system that needs to deliver current to your speakers and you have the money to spend, get these. You could spend more, but I think you'd have to spend a lot more before you get a truly meaningful difference.

Similar Products Used:

Various.

Very accurate imaging and balance throughout audio frequency range.

They sound positively hideous during burn-in!

OK Y'all don't laugh! I'm running a SONY A/V receiver model STR-D915 and SONY speakers model SS-AV33 for right and left channels. This system was lovingly purchased for me by my wife for about $300.00. A good friend of mine took pitty on me and lent me a pair of MONSTER M2.2s cables whitch were already broken in. The system sounded fabulous! My friend, who is a true audophile, was even impressed. Woe came the day when he asked for them back. Since I didn't understand how important speaker cables are, I purchased a spool of MONSTER XP speaker wire for about $20.00. I connected it to my system and gave it a listen. I became queasy as I listened. The sound was awful!

I decided to try the MONSTER Z2.2 REFERENCE at someone's suggestion. I got an unused set of 10 meter cables pre-terminated with spades and pins from an eBay seller for $125.00. When I first listened to them, I got that queasy felling again. The sub-bass was good, but the upper-bass and mid-range were very weak. The top end was overly bright and piercing to the point of hurting my ears and everything sounded hissy. I had heard that one should never give speaker cables any serious listening until they've been burned-in. I played various digitally recorded CDs like Johann Strauss overatures and Devorak Slavonic Dances. My audiophile friend lent me a CD of digitally recorded thunderstorms to aid in the burn-in process. The latter really did the trick! After about 30 hours of burn-in, the Z2's sound blossomed like a rose! The upper bass and midrange became clear and strong. The imaging is great! For example, during the Vietnam scene in Forrest Gump, (Laserdisc version) the voices are soft and natural and when the gunfire and bombs start, you hear and feel every earth-shaking nuance. These are wonderful cables for the money, but you really have to excercise patience during burn-in.

Similar Products Used:

Monster M CX2.2 and other similarly priced cables.

Fairly heavy construction, interchangable tips.

None so far for the price.

OK-I was one who thought "copper is copper" and zip cord should be good enough, but after deciding to try the Z2, I now know that there is a difference. Granted,I was using the real cheap Home Depot 12 gauge biwired to my Paradigms, but I couldn't believe that there was such a difference. I just got a 10 foot single run pair of the Z2 and put the jumpers back on the speakers and they still sound much better than the biwired 12 gauge. I notice the difference across the board but especially in the high band where cymbals sound much more articulate. Imaging and sound stage seem much better also. Unreal. I also like the interchangable ends also. I put on banannas on the amp end and spades on the speaker end. I think it's a pretty good value for the performance that you get. I'm a believer.

Similar Products Used:

None.

Hooked up my Yamaha CDC765, to Yamaha rx770 and ran Kappa speakers. WOW whata difrence, i haven't heard that much definition before lows, mids, highs. Very
natural, extreamly detailed and smooth.
I got only one word for this cable ***AMAZING***
Way to go monster!!!!

When it comes to cables I was generally a little hesitant. Some of the claims I keep hearing just don't make sense. For example, buying a $100/foot power cord doesn't make sense to me. Unless you run your whole house in the same wiring all the way to the power station, I don't understand what 5' of gold will do when everything is running through an additional 50 miles of crap.
That said, I'm NOT going to buy cables just because some sales guy said they would improve my system...I really need to hear the difference myself. I am extremely pleased with these cables. I was previously using generic 12 gauge speaker wire. What I have noticed with these cables is that there is slightly lower bass and much better highs. The vocals are clearer and the highs are more present. There is just a tad of roll-off on the high-end, but it sounds fantastic because it isn't sharp...much like a tube-amp, but not as dramatic. It didn't seem to do much to the mids, but in my system those were never a problem. Also, this cable is a great bargain...I find it comparable to the $500 kimber cable and other cables in the $500 range. Personally, they all had their minor differences, but this cable was easily just as good for 1/3 the price...and I was VERY picky when I listened. Also, I didn't notice any difference between the Z3 ($400) and Z2 ($200), so I'd save your money there and not get the Z3.

If you are having problems with your high-ends DEFINATELY try this cable...it will bring out the highs in a detailed pleasant way.

If you are having problems with your bass, these cables will help...although not as dramatic as with the highs.

If you are having problems with your mids, I'm not sure this cable is going to improve things too much...unless you currently have smaller than 12 gauge cable.

Best,
- Andy...