Monster Cable Interlink 400 Speaker Cables

Monster Cable Interlink 400 Speaker Cables 

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 78  
[Jun 01, 2017]
K-Bob
Audio Enthusiast


I wrote a review of these back in July 2000. And guess what? They're still in my system 17 years later.
Why???
My system is a slowly evolving thing, and I'm the kind of guy who would rather shuffle wire around than lay out $$ for new. I have added a few components over the years so have always needed an extra interconnect.
For the past several years the Interlink 400 has been on my (cheap) tuner. I figured the tuner doesn't sound that great anyway, and who listens critically to the radio?
However, I recently changed things around and put the freebie cables that came with my spendy NAD CD player on the tuner instead. And, wow, the radio sounds pretty good now.
So, freebie generics (albeit high-quality ones) are better overall than the Interlink 400.
These cables are definitely on the way out of my system.

For now though, the Interlink 400 are feeding my subs where they are not required to provide good separation or brilliant highs. They just have to transmit 50Hz and below. The subs sound ok with them.
But I wonder if the bass impact and clarity would be better with something else, or does the "muddiness" of these cables sort of enhance the bass? Hmm...
I will probably replace them with something fairly cheap like WireWorld Terra or maybe even some Stinger wires.

For reference, the other interconnects in my primary chain are:
AudioQuest Tower .... USB DAC to preamp
WireWorld Orbit III+ .... CD to preamp
XLO/VDO ER-5 .... preamp to amp

Rotel preamp
B&K power amp
Monitor Audio Bronze II speakers

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
1
[Nov 10, 2014]
Bill S.
AudioPhile

These people have built cables for 30 years.They know what a cable should sound like.I find these to be exellent with a sound that is an amalgam of individual instruments not merely a large homogeneous mass.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[May 04, 2008]
Stephen Fleschler
AudioPhile

Strength:

Musical, all around pleasant and disarming cable with a positive sound signature for most equipment.

Weakness:

Slightly bloated at the deep bass, rolled off upper highs, slightly less detail, slightly less depth...

On the following site is a full review of this hated and loved cable.
http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/400e.html
Exerpted: The 400 mkII has a very good tonal balance, with no evident emphasis of a particular frequency range.

The quality of the bass range shines though, since it is very powerful, extended and punchy. With respect to the bass performance the 400 mkII can easily be compared with cables that cost twice its price. No doubt about this: if you feel your interconnects are a little bit on the light side, hook up a pair of 400 mkII's and the bass range will resurrect!

The high range is on the smooth side and thanks to the neutral mid range this cable can be defined as slightly warm which is a plus when used into those budget systems it is intended for. It has a kind of velvet touch that makes bearable even an overbright system.

Dynamics
The velvet touch remains evident even in the dynamic behaviour of this cable: while the bass range is very lively and punchy the mid/high range is much more relaxed and easy. So don't expect thrilling and faster-than-light drums solos, for example, as the 400 mkII prefers to play this instrument with lots of punch in the bass and smoothness in the highs. Sometimes, when coupled with edgy components the upper midrange of the 400 can become a little bit harsh.
It is not a very fast cable, as said before, but attacks and decays are still pretty natural.

3D imaging
Because of its performance in the mid/high range the soundstage created by the 400 is wide but a bit out of focus, as you were listening far away from the players. You know that the closer you sit to the instruments the better they appear to your ears. With the 400 it seems you are listening to the players in the back seats of the concert hall, just to give you an idea.

So height, width and depth are good and the players into this soundstage are just smoothly defined, all with a sense of blurred contours that is not negative at all. It is a way to reproduce the soundstage that many audiophiles prefer.

Conclusions
If you're in the market for a budget interconnect the Monster Interlink 400 mk II is something that you should try before buying. It is one of the cables with the best performance/price ratio I've ever listened to and, if you're using the cheaper 100 and 200, believe me, the 400 mkII is a giant step forward.

I've used them on E.A.R. equipment (864 pre-amp, 324 phono, 890 amp, E.A.R. CD player and with a VPI TNT/SME IV/Benz Ruby, Focus Speakers. This is a mid-high end system.

The cables are full bodied as the review states, slightly veiling, slightly less focused, slightly dulled in the highs but the overall balance and effect is highly musical. I am an archival transfer engineer for a symphony and local choirs, have transferred int'l archive recordings (universities too) and sing in a choir. With a larger collection of LPs, CDs, 78s, etc. then can be sanely heard more than three times in a year (continuously played) , I know what I like in sound as due my audio engineer friends. These are OKAY cables with very acceptable sound characteristics. I'm running 1 and 2 meter lengths after a 72 hour burn-in for secondary and tertiary systems as well. I lilke them.

Similar Products Used:

Many

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Sep 07, 2004]
bcastine
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

fit and finsish, durability

Weakness:

overpriced for what you get sound horrible

I have tried to justify using these cables in my sytem. They look nice, well made with a durable finish but quite frankly sound like a#$. Used to connect my adcom gtp-500II to my 2 adcom 545II amps the soundstage just plain disappears when compared to a set of radio shack golds. Highs become very congested, cymbals turn to a plain hiss and vocals are very grainy. Bass is acceptable and on par with the RS golds, maybe I will try the monsters on the woofer channels but every time I try them I soon end up yanking them out. I've never been overly impressed with the cheaper monster interlinks but never as disappointed as I was with the 400's.

Similar Products Used:

Radio shack golds, interlink 100's,200's kimber pbj

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Jan 06, 2004]
mitmantim
AudioPhile

Strength:

Looks like it could sound good

Weakness:

Doesn't sound unlike it doesn't look.

This particular interconnect blows major goats and I am NOT a Monster Cable basher.I own a pair of 80$ Monster Z1 speaker cables and they sound great on my B&W dm602s and Pioneer Elite components.This interconnect is worse than the lower priced mkII300 interconnect and at the time I actually prefered the sound of my optical cable over it. People, do yourself a favor and leave your local strip-mall Circuit City or Good Guys and venture off to the nearest Hi-Fi shop. Any sub100$ Straightwire or Audioquest interconnect sounds galaxies better. Kills the imaging, muddles the bass, adds grain to the highs, only slightly better dynamic performance than an OTB cable........Brought to you by the proponents for Audioquest Cables INC

Similar Products Used:

Audioquest Sidewinder

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Aug 04, 2003]
Samy
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

voices, good med, well balanced, harmonious.

Weakness:

Suits better to well-balanced and dynamic systems.

Sorry, but I don't understand why people unlike this cable, perhaps because it is an honnest one. It makes its job and it makes it well. This cable is honnest, it plays your system like it is, it doen't make up the sound. The voices compartment is espacially good.

Similar Products Used:

Ixos Gamma Studio oelhbach cables

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Jul 03, 2003]
Hooberfloob
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Cost, build quality, lifetime guarantee, PRACTACALITY

Weakness:

None except that your audiophile nerd friends might not let you in their "Nerds only" club.

I bought these to replace all the crappy come-with-your-component interconnects, which any one in their right mind would do because of the oxidation factor. These are well made and have sturdy jackets that hold up to wear. This is the only interconnect you will ever need...anything better, i.e. more expensive, is a plain waste of money folks. The same people knocking these are mostly the same people that go out and spend $2,000.00 on speaker cables & interconnects and spend 5-grand on a power cable...Yikes!...talk about a waste of money. There are as many articles written about the nill-effect from these enourmously overpriced cables as their are about their "sonic" benefit. Don't blame them though...I guess when you get duped into spending that much for cables you gotta let off a little steam somewhere.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Mar 09, 2003]
Michael Heine
AudioPhile

Strength:

see above

Weakness:

none whatsoever

What is wrong with you guys? This is clearly a "Best Buy" (as voted by the verys trustworthy British hi-hi mag "Hi-Fi-Choice") Great bass, iamge, depth.

Similar Products Used:

Kimber, Cable Talk, loads. Nothing can touch it

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Aug 18, 2002]
Raimon
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

it knows how to rock and roll

Weakness:

no

I do not understand why people say this cable is not good!? For my is fabulous I use it whit Marantz CD63KIS-Marantz PM82-JBL 4412A for rock music. This cable is full of streng and detail, simply the best! The people that say not bood better invetigate the rest of equipe

Similar Products Used:

no

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 23, 2002]
WadeDwyer
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Warranty, solid construction

Weakness:

They made my NAD/AR system sound a little dull.

These cables look nicer than freebies or the RS Gold line and have a solid warranty. However, even after listening solidly for a week I thought the improvement over the RS Golds (at about 25% of the cost) was very minor. I had only recently started to try new cables after taking some time to understand the sound of my NAD based system with AR speakers. After learning the tendancies of my system, I played the RS Gold for a few weeks and did notice that (at the least) they were quieter than free-in-box cables and didn't have the harsh gritty treble of freebies. The Monster Interlink 400 did not (in my opinion) sound better than the RS Golds. Perhaps it gave me a little more detail in mid ranges, but overall it was roughly the RS equal. At about this time I began to lose faith in the differences cable could make - until I realized just how system dependent this stuff can be. In short, I found 2 cables that, all said and done sound much better than the Interlink 400. The discontinued Audioquest Turquoise bettered the Interlink for only $23/pair on closeout. my favorite, however was the Tara Labs Prism 55i for about $75. Either of these outperform the Monster in my opinion. I ended up buying 3 pairs of the Audioquest for the 5.1 outputs of my NAD DVD player and 1 pair of the Tara Prism 55i for CD listening (NAD). With my system of NAD electronics and AR speakers, the Monster Interlink 400 did NOT perform adequately and was outperformed by products both above and below its price point. This cable may perform well with some of the brighter sounding equipment I have heard. Looking at its price and the equipment it was pushed with at CC (Sony, Onkyo - which I consider bright sounding), perhaps it will perform well when partnered with these products.

Similar Products Used:

Tara Labs, Radio Shack Gold, Audioquest

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
3
Showing 1-10 of 78  

(C) Copyright 1996-2018. All Rights Reserved.

audioreview.com and the ConsumerReview Network are business units of Invenda Corporation

Other Web Sites in the ConsumerReview Network:

mtbr.com | roadbikereview.com | carreview.com | photographyreview.com | audioreview.com