bottom end is really good mids are good sounds good with certain music

VOCALS ARE HORRIBLE

OMG for 5.00 cnd a foot this is garbage it is so HARSH AND BRIGHT. I have audioquest type 2 which i paid 2.00 cnd a foot for and it is so much SMOOTHER then Z1. The Z1 gives me MAJOR LISTENER FATIGUE. I have the Z1 hooked up to my PARADIGM STUDIO CC and my pair of ATHENA ASF2's and then i have the TYPE 2 hooked up to my ATHENA ASB2 so i am able to really compare the Z1 with the type 2 by lowering the fronts by 24dbs and only listening to the CENTER and rears this brings me much more RELAXED listening then when my FRONTS are turned back up. This brings me to the conclusion the Z1 really SCREWS up the VOCALS causing BRIGHTNESS the studio CC is a better speaker so it helps smooth out the harshness in the CENTER spot but it is still there slightly. My plans are to take the Z1 out and put AUDIOQUEST type 4 to my mains and CENTER until i purchase the rest of th PARADIGM reference series or the PSB stratus series speakers, But bottom line in the last 4 months ive really seen that monster is so over priced and under performing.

Similar Products Used:

xp xphp type 2 slate

Not quite as 'cheap looking' as other Monster products.

Exhorbitant price for what you get. Slightly muddy on bass and a little bright on the highs but that might have to do with the JBL speakers and Yamaha receiver.

Bought these cables back when I worked for Best Buy because they were the best they offered. Not a bad cable but certainly not worth the $80 retail price. If you are considering spending around 100 bones for a cable I would shop around for a good price on the MIT Terminator series or something comparable.

-Produces a much better sound than Monster Cable XP. -Increased sound stage. -Could be the best cable for the price!

None I can think of so far.

Just upgraded my front and center channel to Z1 cables from four year old Monster Cable XP w/ pins. Wow! What a difference! Wasn't sure what to expect honestly. Only had the Z1 cables installed for two days now. They have added more definition across the sound stage. Highs and mids are a bit brighter and bass is more defined. Although I did upgrade my subwoofer cables to Monster Cable MB300 SW-12 as well. (I have Definitive Technology BP2006TL's up front witch have LFE cable inputs) Analog 2 channel audio sound has improved although I hear the most noticeable change when playing DVD's. What a great speaker cable!

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Monster Cable XP

looks good

not worth paying any money amount more than $25.00 for.

Well, I decided to upgrade from my 12AWG $1.50 a foot speaker wire to something a little more "high end" and let me tell you,I was amazed.....at the absolute NO difference in sound!! Let me explain something to everyone, I was a United States Air Force Aerospace Electrical Engineer and my whole life was knowing everything about wire and electricity and circuitry and anything you can think of electricity wise. They're is NO differecnce between "high end" $5,000 speaker cable and $50 cheap 12awg wire when it comes to sound. The only difference is your getting screwed if you buy that expensive cable! The only sound difference is if you convince yourself that there is a sound difference. Wire is wire, no special geometry or twist ratio or anything else matters. The only thing that matters is wire size (gauge). Electrcity is like water the bigger the pipe,the smoother and easier it will flow through that pipe. So if you want to hear a real difference in sound and not pay alot of money like some fool caught up media hype just go out and buy some high grade 99.99% pure oxygen free copper stranded 12 AWG or better yet 10 AWG speaker wire. ALso another tip, don't get spades or banana plugs thats just more resistance to electrical flow, just strip it and bare wire it. Oh and as shielding goes, unless we come under nuclear attack and are subjected to EMP, that fancy braided shielding is a waste also. So play it smart spend $1.50 or maybe $2.00 a foot on some larger guage cable, you won't be missing out guarnteed!

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Hundreds of different kinds of wire, and many, many brands

Excellent sound stage, transparency, truth of timbre, dynamics, good bass extension.

My system tends to be a little on the bright side. The Music Metres have a lot of presence and do not soften the brightness.

It has been over 15 years since I have upgraded my speaker cables. I have used OCOS cables because of the ease of switching between my VTL MB185s for my serious listening and a Muse 100 when I have music on while I'm working around the house. I broke the Music Metre cables in for 30 or more hours before I did any serious listening. However, I must say that the minute I hooked them up and listened, I could tell that this was going to be a mammoth improvement over the OCOS cables. I also compared them to a used pair of Synergistic Research Signature #2 cables from The Cable Company that were in the same ball park pricewise. The Synergistic are also very good cables and were a big improvement over my OCOS cables, however, I was clearly more impressed by the Music Metres. They had a more open, musical sound, much more involving, bigger soundstage. Both were fairly close in transparency and truth of timbre. I could spend several thousands for the extreme high end stuff and perhaps better the Music Metres, but I don't have the money, or am not willing to invest that kind of money in speaker cables or interconnect. I experimented with the connection of my cables. The Music Metres are connected from my VTLs to the speakers with the spade lugs. I also have the OCOS connector hooked up. When I turned off the VTLs and hooked up the OCOS line from my Muse 100 amplifier I heard absolutely no difference in the sound of the OCOS cables with the Music Metres still hooked up to the VTLs compared to when I had previously disconnected them. I have a mostly Class B system consisting of Linn LP 12, Graham 2.0 arm, Benz-Micro Ref2 cartridge, Coph Nia phono preamp, Sony DVP 9000ES SACD player, Presence Audio Linestage preamp, VTL MB185 amps, Hales System 2 speakers.

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Audioquest, OCOS, Synergistic Research Signature #2

strong bass, fair amount of "life".

bass is a bit overblown (unless you like that) and highs can be very harsh on some speakers

I did not purchase this cable, but rather tried it versus the Audioquest Slate (which is $7/foot vs. $4/foot for the Z1). I tried it on some Linn speakers and the B&W Nautilus 805. On the Linn, the bass was very strong, and the sound had life, but was a tad harsh in the high end. On the B&W, which I have heard many times with many cables, it was a disaster. It turned one of the world''s best tweeters into a harsh sound. I listened to "I Can See Clearly Now" by Holly Cole, a song I have auditioned cables and speakers with for a while now. Her voice normally is silky smooth, but powerful, which can go low and high. Some of the higher notes can really show up system problems. On the Audioquest slate (which I bought), dual runs of Kimber 4TC (auditioned at a different time), and CAT5 DIY cable, the highs are wonderful. On the Monster, and on old Monster 12 guage "zip" wire that I used to own, the highs show considerable grit. You can''t go back to listening to them once you''ve heard them on better cable. The monster Z1 did give a bit more powerful bass, but in my opinion, it was a bit loose and overblown. The slate was powerful but tight. Some speakers may be more forgiving of the gritty highs, but the B&W Nautilus are not. I would recommend this cable only for those who need a cheap cable and like bass, but aren''t so discerning about highs and voice quality. In general, I would say go with Audioquest or some other hyperlitz design.

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AudioQuest Slate

Smoother upper treble without detail loss,slightly increased bass weight,solid soundstage.

None, so far.

I purchased these cables about 3 weeks ago at a slight discount after using regular,low cost 14 guage (plain jane) speaker cable. They are the 15ft length (w/banana jacks) feeding a pair of Vandersteen 1C's. I've noticed that cd's are smoother now in the treble area, yet I'm not sensing any detail loss,in fact soundstage is deeper,there is a better sense of the hall space on virtually every recording. Bass has _slightly_ more weight.
Imaging which was already a strong point in my system has solidified even more,especially noticeable improvement(imaging) on sub-par multi-miked
recordings. I can't say a bad thing about these cables as they have made listening more enjoyable in every aspect. I was never
a speaker cable person, (quite skeptical in fact of most claims),I think I'll have to
change my position some after this purchase. I believe they are worth the $95
I paid for them.

Performance, Price

None

Have always used standard Monster speaker cable in the past. Never really belived speaker cable could make an audible difference. Boy was I wrong!

Bought these at Best Buy thinking I would probably return them. Hooked them up and the bright tendency of my Infinity Overture 3 towers vanished. Clear clean sound without bleeding ears at high volume.

Compared to high end cable prices these are a bargin. If you don't have money for the high end stuff I highly recommend you try these.

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Standard Monster speaker wire

Look good. Easy to install (reasonably flexible.

None.

The sound difference these cables make is incredible. I have never been convinced by claims that cables make much difference, until now. Much more open sound, clear highs, warm and accurate midrange; solid base response. Big improvement in sounstage. Have them connected to B&W602's which were previously biwired. While I have always liked the speakers, the sound is much improved. These cables are worth more than they cost - a bargain!

Great price, great aesthetics, wonderful sound, sturdy design

cheesy packaging

I just picked these cables up because I had $50 bucks burning a hole in my pocket and they looked really cool, but little did I know that it was some of the best spent money for my audio system. I currently have NHT 2.5i's hooked up to a H/K PA5800 (for the record, this is not a good match, but it is only temporary). The NHT's have a habit of being ruthlessly true to the source and the components and anything else that gets into the audio chain, so I knew there would be a slight difference. I was, however, shocked to hear how much of a difference. Prior to this install, I had the 2.5's bi-amped and was acheiving good results, but the bass was a tad sloppy, and the treble was just a little bright (this was not the fault of the speakers, the amp has these characteristics.) I was expecting to lose a little volume when I switched to the single amp versus bi-amp - but surprise - I hooked the left channel up with the z series, single amp and the right side up with Monster XP bi-amped - I could hardly even hear the right channel.
When I finally got the whole system set up with the Z series cable, the results were astounding. I had to get up and unplug the center channel speaker to make me believe that it wasn't on during a Dave Matthews track. All of the sudden I finally heard the deep and wide soundstage that the NHT's are famous for. The treble opened way up while sounding a tad warmer but more detailed. Bass notes locked in unbelievably clean. My usual sweet spot with this setup is about half a couch cushion wide while leaning forward ever so slightly - now it doesn't matter where on the couch, it all sounds so clear.
The cables did seem to benefit from a 2 day break-in period as they got even cleaner. I run a recording studio and also play professionally in Orchestral settings, and I have to say it is so frustrating to listen to orchestral music that sounds so closed in at the high register and over emphasised and sloppy in the bass region (some of this is the recordings, a lot of this is due to crappy electronics and cables). With these cables, my recording of Mahler's 3rd is no longer a cd but a religious experience!!
I have already compared these cables to some very high-end, very expensive cables and I wouldn't give them up for the world - the Kimber Monocle warmed up the midrange, but I felt that the treble was still a tad stiffled. The Vampire Wire Silver Series sounded a lot like the Monster XP that I have been using for years. The AR sounded a lot like Recoton cables and the MIT (series 4 I think) did open up the treble, but it seemed to make it a little harsh, it also sounded like it put a subsonic filter on the speakers.
You have to try these cables

Similar Products Used:

Kimber, Vampire Wire, Monster XP, AR, MIT