@dekay again, thanks. I fully agree on cleaning. Any time I pull out a connector I clean it and its receptacle with isopropyl alcohol. I also do have and use Caig cleaners. These old Monster Cable connectors will certainly require a very good clean.
Yes, I still have the Pioneer TAD 2004 speakers. I was very lucky to get them from the then Hong Kong TAD agent as NOS (they then had 2 pairs which they said were the last 2 pairs made) back sometime in the last half of the 2000’s. They are the oldest component I have. I have gone through a lot of gear but have yet to be tempted with any commercial offering. One of the owners of the agent, who to my mind is the best electric guitarist in Hong Kong (unfortunately he does not perform anymore), loved TAD pro monitors from his studio days & went for the agency to sell the pro monitors through his hi-fi outlet and thanks to him I was introduced to the pro TADs (very different to the commercial hi-fi TAD line that followed). Recently I had a speaker designer over to listen. While he knew of TAD professional monitors and drivers he told me that he did not appreciate the drivers’ very high quality until he had spent time with my 2404 speakers and remarked that this quality was missing from many current commercial offerings regardless of price.
bluewolf