Do you think the monster cable would sound better were it cryogenically treated? |
10-02-13: David_d
There are BETTER and more "modern" cables today but these Monsters stay a very option good IF you or your system need "warmer" cables.
I think you nailed it right there David_d. I just inserted a 2 meter pair of M1000i between preamp and amp in place of a pair of Tara Labs The One because after playing around with several cables and cords, my system was now bordering on the edge of too much detail, a tad lean sounding. The M1000i's definitely brought some much needed warmth and fullness back to the sound. No, these cables are not the answer for those chasing the utmost in resolution and detail, but if you are just looking for an inexpensive, warm, musical cable, these M1000i's are hard to beat for the $$$ |
Like everyone else on this site I have many different brand cables and have tried many cables over the years. A couple years ago I figured I would give subject interconnect a try ... there so cheap used anyway. To make a long story short, I am very impressed, they hold up to cables costing many times more. Its also all a question of synergy. Bottom line, there is no need to spend a fortune on cables.....unless you want to impress the crowd with wires. Cables...probably the biggest scam of this industry. |
I have owned two pairs of M-1000i (in fact still have one) as well as Monster M1mkII speaker cables.
They are truly great Cables. Yes, they are on the warm side (like most Cardas) of neutral - but many of us need/want exactly that. In the right system they can give a full-boddied sound, big soundstage, fine palpability and vocals, bass energy and slam ... I've compared many cables with them (even much costlier) but non of them could justify the price difference.
Listened to them with solid state and tube equipment and they never dissapointed.
There are BETTER and more "modern" cables today but these Monsters stay a very option good IF you or your system need "warmer" cables. |
Forgive me - I see now I did use the word "stubbornly".
But this pertained to my resistance to spending big bucks, not to hanging on to my old cables.
carlosacns535 let me know how I can outperformn anything in my system without breaking the bank and I am listening. |
I didn't think I was being stubborn.
In fact, I took them out of service to experiment with some modestly priced Signal Cables following recommendations from some of you.
But now that my Monsters will approach 25 years of burn in, maybe I should put them back in the system? |
Some of us - like myself simply won't buy Monster products at all because we object to the company's business practices. Monster seems to spend way more time and money on suing over trademark infringement then they do on developing good products "in my opinion". A search of the US Patent Office website reveals hundred of lawsuits against every comapny that has tried to use the word monster in a product, website, title, company name - you name it. Monster.com, Monsters Inc, Monster Garage, the Boston Red Sox. There are a lot of small mom and pop companies that have really been hurt by their behavior.
I REALLY object to the idea that a company can trademark and OWN a simple English word such as monster. (How would like it if I trademarked the word cable or speaker or "hi-end"?)
There is something to be said for Karma - there are plenty of really cool, nice people and companies to do business with.
Spend a few hours readings some of these ridiculous suits.
http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?qs=monster |
Dave_b,
I am not surprised something more ordinary from Monster cable sounded better. I have always been suspicious of $20K cable rigs that change the character of the sound.
Happy listening with your new cheaper cables. great that you get enjoyment and have enough money left over to buy a small car! |
If you like the M1000 IC's, you might also want to try the Monster Sigma Retro speaker cables - more of an even better thing. Pretty sure I just sold my last pair, but if you watch for them, they come up from time to time on Agon. |
Hello Dave_b. I sent you an email yesterday asking you how long for burn in of these cables. I just received a pair that I ordered online. I was lucky-got for only 144 plus shipping. I like what I hear so far with less than 24 hours on them. You are so right they are palpable, full sounding and dynamic. Sort of tubey. I have them connected between a Sim Nova cdp and a McIntosh MA6900 integrated. They replaced Chimera Advantage II ic's which are very good ic's. I've been looking for a weightier presentation with better low end but retaining a clean high end. I hope these cables can continue to deliver as they burn in because they are giving me what I was looking for. Right now they sound shockingly good!. Right now they sound as you said, "Holy Mother of the Audio Gods." I recently auditioned 5 different sets of cables from the Cable Company and ended up sending them all back because they couldn't deliver enough of an improvement to replace the Chimeras. (Cardas Neutral Ref, Wireworld Eclipse, MIT Shotgun 3i, Synergistic Research Kaleidoscope Phase 2x and JPS Superconductor 2's. I read your post and decided to give these a try since I have been considering Monster speaker cable. Well with these cables I may just keep the speaker cables I have if they continue to sound this good. I'll try to let you know. |
And the Audio World goes round and round...enjoy the trip whatever your delusion may be!! |
Better Mom and Pop brands for fewer dollars. Take a look at Ridgestreet and Pure Note. They sell a better quality and a superior sounding product. |
Its being overlooked because of its name only.I am
familiar with this ic, Its very musical and dynamic,
It has a very good soundstage.I have two of this ic.
I prefer the M1000i over the Opal AQ.Give it a try
and forget the brand. |
In part because the construction does not match the quality of its peers in its price class. Look at the cutaway drawing for the M1000 at monstercable.com and then look at the cutaway of the Audioquest King cobra at audioquest.com. Remember that the King Cobra is a $175.00 cable vs. $200 for the M1000. The King Cobra has 4 condutors that are solid core so no inductance problems between strands in the same wire package. The M1000 is stranded. No one uses 100% pure copper because it is too soft to extrude into wire. Ususally zinc or nickel is used to alloy the copper and make it stronger. I am not able to find out for sure but I suspect that the copper purity is higher for Audioquest and an number of other manufacturers or it may be the difference between nickel and zinc as an alloy.
I was certified by IEEE as a specialist in Power Generation and Trzansmission systems in 1975. Based on my experience, the stranded condutor is not conducive to clean signal. Both cables use PE as an insulator but the King Cobra uses hollow tubes so the effect of the dielectric effect on on the cable and signal is less. The shielding in my opinion is better on the King Cobra. It also has a drain wire which the M1000 does not. Now do these differences make any significant difference. In my opinion Yes and No. I have just switched from solid state integrated Yamaha CA-1010 amp to a custom built tube phono preamp(6months ago) , line preamp and tube amp. For tubed equipment the difference is significant. I have for many years and continue to use a M1000 between my Pioneer Elite CLD-95 laser disc player and a Denon 1602 A/V Home Theater and cannot tell the difference between the two. But the difference between my phono preamp and line preamp is painfully obvious. The M1000 sounds dull. I have one King Cobra which I use between my line preamp and aSony TCW7ESA tape deck. My mai cables are now emerals($80 new) and 2m Pythons ($300) new) both are discontinues models with the pythons discontinued since the first of the year. My conclusion is that the M1000 is just fine withsolid state equipment but under performs on tube equipment. The M1000 also seems to have a greater problem with ground loop interference in my recent experience with tubed equipment. I have a bunch of Monster M400 and 250 cables that I now longer need. Any one interested. |
I have been using the M1000 Studio Mic. Cable for the past 5 years for my on site recordings live 2 channel.
I have never been disapointed with the sound.Very dynamic,live,and a very natural midband bloom.A master recording exposes everything your cable is capable of reproducing thru the mic feed and I was happy time and time with the results. |
I have used the M1000(and actually still do in my rear theater speakers) and now I use Monster Sigma Retro Gold XLR's as IC's and Au24s as speaker cables. I actually prefer the Sigmas to the Au24 ICs in my system. The Sigmas are a pretty large step up from the M1000's(smoother, more detail, tighter bass, more dynamic) - so much so that Monster is currently working on a "new and improved" M1000 to help bridge this gap in their product line. There is a Stereophile review of the Sigmas, Au24 and Valhallas in Feb, '04 issue, FYI.
My system includes a McCormack DNA-500, APL modded Denon 3910(tube output stage), VAC preamp and Legacy Whisper speakers.
The Monsters really are a great value for the money - they apparently suffer from a low to mid-fi stigma that is certainly undeserved in the M1000 and Sigma lines.
Just my 2 cents. |
I know what your talking about cwlondon...Madrigal cables were always flat, cloudy and darkish in nature. By the way, as I break in the M1000i's I am noticing a wonderfully vibrant midrange that is full of color and palpability! The highs are joining the soundstage with better texture and no overprominence that draws undue attention yo itself...bass is large, coherent and textured...dynamics are the best I've experienced. I think I got lucky mating my sony player to the krell...maybe the .5Meter length has something to do with it? |
i agree with Dave b,Synergy! |
I have stubbornly resisted spending big bucks on cables, so I have been using an original pair of Monster M-1 and M-1000s through many systems and upgrades.
I bought them in 1986 (?!?!), in order to use with my new Magnepan MG IIIa's, Audio Research SP-9 and Linn LP 12. At that time -- with that equipment which is still respected -- they were supposed to be great, and were allegedly designed by Bruce Brisson of MIT fame.
Nearly 20 years later, I recently subsituted a much more expensive set of Madrigal interconnects, which were supplied with my Mark Levinson 23.5. By comparison, the pricey Madrigal cables sounded TERRIBLE - cloudy, dark, and closed in by comparison.
So I don't know why they are overlooked -- a perfectly good cable in my experience. |
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Dave_b, this post made me curious and I just happened to have 2 XLR pairs of M1000i's laying around that I put back into my system replacing the Acoustic Zen reference II XLR's. The most noticeable difference was that the Zen's have a slightly smoother midrange and highs and a touch more definition in the base. The M1000i's on the other hand, seem a little "faster" giving guitar strings for example a little more "speed", "attack" and "bite". The Zen are a little smoother and warmer sounding without giving up resolution or dynamics. Focus, depth, width and height of the soundstage remained the same. In my system (BAT VK-250, VK-31SE, Meridian 588) switching between the Totem 1's and Arro's, the results were consistent and I prefer the Zen's. In a system that needs more "zest" or "jump" the M1000i's may just be the wake up call. At $200 as compared to $500 Zen's the M1000i's are an excellent "budget interconnect" and hold their own across the board, especially considering they can be had much cheaper pre-owned. |
Ooh, Dave, trying to be cute, or just nasty? The test instruments were indeed our ears.
. |
When Jeffreybehr mentioned test...well, I knew he was in trouble! I didn't mean to imply that I needed a Jeffrybear to fill me in...I've owned more classic gear and cable combinations than most reviewers. All I can say is come on over and bring your ears...not the tester! You do have ears don't you??? |
Why? Because it's not good enough for the money, that's why. Here http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/cables/messages/108269.html is a longish note about a cable test my GEA friend and I did.
M1000i failed the test as being audible when inserted into the system by sounding rather soft...undetailed...in the important MR and treble frequencies.
You asked. :-)
. |
Transnova makes an excellent point -- Monster is undoubtedly suffering the proverbial contempt bred by familiarity. I've been using the M1000is (I paid $200 for a 1m. pair, Lak) in my second system, along with the M1.2 speaker cable, and they are solid performers. I'm also obliged to say that replacing these cables on my main system with Audience Maestros -- only slightly more $ for the ICs, though a good bit more for the SC -- was a step forward in overall musicality, and I've just ordered Maestros for System #2. The bottom line is, no one is likely to go wrong with Monster products; if your audio pals snicker and roll their eyes, offer to buy them a beer with the money you've saved. |
M1000i's cost $200 per meter. Many observers feel they deliver less performance at that price point than offerings from other cable manufacturers.
Not trying to start a battle royal over this...just filling you in on the so-called "Conventional Wisdom" I've often heard regarding these cables. CW, as I've learned from living in Washington, is sometimes dead-on and sometimes completely worthless. |
I don't know.The cables are certainly competent.I use 950 and 1000(along with 2.2 speakerwire)in my home theater and am very happy.Perhaps they're viewed by the audiophile community as mass market and overhyped.They've also been around for a long time and may be too old to be a current"flavor of the month.
Larry" |
What is the cost of the Monster M1000i interconnect? |
