Refer to my earlier post then >Have just upgraded my CD player from a Marantz to a Denon, while the Monster added dynamics and life to a typically laid back smooth sounding Marantz, it created listening fatigue on the Denon, so back in went the Van den hul. This added smoothed out the Denons rough edges with no loss of dynamics, I'll re-iterate cables are system dependent, they should always be bought with the priviso of a return/refund.

Over the last few years I've bought six pairs of these cables. I was impressed with the very deep sound at first. BUT, recently I bought a little headphone amp and I didn't have any extra Monster 400's to try it out with so I used a pair of "out of the box" cables I had lying around. Sounded GREAT!!! Later I decided to borrow a pair of 400's from my cassette deck. To my HORROR the headphones sounded just like the rest of my system's been sounding to me, HORRIBLE!!! I've been blaming my Klipsch speakers for all of the harshness in my system. These cables seem to artificially deepen the soundstage which can sound good at times but things just don't match up right in the treble. The highs get pretty wiped out except for some overly bright sounding highs way too far in the backround. I tried using "out of the box" cables in the rest of my system and the imaging improved greatly. Actually it sounds about right now (slightly too compressed) so I guess I'm going shopping for new cables.I don't agree with the people who say the quality is bad, but I sure think the design is!!! I've never heard a nice pair of headphones sound this bad!!! I would strongly reccomend buying the standard Monster Cables over these. Save money and get more realistic sound. 1 star because these "budget audiophile" cables deliver less realistic sound than free cables. If anyone disagrees with me it's ok. I've got six pairs (all 1 meter) in good condition for sale CHEAP!!! (not kidding)

Some of you people should read your CRAPPY so called reviews. This cable sounds better for twice as much or that one for three times as much. DUH!!! Monster IL400 is a $30 interconnect not $100 invisible or $800 MIT. You do get what you pay for in life. Open up a IL400 and it does NOT resemble a radioshack cable as some of you on informed parrots have stated. Radiosak doesn't have a foil shield,a floating ground, directionl flow or twisted pairs of copper cables with teflon dialectrics. So pay attention so called reviewers. The IL 400 is a bit mushy on midrange staging and tends to over articulate on the deep bass a tiny bit. But the only cost $30 FREAKIN bucks!! I have tried so many cables I will not list them but for an inexpensive midfi system Klipsch, B&W, Adcom, Denon, Sony ES, Energy, Mirage, or the likes of this decent but not spectacular products I would say many people will be happy with an IL400. If you want to take the big step in price sure others sound better but a 3 to 20 times the cost I should think so. So remember for $30 dollars IL400 good for $1800 dollars IL400 is bad. Keep it in perspective and think before you type

I've found the Monster Cable Interlink 400 to be the best value for the money...it has most if not all of the features that the higher lined items have and it is well constructed.
Primary results after hooking up to Receiver, CD Player and speakers is increase in volume and more clarity of sound.

Don't buy these unless you feel like fighting with them to get them on and off. Tip, don't twist, wiggle them. Good way to break either your equipment or the crappy construction of the cable though. I do like Audio Quest and Straight Wire though.

I have an AMC-CD9 CD player, NAD-314 amp and Infinity RS2000.5 (now RS4) speakers. This is admittedly a setup where cables won't be making a huge difference in the sound so my primary concern in buying a cable is quality: gold-plating, snug connections, solid construction and mechanical durability. The flashy Monster i400 packaging sure made appear that this cable satisfies all of these things and more. Unfortunately this was not the case.
2 connections are very loose, 1 is so tight my amp started creaking under the stress of trying to plug it in

there actually was a slight difference in sound with the Monsters, but not enough to be certain it wasn't in my mind and certainly the difference didn't strike me as an improvement

I cannot recommend this cable based upon the poor connector quality.

I got a new amp (ARC DC-130)and preamp (Sonic Frontiers Line 1) and, after I installed the components, found I had a major hum problem. I rushed down to my friendly hight-end store (Christopher Hansen 2 in West Los Angeles), got some Cardas Crosslink interconnects. After replacing the Monster Interlink 400s I had between the amp and preamp with the Cardas wires, the hum went away. I tried to use Interlink 400s to connect my VCR to the preamp -- hum. The bottom-of-the-line Cardas stuff blows the Monster wires away in terms of sound quality too. Very noticable increase in smoothness and clarity. Much, much better connectors too. My old Monster cables will be in a garage sale real soon.

I've never been a big believer in the sonic differences between cables, in fact I'm still not a believer. I only bought these Monster cables a couple years ago for the shielding. After moving and hooking my system up again, I was getting a hum from my right channel. After switching my speaker cables, and interconnects, I figured out the problem was not my preamp or amp (thank God), it was these Monster Cable interconnects! Hooked the amp up with my spare set of generic Radio Shack cables, and the hum disappeared. No change in the sound (at least to my ears). So much for $40 interconnects.

For those of you who like the Monster 400, I suggest you take a look at the Radio Shack #42-2676. These aren't the standard "Gold Series" interconnects that RS is famous for. These are made by the same company that makes the Interlik 400 for Monster Cable. They are almost identical to the 400 except they have better connections. They are directionally balanced with oxygen free copper and 24k gold plated. The only real difference....the price, $19.99 for a six foot pair (I got 15 on sale for $9.99). Check them out soon, Radio Shack will be discontinuing them. I've got a freind at RS who can still get them (if you can't find them) if you're interested

"The only reason i bought this cable was because it has good shielding, goodconnectors, and gold plated."

Poor construction though.

"In short, I'd say these are one of the better cables out there for $40"

You can get the same quality from a lower priced Radio Shack's with better termination. That's fact.

"When you hear people say such and such cable has more bass etc. etc. don't believe it. Its all in their mind."

Why didn't you use the free ones that come with your equipments instead?

"I have noticed an increase in the dynamic range and the bass"

But they sound colored and muddy.

"obviously this cable isn't the best out there, but for .50 cents a foot you can't beat it with a stick."

Agreed.

"I am disappointed with the overal rating of this interlink, because people mention the poor quality of the wire ! Do we speak
about the same ?!"

Yes. Get a few pairs and check out the terminations. Compare with Tributaries.

"They sound great, and that is all that's matter."

But how great is your great? That's not very informational.

"You do get what you pay for in life."

Not with audio components especially cables.

"Open up a IL400 and it does NOT resemble a radioshack cable as some of you on informed parrots have stated."

Of course not, RS's is better built.

"Radiosak doesn't have a foil shield,a floating ground, directionl flow or twisted pairs of copper cables with teflon dialectrics."

Foil shield has been known to slow down the sound. The sonic merits of directional shielding is unproven. Teflon performs just the same as other dialectrics.

"I have tried so many cables I will not list them"

The only way to know how a component sound is to compare them with something else. "Good sound" doesn't mean anything.

"All I can say is look at the price! Sure a cable costing twice as much is going to sound better (especiialy at the budget end of the market)."

That's very untrue especially for cables.

"for the ultimate cable use single silver wire"

Silver sound bright and doesn't have deep bass. Good for tweeters though.

"build quality is OK"

That's why Americans are getting ripped off more than anyone else on this planet. They simply accept below average performer. The industry sure did a good job.

"Crisp clean highs. Great bass."

No highs but decent bass.

"Finally, people need to read "The Audio Critic." ... let's judge performance through science."

But science can't measure the sonic quality of a wire as we perceive it. Go ask Mytrcraft.