Air.

Dear

Reader

Please note you will need 200 hours of burn in for these cables to reach their full potential. Monster Cable has produced an excelent product at a low price. Below are my most recent findings.

Top. Smooth and natural. Not as extended as KCAG. Rating B

Mid. Warm. Just as good as KCAG. Rating B+

Low. Big and powerful. Better than KCAG. Rating A-

M 1000i is not better than KCAG, but it caters to a different audience. It works well with Solid State, but is too warm for tube gear.

Kimber KCAG and Bi-Focal are killer products and blow away my Monster Cable gear. The drawback? Price.

Below is a list of my current gear.

Yamaha CDR-S1000
Monster Cable M 1000i
Classe CAP 151
Monster Cable M 2.2.s
Vienna Bach

In a nutshell, if you are on a budget and use Solid State gear please listen to the M 1000i offering. It offers a smooth sound, and a low price of entry.

Similar Products Used:

KCAG and Lapis.

Large Bass

Too warm, lack of clarity at treble

VERY VERY warm with BIG Bass. The cable cannot match MIT 330 and AQ Opal in term of clarity and transparancy. If your system already has a lot of bass, do not buy this cable. May work well as sub-woofer cable, but I didn't try it myself.

I could not stand it. Gave it to a friend for free!

Similar Products Used:

MIT 330, Audio Quest Opal

Smooth and well built.

The top is a little rolled-off.

Dear

Reader

The Monster Cable M 1000i is a fine cable, but it is not perfect. The 5.0 listed ratings are just not spot on! This cable is a fine foray into the high-end from Monster, but it is not at the edge of the envelope. Below are my findings.

Top. Smooth and natural. It rolls off at the extreme, and the Kimber Cable KCAG offering is far better in this space. Rating B

Mid. Open and smooth. This cable does very well in this space. It provides a very natural midrange over a wide range of music that will please the listener. Rating B+

Low. Great bass. This is where the M 1000i leads the high-end space. If you wish to have better bass, get ready to spend $800, or more. Rating A

My current system is listed below.

Yamaha CDR-S1000
Monster M 1000i
Classe CAP 151
Monster M 2.2s
Vienna Bach

Let us take a step back. Monster Cable M 1000i is a fine product, and offers an excellent value. A rating of 4.5 seems far more accurate than 5.0.

Similar Products Used:

Kimber KCAG/Audio Quest Lapis

The entire audio spectrum.

No show stoppers.

Dear

Reader


The new M1000i (MK3) in XLR format is a killer offering from Monster Cable. While the M1000i (MK2) with RCA's fell behind Kimber Cable KCAG at the top-end and in sound stage, the (MK3) XLR version is now comprable. Below are my latest findings with M1000i in the XLR version.

Top. Extended and smooth. KCAG has a slight edge.

Mid. Natural. Equal to KCAG.

Low. Big and tight. Better than KCAG

Tone. Warm vs bright for KCAG

Sound Stage. As good as KCAG

These are both fine offerings, but at less than half the cost, M1000i (XLR) is now the better value. I own both cables, so my findings are not biased. In a nutshell, both KCAG and M1000i (XLR) offer excellent performance. Go and audition both becuase they each have a "Different" sonic signature. Two great products from to fine companies.

Similar Products Used:

Aduio Quest Diamond and Kimber Cable KCAG.

Air, Wonderful Staging, Beautiful Openness in the midrange, Dynamics, Effortless, Midrange Warmth, Good Bass

I'm stretching it here, a slight loss of detail, a very slight loss of detail and focus, the very top high end may sounds a little bit rough. Those darn super tight Monster Turbine RCA connectors.

I have always had mixed feelings about these interconnects. Sometimes I adore them, sometimes I dislike them but I know I wouldn't want to live without them.

I bought them out of curiosity more than anything from Sound Factor in Tarzana CA and I thought they were extremely pricey and overpriced at $200/m pair. However after due break in over time, their biggest strenght is its mids, so beautifully full sounding, open and effortless and a superb staging. No other interconnect that I've tried matches it at that. Makes the music flow and the speakers dissappear, removes the mechanical/electronics sound and music seems more natural and real and so articulated.

But what I don't like about it is that in my system sometimes tends to cause excesive bloom (depending also in what mood my MF X-10D tubes are in.) and also its high top end does sound somewhat a litle rough (or perhaps is too revealing and it's just a result of my components.) compared to other interconnects like a kimber kable silver streak after it got broken in. Silver streak's neutrality may sound bright on some systems, but still smooth in the top, that's not the case with the m1000i.

I found out that placing an Alpha-Core MicroPurl (www.alphacore.com)in the chain AFTER the m1000i tames the bloominess while preserving all the staging airyness and wonderful beautiful qualities of the m1000i. Maybe I got other problems that have nothing to do with the m1000i...

This interconnect has been on and off my system over periods of time, sometimes I've considered even selling it, but last thing I did was to use it as the input interconnect for my SONY TC-K611 Three Head Cassette Deck. My jaw dropped when I learned that by doing this I could actually impregnate my tape recordings with all the watery airy, microdynamics details of reverbs, decays, staging and acoustics revealed by my Digital Front End and remove that last veil of white noise and some harshness that prevailed on my home made recordings. I am no longer considering selling it. (so sorry for those of you who would be interested.)

In fact since it is usually used in another section of the chain, I am considering purchasing another one! (or maybe I'll just go with the m950i) just for my cassette Deck's input line since most of my listenings are done in my car or at the office from the tapes I record at home, and only on weekends I sometimes get to enjoy the real CD's in all their splendor. Alpha-Core Micro-Purls is exceptional too. For a fraction of the m1000i (~$78/m pair) you get almost all the attributes of the m1000i except its superior airyness, that's all. Also the micro-purls are better behaved in terms of focus and detail. I'll post my review for micro-purls
when they open a section for them.

So would I reccommend m1000i's? It's a Tough call. Try it in your system see how you like it. It has very beautiful unique virtues of its own worth its while and judge for your self if for you they outstand its weaknesses. In fairness nothing is perfect and remember that it's all about the degree of emotional involment; at the end it's all about the music.

FYI:
Related Equipment: Sansui CD-X317 CD as transport, Kimber Optilink, Monarchy DIP SuperDrive, Music Metre Digital Fidelus Interconnect, MF-ACT DAC, Tara RSC Prime, MF-X-10D tubed buffer, monster m1000i interconnect, source select switch-box, Alpha-Core Micro Purl Interconnect, TDS Passive Audiophile component, Tara Quantum Ref. MKII Interconnect, Carver TFM-55 power amp, dbx labs soundfield V speakers (modified.) dbx 15" passive subwoofer. Sony TC-K611-S three head Cassette Deck

Similar Products Used:

TARA RSC PRIME GenII, TARA Quantum Reference MKII, Alpha Core Micro-Purl