The problem with this cable is that it has too many fine, parallel strands. You'll find that nearly all audiophile cables avoid this design. It is commonly held that tiny strands have a "skin effect" or interaction between them which add muddiness, and supposedly, a thinner strand is better at transmitting high frequencies, and is thus "brighter". The unshielded parrallel conductors (untwisted/braided) also does nothing to reject RF noise, but this isn't as big a deal as most make it out to be unless you are running really long cables, or have a nasty noise source, since this is a high level signal, unlike a preamp signal which is much weaker and more easily contaminated.One Key aspect of a good cable is minimizing capacitance and inductance. The inductance can be lowered by having multiple individually insulated conductors that are braided or twised in +/- pairs, just like Kimber cable does (which was a top-rated budget cable by a Reputable audio mag). You can do the same thing with internet/phone hook-up wire (category 5 twisted pair wires -see elswhere on this site) The Category 3 cables, which have a less twisted architecture than Cat 5, are actually "officially" rated at lower data rates- that must be telling us something!
In short, I would suggest using a 14-16 lamp cord from Home Depot for you rear speakers if you want to save money and get the SAME performance as Monster, and then spring for Kimer4 ($1.50/ft) for the fronts, unless you are an audiophile... in which case you'll choose whatever cable yousense of superiority tell you to (just kidding!) When I switched back and forth between Monster and Kimber, the Monster was louder, brighter, with muddy midrange details(vocals), while Kimer was noticably softer/smoother on top, with much better spaciousness and clarity. Its subtle, but easy to tell when you switch them side by side. A single set of Kimbers was stil better than biwiring with Monster...

When upgrading/replacing my system last fall, I first replaced my ancient, oxidized and corroded 16ga "speaker wire" for some fresh 12ga bulk Monster. I gained clarity, or at least it returned, and bass was more articulate. That is about what I expected between 10 yr old 16ga and fresh 12ga. (Both bare wire)
A new Denon receiver came on line about the same time I completed my new DIY speakers. I used Peerless CSC 7" and Morel MFT-30 soft domes in a small footprint ported enclosure, crossed low with a 1st order. Picture a Shearwater "Kestwater" so to speak.

The Monsters did well as a single run with soldered locking bananas with crimped spades to bridged Bennic bi-wire terminals. Bass was very solid, female vocals quite good but top end still a little short. Added a second bare wire run for true bi-wire but with no appreciable difference. I figured it was the too polite Morel and began to think I was really a metal dome man.

A used bi-wire set of Kimber 4PRs in bare wire came next. My mids opened up a bit more and the overall sound was very nice. However, the bass just plain went away and my top end still was short of my expectations. I have since come to fully understand that the 4PRs are Kimber's entry level wire and rightly so. I found all they gave me was their name and looks. Maybe they just wern't for me so I easily recovered my $25 cost.

Recently I went with the DH Labs Silver Sonic T-14s. A used bi-wire set with factory bananas all around set me back a mere $130 w/S&H. Now I have bass again and clarity... and my Morel 30s finally woke up too.

Overall, I was pleased with the performance of bare wire 12ga bulk Monster. Its not a fancy wire nor a perfect wire but can definately carry its weight for the money. If the Kimber 4PR is an affordable, cute and nimble Honda Civic, the 12ga bulk Monster if a plain Ford F-150. For a "zip cord" style wire, it is an excellent performer and value.

Quality - 5 (excellent, best in zip cord class)
Low Pass - 4 (very good, but can bloat)
Hi Pass - 3 (average, but very good over lamp cord)
Satisfaction - 4 (very satisfied)
Value - 5 (excellent)
Grin Factor - 3 (it just works)

In the grand scheme of things its an affordable but very good average type wire that will probably satify as many people as it disappoints. Don't avoid it but don't expect too much. Same for the Kimber 4PR.

None

Muddy mids and highs. Boomy bass.

I moved into a large loft and decided to upgrade my speaker cables. I have large 4-way fronts and decided to go with the 12G Original Monster Cable. Well, I never subscribed to the notion that speaker cables could make that much of a difference until I hooked these atrocious things into my system. Where were all of my highs and mid-ranges? In a word, gone. And the bass was so boomy I could barely hear what was left of the other audio ranges. Needless to say, I returned them immediately for a full refund and used some Monster XP cable lying around. The sound quality was incredible which surprised me because Monster markets this cable for "mini-systems". Whatever--- this wire sounded great. My highs, mids and lows were reproduced cleanly with no muddiness. Maybe it's due to the Magnetic Flux Tube design which is supposed to break up internal magentic fields resulting in greater clarity. Whatever it is, I'd recommend the XP over the Original stuff any day.

Similar Products Used:

No name 16G wire and Monster

I've had these cables for about a year now and found while a great value in the beginning just
sound better and better every day. I can,t think of
a better buy, pricewise or performance.

clear highs...excellent soundstage

none

i love these cables...listening to music is an absolute joy with these cable...when i'm pumping metallica, everything from the bass to the vocals sound excellent.

Similar Products Used:

cheap cables

looks impressive, heavy sound

heavy sound, congestion, stuffiness, lack of clarity

I have had my 10ga Origianal Monster Cable for 13 years. It was a good match for my original system which had small, rather thin sounding British speakers. But with good full range speakers it sounds absolutely horrible.

I recently upgraded to a real pair of speakers (Energy C2) and discovered the Monster Cable's deficiencies. It is boomy in the mid-base and is very stuffy sounding.

I tried unzipping the cable, twisting and bi-wiring it. It looked really cool but didn't sound much better.

Then I got some Ultralink BW-416, which is cheap wire: I got 30 feet for $18.50, used. I replaced the biwired Monster Cable with two runs of the Ultralink cable biwired in shotgun configuration. The difference was amazing. The highs are crisper, the midrange has lost its congestion, and the bass is now lower, louder and cleaner. In short, I got more of everything when I ditched the OMC.

I have never believed that speaker cable makes a difference and really thought I liked my Monster Cable, especially its weighty sound. But replacing it with the cheap Ultralink was like getting new speakers all over again.

I do not recommend OMC unless you want it for filtering purposes.

For the same new price I heartily recommend you get the Ultralink BW-416 and shotgun it. Or at least get the Tributaries 12ga zip wire, or the A/R 12ga, or any of the cheap 14ga stuff from the discount stores.

Please note I am giving it 3 stars because I was happy with it for over ten years and because its filtering aspects can be useful in system matching. But at $40 new it is a joke.

Similar Products Used:

Ultralink BW-416

I wouldn't waste my money on these speaker cables. I use to own a pair to drive my Infinity Kappa 9's from my bridged Adcom GFA-555II's. One day while listening to Pink Floyd Dark Side Of The Moon one of the speakers quit working; after trouble shooting for a while, I found that the Monster Cable had burnt up literally. The burn spots in the cable could be seen and the cable ohmed a dead open.

This is the only component that has remained on my system for over three years.I tried replacing with Tara Prism bi-wire (on a 20ft.length) but it was no contest. Original Monster Cable held its own in clarity, dynamics and openess (at that lenght). After it breaks in it tends to be somewhat laid back on the high end but yields a wider and deeper stage with fuller and richer mids and mid bass. If your system *IS NOT* lacking in detail and focus try this I found out by accident: try leaving your amp on overnight with the volume set to the minimum and without playing anything. The next morning try playing something and listen, if it does what happened to me, you will hear a deeper and wider soundstage with a more defined bass and a greater sense of effortless and openess (but you have to have good revealing interconnects.) If you like it, repeat for another night or two. The effect is reversible by playing whitenoise for three or four hours. If you can, Do not replace the original pin connectors that come with it, I took them off and ended up putting them right back in the next day (unbelivable!)because they seemed to add a sense of coherentness and presence. This cable roams through my house on my sound system and is honored to be also in my home-theater system which is basically made out of all the discards from my sound system (This cable did not get there as such though.) Yes, there are better speaker cables out there but I think no other will give you more bang for the buck than this one despite of what sound system you own. (Except for the tens of kilobucks ultra-high-end sytems of course.) I give it a four and a half for sound quality and a five for value. (I've never tried braiding it as suggested below, but it makes sense.)

Somewhat tighter base

Everything else

When I purchased this cable the clerk told me that he was using it and that it made his bass somewhat tighter. He was right--it did improve the tightness of my bass. Unfortunately it downgraded virtually every other sonic quality of my system. The midrange became particularly lean and muddy. Simply put, this wire robbed my system of its clarity and sparkle, creating a heavier albeit muddy sound. This wire is not for me. However, it may be for you. Fortunately, there is a good way to try before you buy. Simply turn up the bass output on your system and throw a couple of heavy blankets over each speaker. Then sit back, relax, and listen. If you like what you hear, you'll love this wire.

Yamaha rxv902 receiver
PhaseTech PC2 speakers

Similar Products Used:

Standard 16 ga. speaker wire, Tara, BetterCables