airy but solid, extended and superquick highs. midrange is incredibly detailed and airy bottom end is extended and controlled soundstage is very large and instruments are extremely distinct within it. Just brings a new level of presence and visceralness to the music. honestly the best I've heard at all. Seriously recommended.

not a very sturdy cable. but, oddly, quite stiff. the fabric covering the outsidecould easily fray over time it treated roughly.

I have used some very nice interconnects in my system and I am absolutely blown away by these monsters. After burning them in, I thaught maybe they had been designed to emphasize the highs. But, the more I listen and compare them to live performances and other cables, I realise that these are the the way hghs are really supposed to sound like. Amazing! Soundstage is massive, though more in terms of width than depth. transients are awesome. They are superfast but not harsh or unbalanced. Transients are followed by full, rich body. These cables have transformed my already excellent system. I have used Cardas Golden reference and neutral reference, along with some dimarzio cables and some LAT IC-300 and the monster are hands down the best. Well, the Golden reference come pretty close,, and may be just a hint better controlled in the bass registeres.

Similar Products Used:

LAT international IC-300 Signature Cardas Golden Reference Cardas Neutral Reference DiMarzio

noted in previous posting.

just an update on my last posting: While everything I said about the Sigma's is true, I have found the Cardas Golden Reference interconnects sound better than my Sigmas after full break in. The bass becomes more natural, has slightly less focus but is more visceral and authoritative. There is more of it as well with slightly better articualtion. The highs are just a tad more open but tonality is identical to the Sigmas. The midrange is more forward but the Golden Reference offer superior soundstage depth which easily makes up for the slight forward presentation of the Golden Ref's in the midrange. Also, following complete break in of the Cardas ic's, I noticed that they sound louder at the same volume when compared to the Sigmas in an A/B comparison. Overall the Cardas cable was better in almost every area in my system and has therefore become the interconnect of choice. Interestingly enough, I was able to get more out of my system using Monster Sigma speaker cables when I replaced the Sigmas with fully burned in Cardas Golden Reference ic's. Lastly, the MRSP for the Cardas ic is less than that for the Sigma, so the Sigma loses out here as well but is still a very good product in its own right. Hence, I have adjusted the retings to show for this: Value rating: 5 (used on ebay this cable is a bargain) Overall rating: 4 (bettered by the Cardas Golden Reference, although the Cardas sells for more on the used market, so in the end you pay for what you get)

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noted previously.

mentioned above plus, RCA connectors are easy to handle and well built, cables are flexible enough once they burn in and also very durable. This is the best I've seen/heard from Monster, and it merits an audiophile stamp in my opinion.

Never heard a better cable in my system, so quite honestly I don't know. (Tried Cardas Golden Reference/Neutral Reference, Audioquest Cheetah/Sky and Revelation Audio Labs Paradise - 2004 winner of golden ear - but none were able to beat the Sigmas in ANY area)

These are the best interconnects out there for the money period. That is my opinion! For musicality they have no match. I've tried replacing them many times, with some interconnects that cost more and others that cost less. All have come short in my system. The way these cables bring out the highs is just magical and no silver cable can match them in this area. I know that Monster Cable is a company that focuses mostly on advertising their mainstream products, most of which are below the mediocre line in the true audiophile world. But money talks, and if that's where the market is, you can't blame Monster Cable for taking advantage of that. Seriously. Monster Cable wants to be around for a while too. But to return to the Retro Gold interconnects: bottom end that only copper can render, visceral yet articulate and fast with warmth when needed. Mids are cohesive, yes that's the best way to describe it. The music has body and is consistent. And highs? Well, imagine highs that have all the detail of a cable like the Cardas Golden Reference with absolutely no harshness whatsoever and with a sureal magic about them that no cable (that I've heard) has. The Golden Reference by Cardas is the only cable that comes close in my system, but I still like the Sigma's better, probably becasue I also use the Sigma Retro Gold speaker cables. Makes sense ... system: 1. Audio Aero Capitole MKII 2. YBA passion integre (preamp bypassed, amp used in bi-amping mode with 2 sets of Moster Sigma Retro speaker cables) 3. Revelation Audio Mistral S6 speakers (some of the best speakers in the world in my opinion,made in Canada. I went to the 2005 Montreal HI-FI show ... "son et images" for those who remember ... wanting to hear the YBA passion and Nagra amps, the Audio Aero SACD player, the Sonus Faber Stradivari speakers and came home with these amazing speakers. Congratulations Alain, meeting you was the best experience at the show. Owning your speakers has openend my eyes at what true music sounds like. I'm honored to be the second person to have these speakers in my home. They are an amazing accomplishment in music and I can say with certainty that they will never leave.) Associated equipment: 1. Shunyata Hydra 4 powerconditioner (every system should have one, if not a Shuyata, then something in the same class; the benefits of this addition are unmistakeable, once in my system I was never able to remove it, despite a number of attempts) 2. Powercords (Cardas Golden Reference to the CD player, Revelation Audio Labs Precept to YBA integre and Shunyata Copperhead to Hydra - soon to be replaced with another Precept) 3. Symposium Rollerblocks, double stacked isolation blocks with tungsten superballs (set of 3, brought the sound of my system to a reference level, I still remember coming home after Montreal, turning the system on and ... ahhhhh so musical compared to anything that we heard there ... we felt trully spoiled to be able to enjoy that sound in our bedroom. These isolation blocks equal the value of all other links in our musical chain, and without them our system would sound nowhere near the level it has reached today, we use them on the Capitole MKII and the YBA passion integre with unbelievable results) And the best thing: only one set of Monster Cable interconnects in the entire system (that's the main advantage of owning the Audio Aero Capitole MK II Cd player, easily one of the best Transport/DAC/Preamp combos's on the market today at any price!, it's so good that I believe that EVERYONE should have the opportunity to hear this CD player connected to a reference amp, top notch stuff, beats Esoteric/Moon Audio/Gryphon by a WIDE margin indeed and offers the best of all the CD players mentioned in one package with a reference preamp as well ... that's money well spent) Rating: Value: For the money I spent 5 stars (don't think you can get better performance at this price or at any reasonable prices. the reference Nordost Valhallas cost a fortune and there are other ic's out there 3 or 4 times more costly than the Valhallas, sorry but I don't have silly money to throw around) Overall: 5 stars (just simply an amazing product)

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listed

clear, smooth highs natural vocals good bottom end 3D soundstage extends beyond width of speaker placement transparency and detail

very hard cable, limited flexibility comes terminated with spades only at speaker end (although banana plugs are available at amp end) non-biwirable which means that you need 2 pairs of speaker cable for true bi-amping (instead of the B.S. biwiring that has become common practice with no real sonic benefits) ... but this is a very pricy practice for small gains, albeit worth them if you have the money.

The best cable I've heard to date. Beat Audioquest's King Cobra hands down ... more natural voice rendition with better bottom end. Don't think it ranks lower than top of the line Acoustic Zen interconnect. Transparent interconnect ($1800 USD) sounded more muddy in midrange compared to Sigma. Silver interconnects are usually brighter with the same amount of detail, but they are very fast. Overall a great interconnect, I'm very happy with it. I also use the Sigma speaker cables and they bring out what the interconnects can do. Use high resolution system to get all the detail that these interconnects can render ... it's quite awesome. I heard that higher end Nordost interconnects (Valkyrie and Valhalla) are much better but some say these are only faster than the Sigma's otherwise very small difference. If you can find them for $350 on ebay I think that they offer outstanding value at this price.

Similar Products Used:

various cables by Audioquest, Monster, Nordost, Ultralink, Tara Labs.

Good tonal balance

Somewhat muddled lower midrange

This is a perfectly respectable cable, but nowhere near as clear and detailed from top to bottom as my favorite cables, Cardas Golden Reference and Straightwire Crescendo. At least in balanced form, the lower midrange was lacking in clarity, and the dynamic range quite limited. At its price, you can do a lot better.

Similar Products Used:

balanced Cardas Golden Reference, Straightwire Crescendo

Tonal Balance, detail, overall presentation.

A slight bit warm on the bottom, but getting better as it breaks in.

Not sure what happened in the other Gentleman's system, but in my system these are staggeringly good! One thing that they say is that you really need to buy them as a system and use both the speaker cables and interconnects. Sounds like marketing BS...but in my experiments, it definitely works. Using bi-wire sets of the Sigma Retro speaker cable and the interconnects from beginning to end has taken my system to a new level in every way. This cable is subtle and has a definite warm voice, but in my system, this combo ties everything together in a way that no other has to date. The Sigma Retro speaker cable is a particularly good match to my speakers (Bohlender Grabener Radia 520 DX's, a hybrid ribbon speaker that uses the same driver found in the 100K Genesis). Besides, you get a cool looking briefcase too! Hard to find a dealer who has them, but worth searching for.

Similar Products Used:

MIT, Harmonic Tech, Wireworld, Analysis Plus, Transparent Audio.

Warm, good tonal balance

None that I know of

These are great interconnects in my system; B&W N803 speakers are good, but bright (~3dB hump in freq response at about 15kHz). The MIT terminated Shotgun cables were muddy sounding, just not nice. The Kimber silvers sounded like good cables, but way to BRIGHT in my system. The Sigmas are clean, bass is tight, and overall I get a nice, musical presentation. Hard to describe, but its the difference between liking how my system sounds and not liking it.

Similar Products Used:

MIT Shotgun, Kimber silver