Audiophiles Can't Tell The Difference Between Monster Cable And Coat Hangers

[quote][B]Audiophiles can't tell the difference between Monster Cable and coat hangers[/B]
 
[I]Posted Mar 3rd 2008 8:03PM by Nilay Patel[/I]
[I]Filed under: Home Entertainment[/I]
 
We've always believed that the perceived quality boost that comes from using high-end cables is really just a trick of the mind (read: justifying the ridiculous cost of premium cables to yourself) -- if you've dropped enough cash, you can probably hear anything you want. Still, our belief is one thing -- cold hard proof is another, and it looks like a group of 12 self-professed "audiophiles" recently couldn't tell the difference between Monster 1000 speaker cables and plain old coat hangers. Yeah, coat hangers. 
 
The group was A-Bing different cables, and unbeknownst to them, the engineer running the test swapped out a set of cables for coat hangers with soldered-on speaker connections. Not a single one was then able to tell the difference between the Monster Cable and the hangers, and all agreed that the hangers sounded excellent. No wonder Monster has to rig HD displays. Still, we bet people still fall for the hype -- oh hey, if you're looking for the ultimate in sound, we've got half a meter of oxygen-free, triple-wrapped double-insulated Sonically Shielded AmpliSized Egyptian Llama cable here that we'll part ways with for just a couple grand. [/quote]
 
[URL]http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/03/audiophiles-cant-tell-the-difference-between-monster-cable-and/[/URL]
 
 
I've been saying this shit for years, these people that spend all that cash on super duper cables, I simply laugh at!
 
I feel the same with HDMI cables too. My buddy thinks the Monster or other high brand names are far better then the radio shack or eBay.
I'm like BS son!! What you're watching on my pimp Pioneer plasma you keep raving about, is a $6 shipped eBay HDMI cable that came in a clear plastic baggie. 
We did the test with his pimpy Monter HDMI... NO DIFFERENT!!
 
Pwned again!!
 
Audio and video geeks crack me up.

right on about this one Rich,

not only audio cables, but I bet they would fail miserably with 1000 speakers vs 10,000 speakers, same goes for amps and source units as well!

the industry is based on heavy BS marketing and fantasy brainwashed "audiophiles" with money to burn.

If it costs more it must be better. :pat: 
 
 
kinda reminds me of.........

werd... i never bought into Monster cables. Same goes with Bose. Millions go into marketing their products with the end result being nothing spectacular.

[quote=DriftGirl;135889]If it costs more it must be better. :pat: 
 
 
kinda reminds me of.........[/quote]
 
peeps one here??? lol
 
as far as the cables..... your paying for the extra shielding.... if your not getting any noise then your good with what your running already. But I guarantee if you run a 100' run coathangers next to power wires and 100' of that high end wire you will be able to tell the difference. It all depends on your application.

i'm 50/50 on this one. i'm sure that some of the extreme audiophile cables are more hype than anything else, but a test set out to disprove something will usually succeed.
 
a signal is a signal, and i'm not 100% on how everything works but it makes sense that any piece of like metal would preform equally. at the same time, audioplilism (word?) is about reproducing the signal EXACTLY, whether audible or not.
 
another issue is shielding. in a test situation i doubt that outside noise was introduced. put a quality cable up against a coat hanger in a real world application and i'm fairly certain the results would not be the same.
 
either way, food for thought. like i said, 50/50...

[quote=Qclass;135885]right on about this one Rich,
 
not only audio cables, but I bet they would fail miserably with 1000 speakers vs 10,000 speakers, same goes for amps and source units as well!
 
the industry is based on heavy BS marketing and fantasy brainwashed "audiophiles" with money to burn.[/quote]
 
 
You will be able tell the difference between cheap amps and cheap drivers compared to high-end stuff. But I agree.....alot of people buy certain brands because they are marketed way better, but that's why big companies have departments dedicated to marketing.

[quote=SkidMark;135894]werd...Same goes with Bose. Millions go into marketing their products with the end result being nothing spectacular.[/quote]
 
thats a whole different issue. a bose system is a combintaion of components and is open to a lot of new technology. i'm not a bose fan boy or anything but i think they have a pretty solid reputation of technological advances.
 
*edit - same to the speakers/hu issue, and thats something that is 100% proven although what is accepted as "the best" may not be.

Im an audiophile person. yes a lot of people buy monster cable stuff. but not audiophiles that i know of. i know consumers that are just jumping into the home audio buys monster cable. they have built a name for themselves for quality. some cable companys i go through are monoprice, and blue jean. They are  half or even more less than the price of monster cable. but no doubt they make good speaker wire. all people are different when it comes to audio. some people can hear differences and some people cant. There are high end companies like DVIgear, impact acoustic, and etc. ive invested 12k in my HT so far. im very happy with it, its still in progress. but in end everything revoles around how you want everything to be. you might think we are silly. but we are trying to reach a point of clarity sound/video. but when i turn it on i like to see everyone facial expression when they feel the full experience of how audio can be played. 

im not a big fan of bose. ive had a few bose system when i started off. they still have to fix some phase issues, and what not. Ive notice a lot of the bose speakers like to jump out of phase than what it suppose to do. its good for acoustic or classic music no doubt.

Some audiophiles chase that perfect sound and they end up back where they started....
A friend of a friend is a big time audiophile for years.... his current setup is 1 full range 10" speaker. That's it.... What you think is perfect will not sound perfect to another.... also a perfect flatly tuned system will sound like shit to an average listener.

When I purchase my Samsung 40 inch lcd HDTV ... I was listening to those losers from Bestbuy and got all these wires ... come to find out I returned all 500.00 + in cables .. trying to upsell me .. didn't need half of them .. 

I used my local cable company and they provided for free ... red , blue , green wires and HDMI...  Forget best buy for any of their question they can answer ... I won't ask the 7 dollar employees anything ..

an electron passing through a conductor doesn't care how much that conductor costs. i've always figured there was no way anyone could tell the difference. sure there are some variables but discounting shielding, etc. for sound quality, i agree with the study.

I was a certified Monster tech when I was in sales a few years ago.  There is a difference.  We hooked up two Phillips flat screens, one with the generic brand, the other with monster and everyone we asked said the one with monster looked better without knowing which was which.  
 
IMO, its not a big enough difference to spend extra cash on.

i believe there is no difference for the average user.   The shielding is important if there is alot of interference and also long distances like someone mentioned above.   I also buy from monoprice.com and never looked back.   10ft hdmi is like $6 vs. monster or AV whatever brand at best buy for $70.   No difference and my friends bought the same and said the same thing.    In cars however it will make a difference with shielding and what not because of engine noise.    I also had a friend manager at bestbuy and their profit margin on TVs and stereos isn't much...its the accessories and the perfomance insurance crap they make money on.   Monster cables are now made in china and lower quality then it used to be too.    Before I found out about monoprice.com my friend hooked up monster cables for less than 50% off the floor price.

Bose is all marketing...they suck but the average consumer thinks it's high end...LOL   Infiniti did it and used Bose...sounds like ass.

^ Just try this a few times
Bleeeoop- Audio, bass down
 
 
I turned the bass all the way down and it sounds better then before

Sometimes I like driving with the sub off. I'm far from an audiophile, I just know what I like hearing.

The coathanger test is a good laugh though heheh

Nice find and interesting read.  I'm going to move this to the audio section, you'll for sure get more attn from audiophiles there!

[quote=xplayazplayzonx;135913]Im an audiophile person. yes a lot of people buy monster cable stuff. but not audiophiles that i know of. i know consumers that are just jumping into the home audio buys monster cable. they have built a name for themselves for quality. some cable companys i go through are monoprice, and blue jean. They are  half or even more less than the price of monster cable. but no doubt they make good speaker wire. all people are different when it comes to audio. some people can hear differences and some people cant. There are high end companies like DVIgear, impact acoustic, and etc. ive invested 12k in my HT so far. im very happy with it, its still in progress. but in end everything revoles around how you want everything to be. you might think we are silly. but we are trying to reach a point of clarity sound/video. but when i turn it on i like to see everyone facial expression when they feel the full experience of how audio can be played. 

im not a big fan of bose. ive had a few bose system when i started off. they still have to fix some phase issues, and what not. Ive notice a lot of the bose speakers like to jump out of phase than what it suppose to do. its good for acoustic or classic music no doubt.[/quote]

Yes, I totally agree. I always buy from monoprice for their prices and quality. Some of the monster stuff is 10x the price of monoprice.  As far as bose technology goes, its all gimicks to persuade the average person to buy their over priced junk. You ever wonder why the never list tech specs for their equpment? Because it sucks, also why you cant remove the speaker grilles? Because they use cheap drivers. Last acoustimass system I checked had 2in paper drivers with veenered low density fiberboard enclosures, didnt even bother using MDF. They make all their money by marketing. How many audio companies advertise in non audio related magazines or have infomercials on tv? Albeit, they are simple to use and have a very modern and fashionable look, which helps them cater to most people. The sound is decent but can easily be replicated by something 1/6th of the price. Anyway, enough about that. 

BTW, there is even smaller difference between hi end hdmi cables and cheaper ones vs audio cables because of the fact that hdmi uses a digital signal and not an analog signal. The digital code of hdmi signal of course consists of only 0s and 1s so you either get the signal or dont, no inbetween. 

Then again there are those purists who only want Monster throughout their entire system and would rather pay for the name and look. :biggthumpup:

Any A/V science forum members here?

generally, people like to hate on monster because they're expensive. monster is definitely good cable, but is it worth retail pricing? probably not... you can definitely get just as good cables or even better for much much cheaper. but if you still want monster, find your way to ebay and you'll find all kinds of wiring at very competitive pricing.

Im trying to finish off my car audio system right now. i just picked up my 2 12w3v2-d4. right now i currently have CDT all around on an eclipse amp. for my subwoofer each sub is going ot have its own independent rockford fosgate amp. i use to have the 12w3v2-d4 on the 500/1 amp it would clip. im using all monster cable speaker wires. really cheap when you but them big spools :p. 

my home audio still in progress. its going to take me another 1k to finish it off blahhhh. hobbies are to expensive now and days lol. but for sure bose is all marketing. all the stuff that they use to make those system are hecka cheap. [url]http://intellexual.net/bose.html[/url] check out that article. a lot of people will be surprised.

I use phoenix gold cables in my car :(

Heres a good site for cheap but nice power and interconnects...
 
[URL]http://knukonceptz.com/index.cfm[/URL]

If u have rats and mice in ur house, u want cables with extra shielding :biggthumpup:

after reading the first post, I'll say this, the very first Monster Cable WAS a coat hanger....so imagine that. what happens is the tech used to manipulate the signal. it's not about how much money they cost but rather the construction of said cable. I deal in car audio specifically and can justify a better cable not by sound quality. I'm not gonna make an arguement out of it tho. I deal with JL Audio and I have a lot of problems with the cheaper RCA's they make. I'm sellin better cables for better reliability and customer satisfaction. let me also add that I used Monster 1000 component cables from my 480i DVd player and cheapies on my 1080i Hd feed. The dvd was on par using better cables. so...

+1 for Monoprice, blue jeans cables, and AVS Forum! Unless you live next a Power Plant or something, the oxygen-free, copper speaker cabling from Monoprice should suffice most users.

I'm considering some Paradigm (Cinema) speakers for my HT, anyone have any experience with them and can recommend a good dealer?

[QUOTE=DriftGirl;135889]If it costs more it must be better. :pat: 
 
 
kinda reminds me of.........[/QUOTE]

reminds me of VIP body kits =p

i don't know about their car audio wiring, but their instrument and speaker cables for live audio ARE built better. the solder points are usually super clean, and they rarely break. lifetime warranty is awesome too. break one, just take it into guitar center and they will replace it 100% free of charge, i.e. shipping. no need for receipt or anything.

as far are car audio, i usually use whatever is laying around at the moment.:dance:

same here, i dont know about car audio. i am perfectly fine with stock bose.

but for guitar cables...man it makes a huge difference.




as for the rats and mice thing widebody....lol they eat through concrete buddy. iono if rubber is gonna help

when i look at audio stuff. i look for the clarity of the noise. how clear its being heard and how it sounds when the beats are slapping. but i can say. at one time in my life.. as a dumb 16 year old i have used speaker wires for power wires!!! hahaha but now its moved on and i can tell now from hearing so many subs and amp that.. sometimes different wiring does count!

i used to have cut up Monster Cable RCA and speaker wires. every cable and wire was built differently as you moved up the scale. most RCA's had a thick gauge copper strand with much finer strands wrapped around it. this was based on the same basis as their speaker wire with the plastic tube down the middle. the tube and thick copper wire carried more of the low frequencies while the high frequecies travelled around the middle, therefore slowing down it's proggresion along the wire. was designed to make sure all the frequencies arrived at the same time. Now i know this is the speed of light, but imagine a bus with it's LED turn signal on and you can see the progression of light along the side of the bus. same principal