Customer Reviews

Monster 100 Feet Speaker Cable

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Here's a few excerpts from the glowing reviews here:

"The Monster XPHP-CI cable makes a big difference at any volume, but it really shines when you are pushing allot of sound at once, especially bass."

"The sound I am getting is a noticeable improvement over older Monster cable of similar gauge."

"Reproduces excellend sound; probably the best speaker cable in this price range."

"This cable is great for anyone concerned with clear sound output but not with are large bill."

"The Monster speaker wire delivers great sound and is very thick and sturdy."

"Sure many people are happy using hardware store wire, but if you like the extra quality this wire has it"

"The sound I am getting is a noticeable improvement over older Monster cable of similar gauge."

"This cable is great for anyone concerned with clear sound output"

I'd like to know how everyone was able to objectively ascertain that the quality improved from one speaker wire to another?

Did everyone have two totally identical parallel systems and have a completely neutral party with no vested interest listen to the differences between the two systems (with the only difference being the speaker wires) or did the person who purchased the Monster wire change the speaker wires then 10-60 minutes later listen to the system and compare the sound to what they had "remembered" earlier and conclude that the Monster wire must certainly sound better?

Would you bet your life or 10 years income or dedicate your life to celibacy that you could positively identify which speaker wires you were listening to?

I happen to own all Monster cables (before HDMI) and speaker wires. Why? Because I knew someone who in retail (not a box store) I could buy it from at true wholesale prices and it was insanely dirt cheap. Could I tell the difference when I switched speaker wires? Of course not. However, when I upgraded to a very high end receiver and 4 high-end massive tower speakers with a high-end giant center speaker plus two rear speakers then I (and my neighbors) noticed a huge difference.

Monster products are "faith" based. You want to believe that they are better with absolutely no empirical evidence whatsoever because you need to reinforce your purchase decision.

I know that those of you who already bought Monster products are insecure and will mark this review as 'not helpful'. I take comfort from that.

For those who haven't yet bought the massively advertised Monster products, I encourage you to look around before making a purchase and realize that a speaker wire won't make your sound system instantly sound great or even better. No speaker wires regardless of cost or perceived quality will compensate for mediocre speakers or an old or inadequate receiver.

To further complicate the issue, in order to truly judge the quality of the sound you need to have a source of high quality sound output. I primarily listen to recent Blu-Ray movies with uncompressed sound (the difference is massive). Go to blu-ray dot com to obtain the A/V ratings of movies. If you're listening to movies with poor quality sound, no matter how good your equipment is, all you're going hear is junk.

To give you an example how your own mind plays games with you, here's my own recent experience: On my new Blu-Ray player I came across an audio option that was set for the default. I increased it to the max since my receiver is capable of handling the load. When I restarted the disk, the audio sounded remarkably better. I was impressed by this new setting and greatly enjoyed listening to the new enhanced audio output that night.

The next day, however, I read the Blu-Ray manual and discovered that this audio option didn't work with HDMI which is what I have. I had totally deceived myself into believing that the sound had dramatically improved all because I wanted to believe this to be the case.

Imagine the influence advertising can have upon you.

I agree with Sam, Monster goes out of its way to advertise its brand, but when you look at their package, the wire gauge rating is hidden. Why is that? All wiring has to meet industry standards as to gauge. It is the most fundamental deciding factor in choosing wire.

Standing in Home Depot and doing a side by side comparison, all other brands list their gauge clearly on the packaging except Monster - and Monster is more expensive. Don't be duped. You need a large gauge wire but you don't need to pay for Monster advertising.

There is so much more that goes into great sound. The shape of your room, the acoustic absorption of your furniture and drapes, the angle of the speakers, the quality of your speakers, the quality of your amp and the quality of the source of the music itself.

If you check out many of the audio/video website forums, and home theater forums, you find that members rail against Monster products for being overpriced. That may be, because to deliver audio to your speakers, there really is no difference, electrically, between $1/ft Monster cables and $0.20/ft generic speaker wire of similar gauge (or lamp chord for that matter). However, there are definite benefits to this product that justifies the price to me.

The beauty of this XPHP-CI cable is that is has a high strand count, which means it is very flexible. Fishing it around walls is easier than if the cable was stiff, as you would get with thicker but less strands of other cables. This is also useful for in-room speaker connection cable - say from your amp to the wall plate or the wall plate to your speaker, as the flexible cable will lay where you put it and you are not fighting it or bending it or worried the working you are doing will weaken the joint at the banana plugs you've put on the ends.

The other benefits, well, the clear covers means its attractive and blends better than brown, white, black, grey, you name it. The CL3 rated jacket means its firecode compliant to run inside of walls. And the beefy nature of the cable means you have some meat to attach those banana plugs to.

Sure, a 16ga spool of any wire will do electrically, even for high power setups so long as you don't run 200feet, but it wont look and feel the same and not inspire the same confidence that the connectors you put on it will stay put for the long haul. But you do pay for Monster products.

I don't buy all of the marketing about it making your music sound better. Its an electrical conductor made of copper like every other cable. I do know that the look and feel and workability are worth the premium price to me.

Nice beefy stuff. It has a thread inside the CL jacket so it is easy to strip back...you just pull on it to cut the jacket. The speaker wire inside is well insulated and the conducter is high quality.

This cable works very well. It's casing is a little bulky (might not work well under carpet), but the built in casing splitting is a nice touch.

I know some people complain and say that Monster Cable products are overrated or overpriced. But to be honest, they really are not. If you are like me and incredibly (almost to a fault) picky about your sound, then you need Monster Cable, no questions asked. They really know how to make the BEST cables out there on the market, and they last! Will 10 dollar speaker wire do the same thing as this wire? NO! Don't fool yourself. Yes, of course it will play music and do what it's supposed to do, but only to an extent and it definitely will not do it at the level of quality of Monster Cable speaker wire. I use NOTHING but Monster Cable wire for everything...my entire home theater system is set up with nothing but Monster Cable wires (speakers, component, AV, RCA, HDMI, and Subwoofer cables all from Monster). Also, the entire thing is powered by one of their higher end Power Centers. Call me crazy if you want...but I've used all the generic cables and wire and some of the "cheap" cables wire that are out there, and they seriously just don't match up. The sound quality is just incredible with this speaker wire. It's very high quality and is seriously made to last. For anyone that wants to get the most out of their music and not be worried about cranking it ALL the way up...you will can rest assured that you are using the absolute best speaker wire out there when using this wire. If you bought all the expensive home theater components, don't sell your system short by using cheap wires. You are just wasting your money if you do!

After buying a 100 feet of Monster Cable speaker wire from Best Buy, I needed more & checked Amazon. I ended up with even better Monster Cable speaker wire thsn Best Buy & $30.00 cheaper. Best buy has a big markup on all their Monster Cable products they sell. Will go with amazon from now on for any Monster Cable products.

I used this for an onkyo hts 9100 thx system and have no complaints.I used about 185ft. of the 200ft.{2 spools} The cable was very flexible and worked well around corners.

This is an excellent price for this wire. Sure many people are happy using hardware store wire, but if you like the extra quality this wire has it. Works and looks great.

Yeah everyon and thier mom says speaker wire iis speaker wire, I would normaly never buy monster cable anything. But for $66.94 compared to $149 at best buy this is a pretty good deal. Beautiful cable very sturdy color coded unlike half the other wires out there. It blends in with my carpet you almost forget it is even there. Yeah I could have gone to monoprice.com and got speaker cable for $25 but it was my first high end build and wanted top of the line everything, and am very satisfied.