Customer Reviews

Monster Cable SS4 Multi-Speaker Selector

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

We moved into a new home last February with Monster wired cables and connectors throughout the house that fed speakers to every room from a central stereo cabinet.

I bought a new receiver and utilized another brand of Speaker Selector that came with the house, and could never, never get adequate volume levels. Then I mysteriously could not get both channels in some of the rooms. After many attempts at debugging, I thought maybe my unit had died, so I looked around and saw this Monster Cable unit on AMAZON.

It's WONDERFUL! I now have more volume than I know what to do with in all the other rooms of my house, and signal is crystal clear.

Monster may be a bit more expensive, but they totally delivered and exceeded expectations with this speaker selector!

Highly recommend!

I think this Monster Cable SS4 Multi-Speaker Selector is a very good product. I would have given it 5 stars if not for the weak tension-grip receivers, ...not really strong enough for heavy wire, in my opinion. If you use 14 gauge wire, it's a little tricky getting the wires in the receiving holes without unraveling the ends. Don't use this model if you plan to use heavier wire (12 gauge) unless you use other connectors. I did hook up four sets of speakers using 14 gauge wire, and sounds great. Be sure to place it in a place that doesn't move around a lot to assure good contact on those connections.
Brad

Dissapointing. The sping-loaded connectors at the back of the selector are not particularly strong, so thick or rigid cables under tension (e.g. twisted at odd angles) easily slip out. The depth of the connectors is also not great, so wires cannot be inserted very far to compensate for the lack of traction. Connections might be better using Monster Cables' own Angled Gold Pin connectors, but I didn't try those.

I used this unit in my RV to run 3 pairs of speakers - 2 inside and 1 outside and it's worked great. I am sure I busted some sort of Audio Engineering rules, but it sure worked like a charm. I can now separate inside/outside/sleeping quarters and couldn't be happier. I also took the unit apart, drilled two holes in the top of it, and mounted it under the cabinets. It looks and works great.

Fairly easy to hook up to speaker wires. Allows one amp to drive up to 4 sets of stereo speakers without blowing the amp. Provides very good sound quality to all speakers. However from the "can't get something for nothing" department, there is a marked volume drop across all speakers as each pair is brought on-line. Further it would be nice if there were separate volume controls for each pair. My set up includes two sets of outdoor hidden "rock" speakers around our pool, a set of outdoor speakers near our BBQ and a set inside our living room. All are driven adequately with my Yamaha 35watt amp cranked up to max. It would be nice to be able to turn down the living room whilst keeping the BBQ cranked! Anyway, fine quality product, good price, just may not do everything.

Normally I've been really happy with Monster products. They're usually more expensive than the competitors but better quality too. This speaker selector is an exception. There's not really much to it but the wire connections on the back really suck - especially if you're using 12ga or 14GA wire. I can't get the connections to stay in place if I move the unit at all - really frustrating. I don't know why they didn't design it to use with their own crimp terminals like I have on everything else. If you want my advice, look for something else. I'm returning this item, my first ever return after many years of Amazon shopping.

Great product and you can't beat the price. I found that buying the flat connectors at an electronics store were very helpful vs. trying to connect with bare wires. I am running 3 sets of speakers and they all work fine. I've used it for two weeks now and still no smoke from my amp...that's a good sign!

I should have read what an earlier reviewer said. The spring loaded wire connectors in the back will not hold even moderately thick speaker wire. If you are using 18 guage or thinner (cheap) wire, this might work. If you are running thicker wire - like most higher end setups - it won't work. I use 12 gauge and 14 gauge speaker wire and couldn't even get the wires to go into the cheap connectors on the back of the unit. I return very few items, but had to return this one.

It was the other feedback comments and reviews that pushed me over the edge and had me try this one out (vs some of the less expensive , but more questionable, options) and I couldn't be happier.

I have a 20 year old Sony receiver which is still working like a charm and though it is currently has 2 zones as a primary feature, i wanted to be able to have 3 zones functional. Numerous places told me that i could add a device like this one but it would only allow me to specify one or the other zones, not letting them run concurrently. Wrong. This is a great device and i am putting it to the test these days. I have all three zones running and haven't experienced any issues!

Great stuff.

Unit is well built and functional. I now need a way to turn down inside speakers when outside speakers are at acceptable volume. Oops.