Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

[veryhungrycaterpilla]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

Are they worth it? I mean they are priced quite hefty, is the difference there or is that rather imaginary? We're talin about good cables in comparison... not 5$ ones.

thanks

Mine shorted out after about 3 months. I lost the receipt. I will never buy Monster cables again.

 

[Bezmotivnik]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

everything about tone is just Voodooo anyway

Nearly everything, including about 95% of Monster's notoriously "creative" physics in their ad copy.

I believe in NICE cables, but I don't believe in MAGIC cables. :wink:

**Aside from relative capacitance**, I have never yet seen an EE who believed guitar or XLR cables made an iota's difference in tone, or that Monster wasn't making their magik-tone "science" stuff up as they went along. Not once.

I concur.

Never mind that Monster makes unspectacular cheap-o cable lines as well that have no mojo and just cost more than comparable brands of cheapy molded cables.

Last week, the local Guitar Center had a sale on open-box cabling for 3/$10, anything in the big pile. At that price I bought a huge amount of "premium" cabling, including Monster, Mogami, Planet Waves, etc. Frankly, I don't much care for the Monster product compared to other higher-end stuff that's just premium Neutrik connectors on top-end cable.

I got one not-Monster ten-foot guitar cable that was $69.99 MSRP in this lot. It's certainly a nice cable with (HOORAY!) a right-angle end, but seven bucks a foot? I think not. At $3.34, I love it though.

The Monster Rock 21' guitar cable I got (for $3.34) has [CORRECTION!] MORE measured capacitance per foot than some other premium cables here, so in view of known, uncontroversial science, they should suck hi-frequency tone somewhat more than those cables.

 

[d1dsj]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

I just go with PW's cables now which work for what I want. About 3 years ago I got 2 Monster cables... £50 each... not sure what series they were but I expected them to be superb. Both cables were good as long as you didn't move around.... 'coz when I did the whoosh and crackle was bloody awful. So I took them back for 2 more... same problem? Then I got the PW's with no problems.

 

[Stratman]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

Nope

 

[Bezmotivnik]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

Of all the cables here (and I have a bunch) the Planet Waves has the least capacitance per foot by a substantial margin, which translates to the least tone-suck, but I hate their Mickey Mouse solderless connectors and flaky on/off switches. I just finished repairing one.

The next lowest capacitance cable per foot is a cheap 20' "The Musician's Choice" I got at GC for about $3 as I recall. It has almost exactly HALF the capacitance of the 21' Monster Rock -- 507pF v. 1008pF.

 

[Shane28462]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

I think their superior cables but im not to say they are worth it to you. I will say this though. I have yet to find a better speaker cable between my Marshall heads and cabs than the Monster SP-1000 speaker cables. On the other hand the SP-1000 instrument cable doesn't seem to be any better than the regular monster rock cable. Its also an extremely heavy cable as well.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

I've finally got nothing but Monster Rock and a speaker cable, so the rig is all Monster except the George L's and Proco for the pedalboard.

I try to use things like gift certificates or rebates to buy stuff like Monster Cables, since I want them, but don't always want to pull out $50 for them.

I think I've actually saved money because they've never gone bad on me, so I get full use out of them. Compared to most of their competition that's usually only $10 cheaper, I'd rather go with the durable Monsters that have pretty gold ends.

Also, they don't coil up as bad as thinner cables, and aren't overly thick.

 

[LesStrat]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

If only the company wasn't run by jerks.

 

[Bezmotivnik]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

The part that always throws me in discussions like this is that most people can't make cables, so their judgment is based on little besides a cable not breaking.

As a former professional P2P zero-defects assembler, I don't have any use for a sealed, solderless or non-serviceable connector that I can't quickly inspect and re-wire if I feel it's necessary.

I just don't regard them as professional-grade cabling.

Aside from the lackluster capacitance of the raw cable, I don't like the fact that I can't service Monster connectors which are just not that hot to begin with, compared to something like a Neutrik, which is superior to any end I've used so far, with better design, strain relief and construction.

Anything but really superior raw cable with top-quality soldered component connectors is innately amateurish and a waste of money to me.

 

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

Thank God I'm not a professional.

 

[brit84]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

I bought about 70ft of 18gauge instrument cable and a load of G+H plugs. The able sounded better to me than PW, and Geoge L. Plus I can solder any length when I need it.
If you can solder, and are planning to outfit a pedalboard or somthing, id make em youself.

 

[jhale667]

Still gonna say they're worth it.

Still gonna say they're worth it.

I'd also concur about the speaker cables...forgot to mention I was running those too... Yeah, at one point I was running one Monster and one "whatever" cheapo speaker cable, and it was as if the cab with the cheapo cable had a blanket over it or something...got another Monster and WOW...

On the plus side, now I know both my cabinets sound great...:bling:

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

Also, I'm careful about NOT losing the receipts. I have 2 Monster cartons, both with the receipts stapled to them, up in the top of my closet. I've never had to use the lifetime warranty, but the day one of them starts acting up, I'll take it right back to where I bought it, and walk out with a brand new one. Not all warrantys are that good.

 

[Hellion]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

There's a reason I go wireless!

I've never thought that Monster Cables were all that hot. I've used them, and Whirlwind, Spectraflex, George L's, Musician's Friend, and I'm sure a lot of other brands as well. Of the bunch, I thought the George L's were the most transparent sounding but not very sturdy. Of the rest, I couldn't tell much difference. Nowadays, if I find myself needing a cord, I make one. I go and buy some high quality shielded cable and two ends. I get an excellent sounding cable that I can service if need be.

 

[stratsandaks]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

FWIW I've never had to show a reciept when exchanging Monster cables at Guitar Center

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

FWIW I've never had to show a reciept when exchanging Monster cables at Guitar Center

fyi, I asked my guy at Guitar Center, and he basically said the same thing. No receipt required to exchange.

 

[Kommerzbassist]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

fyi, I asked my guy at Guitar Center, and he basically said the same thing. No receipt required to exchange.

Why would you need one anyway... to check the date of your buy? Uhm... it's lifelong guarantee anyway...

Hmm alot of different comments here...
I'm still quite impressed by the MC cables I got. And I don't have any popping or crackling issues like someone stated...
Also... I don't care about the fact that i can't resolder them... because should they be broken, I just get a new one. Easy as that. I always carry some spares anyway should it happen out of sudden.
Ok, the company is owned by jerks... may be... Gibson is owned by jerks too... in the end... I buy stuff solely for myself... whoever produces what I find to be the best, I'll buy (if I can afford it), and Monster Rock cables just sound right to me after I A/Bed a bunch of cables at my dealer.

 

[Bezmotivnik]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

Monster Rock cables just sound right to me after I A/Bed a bunch of cables at my dealer.

A lot of people (myself included) would be very interested in seeing if that was so in a truly scientific blind A/B test in a controlled environment.

As I recall, I think someone has a standing $5000 bet that you can't, though I'm not sure of the details.

I think his money's perfectly safe. Science is on his side. :wink:

 

[Kommerzbassist]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

A lot of people (myself included) would be very interested in seeing if that was so in a truly scientific blind A/B test in a controlled environment.

As I recall, I think someone has a standing $5000 bet that you can't, though I'm not sure of the details.

I think his money's perfectly safe. Science is on his side. :wink:

Don't mix up speaker cables with instrument cables. Any dork can hear a difference between a crappy guitar cable and a good one. Speaker cables however, don't really make a difference as long as they work since the signal is way different. For speaker cables, I really just look for the Neutrik metal plugs since those can't just break and short out your amp.

 

[YEM]

Re: Monster Rock cables... are they worth the $$$?

One word answer: no. BUT, here's what I do and what I think is the best approach. I have the gold nice ass monster rocks for plugging my guitar into the pedal board and for plugging the pedal board into the amp. But a much better looking, cheaper, less bulky and wasting unnecessary space, and extremely high quality way to avoid using monster patch cables are George L's! Very high quality, short and compact, and they're black so they are basically invisible against my black pedal board-top quality as well. All the pedals are patched with george l's and i just use the two monster rocks. I wouldn't go any other way. Hope this helps, it works wonders for me. Love the black patches and then the way the gold plugged into my guitar, board, and amp looks. Fresh as hell, highly functional, not bank-breaking. But i got an amazing deal on the monster rocks from a guy on here.