Have you ever purchased the Monster brand of cables?

Question

I know that I did when I was younger...I think I was 12-14 and I bought some for my new home theatre system...I didn't know it was pretty much a scam.

Now I know better, but I'm surprised that since most signals are digital now, Monster is STILL pushing their cables as being superior, when in reality, the only thing they're superior in is price, by 500-1,000% over their competitors. When I was recently shopping around for an HDMI cable, a pure digital signal carrier, a few brands sold 6 foot cables for around $8 on NewEgg...while the Monster cables were around $50-70. That is just ridiculous.

It's too bad that people are fooled by gold plated terminals and the cool looking, thick plastic insulators on Monster cables...for digital cables, they pretty much either work or they don't, whether it's HDMI, digital coaxial or optical. And even for analog signals, the difference is extremely small for the extreme difference in price that you pay.

Answer 1

No, never.

Monster are almost as bad as Bose for overpriced stuff. They are a favourite with big-box store sales staff because the markup is very high. The quality is OK, but NOT better than that from some others that sell for less (e.g. Blue Jeans Cables -- who make better HDMI cables at a fraction the cost of Monster).

See the two articles at the links for some reports.

Answer 2

I do not LIKE the WEIGHT of the Monster HDMI cables !

I have had several customers with overweighted cables BREAK THE HDMI CONNECTORS OFF to the tune of $400 to replace the HDMI board....

Who wants that to happen to their TV set ?!

All anybody needs to look for in an HDMI cable is a cable with an HDMI 1.3a rating.....

http://www.monoprice.com

Answer 3

They are good cables but I would not waste that much money on them.  I look for well constructed cables somewhere in the middle of the price range.  A dual RCA to RCA cable need not cost more than $20.  The "elite" cable industry has been trying to BS people for decades with half truths and outright lies.  

Spend your hard earned money on good components.

http://2eyespy.tripod.com/id3.html

Answer 4

Trying telling that to 1000's on here that insist buying an expensive cable, I got 2 on ebay for less than a fiver.

"A digital signal is a digital signal, you either have a crystal picture or no picture at all"

Answer 5

They produce a quality product but, in my opinion, overall only marginally better than the rest of the pack.  The difference, if there is one, would be one of consistent quality versus the normal quality stuff from China.  For a professional opinion you should consult Consumer Reports.  They never lie.