"I realized people were willing to pay ridiculous sums of money just for name brand cachet even though you only got the same functionality of less expensive equipment. I thought about getting into the computer business but Apple was already in existence by that point."

Wow, this guy sounds like he fell ass-backwards into success.

By reading an autobiography of famous con-man Joseph ("Paper Collar Joe") Bessimer.

"There's a sucker born every minute...and two to take 'em."

Methinks you guys need to STFU about expensive cables. You wanna use the Radio Shack stuff, fine. But JFC, you're starting to sound a bit, you know, shrill. Nobody's making you buy them.

I got your monster cable right here, and it's free! Sorry, so so sorry.

That's it. I'm starting my own company named Monster Wireless.

@alanw: it's not the purchasing of them that is offensive to gadget-lovers, it's the perpetuation of lies, falsehoods, and general untruths they use in their business practices and marketing claims that are the REAL insult to us.

@alanw: And nobody is making you read this blog so STFU yourself. If you don't like it go elsewhere. Giz is just doing a PSA on this POS company for those who are clueless and easily susceptible to baseless marketing claims. Why, if it weren't for Giz and other techie sites, I would not have the opportunity to silently mock and snicker at those blasting their music with Bose headphones on the subway.

Audiophiles in general can be a pretty interesting group of folks for whom science means nothing, and money is nothing. "It's thicker wire and better insulated, so the sound is cleaner, with less distortion". Sound familiar?

Alanw sounds like Monster's target market.

He said it between the lines. it's all about the package, marketing and presentation of a product.

I like this guy more that the "chicken" at pear cable, that is for sure, but that won't make me buy his cables.

If you don't think you're getting ripped off by Monster Cable, take a drive through their Corporate parking lot here in South SF. They have more Ferrari's in the parking lot than a Ferrari Dealership. No joke.

@CruJones: Danger, Rodney Dangerfield, Danger!

Monster Cable's Demographic =/= Audiophiles

Monster Cable's Demographic === The Uninformed or Misinformed Circuit City customer easily parted with their money

Hey, at least they're not Pear Audio.

Almost a quote: "If I can hear it and you can't measure it, that means you're measuring the wrong thing."

That's the crux of the whole thing. That statement can be made by pioneers who are ultimately proved right or by crackpot snake oil salesmen. Where hi-fi is concerned, there have always been both types in the business. Given enough time and effort, figuring out who belongs to which group is usually possible.

What's the tally so far?

The objective types called them nuts but they eventually turned out to be right:
>>>The source is more important.
>>>Low THD, by itself, doesn't mean crap.
>>>Digital noise floors sound unnatural/gated.
>>>CDs are *not* perfect.

Objective types called them nuts and they almost certainly are:
>>>Plug in this clock and your system will sound better.
>>>Call this telephone number and your system will sound better.
>>>Put this little container of magic rocks in your listening room and your system will sound better.

How should "Good cables will make your system sound better than crap cables" be classified? I think that statement should probably be classifed in the first group. In the Pear case, though, the question is "Hideously expensive cables with esoteric-sounding, poorly-explained technology in them will make your system sound better than merely good cables." How do y'all think that one will eventually be classifed? And do Monster cables qualify as "hideously expensive" or merely "good but overpriced"?

Methinks YMMV.

people are getting so defensive in these posts... we all know gizmo is biased, everyone is, but that is no reason to tell ppl to 'go f**k themselves" or STFU. their opinions aren't going to change because of that...

"It's only arrogance if you're wrong." :P

@jibbly:

But it makes the accessory numbers look better!

While on the subject of Circuit City, their "Nexxtek" cables are actually made by monster cable, and pretty much the Shur Fine of the cable world.

Noel Lee probably read from P.T. Barnum too: "There's a sucker born every minute!"

I am always happier with the cheaper stuff - you know, Canare RCAP's and Beldin copper. Same stuff as Blue Jeans Cable uses.

I don't think basic rat shack cables would work well, in fact I know, from practical experience that they will not.

i bought a no-name DVI cable off ebay that had horrible static; then i switched to a monster cable one and the picture was crystal clear.

yes, monster cable is overpriced--but in this case i would have saved money had i bought monster cable first.

just fyi.

I bought my TV at Best Buy and didn't want to buy the ridiculously expensive Monster Cables from the tv sales dude. The guy warned me that if I didn't buy the cables, my TV could explode!

Well, I took the TV home, plugged everything up, and turned it on. Sure enough it did explode! In fairness though, I'm pretty sure I saw the Best Buy salesman toss a grenade through my window.

monoprice.com

it's like Spinal Tap - when he picks up the guitar and says 'The sustain' - bollox it is.

Nigel Tufnel: The sustain, listen to it.
Marty DiBergi: I don't hear anything.
Nigel Tufnel: Well you would though, if it were playing.

I like Monster cables for one single thing. They re-enforce the crap out of the connectors. In my house I move stuff around alot and plugging and unplugging cables causes shorts. Sure there expensive enough for me to have to ask permision from the wife before I purchase (than again, what's not) But I can always convince her with the, 'last cables i'll have to buy for a while' routine.

i don't really care what he has to say.

no more monster stories ffs. this has been done to death and it is time to move on (and i never, ever say that).

I hate those things from the installing cable days. Every idiot with the best TV has Monster pieces of crap macro-blocking great signal and is ABSO-F@cking-LUTELY NOT going to use the high quality generic ones from a clear plastic bag. 10 out of 10 times when I COULD change them it fixed the problem. Has anyone cut a cross-section of one of these things? GOD! It was even worse when someone paid 15 bucks for 25 ft of "MONSTER" RJ59 and coiled it up for a 2 ft run from the back of their HDTV to the wall. Refuse to use the "crap" that Time Warner paid for. Monster- spend some money for shielding first, then we'll talk about more colorful plastic.

That guy is the exact douche I'd imagine selling that crap. (or buying it.)

I used to have a friend who was an "audiophile". One night I totally screwed with his system. Reversed his equalizer setttings, turned off this, turned on that; then I asked him about the difference between an audiophile system and some basic system. He went on and on about how much better his was than a piece of crap system. I then asked him how it was that we had been listening to a totally fucked with setup for 3 hours - and he had not even noticed. He had no reply.

It's like that with monster cables, behemoth cables, gargantuan cables and radio shack cables. There may be some gifted musician types between the ages of 12 and 21 who can hear the difference, but for the rest of us, it don't matter.

The monster guy got it right though, there is no limit to how much someone will pay to be "better" than the Jones's.