by Mike Shea on 5 April 2002
Speaker Cable Stuff
Violating my own rules for speaker cable, I bought a pair of Monster MCX-1S speaker cables with two sets of banana plugs and two ets of spades. While I don't believe deep down that the sound is any better than electrical cord, I do like the construction, the look and the connections of the cable. The total set cost me $80 including the ends.
Monster has started a new marketing ploy called MLock Master Pin. Basically, a universal end that lets you screw on anything from bare wire-like flexi-tips, banana plugs, angled or straight spades, any of the five types of connectors. For Monster, this is a great marketing idea as they get more money for more products than selling wire with different jacks. They can reduce production costs by making only one type of cable and than different adapters. For users, this isn't so bad because I can put bananas on the ends going to my receiver and spades going to my speakers. Being able to taylor the wire without having to whip out the soldering gun is a good thing. The downside is the price. $50 for a 10' set of cables and $12 for two pair of connectors (enough for one cable).
For the snobfactor alone, they are nice cables to have. When you consider their build quality and their connection types, I don't think it is so much to spend. I wouldn't condone the $1200 speaker cable, and I wouldn't berate anyone using electrical cord, but the Monster MCX series is a good middle ground. I'd recommend them.
The new TV is coming at the end of the week.