Ron Schenone

Monster Cable Lowers Pricing To Slighly Less Ridiculous

Posted by on Apr 30, 2009 | 12 Comments

Ridiculous pricing for Monster Cables has been going on for years. With the promise of superior performance, Monster has been able to convince consumers that their cables are the best. Electronic shops like Best Buy love these expensive cables because it increases their profits as well.

The USA Today reports the following price decrease:

Now, founder and “Head Monster” Noel Lee is cutting prices on top-of-the-line cables for high-definition TVs, effective in June. An 8-foot HDMI cable that currently sells for $129.95 at Best Buy will be priced at $99.

“We’re lowering prices, due to the recession, but we’re also increasing performance,” says Lee.

On Monday, the company also lopped $10 off the price of its most basic — but rarely stocked — HDMI TV cable, to $29 for a 1-meter length. And it introduced two new lower-cost HDMI cables in 2-meter and 4-meter lengths for $39.95 and $59.95. Competitors’ cables of similar length can be found online for as low as $5.

Personally I buy the cheap cables from Wal-Mart and I haven’t been disappointed. But what about you? Do those Monster Cables make a difference for you? Let us know.

Comments welcome.

Source.

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/theoracle/ the oracle

    Noel Lee (head of Monster Cable), is a wacky guy. I have shaken his hand.

    The problem appears to be that he thinks that the people who heard differences in audio (very true, if you had a system capable of resolving it) will simply fork over dollars on video and digital cables without thinking about it. He needs to keep his business going, as few audiophiles are left, and the average stereo today is abysmal, so no one could hear any diffeerence in the analog domain anyway.

    The result is this foray into trying to fool everyone, some of the time.

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

    Hi Marc,
    Thanks for the insight.

  • http://www.curmudgeonlyadguy.com Mike Frizzi

    Hard to believe these g uys are still in business with the price gouging they have been doing for so many years.

  • Tim Brazer

    I just go on Amazon or eBay and buy there. I can find cables for $2-$7. The quality is just the same as Monster.

  • Barrie

    I once saw a rather extensive laboratory test between a $1000 audio cable with all bells and whistles that were supposed to perform miracles, going head to head with…coat hanger wire.
    The lab was unable to isolate any superiority in current transmission quality and ultimate audio fidelity in either conductor.
    The operators of professional recording studios generally assert the same position about ‘wonder cables’.
    About the only validity about such cables is gold plated connectors – not because they impart magic into the audio signal, but simply because they don’t foul connections with with impedence inducing oxides, like regular metal connectors and jacks can do.

  • Jeff

    While I have seen some things that may be due to the cable difference, Rocketfish ( a best buy brand) is cheaper and of the same quality as Monster.

    The cable just don’t matter, because Digital cables are DIGITAL. if they didn’t work, there would be just no quality.

    Digital doesn’t have issues with interference.

  • Mark

    There’s always something comforting about watching ill-informed comment and debate isn’t there?

    Anyway, whilst I agree with the oracle in many ways, Monster have a deserved reputation in Audiophile markets and to some extent, that’s the market who buy their product. Whilst it is fair to criticise marketing the product to the mass market who do not understand the product (as proven by the comments above) it is not so legitimate to criticise the product itself. Leave that to the people who have the knowledge and interest to do so. I can’t pretend to have the former but I do have the latter. That’s what would make we want to seek a more informed opinion that those offered here.

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  • Griff

    I’ve been using a $5 HDMI cable for my PS3. 100% perfect.

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  • Ben

    Mark,

    The fact of the matter with HDMI is that any old cable really will do the trick. Because the digital signal must either be high or low, it requires a huge amount of interference to bring the signal to the point of degradation. So, in effect, any cable that can bring the required 19 pins of copper from point A to point B will do the job just fine.