Nah, no bias there. Oddly enough, you never commented on the most important aspect, the sound quality.
Despite what you think Monster has never been considered exotic.
Monster Z series Z1 cables?
- Thread starter aramirez626
- Start date
Nah, no bias there. Oddly enough, you never commented on the most important aspect, the sound quality.
Despite what you think Monster has never been considered exotic.
Agreed, they did have a top end roll off.
WaynerN
Addicted Member
I haven't heard really any differences between cables. I sure have noticed their mechanical drawbacks. To me, its a mixed bag of tricks. That is why I have true love for the Knukonceptz cable as it does everything I want in a speaker cable, performance, price, flexibility, durability and ease of installation. All of those qualities put into a speaker cable is something that I find compatible with my own views of value and performance.
I found the Z1 to be extremely rolled off on the high end but the lows were extremely strong and the midrange biting in contrast to the Z2 which were quite bright and fatiguing with a woolly bass and laidback mids while the Z3 went completely in another direction the midrange tight and detailed while the highs were brittle and bass was well controlled.......
I know this is an old topic, but I thought I would lend an ear...
I am NOT a believer in the high-end esoteric (second mortgage level) cables. I've been in the audio business for over 40 years and have tried them all. I don't believe in buying the cheapest or the most expensive and usually stick to something in the middle. I have tried both the Monster Z1 and various flavors of AudioQuest and Monster and have found their mid-line cables like the Z1 to be a good value when compared to many of the others. I usually look more closely at the construction and ease of use (some of the higher end cables are just to stiff and/or the cables are constructed in such a way as to make it hard to get a good tight connection.
I use the Monster Z1 in my current system which is bi-amped using 2 Rotel solid state stereo amps for the low end and 2 Consonance Ella tube amplifiers for the mids and highs. I find the Z1's to deliver all of the detail, air, depth and definition as good as any others I have auditioned (some just as good). However, I like the construction principles and connection options available for termination. The cable itself is touted as being time lined as it uses a thicker cable in the center of the strand surrounded and wrapped in a thinner gauge cable to carry the mids and highs (taking advantage, if there is one, of the skin effect of transmission). Using the Monster twist on connectors that give you the choice of spades, bananas or braid, you get a tight, sturdy durable connection which when used with their "pants" terminations sleeves makes for very professional and clean looking cable from one end to the other.
I have lent these cables out for audition to other fellow tube enthusiasts and they have all converted to these cables. So I must not be the only one hearing an improvement. As a note, I made this upgrade years ago when Monster was still in business and the cable was selling for about a third of what it is now. Some of the prices I've seen are really off the wall. The best price I could find today was for a bulk roll of 50 meters / 164 feet from a couple of vendors for $76.00. The matching Twist Lock connectors can be found on eBay or you can make your own generic solder connectors.
Enjoy the music!