Audiophiles can't tell the difference between Monster Cable and coat hangers - Engadget
Had to chuckle at this one and I figured you guys would enjoy it
Had to chuckle at this one and I figured you guys would enjoy it
Is it Monster or a coat hanger?
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I use speaker wire I bought from Home Depot. The Hi-End police will knocking on my door any day now...
Heh, I've been saying the same thing as that article for years.....
Similar scenario is with DVD players and how one website used to review them. For years, ones with the Farajuida (sp?) always "won" ... but they cost $500-1500. The high-end fools over at AVS would run out and buy 'em. Then low-cost players started doing better and better and finally one year, one of them either won. The people with $600 DVD players, of course, still thought the PQ from theirs was better !! Of course you will !!
Well, in all fairness, decent DVD players do look better than cheapos. Not in every case, but I can see a difference between a decent DVD player and a drugstore one.
Cables though...it doesn't really matter. I make all of my own with RG59 and compression fittings. Speaker wire is nothing more than fancy labeled lamp wire.
Cables though...it doesn't really matter. I make all of my own with RG59 and compression fittings. Speaker wire is nothing more than fancy labeled lamp wire.
When you spend $10k on an amplifier, it is hard to justify spending just $20 on speaker wire. So you rationalize and 'prove' that costlier is better. Monster just capitalizes on that.
Go to AVS Forums.... Lots of those people sure don't ! They have an "Ultra high end HT gear" forum that says "This area is it talk about any HT Gear with a price tag of $20,000 or more. From display devices and A/V processors, to speakers and Amps, this is the place for the Ultra HT Gear." and has 38,000 posts. Or the "Dedicated HT" forum (they don't mean your living room with a big-screen TV, a 5.1 stereo, etc either !!) has 90,000 posts.
Care to provide data on why you don't think a little test with amps similar to the one above would not yeild the same results with people's perception of what they are hearing? There's a point in most markets where prestige pricing takes over from common sense and it prohibits people from objectively viewing/listening to something. It's funny to me how people with the big expensive $20,000 setups and components will argue all day that their stuff justifies the price.
I don't want math or scientific research on why 10K is better then $600, I want to hear peoples opinion without them being biased on what the source is. I would venture to guess that it would be very hard for people to distinguish them, all other things being equal in the setups.
I don't want math or scientific research on why 10K is better then $600, I want to hear peoples opinion without them being biased on what the source is. I would venture to guess that it would be very hard for people to distinguish them, all other things being equal in the setups.
Their response will be "it just has to be better". What kind of fool will they look like when they could have spent a fraction of the cost to get the same "sound" ? Don't worry though, they're just justifying it to themselves !
I have to admit that I couldn't conceive what the issue could be talking - Monster Cable vs Coat Hanger!?? I haven't used/seen a metal hanger in well over a decade. It's been so long that my mind no longer immediately associates hangers with those metal things. I was thinking of "thickness".. like maybe people couldn't tell the difference between the thick/rigid plastic hanger material and a Monster Cable, or something. Then it finally dawned on me *laf*
I suspect there are too many variables here to do an honest test. To do it right, you need to use quality components in the rest of the test setup. It would be unfair to do this with cheap speakers, as the speakers themselves would limit the test results. Yet, better speakers tend to be less efficient, so the cheap amplifier might not be able to drive the speakers before going into oversaturation, thus distortion. Amplifiers and speakers really do need to be matched, and I doubt that anyone would propose a test with a $600 amp driving $600 worth of speakers be compared with a $20k amp driving $20k worth of speakers. There is also the factor of whether we are talking about strictly the amplifier, or are including the pre-amp switching and signal processing as well.
I will definitely agree that there is a point where one-upmanship takes over from common sense. I also expect it is different for different people.
I would have also supported this, if you were talking about DVD players or anything that passes a digital audio signal.
very true Jayn_J. Like I said all else being equal. You make some good points that it would be hard to have a true apples to apples comparison, but I think comparable setups with people not being aware of the source or components would be very hard for most to discern the difference between many of the very high end equipment and moderately priced stuff.
I'm not saying that the HTIB stuff is comparable to quality stand-alone components either.
I'm not saying that the HTIB stuff is comparable to quality stand-alone components either.
Depends what you call low end.
There's definitely a difference. I've spent some time in high-end shops and it's defintiely noticable that a really expensive McIntosch amp sounds better than a 1k amp. Is it worth justifying the cost? Heck no. But does it sound better? Yes.
However, the difference between a low end and mid end amp is huge.
And yes...RG59 is nice...maybe not for DBS, but it's the best thing to use for everything else. Making custom length cables is a lifesaver.
There's definitely a difference. I've spent some time in high-end shops and it's defintiely noticable that a really expensive McIntosch amp sounds better than a 1k amp. Is it worth justifying the cost? Heck no. But does it sound better? Yes.
However, the difference between a low end and mid end amp is huge.
And yes...RG59 is nice...maybe not for DBS, but it's the best thing to use for everything else. Making custom length cables is a lifesaver.
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