About Monster's lifetime warranty...

organ

According to Monster, their cables are lifetime warranty. Does the warranty include speaker cables? When my monsters oxidize, will I be able to bring them back to the dealer for a replacement?

Anybody know how long their XPHP usually last for before they begin to oxidize?

Thanks

Maurice

mantis

Monsters speaker wire usually doesn't,the best way to avoid it is to terminate the ends instead of using bare wire.Monster makes all kinds of ends,screw on,crimp on etc.

styles

Mantis,

Is using terminated ends instead of bare wire the preferred method? Is there a noticeable difference? Crutchfield has a variety of these on their site Monster Connectors .

I have everything connected by bare wire.

ezc

Your monster cable speaker cable is warranted agenst defects, & not normal wear & tear. If the ends oxidize that is concidered normal wear & tear. Im a Monster cable dealer & for defects yes we will take it back but for wear & tear no we wont take a item back. I use XP speaker cable in my bedroom HT system & I use Monster Twist Crimp Mini pin ends. So far I have not had a problem. I feel it is worth spending the extras for the ends, It makes removing & installing speaker cable so much easier!

mantis

Agreed,
the ends don't help or hinder the sound quality .Just protects the ends.Ease of Install.

Tour2ma

Sorry, I do not see any way that terminations protect the ends from oxidation. Copper oxidizes with time and exposure to air. This means the ends, and for that matter the entire speaker wire run, oxidizers with time. No one, not even MC, keeps wire in an inert atmosphere all the way from strand extrusion through winding and insulating until it is magically, hermetically sealed from ever seeing air. How much time it takes for the wire to oxidize is dependent upon the atmospheric conditions where you live, e.g., seaside vs. desert.

Fortunately, surface oxidation of wire only impacts its conductivity at the terminations, and those can be cleaned.

I agree terminations are convenient for changing amps, speakers, etc., but that doesn't happen too often in the home. You have to weigh a convenience you may not need, to adding four junctions to each channel's wire run. Poor junctions can impact the signal the speakers see. Sometimes it just isn’t worth adding connectors… KISS principle all the way.

organ

Thanks for the response guys. The only part of the cable I terminated is at the amp's output because it's a pain in the **** to insert bare wires down there, especially the 12ga. My speakers are connected with bare wires and so far so good(no signs of oxidation in 2 monts).

Maurice

mantis

Originally posted by Tour2ma
Sorry, I do not see any way that terminations protect the ends from oxidation. Copper oxidizes with time and exposure to air. This means the ends, and for that matter the entire speaker wire run, oxidizers with time. No one, not even MC, keeps wire in an inert atmosphere all the way from strand extrusion through winding and insulating until it is magically, hermetically sealed from ever seeing air. How much time it takes for the wire to oxidize is dependent upon the atmospheric conditions where you live, e.g., seaside vs. desert.

Fortunately, surface oxidation of wire only impacts its conductivity at the terminations, and those can be cleaned.

I agree terminations are convenient for changing amps, speakers, etc., but that doesn't happen too often in the home. You have to weigh a convenience you may not need, to adding four junctions to each channel's wire run. Poor junctions can impact the signal the speakers see. Sometimes it just isn’t worth adding connectors… KISS principle all the way.

But it doesn't happen in the home????
I don't know what your saying.

Using connectors is the way to go.I have used them for years.I perfer it that way.

F1nut

Originally posted by mantis
But it doesn't happen in the home????
I don't know what your saying.

Dan, He's talking about swapping gear around in the home and that it doesn't happen often, if at all.


I believe that factory terminated cables are the way to go and if you're going to do it yourself, then solder the connection rather than crimping or shoving the wire in a hole and tightening a set screw. The better factory made cables are sealed pretty well, so oxidation shouldn't be a problem. If you can't or don't want to terminate the ends, then at least solder the bare wire to reduce oxidation.

gidrah

My pair of factory terminated Monsters turned a vibrant shade of green mid length. Gotta love that clear sleeve.

Tour2ma

Yup, F1, that's what I meant... And you are correct, there are steps you can take to ensure a good junction and **** oxidation, e.g., solder is relatively impervious to oxidation.

The old engineer in me is tempted to calculate the relative surface area of the most common means of terminating a speaker run... maybe another night when I am more bored and less tired.

I'll say this, the eyelets in the MC dual bananas I have almost certainly contact less wire than the posts on my Polks.

EDIT:
gidrah,
Almost no way to stop it. Only solution is to use opaque insulation... ...

mantis

F1nut,

Dan, He's talking about swapping gear around in the home and that it doesn't happen often, if at all.

Gotcha.

Unless your referring to my home.This is where gears constantly swapped out.I haven't to date had any Monstercable turn green or had to worry about oxidation.I did however had a pair of Home Depot 12 gauge speaker wire here to demo there sound quality/built quality and they turned green really quick.I didn't terminate the ends.

You can't fight mother nature but you can try to resist her.