So I upgraded my IC's last night...

Drenis
Drenis Posts: 2,871
edited November 2011 in 2 Channel Audio
(Yes... this is ANOTHER cable thread. Don't post if that bothers you.)

So as the title says, I bought a new pair of IC to go from my Pioneer Elite to my Carver... and what a difference. I mean for WHAT I bought, I didn't think it would do anything but for the crappy brand that is Monster, I'm happy with the $12 upgrade I got... LOL

That's right, I paid $12 for a pair of Monster M850I's. Retail from what I saw by looking up is $120 us... so for the price I can't complain. These replaced my 12 year old shielded A/V cables that came with a old old satellite dish acquired back then. So yes... those IC's I was using WERE garbage pretty much.

These new cables had an audible difference right from the first note. Obviously cables need time to burn in and what not, but I'm happy. It surely will hold me over till I upgrade to MIT's down the road.

But for $12, I should go buy more... they were new in box. Score!

And heiney, please don't bust my chops. Whether its crappy Monster or expensive MIT's... people are only educated when they see more positives about the influence a particular upgrade can have. :mrgreen:
Post edited by Drenis on
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,165
    edited October 2011
    You ain't seen (heard) nothing yet :mrgreen:. Wait until you step up to MIT's :lol:

    But seriously, it just goes to show even a very modest jump can influence the sound.

    Remember, "everything matters"

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • Drenis
    Drenis Posts: 2,871
    edited October 2011
    And I honestly have you to thank for that. I can't wait to run a full MIT system, but that investment, as a whole, will probably take the next year to integrate.

    The hardest part is justifying the explanation to my sweetie pie explaining why I have to buy cables and upgrade various components; "i thought you said you wouldn't touch the stereo until next year. What does it need NOW!?"
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  • polkfarmboy
    polkfarmboy Posts: 5,703
    edited October 2011
    Heiney9 what would be a good mit ic to upgrade to from his monster and my monoprice ?

    Where is the best place to buy and what would we pay ?
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,447
    edited October 2011
    just be careful with the monster stuff. That grip of death they have can and will pull off the ground shields on the RCA's. So be very careful installing and uninstalling their cables.
    speaking from experience
    by the way Monster is not the only cable that has the grip of death BUT they're proud of it and the biggest by far.
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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 17,243
    edited October 2011
    heiney9 wrote: »
    Remember, "everything matters"

    H9

    Truth!!! This should be carved in the stone tablets that Moses came down the mountain with...

    We should come up with the 10 commandments for audio!!!
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,967
    edited October 2011
    Congrats on the new cables, at least your getting some experience, a feel for what they can do. Not every cable swap yields great results, but you had such crappy ones to begin with, no offense, anything was going to be an improvement.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
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  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    edited October 2011
    [QUOTE=Drenis;1670884That's right, I paid $12 for a pair of Monster M850I's. Retail from what I saw by looking up is $120 us[/QUOTE]

    I suspect Monster still made money at $12.
    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables

    Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
    Three 20 amp circuits.
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  • chandler9a
    chandler9a Posts: 878
    edited October 2011
    I am finding this to be more true than my wallet wants to see.... Its like everything else though, everything matters.
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  • reeltrouble1
    reeltrouble1 Posts: 9,312
    edited October 2011
    Monster was never really crappy as far product at least to start with....in the beginning they set a standard, lots of us here used the products from the 550i up through 1000i as well as their speaker cables...then Noel Lee and his henchman attorney became in many eyes including mine, very greedy, Monster sued many Mom and Pop stores over the word Monster, a minority opinion thought Monster was protecting their brand, in the end the product cheapened for mass market appeal and so on. The 850i at 12.00 is a good cable. I just cant get past the companies policies and politics.

    RT1....end of history lesson:wink:
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  • mantis
    mantis Posts: 17,194
    edited October 2011
    reeltrouble1 wrote: »
    Monster was never really crappy as far product at least to start with....in the beginning they set a standard, lots of us here used the products from the 550i up through 1000i as well as their speaker cables...then Noel Lee and his henchman attorney became in many eyes including mine, very greedy, Monster sued many Mom and Pop stores over the word Monster, a minority opinion thought Monster was protecting their brand, in the end the product cheapened for mass market appeal and so on. The 850i at 12.00 is a good cable. I just cant get past the companies policies and politics.

    RT1....end of history lesson:wink:

    I completely agree. I have used many Monstercables and always thought they performed well. At their price points they are very completive. I would absolutely challenge anyone to a shootout with the M850i series or 950i series. I believe I still have a few pairs laying around.
    Dan
    My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
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  • halo71
    halo71 Posts: 4,603
    edited October 2011
    pfffft....12 year old cables! Hell I am still using some that are at least 20 years old. I REALLY need some decent IC's! But every time I have a few bucks to spend I tend to find something else to buy first.

    Congrats on those cables though!
    --Gary--
    Onkyo Integra M504, Bottlehead Foreplay III, Denon SACD, Thiel CS2.3, NHT VT-2, VT-3 and Evolution T6, Infinity RSIIIa, SDA1C and a few dozen other speakers around the house I change in and out.
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  • Drenis
    Drenis Posts: 2,871
    edited October 2011
    halo71 wrote: »
    pfffft....12 year old cables! Hell I am still using some that are at least 20 years old. I REALLY need some decent IC's! But every time I have a few bucks to spend I tend to find something else to buy first.

    Congrats on those cables though!

    I kid you not... These were run-of-the-mill cables that was included when we bought satellite long ago. Back when S-video was king and Toshlink was the new fad...

    Thanks for the story RT1
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  • chumlie
    chumlie Posts: 8,658
    edited November 2011
    Don,t mean to interupt. Kinda new to seperates. Getting ready to install a parasound hca1500 to a pioneer vsx-33 for rti-a7's.
    Thinking of starting with signal cable. Any opinions would be helpful
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  • Drenis
    Drenis Posts: 2,871
    edited November 2011
    Highly recommended from the community. Even offer a discount to club polk members.
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  • Upstatemax
    Upstatemax Posts: 2,670
    edited November 2011
    Congrats on the new IC's. I also just joined the decent IC club! I had a bunch of crap IC's that put in when I first set up my 2ch system and I finally got some AQ Sidewinders from Mole and it has so far been very nice!

    Vocals are more focused, tighter bottom end...

    I was leaning VERY heavily to Signal, but the deal with Mole came up. I'm still thinking about going with Signal see what ones I like better.

    Anyone here gone form Sidewinders to Signal Analog II's?
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  • Systems
    Systems Posts: 14,873
    edited November 2011
    I would absolutely challenge anyone to a shootout with the M850i series or 950i series.

    Ha!:cheesygrin:
    Testing
    Testing
    Testing
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  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,590
    edited November 2011
    Upstatemax wrote: »
    Anyone here gone form Sidewinders to Signal Analog II's?

    LOL... I think 'mole did.....
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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  • Drenis
    Drenis Posts: 2,871
    edited November 2011
    pitdogg2 wrote: »
    just be careful with the monster stuff. That grip of death they have can and will pull off the ground shields on the RCA's. So be very careful installing and uninstalling their cables.
    speaking from experience
    by the way Monster is not the only cable that has the grip of death BUT they're proud of it and the biggest by far.

    I just saw your post regarding the Monster ends. I noticed that it was quite difficult to attach the cables to the back of my receiver, however they slipped on a lot easier onto my amplifier. I did have to use some force to attach it though. I hope I didn't incur any damage when they did finally seat. Thanks again for the heads up.
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  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,590
    edited November 2011
    Drenis wrote: »
    I just saw your post regarding the Monster ends. I noticed that it was quite difficult to attach the cables to the back of my receiver, however they slipped on a lot easier onto my amplifier. I did have to use some force to attach it though. I hope I didn't incur any damage when they did finally seat. Thanks again for the heads up.

    The damage will occur when/if you try to remove them. They remove the gold shield part from your amp or avr which then is a PITA to reattach. My Monoprice ones did that, but so did my Signal Cable ones too.....
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited November 2011
    heiney9 wrote: »
    Remember, "everything matters"

    H9

    I'm not sure I agree with that per se as there's some stuff that just doesn't matter when it comes to audio. Everything? That's a bit obtuse.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • reeltrouble1
    reeltrouble1 Posts: 9,312
    edited November 2011
    If there is a thing there is matter
    If there is matter then there is a thing
    An electron is a thing of audio matter
    Therefore...Everything Matters.

    Simple.:eek::arrowu::arrowl::arrow::arrowd:

    RT1
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  • leftwinger57
    leftwinger57 Posts: 2,917
    edited November 2011
    congrats on the new ICs,and bump on the truth of grip of death. I too initially upgaded to Monster THX ICs and they did loosen the RCAs on my Onkyo p-301 pre.After that I went w/ Signal Cable and couldn't be happier.I think I paid $40 for a 3ft pair.
    2chl- Adcom GFA- 555-Onkyo P-3150v pre/amp- JVC-QL-A200 tt- Denon 1940 ci cdp- Adcom GFS-6 -Modded '87 SDA 2Bs - Dynamat Ext.- BH-5- X-Overs VR-3, RDO-194 tweeters, Larry's Rings, Speakon/Neutrik I/C- Cherry stain tops Advent Maestros,Ohm model E

    H/T- Toshiba au40" flat- Yamaha RX- V665 avr- YSD-11 Dock- I-Pod- Klipsch #400HD Speaker set-

    Bdrm- Nikko 6065 receiver- JBL -G-200s--Pioneer 305 headphones--Sony CE375-5 disc
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