Well, the Signal Cables are headed back

Ron-P

Even after the improvement with the optical to coax switch, I am still not happy. For music, they are awesome, but for HT, they are not cutting it. Voices still sound flat, soft and tinny. My wife has never said "What was that?" or "What did he/she say?" until I installed these cables.

Properaly calibrated with AVIA, I had the CC set to -3. With the Signal Cables I had to set it to +1 and voices were still hard to make out at times. Never once had this problem with the Monsters.

I gave them plenty of burn in time and yesterday I spent several hours cable swapping and I am happy with my current Monsters. The Monsters sound more natural with movie sound tracks.

The Signal Cables are a great product at a great price and they sound beautiful with music, but they just did not work out for HT. If I had a 2-channel rig there is no doubt I'd have the Signal Cables.


Peace Out~:D

mantis

I often though that you would post again about these cables.I planned for awhile to try them out.But After I thought about it,I desided against buying them.
Dan

RuSsMaN

And why is that? Too many people here recommended them?

I was almost sure you would want to 'bench test' them against other cables.......

1 bad review, vs 10+ positive reviews, and you don't want to even try them? Handmade, with a money-back guarantee?

Strange......

Cheers,
Russ

Aaron

they sound beautiful with music, but they just did not work out for HT

Explain that one to me.

Aaron

RuSsMaN

Yeah, same source, same amps, same pre, I don't get it......

Cheers,
Russ

mantis

I'm sure they are nice cables and maybe one day I will try them out.
Right now I have other things on my mind.(for upgrade that is)

I'm completely happy with my Transparent music links.
I was puzzled by his responce as well.

RonP,
can you give us alittle more insite?

mantis

Russman,
you have read enough of my post to know I don't go by what other people think.I respect what they think but form my own opnions.
Just not the right time for me.

RuSsMaN

Roger that.

Cheers,
Russ

Ron-P

To be more specific...

They sounded beautiful with instrumental music. Once voices were introduced, the voices sounded weak, tinny and lack low end. About the only music I listen to are movie soundtracks, which is, for the most part all instrumental.

One of many great scenes I used for testing was from the movie Shallow Hal. A scene in which Jack and Gwyneth are on a bridge talking. With the Signal Cables Jack's voice sounds weak and lacks low end. With the Monster's, his voice sound much more natural with low end.

I know for a fact that it is just not me because of the comments from my wife like those above. We have watched 3 movies since I wired my Monster's back in and she has not said a peep or asked a single question.

Can't explain it much more than that guys. For voices, these cables just did not cut it. I tried, I wanted to like them and I gave them a very fair shake. I did many, many tests back and forth between them and my Monster's. Next up, probably some Audio Quest or some such. I want to try other brands and hear the results.

I'm not one for putting my thought's and experiences into words very well. All I can tell you is I know what I like and what I do not. I liked the Monster's, they just sounded more natural with movies.


Peace Out~:D

HBombToo

Good enough explanation for me Ron.

Aaron

That was a pretty good explanation. I think it would be intetersting to test out some vocal music, but I'm guessing you would experience the same thing.

Aaron

RuSsMaN

Good deal Ron, during this testing, were you still using the Monster 'y' cables? Just curious.....

Cheers,
Russ

Ron-P

Yes I was Russ, Frank does not make 'Y' splitter's. Monster was the only brand I could find besides Radio Shack cheap-o's.

I would have liked to have kept them longer for further testing, but my 30 days was just about up.

Frank makes a great quality cable at a great price there is no doubt. They just did not work out for me.


Peace Out~:D

Dr. Spec

I don't know why people seem to be apologists when they use Monster Cable products.

Yes, Monster has done a good job on marketing, but they back it up with a damn good product that has won several independent industry awards.

I don't get it when people say Monster is overrated crap and only sells because they have brainwashed the audiophiles out there that they are the only game in town. We would have figured out a long time ago if Monster produced mediocre products.

To me, Monster has achieved the "no brainer" status - I can buy their products with complete confidence they will be well designed and engineered, work perfectly, be very well built, and will provide a noticeable performance increase over no-name cheapo cables and wires.

Yes, I'm sure there are other fine cable companies out there, but there is a very good reason they compare themselves to Monster. And as Ron found out, sometimes these other cables aren't all they are cracked up to be. And I wouldn't consider Ron's system to be so unique that the Signal Cables would only sound worse on HIS system and sound better than Monster on everyone else's system. Quite the contrary, the high quality of Ron's equipment (in particular his signal processing and amplification) is even more capable than the average system of exposing an inferior sounding cable which is exactly what happened in this situation. I'd say this experiment was less of an indictment of Signal Cable than it was a vindication for Monster Cable.

Doc

RuSsMaN

Yes, great post, but the fact that he couldn't test with only the brand x (insert ANY cable manufacturer here)cables, and still had Monster in the loop, just doesn't make for a PERFECT test, at least to me. There are too many variables to say brand x did or did not sound better.

I am no electrical engineer, by any sense of the word, but I can see a distinct possibility of a tonal change occuring going from a balanced (twisted pair) cable, to an un-balanced Y connector.

I understand, that for this brand x company, they do not make a Y adapter, so there was little he could do to provide himself with a true test of brand x, by itself only. (without breaking down his rig, or setting up a 2ch only rig)

Doc, if you have $30 to spare, you should give the cables a test, I'd like to hear your honest thoughts on them. You have nothing to loose.

Of course we all know (esp from the past posts on the topic), that we hear things differently, and have different tastes, different gear. As far as I'm concerned, you cannot get a better cable, under $100-$150 a pair than Signal Cables, period. (in my opinion brotha, nothing more).

From my experience, on my gear, with my wax-encrusted ears, I think Monster interconnects sound 'veiled', with an enhanced upper bass/lower midbass, and rolled highs. That's not to say they don't blow your (and many many others) skirt up though....

The bottom line is (individual forum members personal cable preferences aside) Ron had the cahoneys, insight, whatever to 'try' something new, and he seems more than happy with how his system is configured now.

Cheers,
Russ

OrangeToupee

Re-visited "The Green Room" (it's been awhile), looks even cooler now with the new amps. That's got to be fun going in there.

mantis

Russman,
I'm taken by your post.That was what I asked you along time ago,but you never answered.Thanks alittle late but better then never.
Your opnion is very close how I feel about some monster products.Added bass and rolled off highs is what I hear in the M550 and down cables.
When you step up to the M850i's and the M950i's they start to sound like a higher end cable.Price goes up hand and hand.

You guys are now temptimg me to just buyu the effin cables and test the **** out of them.1 month sould be enough time to burn them in and hear them go.
They will have tuff company.
One pair of Straight Chorus,Monster M950i's,and a pair of Transparent Music links.

I'm on a Quest(again)for a cool wire shootout.I'M gonna order the signal cables this weekend.
Dan

Ron-P

Great posts indeed. True Russ, with the Monster 'Y' in there, it is not a 100% fair test, but there was nothing I could do. But as to your comment:

...but I can see a distinct possibility of a tonal change occuring going from a balanced (twisted pair) cable, to an un-balanced Y connector.

According to Monster, it "sounds" like they are saying that their splitters are balanced. I also thought I read on the package that they were balanced, can't remember though. From their web-site.

Monster's ultra High Performance Y adapter features dual multiple gauge Bandwidth Balanced bass and high frequency wire networks for more accurate signal transfer and smooth balanced reproduction of music harmonics.

Now that I have heard the difference between 2 cable brands, I want to test a third. There are a few local hi-fi shops in my area that I will see what they carry and if I can take'em home and test'em. It's kinda fun.




Peace Out~:D

mantis

Go test Ron,
I have posted the difference that wire can and has made for me.I personally think in some cases it can make a greater inpact on your system then changing out gear.
Dan

Dr. Spec

Russ:

Even if the Monster Y splitter was coloring the signal somehow, it was used with both cables and therefore can be eliminated as a variable. Unless it was somehow "incompatible" with the Signal Cable product, but I'm stretching it here.

At any rate, I would dare say my receiver is the weak link in my HT set-up (aside from my interim sub, of course). It does everything well and is competitive in its class, but superior amplification it's not - hell I only paid $212 for it.

I can easily tell the difference between off-brand cables and Monster cables, but I'm not sure my electronics are good enough to reveal the more subtle differences between Monster, AR, Signal, etc. Ron noticed much more nuance and detail after switching to the better Marantz receiver, and then at least as much of an improvement again with the Adcom bi-amping. Maybe when I upgrade to better electronics, I will try these Signal Cables - I agree, $30 is not much of a risk.

Doc