Home > Consumer Reviews > Monster XPHPCIBIG100 100 Feet Speaker Cable

I agree with Sam, Monster goes out of its way to advertise its brand, but when you look at their package, the wire gauge rating is hidden. Why is that? All wiring has to meet industry standards as to gauge. It is the most fundamental deciding factor in choosing wire.

Standing in Home Depot and doing a side by side comparison, all other brands list their gauge clearly on the packaging except Monster - and Monster is more expensive. Don't be duped. You need a large gauge wire but you don't need to pay for Monster advertising.

There is so much more that goes into great sound. The shape of your room, the acoustic absorption of your furniture and drapes, the angle of the speakers, the quality of your speakers, the quality of your amp and the quality of the source of the music itself.

Here's a few excerpts from the glowing reviews here:

"The Monster XPHP-CI cable makes a big difference at any volume, but it really shines when you are pushing allot of sound at once, especially bass."

"The sound I am getting is a noticeable improvement over older Monster cable of similar gauge."

"Reproduces excellend sound; probably the best speaker cable in this price range."

"This cable is great for anyone concerned with clear sound output but not with are large bill."

"The Monster speaker wire delivers great sound and is very thick and sturdy."

"Sure many people are happy using hardware store wire, but if you like the extra quality this wire has it"

"The sound I am getting is a noticeable improvement over older Monster cable of similar gauge."

"This cable is great for anyone concerned with clear sound output"

I'd like to know how everyone was able to objectively ascertain that the quality improved from one speaker wire to another?

Did everyone have two totally identical parallel systems and have a completely neutral party with no vested interest listen to the differences between the two systems (with the only difference being the speaker wires) or did the person who purchased the Monster wire change the speaker wires then 10-60 minutes later listen to the system and compare the sound to what they had "remembered" earlier and conclude that the Monster wire must certainly sound better?

Would you bet your life or 10 years income or dedicate your life to celibacy that you could positively identify which speaker wires you were listening to?

I happen to own all Monster cables (before HDMI) and speaker wires. Why? Because I knew someone who in retail (not a box store) I could buy it from at true wholesale prices and it was insanely dirt cheap. Could I tell the difference when I switched speaker wires? Of course not. However, when I upgraded to a very high end receiver and 4 high-end massive tower speakers with a high-end giant center speaker plus two rear speakers then I (and my neighbors) noticed a huge difference.

Monster products are "faith" based. You want to believe that they are better with absolutely no empirical evidence whatsoever because you need to reinforce your purchase decision.

I know that those of you who already bought Monster products are insecure and will mark this review as 'not helpful'. I take comfort from that.

For those who haven't yet bought the massively advertised Monster products, I encourage you to look around before making a purchase and realize that a speaker wire won't make your sound system instantly sound great or even better. No speaker wires regardless of cost or perceived quality will compensate for mediocre speakers or an old or inadequate receiver.

To further complicate the issue, in order to truly judge the quality of the sound you need to have a source of high quality sound output. I primarily listen to recent Blu-Ray movies with uncompressed sound (the difference is massive). Go to blu-ray dot com to obtain the A/V ratings of movies. If you're listening to movies with poor quality sound, no matter how good your equipment is, all you're going hear is junk.

To give you an example how your own mind plays games with you, here's my own recent experience: On my new Blu-Ray player I came across an audio option that was set for the default. I increased it to the max since my receiver is capable of handling the load. When I restarted the disk, the audio sounded remarkably better. I was impressed by this new setting and greatly enjoyed listening to the new enhanced audio output that night.

The next day, however, I read the Blu-Ray manual and discovered that this audio option didn't work with HDMI which is what I have. I had totally deceived myself into believing that the sound had dramatically improved all because I wanted to believe this to be the case.

Imagine the influence advertising can have upon you.

I used this for an onkyo hts 9100 thx system and have no complaints.I used about 185ft. of the 200ft.{2 spools} The cable was very flexible and worked well around corners.

This is an excellent price for this wire. Sure many people are happy using hardware store wire, but if you like the extra quality this wire has it. Works and looks great.

Yeah everyon and thier mom says speaker wire iis speaker wire, I would normaly never buy monster cable anything. But for $66.94 compared to $149 at best buy this is a pretty good deal. Beautiful cable very sturdy color coded unlike half the other wires out there. It blends in with my carpet you almost forget it is even there. Yeah I could have gone to monoprice.com and got speaker cable for $25 but it was my first high end build and wanted top of the line everything, and am very satisfied.