Monster Cables
 

Last night I picked up an Onkyo TX-SR604 (nothing really extravigant I know,
but I like it so far). While looking at some display models in the Circuit
City "sound room", I happened upon a sub-woofer putting out an obnoxious
60Hz hum. Tapping on the cabinet made the hum intermittent. Turns out the
Monster brand cable connecting the sub-out of the amp to the line in of the
sub was not gripping the ground shield of the the RCA connector on the sub.
It was amazingly loose, as in you probably could have tipped the sub back a
few degrees and the cable would have fallen out of the jack. I pulled it
off and checked it for any sign of damage such as being stepped on or
whatever. Nothing bent, just an incredibly poor fit.

Granted it had probably been plugged and re-plugged quite a few times, but
even the cheapest of rca plugs I've encountered have had enough spring to
survive being pushed on a slightly over-sized jack. Aparently Monster
cables aren't designed to be used more than once. Looks like the grippers
are designed to apply more than too much force the first time you use them,
but not designed to flex. I wonder how many people have broken the RCA jack
on their high end receiver from pushing too hard.

What a scam, I still can hardly hold in the laughter every time that someone
tells me how their $120 Monster HDMI cable didn't look "all that much"
better than the _cheap_ $60 Gold Series cable they got from Radio Shack.
The only thing funnier is the people that perceive that they do.

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