Howdy! I am currently using Monster Cable speaker cable. I know you probably all hate Monster, but would it make a difference in sound to use another cable? I am using XP for the rears and XPHP for the center and fronts. I am getting M60's in the mail soon. Thoughts?

It's very doubtful there would be a difference unless you have some extreme lengths of cable. I don't know the precise gauge of what you're using, but I imagine it's plenty thick enough.

Its pretty thick. Of course Monster being what it is, they don't list the gauge on their website or on the package. Unbelievable. Bought it before I knew better.

Matt, the outer covering on some Monster wire is thicker, but inside is just regular wire, rather grossly over-priced. Since you already have it, there's no good reason to spend even more money on wire when you get your M60s; the sound won't change because of it.

Awesome, as long as I am going to get the full M60 experience! Thanks!

Moster wire and cables work fine, its the price you pay thats bad. Your 60's will sound great.

Awesome indeed - don't stress about the wire, the M60s will more than meet your expectations, most likely even if you wired them with a lamp cord of adequate thickness.

speaker wire does not "sound" different, it just transports the electrons.

The party line here is that speaker cable, so long as it is of adequate gauge for distance and isn't in some way physically defective, makes no difference to sound quality.

But there are quite a few people that disagree with that. In fact, the whole audiophile cable industry is based on the premise that different cables introduce different 'characteristics' to the sound. This is why $20,000 speaker cables exist. This is one of those highly debatable topics that won't ever go away.

As the other posters said, your Monster Cables are almost certainly perfectly fine for the job, unless you've got some absurdly long wire runs and very skimpy wires.

The two big problems that many of us have with Monster Cables is that 1) they aggressively try to sue other companies over perceived patent infringement, and 2) their cables are not really of any higher quality than other cables that cost a fraction of Monster stuff. My opinion is that Monster Cable stuff is a little like Bose in that you're paying a high premium for the name on the package, and not for the product contained within.

But if you're looking for good cable at low prices, check out Monoprice.com. Amazing prices and I've never been disappointed with the quality. If you want "better" cable at a slightly higher price (for whatever reason), check out the offerings from BlueJeansCable.com. Excellent stuff & great people. Or for the ultimate in matching accessories, Axiom sells really lovely speaker wire as well. Any of that would be purchased for cosmetic, aesthetic, or philosophical reasons though, and probably not for sound quality.

Peter, with all do respect (and you deserve much!!):

$20,000 speaker cables do not exist because of the premise that they sound different.....

$20,000 speaker cables exist simply because some people will buy them. Therefore, the person that markets and builds them can sustain a viable business (at least as far and a Profit and Loss statement shows).

They exist because the market exists.

That's a totally different aspect than whether or not there's a different sound offered by the cables, and whether that sound is an enhancement or detriment to a persons goal in owning a high-quality system.

A goal which we might want to avoid debating about here!

And just think, with $20000 speaker cable, you only have to sell, oh, 3 or 4 sets a year to make a sustainable living--the materials probably cost about $1 each, at most.

I'm in the wrong business, I want to sell 20k cables to old people and take away their retirement.

S'ok, no one has any retirement right now.

Wall street is several steps ahead of you. It seems selling junk bonds is much more profitable than monster cables.

You're too kind...

I agree. But I'd argue (politely) that those rich fools who buy them do so because they are made to believe that a cable of such price does make a difference in sound quality. I wouldn't think that such a person would spend egregious amounts on a cable just because, without any notion that they'd be getting something better.

But still, back the OP... As others have said, Monster Cables are technically fine, they're just expensive. Your M60's will be happy.

So we buy a lot of substandard, reject wires for pennies, splice and wrap it up together, put a nice sleeve on it, and sell it as an designer 'acoustically perfect' cable for $$$. Sounds suspiciously like the 'sub prime' fiasco. We'll make millions.

I think rich fools buy them because to them, x thousand dollars on a cable doesn't sound like that much money and they assume that if it costs more, it must be better, and they think, "By God I'm rich, and I deserve the best!"

Case in point, my dad, who is not insanely rich but can also afford thousand dollar cables if he wanted to, recently ALMOST purchased a $1k+ HDMI cable (Transparent Cable) because his installer told him it'd give him the best picture on his new Runco projector.

He didn't even think to question it, but when I was reviewing the proposal I told him he'd be absolutely nuts to spend the money on it... Once he did a bit of research, he realized the same thing, but in a different situation, he would simply have purchased the cable because someone he trusted (an installer) told him it was "the best."

So Mark, I'm with you, they exist largely because people will buy them!

I agree. But I'd argue (politely) that those rich fools who buy them do so because they are made to believe that a cable of such price does make a difference in sound quality. I wouldn't think that such a person would spend egregious amounts on a cable just because, without any notion that they'd be getting something better.
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They buy them because they are idiots with more money than functioning brain cells. I happen to know a fella who is making a killing selling bottled “Pure Alaska Water” for animals. He’s pretty sharp, did some marketing and built a web sight that is targeted to the same type of idiots who spend 20 grand on speaker cables. Because it isn’t being consumed by humans, regulation and FDI testing / inspection is not required. It is city tap water right out of the faucet of his trailer house. One of his ‘customers’ are Madonna.

lets hope none of the alaskan water customers stumble onto this forum!

I get the feeling that Mike doesn't care if they do...

Its really depressing to know that there is for almost every product for sale, there is someone trying to rip someone else off. Let the buyer beware.

omg! ... why didn't I think of it first?

Because you're in Virginia?

yeah, "pure virginia water" just doesn't have teh same ring!

*snicker*

Pure Virginia Water works better.