MIT vs Monster Cable

[dorokusai]

Demo: MIT MI-330 Series Two (Medium 47-100k) 1 Meter
Monster Cable Interlink 400 1.5 Meter

Receiver/Amplifier: Sony STR-DA2ES HT Receiver(2003)

Source: Sony CDP-745, 5 Disc Changer(1993)

Selections: Patty Rothberg(1 and 9)/ Soul Coughing(Ruby Vroom), Mark Lanegan(Whiskey for the Ghost)

Speakers: Polk Audio RTi38, wall mounted on BT-77 BTech brackets(Dynamatted). 5 deg downtilt, 2 deg toe-in, 7 ft separation

Enviroment: 13' x 18', basic room

Listeners: dorokusai and F1Nut

Jesse came over to demo my start-up HT, mainly the RTi38's. After some good food and an even better cigar, we got our ears on and got to work. Jesse had mentioned these interconnects that he had, MIT, and wondered if I would like to demo them. What better time than at the demo in the first place.

We played some various CD's, other than the aformentioned just to let J get a listen at the RTi38's. This was with and w/o subwoofer. Monster Cable, Interlink 400, 1.5 Meter. CD input on receiver, basic setup, no EQ. I will let him comment on the particulars of the RTi38's, so I don't mistate anything.

MC demo(doro):

Treble - It exists, just not very detailed. Average performance in this section.
Mid - Warm, pleasant to the ear, not out of character with the rest of the speaker. It can handle any midrange easily.
Bass - Weak, but speaker mount tweaking brought it back to life. Strong bass for their placement. One can never have too much bass, so this is certainly objective.
Stage - Not bad, they would benefit from more toe-in, but a wall anomoly prevents this from being possible. Front stage is more fluid in HT. 2CH is almost to the point of being separated too much. Some music blends the middle better than others.

Patti Rothberg/ Mark Lanegan CD's are recorded well, so music was very nice. Soul Coughing runs some analog in their recordings, so small hiss was on certain tracks.

This is a nice speaker, above average performance, they outshine the competition in this price range(IMO) They develop more as a HT speaker.

MIT demo(doro):

Let me start with the difference in these cable was instantaneous. 3 seconds of a selected Rothberg track, 1st song demo'd after change, and it was obvious the cables were helping greatly. : - ) BAsically, Holy ****e!

Treble - Brightened the treble up considerably. Certainly not LSi, still not super accurate, but treble had more "presence". It removed the "dull" feeling of these speakers.
Mid - Small improvement, tightened up the vocals.
Lows - Small improvement, made the bass clearer.
Stage - Huge improvement. Center fill, was full and rich. The separation anxiety the speakers were feeling, was now gone. They would probably still benefit from more toe-in, but that has been covered.

Conclusion: I was a believer in cable benefits, but have never had another reference point to set a standard. MC was my standard. Herein lies the main difference in comparing these two cables, cost. MC = $45(New), MIT($300). The resulting soundstage was SO much improved and enjoyable that the benifits far outweigh the cost of these cables. I would recommend them, or at least suggest that they be a demo choice at the very least. Personally, I am looking for used ones right now. Thanks for reading.

[mantis]

Sounds like you guys had some fun demoing cables........I love it...


It also seems more and more people around here are starting to experience better cables.........I also love it

MIT are basically like Transparent as they used to be the same company.It's all in the network is where these cables shine.....

Monster M1000 or even the M950i's would have been better competition.....but who cares it's fun..

Good food,skip the smoke,bang on the demo/shootout and I 'm reading a good time....

[F1nut]

Hehe, it was fun. Mark and his lovely wife are excellent hosts, I was treated to my first Chicago style hotdog......damn good. They even invited me back....imagine that. :D
I really don't have much to add to the demo comments (well written already) except that the highs improved even more than stated, the bass is very strong (good thing) and no further toe-in is needed. I really enjoyed the HT end of things, way cool.
Skip the smoke, Dan? Puffing on a nice cigar with a bro....well, you don't know what you're missing.

[organ]

Very well written doro! With the price difference, I wasn't expecting the MC to sound as good as MIT. So are you planning on upgrading to MIT? I'm usin a combination of MC and XLO and I can hear a difference especially in the treble when I swap them(source to pre and pre to amp). What speaker cables are you using?

mantis,
I picked up the MC Reference 2 in March but I can't find anything about them on MC's website. Is the Reference 2 an older model? How did they compare to other IC's you've tested.

Maurice

[Gary Robertson]

I once thought that my monster M850I's were the best thing around (and they were too) Until MANTIS suggested that i try a more expensive cable with the Bryston and ML-Prodigy's--That's where the acoustic zen cables came in to play....Oh my god !!! :-) it was the most incredible difference i have ever expierenced, actually beyond words......
Just ecstacy. Detail,detail,detail..
now that i have been enlightened i will never go back,,ever..

[dorokusai]

Organ - Thank you Organ. Yea, it may have been apples and oranges, but like I said it was to get another benchmark for my ears. Yes, I plan to upgrade my Analog/Digital interconnects to MIT. I think that is enough of a step up for me, and will end my interconnect issue for some time. I am probably going Signal Cable for all my speaker wire next month, and video is not a huge priority. The video is all MC Video2 series, and they are fine for now.

Mantis - Yes very good time, enlightening like Gary said.... :) I am certainly entrenched in that cable feeling now. You are selling Transparents aren't you.....hmmmm :)

Gary - You said it hoss.....AMEN ;)

[mantis]

F1nut,
I hear yeah with the good time and all but I'm not a smoker and cigars give it to me even more.....yuck....
Now drinking Beers.....allday.

organ,
You should be able to find info about them on monsters website.Look under monster standard.They are the top of the line IC's for standard.Not Mseries quality ,they lack some of the technology that goes into M series.

Gary Robertson,
with gear like you own you really didn't have a choice.Your system cried out for better cables......since you listened I bet you see.......you do.....good call man.

dorokusai,
Once you unlock the disbelief about wire and actually hear a difference,it's on.......the journey begins and forever will it control your destiny.....LOL

[dorokusai]

Mantis - I never had disbelief, I knew cables made a difference. Its just I never had another reference other than MC to go by....Now I have evolved into a cable prostitute...lol

[mantis]

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

[Gary Robertson]

i must admit that i have been learnt..
i is just an ol' suddern' backwoods boy now livin in suddern calofonya.........
i thought i was rediculously stupid shelling out over 4,000 dollars for cables-i did have a nice thing cross my mind last night--i was in the so.cal. circuit city and they had these rack systems with everythng such as... 12" 4 way speakers and reciever and cd player dvd etc.. Kenwoods, Pioneers ,Onkyo and Technics --oh,, and Sherwood and the people were standing around in awe of these systems (because they all came in a kit ) 1,500 dollar takes the whole system home......then the ecstatic thought crossed my mind--- ...........
""OH MY GOD, AN ENTIRE RACK SYSTEM COST ONLY A FRACTION OF MY CABLES....BUT NEVER THE LESS, BEING THE HUMBLE DUDE THAT I AM I JUST KEPT THE OLD MOUTH SHUT AND DIDN'T SAY A WORD""- I CAN REMEMBER BEING ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE THINKING THAT I REALLY HAD SOMETHING WITH MY OLD KENWOOD RECIEVER AND PIONEER SPEAKERS AND THEN I BEGAN TO LEARN AND HERE I AM NOW ON THE COMPLETE OTHER SIDE IN A WHOLE NEW WORLD
AND ONCE THAT HAPPENS YOU ARE GONE AND WILL NEVER EVER EVER, GO BACK.

[mantis]

its nice to know where you started and where it led you.......

[dorokusai]

I imagine Gary playing the theme from Deliverence on his speakers just now.... :)

[Gary Robertson]

Oh my gosh--if you could only hear the reality of dueling banjos on this system...Yeeeeeee Frickin" haaaaaaaaaa

[dorokusai]

LOL