Why Monster Sells HDMI Cables for $100 and Up | Talking Tech

[AngulFever99]

Monster cables= ripoff

Go to ebay and call it a day.

[penisgrease]

proves how fucking stupid your neighbors are.buy more monster guns.

[penisgrease]

this guy wipes his arse with chop sticks.

[TheDr604]

CUT THE BSSSSSS STANDARD HDMI HIGH END HDMI ITS ALL THE SAME SHIT

[mrdougeran1]

he sounds like he's lying all of the time.....too many "fill ins" uhh why uhh we think uhh.......... sounds like a line of bs to me. he sounds like a salesman that's just getting started

[999124999]

Yeah I bought my HDMI cable from monster for a bit of a lower price cause it was boxing day :P

[blombomb]

...and also, I don't know if I should Thumbs up this video or not because I like that they talked to him and heard the truth about why they're so expensive.. I just don't like why their so expensive.

[blombomb]

Straight from the man himself. The only difference is you're cable has a "lifetime guarantee" or whatever they want to call it. There are companies out there offering the same exact thing and you pay UNDER $5 for their cables. Sir, I hope you enjoy your Segway funded from the poor people who's money you've been stealing for 30 years.

[jtnoodle]

@blombomb I suppose Mercedes and BMW have been "stealing" money from customers too? Monster doesn't hold a gun to the purchasers head.

[blombomb]

@jtnoodle No, they're not. But when consumers are told to pay double, sometimes triple or more the price for enhanced performance, they expect a difference. Monster cables are notoriously up-sold onto electronics purchases for their superior quality when the truth is there is no difference in the budget cable and monster.. except a sturdier, thicker cable which doesn't matter unless you're moving your electronics on a daily basis.

[ViciousAlienKlown]

Monster cables are a complete rip off, theres no difference between the cheap Walmart cables and these Monster cables

[jtnoodle]

@ViciousAlienKlown Overpriced? Definitely. Ripoff? No. There's a difference. People know exactly how much they are paying for Monster cables when they purchase them. It's not like Monster is lying about the cost. A ripoff would be when your car mechanic quotes you a price then charges more.

[ussyless]

i bought my hdmi cable for $4.20 and free shipping

[Watcher3223]

On top of that, Monster has a history of engaging in frivolous and baseless litigation against competitors and even businesses and people who aren't even in the cable business but have used the word "monster" in their branding.

To me, Monster Cable is the "Bose" in the cable business. The high prices of their products help pay for their marketing and legal maneuvers, not in making a product with worthwhile value and sold at reasonable cost.

[plotikai]

@Watcher3223 You sounded smart up until you compared Monster Cable to Bose, sorry.

[Watcher3223]

@plotikai

No, the comparison is apt.

Both aggressively market products whose value are not commensurate for the prices they typically retail for.

Just as there are lower cost alternatives to Bose that can be better in terms of quality and performance, the same holds true for Monster Cable.

[plotikai]

@Watcher3223 That comment is really vague. Just as there are lower cost alternatives to the 5 star restaurant down the road in terms of quality of product, the same holds true for EVERYTHING

[Watcher3223]

@plotikai

Now who's being vague?

If you want an example, compare Bose to real brands of speaker that actually produce items worthy of the cost.

Not just in terms of sound, either. Also in terms of materials and construction quality.

B&W, KEF, Infinity, Definitive Technology and Martin Logan come to mind.

For example, Bose uses cheap paper cones for their full range drivers.

In contrast, B&W use exotic materials like kevlar for their cones on their midrange and bass drivers.

[plotikai]

@Watcher3223 *facepalm* I was paraphrasing your comment.

[Watcher3223]

@plotikai

*facepalm*

You don't have any idea what you're talking about.

Your flub about the difference between composite and component video proves that.

There IS a difference, even on the Wii.

[Watcher3223]

I only buy Monster Cable if I can get one on sale and the price is less than for other cables.

Case in point, I bought Monster component video cable for my Nintendo Wii when Target had them on sale at a lower price than the Nintendo branded component video cable.

Otherwise, I avoid Monster. Their products are good, but they are way overpriced compared to their competition, many of whom offer equivalent or even superior product at better prices.

[plotikai]

@Watcher3223 Also if you're talking about no difference in HDMI cables then you shouldn't be buying component cables for your wii seeing as the Wii is not capable of displaying higher then 480p which is what a standard "yellow" cable will handle.

[Watcher3223]

@plotikai

In your reply about my choice of a Wii Mosnter Cable, amazing that you missed my point.

Obviously, the Wii doesn't use HDMI and only outputs 480p.

Though Monster Cable is priced at obscene markup, the Wii Monster Cable was on sale and ended up being lower cost than the genuine Nintendo cable, the Monster Wii cable was a better value in that instance.

My point: I would buy Monster Cable *IF* the price is competitive with equivalent products from competing brands.

[plotikai]

@Watcher3223 You missed my point, the genuine Nintendo branded component cable will give you no better quality then the genuine Nintendo branded "yellow" cables that comes free in the box. You even considering purchasing a component cable for the Wii (regardless of brand) proves that you really have no idea what you're preaching.

[Watcher3223]

@plotikai

With component, I do not require a separation process for the video signal to drive the display. This eliminates picture problems such as dot crawl.

In addition, progressive scanning requires component video. Progressive eliminates problems such as moire. It also reduces processing required for the video to get it to display on my flat panel. Instead of having to DEINTERLACE and SCALE, all that's needed is to SCALE 480 to run on a panel that's 1080 native.

[ansnawaz3]

WTF. Not tru

[dms0087]

WTF

[pmgodfrey]

Where are these cables made? China. How much do they cost to make? Next to nothing. How much does that $100 cable cost the store you're buying it from? About $15.

SCSI cables were the same way in the early 90's when I worked for CompUSA. We sold $175 SCSI cables that cost us $2.99. People bought them because they needed them and that's what the market set the price at.

Why are they so anxious to sell you tons of accessories with that $899 TV? Because they don't make anything on the TV.

[Afrotechmods]

Asking the head of Monster Cable why you should buy their cables is like asking the salesman in Family Guy why you should buy volcano insurance.

[FallenCalamity]

He's crippled, and can't walk, hence the segway.

If you don't want an expensive cable, then don't buy an expensive cable.

Stop whining about it.

[ViciousAlienKlown]

@FallenCalamity I'm not whining and certainly not buying

[xFpsGam3r]

Omg i found out why beats by dre's are overpriced!!! There made by monster!!

[oasisbeyond]

Also... why can't the guy walk? Man he needs a good beating, can't imagine working for someone like that.

[oasisbeyond]

Why is it so expensive?............. Cuz they want to make crazy cash on suckers out there!

[Uridien]

Hell I think I bought some off EBay for like $3, and I got 3 cables in the package and they work fine.

[Blaqs1]

Fuck Monster i got my hdmi cable for 1 dollar

[5ke14nim441]

Just like the Dr. Dre's they have out. Over priced, may look cool and all but perform equal or less than lower quality ones

[rei9707]

lol @ the guys scooter thing

[StanwoodSpartans]

monster cables are overpriced, good, but overpriced.

[theknexkid101]

i got mine for a dollar with 24karrot gold ends

[SomeoneWitSkill]

@theknexkid101

the ends dont matter, gold just doesnt erode them

[theknexkid101]

@SomeoneWitSkill sounds legit

[SomeoneWitSkill]

@theknexkid101 The FACTS About HDMI Cables

akaTrent

3:44

:)

[theknexkid101]

@SomeoneWitSkill MASHED PATATOS!!!!!!!

[SomeoneWitSkill]

@theknexkid101

AHHH YES! MASHED PATATOS!!!!

[zelarian]

Generally you won't need a monster cable. Even some of the cheap cables like Belkin or ProHT have enough bandwidth to do the job without quality loss. The only thing really that I can see that's beneficial is the lifetime guarantee. The Monster cables that support up to 4k x 2k are way ahead of it's time. When we need to meet the bandwidth standards for these resolutions, I'm counting on the rest of the cabling industry to release their own versions for the same price we pay today.

[TheBestGuitarSoloEVR]

yeah different cables have different mbps for huge resolutions in hd

[nimzo47ify]

Y HE NO WALK ?

[thebeetalls]

@nimzo47ify Walking is for peasants.

[LostMYmind904]

1:20 So he's selling us a $100+ refund if it breaks?

[mechaart]

my friend got me a 16 foot HDMI cable for my PS3 and HDTV for around 6 bucks total from Ebay.

[jaaybattler]

shoelaces undone at 1:29

[xXHtOwNfReAkXx]

he sells it for so much cable cause he wants to buy a scooter when he turns 85 oh wait he did already

[Vomitore]

My friend was someone who always bought the MOST expensive and he used to give me shit because I just bought what was good for my wallet. One day I called him up and told him: "Dude, I redid ALL my connections with Monster Cable! You gotta see and hear the clarity!" He came over and was raving how much better it was and how much I'll enjoy watching movies. I then told him: "Dude, I didn't change shit. It's still all the cheap cables." ... He punched me in the shoulder and left :D

[bravedwarf]

"might" is the keyword here people... long as your cable are made well and soldiered properly all u need.

[TheCrazy1One]

You know what? Stick that cable up your *woop* together with that segway. Rip off...

[RonTxJediKnight]

Go to E-BAY you dont need a $100 cable !!!

[MontageReflex]

Seriously. How rich do you have to be to be to lazy to walk.

[PSNheroofhonor]

Shove your high performance up your ass viet cong, 5 bucks for 5 star performance.

[Chitownzson]

A sucker is born every minute so if you didn't get sucked in than the person either to your left or to your right will or both for that matter.

[yourmomsstalk3r]

What am I missing here? I thought Noel Lee was going to tell me why it's better to buy higher priced cables but all I heard was a bunch of bullshit.

[JohnnyLadd]

at 1:23 anyone who walks around with his shoe laces untied does not fill me with confidence in whatever he says.

[MYARMYOFLIFE]

amazon is selling monster 2000 hdmi its only cost $28.99

[lazyray304]

its purely a marketing company...

[PrOxGriZZly]

Bought a HDMI cable for a bluray Dvd player for £45 then i have have just seen cables on the internet for £3 FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!

[hotstyleTECH]

my mom got one of those for me for $10 on black friday =-)

[james65508]

@hotstyleTECH awesome I bought a HDMI cable for 5$ :D

[mechaart]

Monster cables are a ripoff. just buy a 10 dollar one and save yourself the 90 bucks for something else. you can get the same quality as monster for cheaper. dont listen to the Lee guy he's just a scam artist

[razordu30]

It's a DIGITAL FUCKING SIGNAL. We're supposed to pay a $100 premium to "guarantee" that my source device's output can continue to properly transmit 0s and fucking 1s? I could do that with a god damn coat hanger. What a crock of shit.

[Pyromaceno1]

waste of money, buy a nice well made cable for arround £20 for 3M and be done please don't waste money you would get better sound from sticking you cash in a church box :)

[ResidentG33k]

Google Search @ Monoprice

[Mask23232]

0:41 the guy is on a segway!!! That's where all yuor money went

[YaaRiiteeeHD]

@Mask23232 mate he cant walk, he can only stand when he is holding onto something.

[mrdougeran1]

@Mask23232 he can't even have the decency to walk with the other guy...i would have walked out right then. if he was in a wheel chair then i could understand

[papatoony]

His answer was incredibly...unconvincing. Lacked any real substance. Kind of reminds me of how Sarah Palin talks. Her lips move, words come out, but she's not saying anything relevant.

[Slightlyevil]

Only thing I like about monster are their Monster beats headphones. Even those are a little to pricey for the actual build quality you get.

[darkstar3x16]

Lots of musicians like Slash use monster cable because he's on their big juicy payroll.

I'm sorry but this is about principles and I will not put a penny in these guys pockets because they're scum! Did you see how they sued monster mini-golf?

[breethwithme]

he didnt tell us anything. the el cheapo ones on ebay do the same thing they just dont look as cool but i dont worry about it cause you cant see em. i got a good pair two 6 ft ones on ebay for 20 bucks

[MasonIsaJar]

well, he didn't really explain anything IMO...

[CacciatoreXLG]

I've ordered 2 HDMI cables of 75 cents each. My friend has some expensive Oehlbach HDMI cables. We are going to compare them, I'll comment here again if we saw any difference or not :)

[YaaRiiteeeHD]

@CacciatoreXLG how did it go?

[CacciatoreXLG]

@YaaRiiteeeHD My friend couldn't reach his cables that easy, so I didn't compare it yet.

But my 75 cent hdmi cables are working good, the only problem is that they don't stay in place right, so sometimes (just every once in a while) I need to move them a little around in the hdmi port, so they work again. I wouldn't buy a expensive Monster cable, but next time, I'll buy a cable from around 10-20 euro's

[dontube911]

He sure dodged the true explanation on the differences of a Monster cable and a cheap cable ..... The FACT is theirs is in a pretty housing and fancy packaging.

[meinside99]

A monster cable is about 15 bucks wholesale and retails for 80.

[Sepharite]

What's with the segway?

[EvanEiga]

@Sepharite his disabled because he used to work in the livermore nuclear lab. and he got fucked up by the nucs.

[SmartPerson2011]

Monster has the best HDMI cables.

[kafaya77]

If the technology changes, just buy a new $3 dollar cable that works! WTF buy a $100 cable? Someone snipe this guy!

[benparsons87]

hahaha his headquarters is so expensive looking... I wonder how he pays for it... hmm....

[iKlaSiicKoNii]

my dad's friend bought a 6$ hdmi no tax and its sooooo sharp! its even gold plated

[bugattisteve]

Still didnt explain why the cable actually cost so much. monoprice sell lifetime warranty, gold plated 1.3 cat 2, gold plated good gauge cable for $4 so why do they mark up so different???

[nunojpg]

This guys MUST be very smart. They make money where anyone else couldn't see the opportunity...

What does the 100$ warranty means? that they will replace the today HDMI cable for a low loss, higher frequency, when the protocol evolve? Or replace for a DisplayPort or such cable when HDMI turns obsolete?

The alternative would be to buy one today for 10$ today and spend more 10$ in 10 years to replace with the new standard on that era. Why would someone prefer this...?

[herberth555]

i work in an electronic store. monster does make a difference. in color and sharpness on led tv's

[ColonelGerdauf]

@herberth555

look athe the cables. one of them MUST be composite.

to the rest of you, you all need to market-proof yourselves, this is nonsense!

[jmr1068204]

Umm...why does he ride a Segway next to a guy who walks? Wow, laziness to a whole new level for a "business executive" who started his business. I paid $0.99 cents for my HDMI cable - it gets 1080p no problem. The rest goes for a good cause - not for this guy to buy more cars for his infamous "Monster Stable" (he has a ton of top-shape performances cars, just so you know).

[wwwmember]

I heard he's disable.

[AudioGuise]

High-end cables make a big difference!

[Andyw1228]

Yes: in a analog World!

In digital domain not. There is 0 or 1 - there is no better 1 or 0 with these cables.

Do you buy USB-HD cables for 100$ to play movies better on your PC?

The only issue is Jitter- but this another story which has nothing to do with cables.

[washburn085]

Monster is great for instrument cables due to their lifetime warranties, you can take a ripped in half guitar cable to a store and get a replacement. As far as hdmi and other "entertainment" cables, a waste of money.

[thehalo2renegade]

i'm a best buy employee and best buy charges 80 dollars for a cable they pay 5 bucks for and even employess get them for super cheap, just like jon was saying, an uncompressed digital signal eliminates any need extra "insulation" it's like making a monster cable for an ethernet cord, you are throwing your money down the drain

[poolboyinla]

I just bought a new HDMI cable on amazon for 18 cents plus $3 shipping. Fuck this guy.

[ChillieDog7thStreet]

@poolboyinla thats sad......

[poolboyinla]

@ChillieDog7thStreet How is that sad?

[ChillieDog7thStreet]

@poolboyinla you spend less than a quarter on a cable. I never spend less than 50 bucks on a cable and for good resoning

[stevewatr]

he should have blown his nose before the interview.

[jonsolov]

The whole point of digital is that you don't need to worry about signal to noise ratios like you did with analog. Enjoy paying $100 for a cable that gives you the same performance as a $3 one.

[MasterPhil175]

EXACTLY!!

[ba3cool]

@jonsolov It's all about bandwidth, SN ratios start playing a factor past 5 meters.

A 1080p 120Hz TV with a 32bit colour depth, and 8 Channel lossless 192/24 audio needs more bandwidth than a $3 cable can provide.

Same goes for a gaming setup with a WQXGA display or even a 2k projector.

In my case, I have a 2k display with 8 channels of audio, 9 meters away from my source - while the cable is running through a wall, bundled closely with other cables - SNR becomes extremely important.

[scarekrow9]

@ba3cool have you tried the $3 cable to compare it?

[ba3cool]

@scarekrow9 A $3 cable would work with a 1080p display. Not at the resolution I'm on (2560x1600) - Over a 10M (33 foot) cable + 8 channel audio; needs: bandwidth (and lots of it) and a very high SNR margin.

[wassahilden]

bull shit

[geisler78]

LAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZY! GET Off that dumb thing and walk like a man. Chinese Professor X. lol.