And I always laugh at people who pay Monster a premium price for a cable that is the same length of wire from the same line in China sold at less than half the price by other companies just because the Monster length of wire has a pretty branded sheath.
I also laugh at people who pay massive bucks for cables that have been sprinkled with magic chemicals to line up all of the electrons' spin so that they can sound so much better or create a magically better picture.
The argument about cable cost vs equipment cost is one of the most worn out canards out there. I have never been a proponent of going for the cheapest cable out there, but rather going for the cheapest quality cable that does the job right and gives the best bang for the buck. Any quality cable company warranties their product and so the falls apart in a year scenario is an unlikely one. If people need to spend more on cables that do the same job no better than one half the cost just so their expensive display does not feel slighted for being forced to consort with the lower class rabble then that is their perrogative. But back to the car analogy, if a brake pad or spark plug will do the job just as well at half or even less of the cost of the one that the paid for review in brake pads and spark plugs review said that I absolutely had to buy, I don't really care if the Mercedes feels slighted as long as it stops when it should and runs smoothly. Note, once again, that I am not supporting buying the cheapest, shoddiest part, but the cheapest that does the job right and that one should not pay a premium unless one gets something concrete and measureable out of the extra expense. If two products do the job right, are dependable, and are warrantied by their manufacturer/seller, the only reason I can see to pay more is if the more expensive part actually does something the cheaper component cannot and whatever it does better be documentable and not just hype.
Anyone who wishes to make their cable selection based on spending a certain percentage of the balue of the rest of their equipment can certainly do so. It is their money and their system. Personally, my criteria are based on the construction quality, specifications, warranty, and actual performance of the interconnect and not the price tag or the reassurance of the guy at the store that I absolutely need this brand to not shame my equipment. Most of my interconnects come from Bluejeans Cable and I think they give some of the best bang for the buck as well as a lot of frank honesty about their various product levels, what is under the jacket, and how they will take care of you as a customer. I have tested a few Monoprice interconnects and have had many friends go with them for all of their connectivity without any problems or complaints.
I agree that it is foolishness to tell people to run out and hook up their fine equipment with some shoddy cables made from scrap wire and duct tape or some cables that look nice and shiny but feel like they are going to fall apart in your hands the minute you take them out of the box, but I think to say that one cannot connect their system well without spending a certain dollar amount is equally as foolish. I am all for premium interconnects, but I expect something more than to be charged a bundle for a name and a bunch of P.T. Barnum marketing speak for my extra expense.
Predatory companies prey on that fear in the A/V enthusiast that they might not be getting as much out of their systems as they could. It is what leads people to fall for snake oil magic cable schemes and what makes products like Shakti Stones and quantum electron realigning clocks such a lucrative racket. Certainly not all interconnects are the same, most especially in the realm of analog cables, but price is not a good measuring stick. Plenty of POS cables cost a bundle and there are many hidden gems at surprisingly low prices out there. Research, reviews, and personal experience are the keys to finding good interconnects, not looking at price tags or blindly doing what the nice sales guy told you to do.
As I've said before, there are many reasons why Monster is held in such contempt by a large portion of the audiophile community. They sell good cables. They are the same good cables many other companies sell for much less without the nice fancy branding. Their products are generally great, they are also among the worst for bang for the buck. You can get much better for much less and won't be doing business with a company built on the philosophy of inflated brand awareness over actual product improvement and bullying smaller companies into settling trumped up lawsuits because they can't defend themselves or don't have legal counsel to tell them that the patents violations Monster alleges are spurious and sometimes even based on expired patents. If the little Monster logo makes you sleep better at night, then by all means put your money there, personally I find it an affront to the rest of my equipment to make it associate with such a company's product, particularly when I can get better elsewhere for the same price or less. Monster is the Bose of the interconnect world. They have their fans who swear by them and nothing can convince them that their brand is not the absolute best value in the entire world of electronics. I started out along the same path believing that all of my cables had to be Monster or I would be missing something. I found it quite eye opening when I was convinced to try some interconnects designed for commercial applications and then some from some other brands. I discovered that I could not only get the same performance and build quality with a great warranty for equal or less cost, but that I could actually get better performance for equal or less cost. Nobody has to follow my path, but I like to make the information available for any who wish to consider.
You will likely never see Monster charged with false advertising because that is not what they do and not the problem many have with them. Their products do what they say they do, the problem is that other products do the same for much less. It is not illegal to charge more than your competition for the same product, it is just not smart unless you have the resources to market yourself enough to convince the masses that your product is worth the extra dollars and the legal resources to bully your competition for pointing this out and to supplement your income by conning smaller companies into settling with you and signing license agreements to pay you royalties for patents they are not infringing upon. Great examples of the wonderful corporate behavior of Monster:
http://www.audioholics.com/news/indu...s-strikes-back
http://www.monstergreed.com/Index%20...about%20MC.htm
Again, if you want to put your money into Monster cables and it makes you feel better about your system it is your right. But I think that reading the interconnect subforums at multiple forums can be very enlightening. Forums like:
http://www.audioasylum.com/index.htm
http://www.audiocircle.com/
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums...hp?do=activate
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/
While there are lots of options out there for interconnects, I still think that the best sources for quality and bang for the buck are commercial level cables from
www.markertek.com , the various lines of cables from
www.bluejeanscable.com , and, if one wants to delve into the more esoteric,
www.bettercables.com which was founded by an engineer tired of seeing people ripped off by Monster and other such companies charging premium prices without offering anything premium for the expense.
In the end, one should always go with the components they want and feel are best for them, but there is a lot of information out there on the forums, information that does not all come from sources dependent on advertising and comission income from companies that do not appreciate negative or ambivalent reviews, criticism, or direct A/B comparisons of their and others' products in blind tests. One may look at all of that information and decide to stay with what they have, but at least they will have considered the information and all knowledge is worth having.
Chris
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I wasn't sure if a conversion cable would carry the same quality as a pure DVI or 
oh and dont skimp on break pads
Linear Mode
