Monster Cables Pushes Around the Wrong Small Company 572
Alien54 writes "Audioholics has a fun read regarding a recent legal dustup involving Monster Cables. The well-known (some might say notorious) cabling company sent a cease and desist letter to Blue Jeans Cable over a supposed patent violation. What the Monster folks couldn't have known was that Blue Jeans president Kurt Denke used to be a lawyer. His response is as humorous as it is thorough. ' Let me begin by stating, without equivocation, that I have no interest whatsoever in infringing upon any intellectual property belonging to Monster Cable. Indeed, the less my customers think my products resemble Monster's, in form or in function, the better ... If there is more than one such connector design in actual use by Monster Cable as to which appropriation of trade dress is alleged, of course, I will require this information for each and every such design. On the basis of what I have seen, both in the USPTO documents you have sent and the actual appearance of Monster Cable connectors which I have observed in use in commerce, it does not appear to me that Monster Cable is in a position to advance a nonfrivolous claim for infringement of these marks.'"
Monster cable has been taking advantage... (Score:5, Informative)
Performance of audio systems is not heavily affected by cables, if only the size of the wires is adequate.
Monster Cable versus wire coat hangers (Score:1, Informative)
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Monster cable has been taking advantage... (Score:4, Informative)
There is one Monster product, however, that was worth the purchase. I sought an FM modulator and while none that I tried had any problems with reception, the several I tried before the Monster unit had awful, flat sound quality. In this case the premium was for a superior product, not just a name.
Re:Monster cable has been taking advantage... (Score:5, Informative)
Summary Missed Best Paragraph (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Monster cable has been taking advantage... (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.electronichouse.com/article/the_truth_about_high_end_cables/C29 [electronichouse.com]
Re:Monster cable has been taking advantage... (Score:5, Informative)
That's hardly what I would call a reliable source of information, and yet people continue to perpetuate the mean as truth because it appeals to their pre-existing notions.
Re:Monster Cable versus wire coat hangers (Score:5, Informative)
The Consumerist did no such comparison. Rather, a reader sent them a 4 year old post from a random dude on another forum, which the Consumerist quoted and posted, turning it into a popular Slashdot meme.
Groupthink at work, gotta love it. The burden of proof is always non-existent when it backs up your pre-existing notions of truth.
Re:Monster cable has been taking advantage... (Score:3, Informative)
By the way, this isn't the first time Monster Cables has used frivolous lawsuits to their advantage-- they also have a habit of suing anyone with the word "Monster" in their name:
http://www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/HallOfShame/MonsterCable/MonsterCable.shtml [tabberone.com]
Re:Monster cable has been taking advantage... (Score:5, Informative)
Now, that's really for analog signals... As for digital, it's not really a concern. A $15 HDMI or DVI cable is just as good as a $85 HDMI cable, assuming they're both rated for the same frequency response and distance (HDMI has several classifications, and it CAN make a difference).
As for fiber cables, light is light. A thicker, stronger shell simply helps protect you from over bending the cable and refracting the beam, but it adds no shielding or signal quality improvement of any kind, and in fact, the fiber core itself must be a very specific size in microns. Changing this size like you do in ordinary cables is not optional.
If you have a high end system, increasing cable thickness, adding better cable contacts, and improving shielding can be important, and can improve audio and video quality. On the other hand, unless you're running cables across power lines, very close to speakers, close to tube TVs, or over long distances, Monster offers no "discernable" differences vs their half priced competitors.
That said never use the cheap shit cables that actually come in the box. Allways buy quality replacements, and ensure the connectors are made from materials that don't corrode (i.e. not copper, silver, or aluminum) gold contacts are great, platinum is not worth the expense. In most cases you'll need new cables anyway just to make the distance between devices as 3' is almost never enough, but don't buy cheap unshielded cables ever. Allways look for decent stuff.
When buying a stereo or speakers, look to buy models that support screw on connections or tightening rings for the speaker wire. The cheap little clip style slots, like you typically find on the back of cheaper speakers and all-in-one stereo units do not provide a sufficient contact surface for 100 watt and higher outputs.
As for filtering, modern home theater equipment is more computer than TV or stereo, and this stuff is VERY sensitive to low quality poewr. A surge protector is WORTHLESS! You need power filtration with real time voltage regulation. Monster does a good job providing very high quality filtering systems for as little as $200-300. If you have high def, a suround sound stereo, a PS3 or xbox360, keep this in mind. 97% of all electronic failure is the result of low or inconsitent power. Surge protectors only stop massive oversurges (typically over 160 volts). Damage to computer electronics cn occur at voltage below 104 or above 116. Do your lights ever flicker in your house? Especially when your AC turns on or when your fridge kicks in? If so, GO BUY A POWER FILTER for every digital device in your house!!!
Re:The word "owned" comes to mind PWNED (Score:3, Informative)
I believe the proper iSlang is PWNED!
Re:Monster cable has been taking advantage... (Score:3, Informative)
Most of the other sellers offer it for $2 with $3 shipping, if you prefer...
Whoah. (Score:1, Informative)
Re:From TFA (Score:4, Informative)
What will piss them off, of course, is that the letter has been made public. But that's his perogative.
Re:Uhm.... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:I'll be sure to .. (Score:5, Informative)
Good cheap cables... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Monster cable has been taking advantage... (Score:1, Informative)
That's not true. On higher frequencies (like 1080p DVI), a cheaper cable will distort the signal so much that error correction cannot fix it. Besides, error correction is meant for random, infrequent problems. It should never be used for generally poor transmission.
This page [gizmodo.com] will explain it.
Re:Monster Cable versus wire coat hangers (Score:3, Informative)
The article gives plenty of detail on their testing methodology, assuming the original poster didn't make it up, and nothing posted on the Internet can easily prove or disprove that possibility. Thus, take it with the same grain of salt you take with everything else on the Internet.
Re:Monster cable has been taking advantage... (Score:3, Informative)
Yes, you can buy a DEFECTIVE HDMI cable. One that actually works will - quite simply - work.
Second, error correction is meant to fix
Digital systems have very specific signal specifications. Your data either comes across intact according to those specs or it doesn't. pass/fail. 1 or 0. There is no subjective measurement. There is no 'brighter' sound. That's the WHOLE POINT of digital.
Re:Monster cable has been taking advantage... (Score:3, Informative)
Gold plating will help resist corrosion. Thicker cables are also more likely to resist breaking. For line-level audio & video stuff, more shielding is better, especially for long runs and near 120V lines. Also the connectors (and the wires where they enter the connectors) is the place most likely to break, so premium connectors with nice strain relief are definately nice to have.
I am more than happy to pay a little more for premium cable that I know won't break or cause me problems. It is frustrating to spend 15 minutes debugging a piece of video equipment, just to find the problem is a cable that has broken (I know from experience).
I have never purchased Monster, but would have considered it if I could find them on a great sale. Now that I know what type of low-life scum-sucking company they are, I will not touch their stuff with a 10-foot pole, even if they were giving it away.
Re:From TFA (Score:3, Informative)
Re:The word "owned" comes to mind (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Quality matters for some high-speed cables. (Score:4, Informative)
Gold plated ends are a sham, the gold wears through so fast (because it's barely plated on to begin with) it's not funny and the brass underneath it looks like gold so you dont know. The real high end stuff are solid nickel connections.
Re:Monster cable has been taking advantage... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Monster Cable versus wire coat hangers (Score:3, Informative)
I do a fair amount of single-blind speaker cable tests myself, certainly more than this one anecdotal experiment. Differences here are subtle but I've done way too many comparisons with consistent results to think they don't exist. The best results in any listening comparison are always when comparing with music the listener is intimately familiar with, so their test starts out badly in that regard. Generally I prefer the sound of fat solid wire to anything else. People like stranded wire because it's easy to work with, but it doesn't sound as good as a solid wire of the same gauge. Accordingly, I'm unsurprised that they found the solid steel coat hanger wire to be similar to the Monster cable.
The thing most people miss about that article is that there were two listeners who were cable of hearing the difference between the Monster product and the Belden cable they started with, suggesting there is an audible difference to cables--just not a major difference between the Monster and the hanger. I suspect that further, better tests would show a ranking like this:
Belden 14AWG Stranded Copper < Monster 1000 ~= 12AWG Solid Steel < 12AWG Solid Copper
I've had audiophile speaker cables here up to the $1000 price range (but not the expensive Monsters, their stuff is awful per dollar). Nowadays I'm usually happy with some hand twisted pair designs I wired up with 12AWG solid copper purchased from Home Depot. It's certainly superior to the 14AWG stranded cables I made out of an extension cord also purchased there. The extension cord "design" does sound better than most cheap speaker cables, including the budget Monster line; it is good quality copper and almost thick enough.
Re:The word "owned" comes to mind (Score:5, Informative)
Wonderful. Monster Cable hates America!!!!
Re:The word "owned" comes to mind (Score:5, Informative)
Tax law is the only area of the law where a lawyer is expected to obtain
a speciality post doctorate degree (that is another advanced degree above
and beyond the usual JD) just so that you can be considered qualified to
START practicing in it.
Re:The whole letter (Score:3, Informative)
"You are in possession of at least seven orifices. Your website demonstrates fifteen cables, one of which you may discard. If so, the other fourteen are still under the terms of your retributuion. You will now insert those cables into the orifices in the 1-1-1-1-3-1-7 configuration."
Re:The word "owned" comes to mind (Score:3, Informative)
I'm sure Monster would do the same thing - they license the tech from their Burmuda entity, and also have full rights to pursue patent infringement on behalf of their licensor.
Re:Monster cable has been taking advantage... (Score:3, Informative)
Take a look at van-damme proffessional speaker cable (which is afaict what is used at many big events) and you will notice that it is not shielded.
On long speaker runs your biggest problem is going to be volt drop so the most important thing is to use a thick cable.
On the other hand line level cables most certainly do need shielding because of the much lower power involved. Balanced line is also preferable for long runs.
Monster, Blue Jean - what's the difference? (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.joyoftech.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/1082.html [joyoftech.com]
Re:The word "owned" comes to mind (Score:5, Informative)
But, but it wasn't Monster Cable International, Ltd, that issued him with the letter and claim. It was Monster in the US, so keen to litigate that they did something they had no onus to do ("on behalf of") - they completely forgot that their corporate shell game had given the patents to a company in Bermuda, and that they had no right to claim patent infringement when they weren't the patent owners.
More clear now?
"That, that's not ours! We don't have to pay tax on it! Oh, wait, you're using this thing of ... uh ... not ours ... and we ... uh ... they ... can't have that!"
Re:Monster cable has been taking advantage... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Wow (Score:3, Informative)
FYI - it's Tartan Cable, NOT Blue Jeans... (Score:2, Informative)