It’s all bullshit, of course. Like Monster Cable and that $US500 Denon Ethernet cable, there’s more snake oil flowing through this “premium” socket than anything else.

And as with that Denon Ethernet cable, the comments from “satisfied users” are what really make this product worth “investigating”. Buyer beware. [Parts Express via Boing Boing]

Being Monsters, you know they’re gonna cost a ton. Four feet of “high speed” SuperThin cable has a suggested price of $US90, going up to $US100 for 8 feet, and $US120 for 16 feet. Standard speed cables start at $US80 for 1 meter, $US90 for 2 meters, $US100 for 4 meters and $US120 for 5 meters. I’ll leave the judgments to you guys in the comments.

Monster Introduces Breakthrough “SuperThin Cable™ for HDMI™”
— Developed in Collaboration with RedMere, New Powered SuperThin Cables for HDMI Are
Ideal for Elegant Flat-Panel TV Installations and Use with Mobile HD Devices —

New York, NY, June 10, 2009 – Monster, the world’s leading manufacturer of cables,
AV accessories, and power conditioning products, today announced the introduction of
a new line of “Powered” SuperThin Cables™ for HDMI™ Cables specifically designed
for use with a wide variety of electronics devices, ranging from today’s super-slim flat-
panel TVs to digital video cameras, home theatre systems, gaming systems or portable
computers. The new Monster SuperThin Cables for HDMI are the first fruits of a
recently announced collaboration with RedMere, a leader in advanced silicon chip
development. Monster Super Thin Cable for HDMI products will be available in 4-, 8-,
and 16-foot versions in the DigitalLife line of products (DL HDMI HSMI-4, DL HDMI
HSMI-8, DL HDMI HSMI-16).Monster’s Core line of cables for HDMI will also offer a
SuperThin cable design in 1, 2, 4 and 5 meter lengths.

HD Signals Are Boosted in the Cable Itself
With the introduction of SuperThin Cable for HDMI, Monster is continuing to follow
through on its commitment to provide consumers with a comprehensive range of high-
quality, reliable connectivity solutions for every need and budget. The key innovation
that made the creation of Monster SuperThin Cables for HDMI possible is the
RedMere™ MagnifEye™ Active technology. Requiring no external power supply the
technology enables industry-leading data speeds and ultimate-quality performance by
boosting the HD signals directly in the SuperThin cable itself. This eliminates the need
for heavy-gauge copper, making the cables extremely light, thin and portable.
SuperThin cables measure just 3.5 mm in diameter, approximately 65% thinner than
normal HDMI cables.

Noted Noel Lee, the Head Monster: “Monster built our reputation on thick, heavy
gauge high-quality cables with unequalled performance capabilities. Now, thanks to
our alliance with RedMere and the leading-edge MagnifEye Active technology, we’re
able to provide our customers with the same level of Monster quality and reliability in
a brand new type of ‘magically thin’ cable. The difference is immediately apparent –
SuperThin cables are much smaller and lighter, matching the sleek appearance of
the consumer electronics products they connect. Whether you want a totally clean-
looking virtually invisible installation option for your HDTV or you just want a much
better and more convenient way to access HD content while on-the-go, there’s never
been anything like our new super-thin cables.”

Digital Life™ SuperThin High Speed Powered Cable for HDMI (SRP) 4ft. $US89.95, 8ft.
$US99.95 and 16ft $US119.95

Digital Life SuperThin High Speed Powered Cable for camcorder; Mini HDMI to HDMI
8ft (SRP) $US99.95

Monster’s Core Line of SuperThin Powered Cables for HDMI 1m $US79.95, 2m $US89.95 4m
$US99.95, 5m $US119.95.

“Super-Slim TVs Need Monster SuperThin Cables”
Monster’s new SuperThin cables for HDMI are poised to usher in a new era of
convenience and elegance in high-performance cable management, both at home and
on-the-go. Featuring a built-in LED indicator that instantly lets users know they are
active, the virtually invisible cables are ideal for use in aesthetically designed home
theater installations utilizing flat-panel TVs. Consumers can literally hide the cables
away in plain sight, as well as fit them into any tight corners for a new level of
installation flexibility. Additionally, the compact and lightweight cables, which include
handy cable ties, are ideal for taking on the road with camcorders or other mobile digital
devices. Their easy portability provides users with a fast and convenient way to connect
camcorders or other digital devices to notebook computers or other display. For total
reliability and performance, the new cables feature corrosion-resistant 24k gold
contacts.

[Monster]

Monster Cable, purveyors of grossly overpriced products, feel your pain during these tough financial times. That’s why they are reducing their ridiculous prices to slightly less ridiculous prices during the recession.

Now, founder and “Head Monster” Noel Lee is cutting prices on top-of-the-line cables for high-definition TVs, effective in June. An 8-foot HDMI cable that currently sells for $US129.95 at Best Buy will be priced at $US99.

On Monday, the company also lopped $US10 off the price of its most basic—but rarely stocked—HDMI TV cable, to $US29 for a 1-metre length. And it introduced two new lower-cost HDMI cables in 2-metre and 4-metre lengths for $US39.95 and $US59.95. Competitors’ cables of similar length can be found online for as low as $US5.

This just makes me laugh. As we pointed out in our “Truth About Monster Cable” series, buying high end cable is usually unnecessary. But hey, if people want to waste money on “the best” I can hardly blame Monster for selling it to them. As Noel Lee pointed out to USA Today: “It’s ironic, when people buy Monster, they don’t expect to pay (a) low price, so our lower-end cables don’t sell very well.” That’s probably true—the people who buy these things might view the price as an exclusive barrier to entry, and therefore part of the allure. It will be interesting to see if this price tactic actually improves sales. [USA Today]

If you spotted this ad for Monster’s Dr. Dre Beats headphones—which strips an out-of-context blurb from a news post—you’d think Engadget gave Monster Cable an awkward-sounding endorsement. But the mutilated sentence was lifted and applied without Engadget’s permission.

It’s not uncommon for companies to ask about using quotes in ads—seen any Sprint or G1 spots lately?—which is fine. But it’s not cool to use them without permission, even if Dr. Dre’s Beats are pretty decent cans and yes, there is some difference in audio cables.

Engadget does have an endorsement for Monster now though: “Monster Cable sucks.” Way to live up to your rep, Monster, as a pretty douchey company.

Update: Monster Cable has pulled the quote, but are still douches. [Engadget]

Their recent suit of Monster Mini Golf caused loads of backlash onto the company, making the founder Noel Lee declare that they were going to change the way they do business. And by that, apparently he means NOT change the way they do business, because they’re suing a fucking TRANSMISSION COMPANY. [Audioholics via Engadget]

They’ve released five different sprays for five different types of devices: a camera spray, a mobile phone spray, an iPhone spray (Buchanan posits that this one is made of pure angel tears), a GPS spray and a laptop spray. Yes, Monster wants you to think that your GPS and your mobile phone need separate sprays, lest your phone is destroyed by the magical chemicals that can only clean a surface that displays driving directions. While yes, perhaps laptop screens need a different spray than the glass iPhone, this is a bit beyond overkill.

Each bottle of these precious fluids cost US$10, which is a pretty sizable markup seeing that they just took a bunch of Windex, watered it down and put it into tiny bottles with different coloured labels on it. [CrunchGear]

The second line is aimed at audio systems, with GreenPower versions of the EPIR 2450, EPIR 3650, and HDP 2550 PowerCenters. These systems are designed to work with “any universal learning remote”—you simply program it with the right IR codes, and then with one flick of a button your HDTV and all its support audio and video gear will click off, protecting the environment and saving you a handful of dollars on your utility bills. It’s not clear if you need line of sight to the power strip, but that’s probably still pretty convenient for most users, and if you can do your bit for the environment without even having to leave your couch, that can only be a good thing.

The MDP650, 800 and 900 will set you back US$70, US$99 and US$129 respectively, but you’d probably have to be an audiophile to consider the entertainment PowerCenter versions: the EPIR 2450 (with three socket outlets) is a whopping US$500, as is the HDIR 2550 (which has just 2 socket outlets), whereas the EPIR 3650 is an even chunkier US$600 and can switch off four items plugged into it. You could always just haul yourself out of the chair and flick the switch—I’m just saying. [Monster Power]

• The Green Monster, Boston’s left field wall at Fenway Park
• The Flying Spaghetti Monster
• Monster Trucks
• A town in the Netherlands
• Hillary Clinton
• The Cookie Monster
• Giant Monster Movies
• The Monsters of Rock Tour
• Monster Sushi, a sushi chain in NY
• The dance The Monster Mash
• Everybody named “Noel Lee”
• Ugly people who look like monsters
• The Loch Ness Monster
• Unreal Tournament for their M-M-M-M-M-Monster kill
• This wikipedia entry for monster
• Charlize Theron for acting in the movie called Monster
• The cartoon show Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
• An arrangement of matter that has maximum disorder
• The Ducati Monster motorcycle
• The cataloging app Delicious Library’s creator
• Monster Park, the ballpark in SF, even though they’re the ones who bought out the name

Monster’s Noel Lee responded back in April to then-recent criticism about their perceived litigiousness.

This time it’s Monster Mini Golf, an actual mom-and-pop operation that was started four years ago by a woman and her husband. The chain has been successful enough to spread to 22 locations. MSNBC says that the “owner” of Monster Cable, which is Noel Lee (their “Chief Monster”) says the public will be confused by the similarity of the names. Last time we checked, the public wasn’t quite as confused as the people at Monster Cable who decided to sue. [MSNBC]

Oh look, it’s a list of things Monster Cable has yet to sue!

Apparently, Monster Cable’s Noel Lee issued a response to some negative publicity they got back in April (around the time Monster issued Blue Jeans Cable with a C&D). Noel says they didn’t actually sue ballparks or other random places because their names were too similar, they just file objections to trademarks with the USPTO. Noel blames federal trademark law saying that they’re required to “police [their] marks or [they] will lose them,” and that they “didn’t make these rules.” [Audioholics]