I have the same original monster cables that tekdredger described and they do have large segments that have oxidized. I don't recall exactly how old they are, my best guess would be about 30 years old. I assume this is the result of oxygen leaking through the plastic as tekdredger described.

I am gradually coming to believe that most of the claims about cables and speaker wires from manufacturors are snakeoil, so I am interested in the boards input on whether I would notice a real difference if I replaced these cables with new cables. I am also interested in hearing suggestions on what I should replace these 11 guage cables with.

FWIW, I am using these cable to handle my main front speakers which are NHT VT 1.4's with a Parasound 1200 II 205w power amp with a 1050 as a pre-pro and center/rear amp.