Denon Releases $499 Cable
Is it the ultimate in digital audio/video technology? Or just a viral marketing ploy? Either way Denon is making waves with their AKDL1 Dedicated Link Cable, a Cat-5 cable designed for select Denon receivers, which costs $499--and no, that's not a typo. According to Denon, for roughly the same price as their AVR788 receiver, you get:
A tin-bearing copper alloy is used for the cable's shield while the insulation is made of a fluoropolymer material with superior heat resistance, weather resistance, and anti-aging properties. The connector features a rounded plug lever to prevent bending or breaking and direction marks to indicate correct direction for connecting cable.
Needless to say, it's generated a lot of debate not unlike the long-standing debate around Monster Cable. And some humor; check the comments on the AKDL1 product page.
--Aric A.
W-me on June 16, 2008 at 07:26 AM
The comments on the AKDL1 product page are absolutely hilarious!! (Both the 5 stars and the 1 stars!)... it's definitely a page to go to if you need a good laugh!!
Patrick Carroll on June 16, 2008 at 12:32 PM
"This way to the Egress!"
TJIC on June 16, 2008 at 12:35 PM
Anyone remember "Mpingo Disks" ?
(
http://www.shunmook.com/text1.htm
The Mpingo Disc is invented by the Shun Mook team. It is made from a combination of Gaboon and Mpingo Ebony, treated with a proprietary process that gives the disc a unique property to regulate the resonance of any sonic component and its transmission. Yet this is a very simple item to use. Just place one to three disc on top of your preamp, CD transport, DA converter, turntable etc, and listen for the wonderful change in your Hi fi system. When this disc is excited by any external acoustic energy, it will resonate throughout the entire audible spectrum, thus overriding unwanted harmonic distortions and at the same enriching the musical reproduction.)
I recall reading about these in Stereophile back in the early 90s.
I wonder if I should get a few of those to put on top of the mail server, the database server, etc. in the machine room?
Couldn't hurt!
[ yes, for the record, I am being QUITE sarcastic ]
Marco on June 16, 2008 at 01:11 PM
Pikers. Check this baby out:
http://www.mitcables.com/?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse1&category_id=98&Itemid=29
Da Coyote on June 16, 2008 at 01:12 PM
Stereophile writers and readers were among the most dense techno types I've ever encountered. Cable fables were among the prime idiocies believed by those clowns. Some examples: 1) audio cables have a "direction" that produces best sound (they obviously don't know what ac means), 2) Bi-wiring improves sound (one amp, driving separate sets of wires to high and low frequency portions of the speaker, 3) Solid wire cables sounded better than multi-wire cables. The interesting part is that absolutely NONE of the proponents of these theories could ever prove their theories using a double-blind test. Their reaction: double blind tests aren't capable of revealing what golden ears can detect. Heh!
Mark Buehner on June 16, 2008 at 01:16 PM
heheheheheeeeee. Heatproof, weatherproof AND ageproofed. Awesome! Of course i could doubtless leave a $5 cable lying in the gutter for 3 months, dry it off, wipe it down, plug it in and it will work every bit as well. And if by some alignment of the stars something did go wrong, I could afford 100 replacements over the years and still be ahead of the game.
An audiophile and his money are soon parted.
Roy Mustang on June 16, 2008 at 01:23 PM
Perfect for the discriminating snob who knows nothing about networking or computer tech in general.
Larry on June 16, 2008 at 01:23 PM
Meanwhile at J.C. Whitney, you can buy a magnet for your fuel line which will improve fuel economy and reduce emissions according to an EPA certified laboratory!
I wonder if these are the guys who patented the cure for AIDS?
Mark Buehner on June 16, 2008 at 01:28 PM
Bi-wiring is not to be confused with bi-amping, which is a legitimate and necessary practice in professional live sound applications. Yet another example of the woo-woos muddying the waters.
Dr Zachary Smith on June 16, 2008 at 01:29 PM
Dear boy, do they come with nipple clamps?
Paul on June 16, 2008 at 01:30 PM
This isn't new. Check out Roger Russells info (a renowned engineer from the old days of McIntosh). There are many "audiophiles" who swear by overpriced gadgets and tweeks.
http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm
joe on June 16, 2008 at 01:31 PM
The commments on the Amazon product page are priceless! Better than anything I've heard in comedy clubs...!
Larry on June 16, 2008 at 01:35 PM
If you want the ultimate in sound quality, you need one of these:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5125780462773187994
Fidel, MD on June 16, 2008 at 01:55 PM
LOL, so what we have is plenum (fluorocarbon coated) ethhernet Cat-5 cable with a snag-proof jack on each end.
Hmm, Belkin (among others0 offers the same thing in a LOT more colors. Different lengths, too.
Or, for that much money, you could buy a couple boxes of cable, a bag full of connectors and boots, and a REALLY nice pair of crimpers, and go into business for yourself.
Thank goodness for technoidiots. Their stupidity paid my way through medical school, and I hardly ever had to eat ramen.
Hucbald on June 16, 2008 at 02:01 PM
OK, that announcer for the Retro Encabulator ought to get an Oscar just for properly pronouncing all of that poly-syllabic techno-jargon!
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Audiophiles are deluded. If you want the best sound, there is no other choice beside Pro Audio: Use what recording studios use, or live in a dream world.
For the record, many studios use Monstercable... as do I. It gives good signal and lasts forever. I have some that are over twenty years old.
Larry on June 16, 2008 at 02:04 PM
Huck - the retroencabulator was a joke. And so are monster cables.
Mark Buehner on June 16, 2008 at 02:07 PM
Yeh, i love reminding so called audiophiles that everything they are listening to proir to maybe 10 years ago came out of a studio that used a TT patchbay (literally, tiny telephone), hundred year old technology. They have no rational explanation for how their high priced interconnects somehow recovered that fidelity, but then again they have no rational explanation for why it would work in the first place.
Jeffersonian on June 16, 2008 at 03:00 PM
I spent a couple of years on a home theater forum, and if you wanted to start a knock-down, drag-out fight you posted a topic on digital cables. It was gruesome.
MST3K writer/host Mike Nelson got tired of this snobbery (only with vodka) and did a double-blind taste test with his snobbish, vodka-swilling pals. The verdict: "It was a bloodbath." Not a single vodka-drinker could identify his favorite brand, and the cheapest drugstore brands were hailed as splendid, the high-priced brands declared revolting.
The irony: It was published in Home Theater Magazine.
Pablo on June 16, 2008 at 03:02 PM
One thing I haven't seen mentioned is that this is a digital cable. 1's and 0's. Cable don't matter. Denon might have a small case if it were analog. Probably, not a $500.00 case, but maybe $24.99.
Evil Pundit on June 16, 2008 at 06:14 PM
One minor quibble, Pablo. While it's true that the data passed over an Ethernet cable is digital, the signal that carries the data is analog and can be affected by cable quality.
This is why cables are classified as Cat5, Cat5e, and so on. This refers to a standard for transmitting Ethernet signals at sufficient quality to carry the digital data reliably.
Of course, this still doesn't mean that the $499 cable is better. Any cable that meets the relevant specification will be just as good.
Hucbald on June 16, 2008 at 08:00 PM
Larry, I didn't say I thought the Retro Encabulator was real, just that the performance was Oscar-worthy. Likewise, I didn't say that Monstercable provides a noticeably better sound, just that they were reliable, high quality cables that last a long time... which is why I and many others into pro audio use them. And yeah, the stupid-expensive 1000 series cables are too much, but the 100 series is a great value when you consider how rugged they are and how long they last without the connector solders going bad, &c., and the 500 series is pretty much the best cable for musical instruments out there. In that particular application, shielding matters... a lot. Ever hold an unshielded cable plugged into a guitar and amplifier system up to a fluorescent light?
I'll put my thirty plus years of pro audio experience, which includes working in some of the most famous recording studios in the world, up against almost anybody on this subject. I say almost, because there are more than a few professional audio engineers out there who have even more of a storehouse of knowledge and experience than I do, but I don't believe any of them are here.
newscaper on June 16, 2008 at 09:06 PM
I'm in the camp that cables *do* matter when it comes to analog -- within reason. If you still have any analog interconnects (the red & white RCA jacks) you are absolutely losing some of your sound, assuming the rest of your system is reasonably good.
But I'm talking maybe $20-$30 a set (no, not monster) versus the 50-cent crap ones that came with your gear. I'm most definitely NOT talking about hundreds of dollars -- there is defintiely such a thing as diminishing return (merging into outright fraud).
Mark Buehner on June 16, 2008 at 10:43 PM
"I'll put my thirty plus years of pro audio experience, which includes working in some of the most famous recording studios in the world, up against almost anybody on this subject"
What are the world famous studios that stock monster cables? I'm not doubting you, just curious. I cant recall ever seeing a monster cable in a pro studio, but that certainly doesnt mean its not common, particularly since my studio life ended a few years ago.
mondonico on June 17, 2008 at 04:59 AM
You'd think they'd at least make it Cat 5e, if not Cat 6, for that price. Cat 5 has been ditched for Cat 5e even for home telephone/data wiring.
pegleg on June 17, 2008 at 07:26 AM
I love those stereo reviews of the ultra "high end" stuff: each one makes a HUGE improvement in sound quality. You have to start with white noise to really hear these.
That guy in the retro encabulator video was impressive. How anyone could keep a striaght face doing that....