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$500 for 5 feet of Ethernet cable?

networkworld.com — Parts of the blogosphere have been buzzing over the discovery of a 1.5-meter Ethernet cable that is being sold for the insane price of $499. The cable would cost you $4 elsewhere. The manufacturer is Denon, and the target customer is the "audio enthusiast." Apparently "audio enthusiast" is Denonese for "sucker."

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  • d1gg3r1, on 06/19/2008, -94/+11I think I saw this already, but dugg nonetheless :)
  • Morshade, on 06/19/2008, -79/+7nice
  • perkonis, on 06/19/2008, -2/+497But they have "signal directional markings." That's got to be worth something, right? Signals are just so damned unruly if they don't have directional markings to follow.
    • gplpark92, on 06/20/2008, -1/+57Monster says so, so that must be true...
      • pintomp3, on 06/20/2008, -32/+3it's denon.
        • schizogony, on 06/20/2008, -0/+9But he was referring to Monster.
        • FLarsen, on 06/21/2008, -1/+7Do you know you've failed? You might want to go lie down for a bit.
    • cuppyCake, on 06/20/2008, -1/+147The markings aren't for the signals themselves, you see...they're there so you don't plug in the Ethernet cable backwards!
      • greatblackowl, on 06/20/2008, -0/+218I did that before, and you wouldn't know the ***** I went through for it. It took me a week to get all of the pictures back that the internet downloaded from me.
        • zephyr42, on 06/20/2008, -0/+28If the internet could blush... It would have then.
        • Chompy, on 06/21/2008, -0/+19***** the one time I did that, I spilled about 20 gigs of internet on the floor. Let me tell you something, internet does not come out of a rug, no matter how much you scrub.
        • Mononuclear, on 06/21/2008, -3/+5Chompy.. neither does the smell from dead hookers...
        • ichbeineinrcg, on 06/21/2008, -0/+2You should both try soda water. Drip it on the stain and blot up with cheesecloth.
        • mrallen86, on 06/21/2008, -1/+1Mononuclear..That's why I usually kill hookers by injecting Pine Sol into their bloodstream. Leaves your trunk smelling fresh.
    • swgbex, on 06/20/2008, -1/+89Plug it in backwards and the 1s and 0s will get jammed. Its for your protection
      • Kanuhduh, on 06/20/2008, -0/+10It'd be total pharmage.
      • mykalimba, on 06/20/2008, -0/+129˙ǝuıɟ ʇsnɾ ʞɹoʍ oʇ sɯǝǝs ʇı ˙ʍou ʇɥƃıɹ spɹɐʍʞɔɐq uı pǝƃƃnld sı ǝlqɐɔ ʞɹoʍʇǝu ʎɯ
      • OhTheHumanity1, on 06/20/2008, -1/+11It really is, because if you then plug it in the right way, the 1s and 0s will explode out in force and possibly damage your equipment.
    • rasterbator, on 06/20/2008, -0/+24I think the customer is paying for that fancy exploded view. :p

      New slogan for Denon:
      Denon puts the High in High Fidelity.
      • zephyr42, on 06/20/2008, -5/+5it comes with chronic?


        ...ooooh that's why it's so expensive.
    • Kamujin, on 06/20/2008, -0/+27These kinds of wealth redistributions schemes have a built in self correcting mechanism that taxes don't.

      Go rip-off artists!
    • SuperWinner, on 06/20/2008, -0/+29Question is, how many have they sold???
      • dood, on 06/20/2008, -0/+37I bet they've sold several.

        Imagine this scenario. You've got $50k to spend on a new sound system. You go to a dealer, and they hook you up with everything, and even offer to professionally install it. They're not going to waste your time trying to talk you in to the fancy ethernet cable. They'll just say "And we carry high quality cables, which we'll use in the install, of course" and the customer will be happy.
        • petard, on 06/20/2008, -3/+28Yeah but the dealer knows its cheaper for them to use normal ethernet cables and charge the same!
    • paidhima, on 06/20/2008, -0/+28I find it humorous that there's a signal directional marking, and the marking is double-sided.
    • haleym, on 06/20/2008, -0/+11User Friendly agrees - Iliad's been having a field day w/ this:

      http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20080620
    • OhTheHumanity1, on 06/20/2008, -0/+46Gotta read the Amazon reviews for a laugh: http://www.amazon.com/review/product/B000I1X6PM/re ...
      • paradexes, on 06/20/2008, -1/+11LMAO. Wow the one about white hot holy goodnesss was great. So was the one about the printer impoding from the performance lol
      • BigBrasky, on 06/20/2008, -0/+16Heh did anybody notice on the Amazon website that this cable was actually marked down from $500.99 to $499.99?
      • chillybeans27, on 06/20/2008, -0/+20"Marked down one star because it still won't let you do the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs"
    • paradexes, on 06/20/2008, -0/+13http://consumerist.com/362926/do-coat-hangers-soun ...
      Kinda smacks of something similar to this eh?
    • HayString, on 06/20/2008, -0/+6My hand-rolled-using-wire-from-old-phone-line 30' ethernet cable extension cord works perfectly fine:
      http://i32.tinypic.com/1ok4t1.jpg
      • Rocketbird, on 06/21/2008, -0/+2LOL don't you know you're using a low quality cable!? The folks at Denon will help you make your internets that much clearer, if you've got the money to pay them :)
      • TyrelVnne, on 06/21/2008, -1/+0ewww...
      • NJank, on 06/23/2008, -0/+1hand-rolling is sooo 80's.
    • diggingaround, on 06/20/2008, -2/+8Come on guys! We all know that that cable is made from ultra-rare metal called unobtainium! And the last time I've checked it is 50x more expensive than gold.
    • norcalscan, on 06/20/2008, -7/+2UserFriendly FTW!!!!

      http://www.userfriendly.org/
  • tian2992, on 06/20/2008, -4/+269I am sad for Denon, they make great hi-def equippment. It is quite bad that they seem to be heading towards Monster's path
    • ericmerrill, on 06/20/2008, -18/+5Hey, it's good for the economy, am I right?

      Monster Cable protip: Befriend a Best Buy employee, because they can buy Monster Cables at like 5-10 dollars a pop (what the store paid + 15% if I recall). I did it for people when I worked there, and I know some people who still do. You just have to be sly about it, y'know, and not ask them to supply you with 20 a month to run your own geek black market. Best Buy is crazy when it comes to employee discount abuse, and they'll fire you and press charges if an employee's caught.
      • insertAliasHere, on 06/20/2008, -1/+44Or, you know, go to Monoprice.com and buy cables that are just as good for a ridiculous amount less. Especially for digital cables.
      • Otto, on 06/20/2008, -1/+28Real Monster Cable Pro-Tip: Don't buy these overpriced pieces of ***** and get a real high quality cable for practically nothing at monoprice.com instead.
      • consoneo, on 06/20/2008, -3/+5Cost + 5% is BB Employee discount. Awesome for car audio especially, since that stuff is marked up some 60% or so.
        • ch33sehead, on 06/20/2008, -1/+560%? More like 2000%.

          It's just freaking copper, rubber, and two adapters.
      • BSeffrood, on 06/20/2008, -0/+7I bought a cheaper Monster Cable ($30) for my guitar about a year ago (now I know that this was a huge mistake and makes me look like an idiot) it stopped working 3 months later. The funny thing about this is that the cheap ass piece of ***** cable that came with my first guitar, that I bought almost seven years ago, is still working just fine and is the one that I use on a day to day basis.
        • lbdinh, on 06/21/2008, -0/+1Holy *****, the exact same thing happened to me. That plastic on the jack for the monster cable was pure POS compared to the metal ones on the generic cables. It costed me $20 for 6ft too.

          The best part is they sound exactly the same.
    • cadmiumpaint, on 06/20/2008, -20/+2I remember in the 80s when my dad got monster cables from the high end audio store. There were gold plated and everything...one of the best cables on the market...of course you could only buy them at higher end places.

      once they put their stuff in best buy they ruined the brand. Quality and reputation wise.
      • krakelohm, on 06/20/2008, -1/+18Nope same brand, quality, and scam.
        • cadmiumpaint, on 06/20/2008, -4/+2well in the 80s there was no internet, no best buy, and the only places to buy audio equipment were stereo stores, mom and pop electronics shops and radioshack.

          back then there were higher quality for the price than the cheapo cables you could find in most places. It was way tougher to find gold plated cables back then too.
        • cawpin, on 06/20/2008, -0/+4Well, no. In the 80s gold connectors actually did something.
    • davidsmero, on 06/20/2008, -2/+18That cable better cook and clean for me for that price, kinda like a wife but since i will never get one, that kind of leaves my options to a minimum :(
      • Goblin, on 06/21/2008, -0/+2I tried using my wife to transmit digital signals, total disaster. She can make a great lasagne but her signal to noise ratio is atrocious.
    • illt, on 06/20/2008, -0/+4well, if you make enough money pawning cables to put your name on a baseball stadium, wouldn't you follow suit regardless of how ridiculous?
    • gtlogic, on 06/20/2008, -0/+7Unfortunately, the receiver market is very cut throat and little profits are made on them (especially on the low end 300-500 dollar range). The margins are on these cables and that's what makes these businesses tick.
      • cadmiumpaint, on 06/20/2008, -0/+10yeah thats why big box stores really try to bundle up accessories. I've heard employees get in serious trouble if they don't accessorize up a product.
        • cawpin, on 06/20/2008, -1/+10I've heard big box companies get in trouble when they force unauthorized bundles.
        • Phyltre, on 06/21/2008, -0/+1Both are true.
    • Nickdotnet, on 06/20/2008, -8/+5Monster isn't even that bad...
      • ThinkBox, on 06/21/2008, -1/+3Yeah, they are horrible for the $$$, I have seen their HDMI cables go for anywhere inside of $50-$100...
        • Nickdotnet, on 06/21/2008, -1/+1True, but the ratio of 4:499 is far worse than 20:100
    • OhTheHumanity1, on 06/20/2008, -1/+5http://digg.com/comedy/Honest_unbiased_reviews_of_ ...
    • Tochi, on 06/20/2008, -0/+1
    • dclowd9901, on 06/20/2008, -2/+29I can see the product development team frantic a day before the board presentation:

      "***** ***** ***** ***** *****! Why'd we wait 'til the last second to come up with a new product. Okay, okay. Relax. Dale, what've you got?"
      "Er... uh... " *Dale looks around the office frantically and darts for a mangled Cat5 laying in the corner* "Th-This?" he says, holding it up.
      "That's stupid, Dale."
      Dale suddenly looks pleased with himself. "For... $500 bucks?"
      A hush falls over the room.
      "Amazing... What're you all waiting for? Write it up!"
    • exomni, on 06/20/2008, -6/+1Is this sarcasm? If you seriously just admitted that you were fooled by a company that exists by fooling morons like you into believing they actually "sell great hi-def equipment", I hope you realize you just made a complete ass of yourself.

      Or it was really subtle sarcasm, in which case, bravo, though I'd recommend making it more obvious here.
    • RoflCoptah, on 06/20/2008, -0/+17maybe its just a typo for $4.99
    • paradexes, on 06/20/2008, -1/+3Or more to the point Bose. I mean ***** gear and high price? I got a set of Logitech z5550 that sounded far better than the Acoustimass crap they put out.
      • Teej, on 06/21/2008, -0/+4The difference is Denon makes good gear (as does Marantz, I believe they're the same company now) whereas Bose does not. But this cable is unacceptable and lowers my impression of the company.
    • dlite922, on 06/21/2008, -0/+1agree with "typo" theory,

      but if not, they're not heading towards MC, they're already there.
  • daonlyfreez, on 06/20/2008, -28/+326Those are the same suckers that spend 10k+ or even 100k+ for their "high-def" audio systems (it has gold everywhere, it is so good!).

    Never mind noone can really hear the difference between a "low-end", normal audio system and these so-called high-end systems. Sure, they'll tell you they can, but scientifically it is simply impossible. The human ear can only hear certain frequencies, and the older you get, the less frequencies you can still recognize. That is why you can't start with a studio-technicians education if you are over a certain age (27-30), because your ears simply cannot hear the higher frequencies no more...

    ~ 20 - 20.000 Hz is the range a toddler/younger person can hear/distinguish
    ~ 50 - 15.000 Hz is the realistic range an older person still can hear/distinguish

    So, if somebody tells you: "It has high fidelity up to 20.000 Hz!", you could answer: "What do I care, I can't hear it anyway".

    How do you think they are able to compress audio into formats like MP3, where they filter out a massive amount of frequencies, and any normal person cannot hear a difference (at higher bitrates that is)?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearing_range
    • l800LEMMINGS, on 06/20/2008, -3/+41the only benefits of gold in cables i found was it won't oxidize and in headphone jacks it doesn't crap out as fast since its a softer metal and bends easier, but most other crap you read is marketing *****
      • nicc, on 06/20/2008, -2/+6Gold will oxidize, just not as fast as copper.
        Silver is better for audio cables than Gold as it oxidizes slower...
        • Ebulating, on 06/20/2008, -0/+19It depends on the purity. Pure gold DOES NOT oxidize at all.
        • Cruelapollo, on 06/20/2008, -0/+9Silver also is a better conductor than gold. But you have that whole tarnishing problem.
        • tech1987, on 06/20/2008, -2/+1Silver actually produces a different sound then gold or copper. A lot of people use it for iMod cables and really high end headphones. But its like tube vs digital amps, just your taste in sound will allow you to choose.
      • ch33sehead, on 06/20/2008, -0/+5Yes, it's silly that people don't realize that copper is a better conductor of electricity than gold. Gold, however, is a noble metal, so yes it'll last a bit longer exposed to air.
    • ericcire, on 06/20/2008, -30/+9...cannot hear the higher frequencies no more...

      That's where i stopped reading.
      • Narcism, on 06/20/2008, -1/+7maybe he intended to use a double negative
      • metaliq, on 06/20/2008, -2/+14That's a pity. It was a decent post.
        • Physicsmazz, on 06/20/2008, -0/+2I doubt English is his first language since he used periods instead of commas in the 15,000 and 20,000.

          Cut him some slack, it's good info.
        • xenuxenuts, on 06/20/2008, -2/+2actually, it wasn't that good of info. It read like someone who knows a little about the subject who is trying to talk like they're an expert.
      • gimmeslack12, on 06/20/2008, -0/+9/FAIL

        As humans grow older the stirrup, anvil and hammer (small bones in the ear) calcify and do not vibrate as well as they do when a person is young. These three bones are directly attributed to the frequencies that a human is able to detect and the transmission of the shorter wavelengths (high frequencies) are the first to go when these bones become more stiff (calcification occurs). Thus, as you grow older your hearing range of frequencies decreases.

        Needless to say that most people who are old enough to spend $100k on a stereo system likely can't benefit from it anyway as their ears are likely incapable of hearing any differences.

        Though it has been proven that young ears can generally hear beyond 20kHz. During my MSc studies I did a sound test and (believe me or not) I could hear up to 23kHz, I was 24 at the time. Hearing below 20Hz is often difficult as the rest of your body usually feels the sound wave making it hard to discern if you 'heard' the sound or rather just felt your body cavity resonating.
        • bagelmaster, on 06/20/2008, -0/+4Obviously you didn't go to enough concerts when you were in your teens and early 20s
      • IllBeBack, on 06/20/2008, -0/+1Me too.
    • BoneheadFarker, on 06/20/2008, -1/+92Not to defend the audiophiles that spend outrageous amounts of money for the same quality that I can get out of an old receiver I bought at Value Village for $20...but, you know those "mosquito ringtones" that supposedly only kids can hear? Yeah, I can hear them too, and I'm almost 30. I can also hear the high-pitched buzz of CRT monitors. Some of us don't lose the range of our hearing with age...unfortunately...I am so glad for the invention of LCD monitors...
      • Rikkochet, on 06/20/2008, -0/+46And the knowledge that somewhere in the house, a CRT television is turned on? I'm there too.
        But at the same time, preserving my high frequency sensitivity to sound probably doesn't mean there is anything rich in the music we enjoy that uses frequencies like that. In fact, you could probably argue that a musician who probably can't hear at that range would consider anything at that frequency an intrusion on the sound they are trying to create for other people.
        • bitterbug, on 06/20/2008, -0/+14I'm missing about 20% of the hearing in my right ear and I can still hear some of the things you talk abotu. CRTs, the electric mosquito, and I can't sleep if there's a real mosquito in the same room with me because of the damn whining noise they make.
        • metaliq, on 06/20/2008, -0/+5Yes to the CRT television and everything else.

          I have the same "above average" hearing (some ear testing place told me in the form of a graph). Thought it was just me that could hear the TVs. :P
        • GassyTurd, on 06/20/2008, -4/+3Mosquito wings only beat from 250-1000 Hz.
      • florin, on 06/20/2008, -1/+2I'm almost 40 and I can still hear that stuff. But I've always had better than average ears (along with a fascination for sounds - I bought two hardware synthesizers not to play them, really, but just to tweak the buttons and make new strange sounds).

        But yes, there is a decrease - I'm aware I don't hear as many things now as I used to.
        • sexypeon, on 06/21/2008, -0/+2What's the difference between tweaking the buttons to make strange sounds, and playing with them?
      • candyman420, on 06/20/2008, -0/+3Don't worry, you will.. 30 isn't old enough yet.
      • freezerburn666, on 06/20/2008, -0/+25that whole knowing when a CRT tv is on freaks me out. it used to happen a lot at school, we would come in from recess and i would know we had a movie to watch before i even got to class. man, its weird. from far distances too. whats up with that?

        i hear that noise that's supposed to discourage youngsters from loitering, its a awful horrible noise. they have it near some apartment buildings that i walked by. i dont get it, apartment buildings?! why would u want to make people suffer where they live...
        • florin, on 06/20/2008, -0/+7You just have very good ears. Don't worry, old age will "fix" that. ;-)
        • GassyTurd, on 06/20/2008, -0/+9Or a couple of rock concerts standing by the speakers.
        • xkorbin, on 06/21/2008, -0/+3I would personally call the local authorities; those kinds of things are illegal, and if they break your local noise ordinance they can be ticketed for it.

          It doesn't matter the frequency, if it is still over X decibels it is not going to fly.
        • candyman420, on 06/23/2008, -0/+0I came back to this thread, can't believe this moron got 291 diggs.. or rather, can't believe there are that many ignorant people on this site.. (well maybe I can...)

          A high-end stereo is about much more than frequency response you dips. Even the ***** speakers can reproduce high frequencies.
      • SuperWinner, on 06/20/2008, -12/+5"Yeah, I can hear them too, and I'm almost 30"

        I got new for you, anyone in their 20's is still a child..
        • SuicideMouse, on 06/21/2008, -0/+1What does "Child" even mean to you?

          Most would certainly not call a 24 year old man a child, let alone someone closer to 27-29.
      • jcostom, on 06/21/2008, -0/+1Yup, I'm 36, and can (barely) hear that mosquito tone. That said, while I didn't spend $200 for my home theater audio, I also didn't spend $2000. My speakers are a 10-year old Polk 5.1 kit with an $800 (at the time) Yamaha receiver. Similar receivers now sell for around $500. Cables are 100% Monoprice, except for the RCA-branded Monster knock-off speaker cable I bought in bulk at Home Depot. My "audiophile" friends couldn't believe the sound of my sub-$1500 audio, compared with their $3k-10k sound systems.

        One guy actually wanted to see the spool the speaker wire came from (which was still in my garage), and wanted to look at the back of everything to see that they were monoprice cables and not the rabidly expensive stuff he'd bought at Tweeter.

        Audiophiles crack me up. Maybe they're all from Krypton or something..
        • candyman420, on 06/23/2008, -0/+0You have obviously never heard a $20,000 stereo. There isn't any comparison to what you have, period.
    • nbyn, on 06/20/2008, -2/+36Thanks! Because my usual response to someone telling me "It has high fidelity up to 20.000 Hz!" is "Yeah, but does it make my penis bigger?".

    • ohmahgawd, on 06/20/2008, -7/+22Those are life savers if you're listening to anything classical, especially something elaborate and heavy like Mahler or Stravinsky, where there's so much going on at once that average and above average speakers garble and ruin the music. You'll notice an enormous difference between a normal audio system and a high end one here. But for most mainstream music, and especially the majority of films out there, it's a huge waste of money.

      Also I'm 22, so my ears are still sensitive to these differences. Maybe when I'm a grumpy old man like you, I won't care anymore.

      Hell, I don't even use MP3, but instead use FLAC for my music. I notice a difference, but my Grandfather can't. So I'm going to enjoy what my currently sensitive ears can give me.
      • candyman420, on 06/20/2008, -0/+7As I told the other guy it's not JUST about frequency response.. ANY $40 speaker will probably do 50hz - 20khz, big deal. It's about the quality of the components used to reproduce the sound.

        Your grandfather can't tell the difference between MP3 and something lossless like flac because his ear doesn't know what to look for.. that's true of most people of any age.
        • strictnein, on 06/20/2008, -0/+8Why does my grandpa's ear have eyes?
      • counterplex, on 06/20/2008, -1/+4Why you little whippersnapper...
      • CedEx, on 06/20/2008, -2/+0If you were female, you'd be able to hear an even great range of frequency.
      • lisaawesome, on 06/20/2008, -0/+3***** I'm 22 and I can't tell the difference between MP3 and FLAC and I can't hear the mosquito ringtone. I think I spent way too much time at clubs when I was a young whippersnapper. I'm going to need a hearing aid when I'm 40 I bet.
      • grumpyrain, on 06/21/2008, -0/+5MP3 is an algorithm or technique for the encoding of audio which allows for accuracy to be lost in exchange for a significant reduction in file size (like JPEG for audio). FLAC is a lossless compressor designed to give a smaller file size than the original but without compromising accuracy (like a zip file for audio).

        No-one doubts you can hear the difference between an MP3 encoded at 128K and a FLAC both ripped from the same source. But as you raise the quality of the mp3 encoding, it gets harder to tell the difference. At 196K, you are going to need something better than iPod headphones to tell the difference. At 320K, I do not believe anyone can tell the difference in a blind test regardless of their sound system setup.

        Of course if you negate and superimpose the waveforms of the decoded streams, you may see variations when you apply significant amplification. But humans are not digital creatures. Our senses of sight and sound are nowhere near what we imagine them to be. Our brains are exceptionally good at filling in the blanks, and as such, making it incredibly difficult to perceive minor variances between a high quality MP3 and FLAC stream.
        • ohmahgawd, on 06/21/2008, -0/+1Actually for some types of music, there is a noticeable difference, if you have good ears--hell, even if you don't, you should notice it--between FLAC and even 320K MP3.

          If you don't believe me, I actually know two samples that instantly stand out in my head, where a 320K MP3 rip just doesn't stand up to FLAC, according to friends and myself, as I've used these two examples to test speaker systems before. The Prelude To Act 1 of Die Meistersinger as played by Glenn Gould, and the first movement of Mahler's 8th symphony, are the examples. Both works are so incredibly elaborate with so many subtle layers of sound that MP3 garbles it, even at 320K; there's a noticeable loss of brilliance. If I rip something not as subtly layered as let's say... Beethoven's 5th symphony, or most non-contrapuntal music, I wouldn't even be able to tell the difference. I've always went crazy over contrapuntal music though, so FLAC and a quality set of speakers is necessary. Of course I have great speakers, and ears fairly undamaged due to the type of music I've grown up with--it's hard to damage your ears listening to Mozart... OK, maybe you could cause some damage listening to Bruckner--so I can tell the difference, but as I said, it takes a certain type of music for this difference to even be necessary.
    • gtlogic, on 06/20/2008, -4/+4Not that I really justify these insane audio prices, but look -- most of these SUPER high end audio gear is a lot more for status than anything. It's just like buying a picasso -- sure you could buy a fake that most others would mistake for a real one (given the rest of your lifestyle indicates you could actually afford it), people buy these anyways as a collectors items. These 100k tube amps are the same thing, except they can actually play music while the picasso just sits there :-)
      • jsauter, on 06/20/2008, -1/+10When buying a Picasso you are purchasing a one of a kind painting by a well known artist. However, buying a $500 mass produced cable that is purely marketed and priced to appeal to an idiot's sense of self worth is another thing.
        • gtlogic, on 06/20/2008, -1/+1I'm not talking about the $500 dollar mass producted market. I'm replying to the comment about:

          "Those are the same suckers that spend 10k+ or even 100k+ for their "high-def" audio systems (it has gold everywhere, it is so good!)."

          I'm talking about systems which are not mass produced but 'painted' like picassos:
          http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstube&12 ...
        • quisph, on 06/21/2008, -0/+2He actually has a good point, but Picasso was a bad example. A better analogy might be designer lipstick. Women don't pay that much money because it looks better on their face than drugstore brands do. They pay that much because it looks better when they whip it out of their purse in front of their friends, so that their friends can see "Estée Lauder" written on the side. It's a status symbol; they want to impress their friends by having name-brand stuff instead of cheap stuff.

          I think it is the same with high-end audio equipment. Audiophiles don't just want to buy it and use it; they want to show it off and brag about having bought it. They will gain status among their fellow idiot audiophiles by buying crap like this.
        • Goblin, on 06/21/2008, -0/+2You've never used cheap lipstick, have you? Like all things there is a law of diminishing returns. A £20 lipstick will be almost infinitely* better than a £2 one just as a £2000 audio system will be almost infinitely* better than a £20 one. However a £20000 one is much harder to justify in audio in terms of increase in performance just as a £200 lipstick is compared to the £20.

          My current amp/speaker setup is worth about £800 and I know, for fact, that my friend who got about £4500 worth of gear (for a much more reasonable price) has a setup that is noticeably better. I've had a £30000 audio system demoed and my personal level of quality appreciation is pretty much done well before that i.e. I can't appreciably tell a difference between £4500 and £30000. Some people can notice small differences and they have the means to afford that and there are companies that cater to that and that is fine. I agree that many people are buying it because they are told it's better and they want to be able to brag that they spent more on their audio system than most houses.

          *for finite levels of infinity because I know on Digg we like to be pedants.
      • screwfanboys1, on 06/21/2008, -1/+1yeah but unlike a picasso, electronics aren't the greatest investments
    • liquidfirex, on 06/20/2008, -10/+43You assume that every speaker that produces 20Hz to 20K Hz is exactly the same... and that makes you an idiot.
      There is still a multitude of other factors that are very much discernible other than the speakers ability to reproduce certain frequencies.

      You are a Bose fan, I know it.
      • ch33sehead, on 06/20/2008, -5/+11What the ***** does not knowing the difference between fidelity and frequency range have to do with being a Bose fan?
        • dakine42, on 06/20/2008, -0/+4Dugg for no highs no lows. Just because you have computech usa's 10 dollar 2.0 speakers doesnt mean that those speakers are the highest quality you can hear.
        • tech1987, on 06/20/2008, -1/+7Bose does not have good equipment, it is just marketed as high end audio for people going to walmart can pick a system up. It is better then most of the other things at walmart, but not even close to high end.

          So therefore if you like bose speakers, you do not know what fidelity is.
        • megaton, on 06/21/2008, -1/+2I almost dugg you up thinking you were being sarcastic...
    • candyman420, on 06/20/2008, -8/+16It has a lot more to do with simple frequency response my friend :)

      A high quality monoblock tube amp and some NICE speakers and subs (think magneplanar) will blow the doors off of any piece of crap stereo you will find at best buy, and I'm not talking about volume.

      I'm not sure about this $500 ethernet cable, but don't think for a second you have any idea what you're talking about, obviously having never heard a good stereo system.
      • Phyltre, on 06/21/2008, -0/+1If most people have never and never will hear a "good" stereo system, what's the point anyway? With no frame of reference what difference would it make?
      • SuicideMouse, on 06/21/2008, -0/+2It's personal enjoyment and personal opinion.

        I don't know jack ***** about these $500 Ethernet cables but I do appreciate a fine sound system.
        It's not about the boasting for me, it's my own personal enjoyment of immersion into the sound.

        The frame of reference is everywhere... from iPods to $200 Best Buy speakers, just look, no... Listen to everything around you. It's not hard in the least to hear and appreciate the difference.

        If you don't care about the difference, fine. Just don't rag on people who do.
    • Evazan21, on 06/20/2008, -2/+32I think you have a misunderstanding as to what high quality sound reproduction really is. There are a significant number of factors too consider besides the frequency range. You are correct in stating that most people can't tell the difference between MP3's and lossless formats but I assure you there are a large number of people who can. If you are listening to your compressed music through your cruddy ipod earphones then you probably won't be able to tell the difference. The difference is only truly noticeable with a high quality sound system.

      Audio reproduction, like most things, is not a linear relationship between how much you spend and how much you get back. Spending 10k instead of 1k will not get you 10 times the performance but there are people out there that can detect, cherish, and want that difference. With that said I am very happy with my 250 dollar speaker system I built myself. I believe it performs just as well as commercially built systems up to over 1k. As of now I don't think I could really appreciate the nuances of a better system so I don't plan on upgrading.

      I'd also like to add that I completely agree with you that cables make no difference. I remember reading an article somewhere about someone who changed "high quality" cables out for coat hangers at some audio event. He then asked people to compare the coat hangers to the same speakers with speaker wire and no one could tell a difference.
    • msijunkie, on 06/20/2008, -2/+2Age has nothing to do with how well a person can record or mix an album. Also I don' t know of any recording school that will turn someone away due to age. I'm about to finish my own Music Production degree and I'm older than the range you listed. Many famous producers and engineers are over 40.
      • joshblufs, on 06/20/2008, -1/+2I have worked with engineers and producers who could not hear past 12-15k but have walls lined with gold and platinum albums. There was a high frequency rattle coming from one of the monitors, the 2nd eng and I both heard it and the mixer did not. The mixed song however sounded great. You've probably heard it.
    • ROW3BO4T, on 06/20/2008, -7/+1Look these cables aren't meant for most systems and someone would be foolish to buy them even 10 grand systems. But if you have a twenty thousand dollar Boulder music Server and near 100k worth of equipment, the cheapest improvements are usually the cables even if they are a thousand dollars a foot. Now if only I could afford a system like that...
      • YourDoom123, on 06/20/2008, -0/+1read the above comment about ppl not being able to tell the difference between "high-quality" wiring and coat hangers.
    • bryxal, on 06/20/2008, -3/+4The problem is that you associate that since this is a total rip off that everything else is. Now from my humble experiances you do get what you pay for but up to a certain point. you will hear a difference between a CD on a really nice system and an mp3 on a bargin bin walmart system. That being said you have to be careful how much that differences costs you. Therefore there is no wrong and right answer, you might be able to get some above par quality things for a low price and some really high end ***** might be... well *****. But you can't just lump everything together like that. Also it does matter what you are listening to. If you listen to Floyd or Mozart or Opera or Classical etc you will see a difference while listening to Dr Dre, you might not.
      • Otto, on 06/20/2008, -2/+2bryxal: Sorry, but this kind of tomfoolery is along the same lines as demagnetizing your CD's. You think I'm joking? See http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/furutech5/demag ...

        I mean, yes, you can buy better stuff, but there's quality, and then there's insanity. A quality cable is made from good materials, handles stress well, has good quality connections. But it doesn't need special metals, break-in periods, or extreme shielding. A cable cannot produce sound that is more "danceable".

        It's a ***** piece of metal. Different metals don't change the audible characteristics of signals passing through them. And anybody who thinks they do is a ***** idiot.
        • Goblin, on 06/21/2008, -1/+1Put a poorly shielded subwoofer cable next to a 50Hz mains lead and tell me it doesn't need extreme shielding.
        • Otto, on 06/23/2008, -0/+1It doesn't need extreme shielding. It needs better placement.
    • gerrylazlo, on 06/20/2008, -1/+5Even if you can't hear all the frequencies any more, the ones you can hear will allow you to detect the THD or S/N ratio of the audio your system is making. Better amplifiers can more accurately reproduce sound, especially bass, because it can handle the power needs without distorting as much. In other words, better systems do sound better. That being said, this cable is utter ***** and anyone buying it deserves to get fleeced. I'll sell you 10' of Cat5 for $200. Send money orders.
    • NewSc2, on 06/20/2008, -4/+9I have to disagree. I can tell a big difference between my $100 computer system, my $1500 home theater setup, and my $1000 studio monitors. It's not like one driver can produce a flat curve from 20Hz to 20,000Hz, and each driver has to be controlled by a pretty precise crossover to ensure that the other drivers don't have phase interference between each other.

      There is a point of price where diminishing returns kick in, and some brands have high markup compared to others. Acoustic treatment to get rid of standing waves makes a big difference too.
      • Kyan, on 06/20/2008, -0/+6I can tell the difference between my iBook speakers and the speakers in the baseball stadium.
        Am I adding anything to this thread?
    • screwy3333, on 06/20/2008, -0/+9dugg for credible discussion
    • WorldLeader, on 06/20/2008, -0/+8You can definitely FEEL the frequencies below 50Hz even if you are old.
    • ashamedgorilla, on 06/20/2008, -1/+7not to nit-pick, but the range of hearing for the average person (lets say 35-45) is 30Hz-16,000Hz, not 50Hz-15000Hz.
    • Five28, on 06/20/2008, -0/+2I have to disagree with your assertion that high frequencies are a waste once you get older. I am over 40 and admit that I have lost some high frequency hearing due to firearm use when I was in my early 20's. I also suffer from tinnitus (wear hearing protection boys and girls!) yet, I can easily tell the difference between a CD and an SACD or DVD-Audio recording. I have the regular CD of Roxy Music's album Avalon, and it is decent sounding. Then I read somewhere that the SACD version (it might be DVD-Audio - can't remember at the moment) was one of the best recordings available so I bought that too. Let me tell you that this version was possibly the best recording that I have ever heard. If you even remotely enjoy Roxy Music, you owe it to yourself to get the hi-res version. All of the subtle nuances were there, and I heard things I never heard before. Sound is extremely complex, with harmonics, frequency response, timing delay, etc, all affecting the sound. But back to the main topic of this article, I agree that a $500 cable is a rip off, and Denon should be ashamed for preying on the weak minded "audio enthusiasts". Denon's customer service also sucks.
    • rudy23, on 06/20/2008, -4/+1The reason they can afford to spend money there is cos they dont waste time on digg ranting about how stupid other people are and go out and make some money instead.
    • SatansSpatula, on 06/20/2008, -2/+2Er, I think your point is a bit muddled.

      There's an astounding difference between a $500 receiver and a $100 boombox. There is also a significant difference between a well-set-up $5k McIntosh system and the same $500 receiver.

      Diminishing returns take effect at some point which is defined by your own biology, musical interest, and experience.

      Some companies are staffed by fastidious, obsessive people who really strive to create the best audio possible. Some companies exist solely to fleece buyers who aren't objective decision makers. And most companies are likely a combination of the two.
    • knd123, on 06/20/2008, -0/+3MP3 Compression has NOTHING to do with FREQUENCY content. Data compression for music uses dynamic bit allocation (FFT window is compared with hearing curve (see Fletcher Munsen curve)), Mid/Side encoding (music in center, therefore in both L and R channel, is encoded in the MID and anything panned is encoded as Side information), and Entropy cody (Runlength and huffman coding).

      Read a book! Source and recommendation:
      Principles of Digital Audio by Ken Pohlmann
      http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Digital-Audio-Ken ...




    • ocgstyles, on 06/20/2008, -1/+2"The human ear can only hear certain frequencies."

      Partially true. However, a boost/cut at at frequencies higher than 20kHz CAN produce audible changes that can be heard in within our frequency range. From a pamphlet on Amek's 9098i console designed by Rupert Neve:

      "The fine subtleties of circuit design relating to sonic performance are gradually becoming more clearly understood. For example, research has shown conclusively that frequencies above 20kHz affect the way in
      which humans perceive sound quality. But, long before such scientific evidence emerged a substantial body of musicians and engineers knew that equipment with apparently the same technical specification nevertheless sounded different."

      This desk has an extended audio bandwith of 200kHz. I have sat at a desk of this magnitude, seen boosts/cuts way beyond 20K, and HAVE HEARD the difference. As my mentor at the time explained, sounds works as a series of upwards and downwards reinforcing harmonic partials. Very true.
      • Luke2012, on 06/24/2008, -0/+0If you were to play and measure a 1K Hz tone you would see harmonics at 2K, 3K, 4K, etc. each diminishing more than the last. 1K Hz is the fundamental, 2K is the 2nd order harmonic, 3K is the 3rd order harmonic, etc. Frequencies affect other frequencies.

        However, if you're saying you can hear 200K Hz, congratulations! You are most likely a dolphin!
        http://www.dosits.org/science/ssea/2.htm
    • senatorpjt, on 06/21/2008, -2/+1There is definitely a difference between a decent $10K setup and a $1K Bose "home theater in a box" Acoustimass system. As for $100K, there is a difference from a $10K setup, but it's not as significant. My setup was around $5K, since I decided that was the point where returns really start to diminish. I'd agree that "special cables" are pretty much *****, I use regular 16GA speaker wire I bought in a spool at Home Depot. Getting a higher-end receiver and speakers DOES make a difference, though. For cables, all that really matters is the thickness, and you can find a table telling you what to get (depends on the load and distance).
      Even Gordon Gow, who used to president of McIntosh has said/demonstrated that cable is cable.
    • wickensworth, on 06/21/2008, -1/+7And here come the audio nerds
    • brad3378, on 06/21/2008, -0/+2More importantly, this cable is designed for digital signals rather than analog signals.

      Digital signals don't need to be as clean as analog signals as long as you can still register 0's and 1's
    • UnicycleNYC, on 06/21/2008, -0/+2Everyone talking about the difference btwn a $10 system and a $100K system, just get a pair of MDR-7506, the industry standard headphones for people in the audio recording industry. Or, if you're obsessed with perfect audio, you can get the DMT-100 speaker system from Proclaim, which has no resonance in the speaker body. Just throwing that out there to help you save some $.
    • infernoskull, on 06/21/2008, -0/+1i always thought the point of having the highest quality sound you can get is not for how good it sounds. But how much you can change the signal, how much you can distort it, if i run 20 audio filters on a bad audio signal those sound artifacts sometimes get magnified.

      The best comparison i can make is with HDRI images, sure the image has more colors that can be displayed on a monitor, but when i go to do some color correction or contrast changes, i might need some of that "excess" data thats just kicking around in the file. That was the whole point of hdr afterall, not because it looks better than a jpeg, but because you can do much more with it, because you have less of a cap on freedom.
    • excelsium, on 06/21/2008, -0/+0There are of course real qualitative differences in the audio reproduction of low- some high end systems, even if you cant hear certain frequencies anymore.. the quality of the stuff you CAN hear will be different.

    • diggingaround, on 06/23/2008, -0/+1Well even most true audiophiles can tell you than when you pass $5000-$10000 threshold, you are basically paying a thousand of US $ for about every 1-5% of quality improvement. In other words $100000 one does not sound 10x better than $10000 one. I would encourage you to go to visit some high end audio exhibit (trade show or specialized audio dealer) in your area and bring along your favorite CD that you know and love to listen to over and over again. Let those people on exhibit play it for you on their equipment. You'll be surprised how does it sound.. I can promise you that.
    • Luke2012, on 06/24/2008, -0/+0Regarding the frequency range discussion, as you age your ability to hear very high and very low freqs does diminish but does not necessarily vanish. You can still hear them, they're just "quieter."

      You can make the case that instead of ignoring the extreme ends of the spectrum, you should place more emphasis on them. "Boost" those freqs so you can still listen to music much like you did when you were younger.

      At the end of the day it still comes down to preference. I prefer the top-end to roll off early not because I can't hear it, but because I can hear it too well and want to reign it in.
    • l33tn00b, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1Dugg for citing source
  • lemonpies, on 06/20/2008, -23/+10maybe it made out of gold ?
    • ubernoggin, on 06/20/2008, -1/+21If only. The description says it's made out of "high purity copper wire," whatever that means.
      • elliott9, on 06/20/2008, -0/+23The copper grown organically and has no growth hormones
        • Shawn4168, on 06/20/2008, -0/+10Unlike your $5 ethernet cable, which has been artificially enhanced with rBGH.
    • fluidfoundation, on 06/20/2008, -2/+6No, Monster.
    • consoneo, on 06/20/2008, -2/+2Maybe it's a pricing error; say it's supposed to be $49.00, and they are unbelievable slow at fixing that stuff :/.
    • kaythecraven, on 06/21/2008, -0/+2gold- sure it doesn't get the best connection, but imagine the stories you'll be able to tell with that sucker
  • yeblonski, on 06/20/2008, -5/+43Our modern industry just won't survive without this suckers
    • jsuther, on 06/20/2008, -1/+3That comment actually gave me some pause to my immediate thoughts of emailing Denon pictures of me and my new Pioneer receiver pointing and laughing. By ripping on Denon and boycotting all of their products because they sell a $500 cat 5 cable I might be making home audio products more expensive for myself in the long run. If Denon is able to convince a few suckers to buy Cat 5 cable at a 10,000% markup, they are able to sell some of their more mainstream gear at a cheaper price. This is a fine line however, because for every sucker they put over, their credibility goes further out the window.
  • AussieCynic, on 06/20/2008, -2/+19well they do say there is one born every minute...
    I guess some have more than others... or maybe they gather in groups or packs... lol... idiots...
  • pitchblack16, on 06/20/2008, -1/+20i d like to see the amount of retards that would actually pay that much money for it
    • sjbdallas, on 06/20/2008, -0/+7But it is a nice looking cable. Wonder if it lights up or blinks?
    • gquaglia, on 06/20/2008, -3/+7I'm sure the CEO of Exxon is using these. He's got lots of our money to spend.
    • OhTheHumanity1, on 06/20/2008, -2/+1According to these reviews, I'm not sure anyone is buying them. The whole world is making fun of it.

      http://digg.com/comedy/Honest_unbiased_reviews_of_ ...
      • specialK16, on 06/21/2008, -1/+4From Michael McKinley:
        A caution to people buying these: if you do not follow the "directional markings" on the cables, your music will play backwards. Please check that before mentioning it in your reviews.

        lol.
    • Bilabrin, on 06/20/2008, -0/+5Funny you should say that. When I first saw this article I was sure it was about Government spending. :)
    • nutsackorama, on 06/21/2008, -2/+0"i d like to see the amount of retards that would actually pay that much money for it"

      Jesus H.
      • Goblin, on 06/21/2008, -0/+1I hear Jesus' audio system has biblical levels of bass response.
        • nutsackorama, on 06/21/2008, -0/+0Yea. They say he can turn one bass into a basketful? I call *****, though.
  • srodolff, on 06/20/2008, -2/+247The cables are made out of unobtainium.
    • newfam, on 06/20/2008, -1/+4Hey, I have a pound of unobtainium rods, worth somethin'?
    • Revolution101, on 06/20/2008, -11/+1I heard it was adamantium =
    • mountvale, on 06/20/2008, -2/+18That's Denonsense.
    • tiegamma7, on 06/21/2008, -1/+3The product is called AK-DL1. I'd rather get some AK-47's for that price.
  • AngryAngryBrian, on 06/20/2008, -4/+711 Try our new super Ethernet cable using category LAB (like a billion) cabling. constructed from high grade copper recovered from ancient Spartan armor used during combat. These one of kind cables are wrapped use a high tech carbon stand shielding converted from the lining from old ICBM rocket cones blessed by 4 popes and covered in the blood of a thousand virgins. The RJ45 connectors are made of pure diamond, chipped from the hope diamond, by Jesus himself his only tools being lightning and angel tears. Now available with telepathic easy release systems. Why unplug your high quality network cable with your hands, when you can do it with your mind. Comes with a free carrying case made from meteorite and dinosaur bones.

    Available in the following lengths.
    1.5m = $499
    [Add to Cart]
    • sandersdamnit, on 06/20/2008, -3/+101that, sir, was perfection
      • bdfariello, on 06/20/2008, -5/+2Close... RJ45 connectors are keyed 8P2C, and are extremely rare. A high end cable would have to use an 8P8C connector.

        Dugg anyway because that's a minor error that almost everyone in the industry makes anyway.
    • Sqlawl, on 06/20/2008, -1/+47Where can I find these thousand virgins?
      • InfiniteNothing, on 06/20/2008, -1/+115I'll give you a hint but you wont like it. They're closer than you think
      • texpundit, on 06/20/2008, -2/+80Right here on Digg.

        You never said they had to be female virgins.
      • IllBeBack, on 06/20/2008, -14/+4Just convert to Extremest Islam and kill yourself. You'll only get about 72 virgins though. Wah wah waaaahhhhh...
        • AirRaven, on 06/20/2008, -7/+2Epic fail.
          On so many levels.
        • bgrah449, on 06/20/2008, -2/+10Not an epic fail, just a run-of-the-mill, unremarkable fail.
      • nargalzius, on 06/21/2008, -0/+2Given their predicaments, I'd say six feet under.
      • MeatPlow, on 06/24/2008, -0/+0WWW.WorldofWarcraft.com
    • Ibox, on 06/20/2008, -1/+196Dude your add to cart button dosent work.
    • Holle, on 06/20/2008, -2/+6Is there anything this Jesus fellow can't do?
      • sandersdamnit, on 06/20/2008, -4/+10uh yeah make himself appear on earth apparently
    • flashingcurser, on 06/20/2008, -3/+28"by Jesus himself his only tools being lightning and angel tears."

      You almost got me busted at work. Perfect.
      • strictnein, on 06/20/2008, -2/+15Did you have your dick out or something?
        • acetv, on 06/21/2008, -0/+6I'm surfing the internet alone.

          So yes.
    • illt, on 06/20/2008, -2/+18i'd pay 500 dollars for that, *****.
    • Vesuvias, on 06/20/2008, -8/+0I am both shocked and appalled that these include the blood of virigns AND use Jesus for forced labor. For Denon for shame!
    • indyninja, on 06/20/2008, -8/+3this was genious.... lol
    • TomT223, on 06/20/2008, -2/+9If you don't work for a marketing company then you should.
    • chakl, on 06/20/2008, -3/+2your link is broken!
    • SuperWinner, on 06/20/2008, -2/+5Profit!!!
    • PatrickTulskie, on 06/20/2008, -1/+9You forgot the sundried tomatos.
    • 1337chic, on 06/20/2008, -1/+3Logged in at work just to digg that one.
    • Invisobel, on 06/20/2008, -2/+1Wow, just wow!
    • blademanx, on 06/20/2008, -1/+6I would buy the crap out of that cable. Get your add to cart button working, fast!
    • jerrolds, on 06/20/2008, -2/+3Now thats BALLIN.
    • MasterGrief, on 06/21/2008, -1/+2This sounds like something that would be in Sky Mall
    • machocheese34, on 06/21/2008, -1/+1Thats something chappelle should have had in his cribs sketch
    • TheWindBlows, on 06/21/2008, -7/+1Jesus constructed the wrong connector Ethernet uses 8P8C not RJ45.
    • Yareking, on 06/21/2008, -1/+2this is the best digg comment ever! im sooo digging you

    • Yareking, on 06/21/2008, -1/+9http://img515.imageshack.us/my.php?image=digg2gd0. ...
    • MrViklund, on 06/21/2008, -1/+1meteorite bones?
    • TheKarmaPolice, on 06/21/2008, -0/+2i can't believe how many diggs you got. that's obviously fake. everyone knows there's no such thing as dinosaurs!
    • stilesja, on 06/21/2008, -0/+1You should write for the J. Peterman Catalog.

    • biznatch11, on 06/21/2008, -1/+1But will it blend?
  • Kisama, on 06/20/2008, -3/+55Looks like a Monster cable to me.
  • ubernoggin, on 06/20/2008, -15/+7Forget Category-5. This is Category-500.
  • staxofmax, on 06/20/2008, -1/+140What's next, high purity air for wireless speaker systems? If someone is going to drop $500 on a 5 ft ethernet cable, they'll buy anything.
    • InfiniteNothing, on 06/20/2008, -1/+35You wouldn't want your sound waves to travel through bad air. That can cause all sorts of distortion. Your audio will sound leafy
    • carve, on 06/20/2008, -0/+9That's a great idea- you can sell special speaker enclosures that are filled with nitrogen. If your speakers are vented, better still! You can sell nitrogen cylinder refills for...I don't know...way too much. Great idea!
    • florin, on 06/20/2008, -1/+7You just blew it. Man, these things are to be kept secret, be the first out there on the market.

      But now everyone will sell high purity air. :-( Damn, what a wasted opportunity.

      (sarcasm)
    • bills534, on 06/20/2008, -0/+11Imagine room full of nitrogen and the any audiophile who wants to listen to the premium sound has to enter the room through an airlock and wear scuba gear. The ultimate listening experience!
    • battletrax, on 06/20/2008, -0/+7Dad: "So what are you going to buy with your paycheck jimmy?" " A brand new Xbox 360, with Bioshock?"
      Son: No daddy im going to buy this new awesome copper plated Ethernet cable!"
  • maddvibe, on 06/20/2008, -13/+5riiip off!
    • FlagrantDrugUse, on 06/20/2008, -2/+9astute observation there, Watson.
  • dsa202, on 06/20/2008, -25/+13This isn't that ridiculous. It has directionals to let you know which way the info is traveling. You can also detect if there is an intrusion (internal hacking, aka security compromise) because you will see them coming in through the wire. So when your computer is hacked and all you credit information is stolen, losing more than 5000 dollars maybe? You'd have wished you had bought that 500 dollar cable.
    • ericcire, on 06/20/2008, -2/+3A fine troll.
    • metaliq, on 06/20/2008, -0/+8Now all you gotta do is hire someone to watch it.
    • crodragn, on 06/20/2008, -1/+5The only person who would be a bigger idiot than the person who bought this cable is the hacker who spliced into the 5 feet of cord
    • Ganesh420, on 06/20/2008, -2/+4You work for Denon, don't you? Ha! Really? You're going to catch a hacker by watching your ethernet cable blink? Good F-ing luck with that buddy.
      • travbrack, on 06/20/2008, -0/+1This comment is brought to you by Fail Inc.
        That is all
  • digitalpencil, on 06/20/2008, -12/+7Monster cable?
  • shadowspawn, on 06/20/2008, -3/+37I've seen cables that were pressurized with inert gas and high quality metals to allow really long runs, before cat6. but what always got me was that it was cheaper to run cat5 and put in a switch 1/2 way through the run.
    • InfiniteNothing, on 06/20/2008, -4/+14The speed of light is slow enough as it is. The switch adds latency.
      • bdfariello, on 06/20/2008, -1/+8Electrons don't flow at the speed of light through copper wires. Look up "electron drift velocity."
        • jameslhwalker, on 06/21/2008, -0/+3and light only travels at around 2/3 of what it does in air when is goes through a fibre optic
    • asskicker32, on 06/20/2008, -1/+17in the biz, we call those "repeaters".
      • Macskeeball, on 06/21/2008, -3/+6in the biz, we call those "repeaters".
        • petershultz, on 06/21/2008, -1/+5in the biz, we call those "repeaters".
      • Nevuk, on 06/21/2008, -0/+1A switch and a repeater are entirely different things, and I hope people don't ever confuse the two
    • LaRue05, on 06/20/2008, -1/+2Yes, as stated above the switch adds latency, and it gets progressively worse the more "jumps" that you add.
  • jedimasta, on 06/20/2008, -2/+73They're using carbon fiber end-casings in case you plan to street race your DVD player.
  • ankeshk, on 06/20/2008, -2/+19Where do we find all these audio enthusiasts? I have a Brooklyn bridge to sell!
  • dreicher, on 06/20/2008, -1/+387The Amazon reviews on this are priceless.

    "If I could use a rusty boxcutter to carve a new orifice in my body that's compatible with this link cable, I would already be doing it. I can just imagine the pure musical goodness that would flow through this cable into the wound and fill me completely -- like white, holy light. Holding this cable in my hands actually makes me feel that much closer to the Lord Jesus..."

    "A caution to people buying these: if you do not follow the "directional markings" on the cables, your music will play backwards. Please check that before mentioning it in your reviews."

    More at: http://www.amazon.com/review/product/B000I1X6PM/re ...
    • heliox, on 06/20/2008, -0/+58People who bought this item also bought:
      Brooklyn Bridge
      Beach front property in Oklahoma
      The Edsel
      • nicc, on 06/20/2008, -1/+3I have never understood the hatred for the Edsel.
        I love the way that car looks! (I'm being cerial)
      • ThinkBox, on 06/21/2008, -1/+2..and a U.S. Senator
    • ExRe, on 06/20/2008, -0/+1I wonder if anyone has bought it...
    • kiiwii, on 06/20/2008, -0/+16Whoa, it's on sale, too!

      Buy now, only $499.99, much cheaper than the list price of $500.99!
    • inigomntoya, on 06/20/2008, -0/+68My Fav:

      "After I took delivery of my $500 Denon AKDL1 Cat-5 uber-cable, Al Gore was mysteriously drawn to my home, where he pronounced that Global Warming had been suspended in my vicinity.

      Yes, I had perfect weather: no flooding, no tornadoes, the exact amount of rain necessary, and he pronounced sea levels exactly right and that they were not going to rise within five miles of my house.

      Additionally, my cars began achieving 200 mpg and I didn't even need gasoline. I was able to put three grams of cat litter into the tank and drive forever.

      What's more, the atmosphere inside my home became 93% oxygen and virtually no carbon dioxide. In fact, I now exhale oxygen.

      One heck of a cable.

      Didn't notice any improvement in audio quality though.

      The $800 Apple iCable is clearly superior."
    • staxofmax, on 06/20/2008, -1/+5Thanks for posting this, I haven't laughed this hard in quite some time.
      • jcannonb, on 06/21/2008, -1/+1I have tears in my eyes I have laughed so hard. I have never had that. Thanks.
    • PocchieTheMan, on 06/20/2008, -0/+20Greatness is bestowed upon these reviewers. See example:

      "If Denon had captured the Divine light of creation and distiled it into 1.5 meters of ultramegaradioactive copper, it could not have been better than this cable. Just holding the packaging it comes in, I can see distant galaxies and, though you may not believe it, hear what the aliens there are thinking. THAT is how good this cable is. Just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes. Honestly, looking at it is better than foreplay. You feel wracking orgastic shivers just touching it. I just know that zeros and ones will achieve true integer perfection when they travel this cable. But I'm afraid to actually install it. I might die.

      Denon has, in marketing this, permanently entered the rarified realm of vendors inhabited by the likes of Machina Dynamica. I honestly can't think of a better way to express my feelings on this product, than that. I'm breathless to see what they want to sell us next!"
      • SuperWinner, on 06/20/2008, -0/+5"In the struggle for Darkness and Light, the human condition dictates that there can be no clear winners or losers. Pure forms of evil and good are human interpretations for theories beyond mortal comprehension. The Denon AKDL1 has turned modern agnostic thinking on its head by proving that through producing a cable manufactured from a copper of such purity, that evil cannot possibly exist. This, in turn proves that God exists ergo Heaven."

        -lol
    • iChainsaw, on 06/20/2008, -0/+17My favorite: "I insert both ends in my ears and not only does my music not sound better, it almost comes out muffled."
    • newfam, on 06/20/2008, -0/+3Well, I saw the price- $500.99, but when i saw that it was marked down, and I could save a dollar, it's been marked down to 499.99, I said, *****, a deals a deal!!!
    • TehGrisp, on 06/20/2008, -0/+8The tags are also excellent.
      http://www.amazon.com/Denon-AKDL1-Dedicated-Link-C ...
      • strictnein, on 06/20/2008, -0/+4lol @ "i can not belive it is not butter"
    • Simonft, on 06/20/2008, -0/+12"I have a computer, a stereo with CD, tape, AND phono, and many lamps. Let me tell you I am using quite a few cords. But my cat always chews through this one first. I have replaced it about 12 times, LOL!

      He is a purebred I guess he knows quality. "
    • doublefelix, on 06/20/2008, -0/+2"...I just know that zeros and ones will achieve true integer perfection when they travel this cable". That about sums up the snake oil aspect to this product with snarky perfection.
    • JK1150, on 06/21/2008, -0/+1by from Amazon!
      List Price: $500.99
      Price: $499.99 Free Shipping
      You Save: $1.00
    • jcannonb, on 06/21/2008, -0/+2I have tears in my eyes I have laughed so hard. I have never had that. Thanks.
  • Cryptkeeper, on 06/20/2008, -5/+76remember the guy who hooked up coat hangers, and technophiles didn't notice a difference?
  • tdrizzle, on 06/20/2008, -10/+3Who wants to start a pool on exactly how many times this is going to be on digg?
  • Gutterpunk, on 06/20/2008, -4/+76"audio enthusiast" is EVERYONE's definition of "suckers"
    • lysdexic, on 06/20/2008, -1/+1They are the same people who bought the $485 volume knob.

      http://digg.com/gadgets/See_how_a_stupid_audiophil ...

      (The linked page is gone, but the digg comments are priceless.)
    • 1337chic, on 06/20/2008, -0/+3How do these people explain to their home insurance that they had a 500 dollar ethernet cable when their house burns down or it gets stolen?

      Agent: "Um. . . Yeah, we are gonna go ahead and replace that with the 14 dollar variety"
  • jiggelo, on 06/20/2008, -2/+9The real story here is the reviews - check them out.
    • selmer, on 06/20/2008, -0/+6I know, I know. You all are thinking the same thing, that no way could a $500.99 ethernet cable be worth the money. Well, not only let me say that they marked it down a buck (go have 4 gumballs on Denon, baby!), but the remaining 99.8% of the original purchase price is well worth it.
      Here's why.
      1) Its dedicated to your link. You can't say that about most women, let alone most electronic equipment.
      2) It sounds a lot better. In fact, I was listening to some Bach while eating my daily dose of special gypsy pills that will cure my gastric cancer, and I swear I was transported back in time to a grand chamber where Bach himself played only for me. Plus there were large rabbits everywhere, and I was sitting on a melting rainbow. The rabbits usually visit when I am treating my cancer.
      3) Did I mention the $1 off?
      4) If you buy this cable, it means you have more than $500, which is just great for you, isn't it?
      5) You'll be the only one of your friends to have one. It also has the amazing effect of making everyone who comes over to your house laugh out loud, sometimes uncontrollably. That is pretty cool, right? I mean, how many electronic accessories can make you laugh out loud simply by hearing a description of the product and how you came to purchase it? Amazing....

      So, add the laughing, listening to Bach with magic rabbits and a rainbow, the $1 off, having some serious cash and loving your link....that is five hundy for me all day baby. Kudos!
  • rryanhayes, on 06/20/2008, -4/+24this is like paying 40 bucks for an HDMI cable
  • Emachine, on 06/20/2008, -1/+131That's like over $498 in profit..
    • mGARANDEUR1, on 06/20/2008, -14/+10More than that. With an employee discount at best buy you can buy an ethernet cable for about $2.
      • santaliqueur, on 06/20/2008, -1/+17But then you'd have to work at Best Buy. ***** that.
      • mrlost117, on 06/20/2008, -4/+11fail
      • IllBeBack, on 06/20/2008, -2/+31You suck at basic math skills.
        • mGARANDEUR1, on 06/21/2008, -0/+1Even with the emloyee discount the factory is still making money, douch. It probably only costs them a quarter to make the actual cable.
      • bingostud722, on 06/20/2008, -3/+8500-2=498
        • mikeman10001, on 06/21/2008, -1/+1The cable is actually 499 >.>
        • mGARANDEUR1, on 06/21/2008, -1/+1And you don't think the factory is making any money when an employee pays $2 for a cable? Think about it dumbass.
      • Balath, on 06/20/2008, -1/+12Sigh. Think about it. He's right, you're all wrong. If I can buy it for $2, then imagine what the company bought it for. In bulk. Probably around $0.05 a foot.
    • megamod, on 06/20/2008, -2/+91. Create an electronic device that uses a simple standardized cable already in existence.
      2. Give it "signal directional markings".
      3. Make fancy description for the product.
      4. ...
      5. PROFIT!!!
    • MMSQ3, on 06/20/2008, -2/+8On Newegg you can buy them for less!

      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8 ...

      that's 100ft for less than $13.

      That averages to around $0.60 per 5 feet.
    • SuperWinner, on 06/20/2008, -3/+124,000,000% profit is just good business. I'm investing in Denon stock!
  • hamobu, on 06/20/2008, -3/+16I remember as a toddler hearing a high pitch whine from the TV. It was very annoying but my parents did not know what I was talking about. I later learned that toddlers can hear high frequency sounds such as the one that CRT makes when painting a picture on a florescent screen. Friend of mine says that he can still hear that sound.
    • carve, on 06/20/2008, -0/+3I hear it too, but not nearly as much as when I was younger (31 now)
    • boobsbr, on 06/20/2008, -0/+6i can still hear it from the tv perfectly and always found it annoying.
    • florin, on 06/20/2008, -0/+6Quite a few people can hear that sound even after they grow up.
    • ExRe, on 06/20/2008, -0/+2Ya, CRT's are extremely annoying.

      If I could hear a lot better as a toddler I can't imagine how bad they would be.
      • paulgregg17, on 06/20/2008, -1/+1same here to this day (24) Can also hear the lazer picking up whilst watching dvds. Quite a bitch, but its good for hearing your neighbors wife :O
    • Vzylexy, on 06/20/2008, -0/+6I'm 21 and I can still hear the sound of CRT Televisions, and yeah it can be annoying.
    • BSeffrood, on 06/20/2008, -2/+3I can hear the whine from a tv, but I have never heard it from a CRT monitor
    • newfam, on 06/20/2008, -0/+128 and hear it, no Tv in MY house!
    • hobbitaussie, on 06/20/2008, -0/+331 and still hear it. Especially when I go to bed at night I can tell the kids didn't turn off their Wii. Very annoying.
    • 1337chic, on 06/20/2008, -0/+1Damn. I was hoping this was gonna go away soon, but sounds like from these comments that I've got a number of years of being annoyed by TVs and CRTs left. I can also tell when I get a call on my cell phone even when it is on silent because the screen comes on, but I don't know if that is the same thing.
    • MasterGrief, on 06/21/2008, -0/+2You ever hear of the "Mosquito" ringtone? It was a high frequency noise like that that is primarily heard by young people--because of this, students in grade school could hear their phone ring when they got a call in the middle of class. Damned irritating, if you ask me... When you get up into those frequencies, it doesn't seem like any amount of volume adjustment can make them particularly tolerable.
      • origamistars, on 06/21/2008, -0/+1Someone in one of my classes last year had that. It was hilarious when he got a text message and the entire class was wincing, and the professor had no idea what was going on.
    • Typhoon2009, on 06/21/2008, -0/+1My mom's cell phone charger can make a very high-pitched, and I'm assuming high frequency sound when it's plugged into a wall. I hate it.
    • kesam, on 06/21/2008, -0/+1I can still hear it at age 27, but not like I could when I was younger (I could hear the TV literally through the house.)

      The interesting thing is, if you look up the frequency range of a normal TV, you find that the vertical (not horizontal) refresh rate for a PAL / NTSC screen is exactly in the upper range of human hearing (somewhere around the 20kHz mark.) A modern CRT computer monitor on the other hand is in the 90kHz area or higher, way out of hearing range, which explains why you can't hear them in the same way.
  • ericthegreat, on 06/20/2008, -1/+25Denon? Bah! They aren't Monster Cable. I'll wait for Monster to come out with the better $600 version.

    Or I'll just use a coat hanger. Same diff...
    • MMSQ3, on 06/20/2008, -1/+4Someone explain to me how you use a coat hanger in place of an ethernet cable...

      also, why you can't fork out the $2.00 (or less, if you know where to shop) for an ethernet cable.
      • pgm_01, on 06/21/2008, -0/+2I have a converter that I can sell you for $500, it has no signal loss!
    • IllBeBack, on 06/20/2008, -3/+4Where can I purchase 50ft coat hangers to get to my surround speakers?

      /sarcasm
    • jesusxenu, on 06/21/2008, -0/+0Well yeah, or you could just go for second best and buy the refurbished cable for $1,000. Really, think with your head, get second hand.

      http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000I1X6PM/ ... (and more shipping)
  • iPsyko, on 06/20/2008, -22/+9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _________
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ./ It’s a trap!
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    . . . . . . . /,’,-‘ :: :: :: :: :: :: :: : ::_,-~~,_’-, ;; ;; ;; ;; | . . . . . . .
    . . . . . _/ :,’ :/ :: :: :: : : :: :: _,-‘/ : ,-‘;’-‘’’’’~-, ;; ;; ;;,’ . . . . . . . .
    . . . ,-‘ / : : : : : : ,-‘’’ : : :,--‘’ :|| /,-‘-‘--‘’’__,’’’ ;; ;,-‘ . . . . . . . .
    . . . :/,, : : : _,-‘ --,,_ : : : ||/ /,-‘-‘x### :: ;;/ . . . . . . . . . .
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    . . . . .,/ /|\| | :/ / : : : : : : : ,’-, :: :: :: :: ::,--‘’ :,-‘ . . . . . . . .
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    • LegoLooney27, on 06/20/2008, -0/+1Definitely not a trap... This is LEGIT!
  • chrissku, on 06/20/2008, -1/+7It must be better if it's priced that high right? Right?
  • BCCStu, on 06/20/2008, -9/+1Wow. Some computer messed up the posting. OMG.
  • cadmiumpaint, on 06/20/2008, -3/+28Audiophiles will pay ridiculous prices for nothing. Weren't there some special stones you were supposed to put near your speakers? you could get them from the front yard or pay like 500 bux for some polished stones.

    Don't ever dare ask an audiophile to prove why each component is so great....their elitism might make your brain explode.
    • krnldmp, on 06/20/2008, -11/+2Wrong.
    • newfam, on 06/20/2008, -1/+7Hey, Pro-Audio rocks, just not the 500 usd ethernet cable!! lol
    • rac1234, on 06/20/2008, -0/+2Well, there are these:

      http://www.shunmook.com/text1.htm

      The wooden discs improve your sound just by being put in the same room as your stereo system. The wooden record clamp is priced at $1200 so must be fantastic.

      And in case you wonder whether anyone believes this stuff, check out http://www.audioreference.co.uk/shun/explain.htm and get enlightened. It's a bit depressing really.
    • jcostom, on 06/21/2008, -0/+1My favorite audiophile waste of $$ are those stupid little blocks they put on the floor and hang speaker wires from. As if the cable's jacket resting on the floor will murder the sound quality. Yeesh.
  • lester1024, on 06/20/2008, -5/+42OrangeWhite Orange, GreenWhite Blue, BlueWhite Green, BrownWhite Brown - yea, that's worth 500 bucks.
    • kiiwii, on 06/20/2008, -9/+1Buried for trying to look cool by proving your knowledge of Ethernet cable.
    • ineedunderscore, on 06/20/2008, -2/+11Dugg for saying white after rather than before the corresponding color.
      • unusualbob, on 06/20/2008, -2/+1for a second i thought he had it wrong for that very reason.
      • nharpe, on 06/20/2008, -0/+1I always say it that way too, with white after the color. not sure where i picked up that habit even though i know that's not the way it's supposed to be.
      • kinerry, on 06/20/2008, -0/+1dugg for saying it correctly with the white last
      • bradleyland, on 06/20/2008, -0/+3It drives me mad to hear someone say whiteorange, orange... It sounds like an echo or something. It just resets my entire thought process and I can hardly function.
      • ChayD, on 06/20/2008, -0/+1The problem with doing in that order, is if there's an insufficient pause between wires, you could end up with:
        Orange WhiteOrange Green WhiteBlue Blue WhiteGreen Brown WhiteBrown

        at least with the color last, it's easier to identify where one wire color ends and the other starts
        and less likely to cause a screwup when babbling wire colors to a colleague.

        White OrangeOrange White GreenBlue White BlueGreen White BrownBrown

        See?
    • MrViklund, on 06/21/2008, -0/+1 $499 u idiot..
  • Br3ach, on 06/20/2008, -4/+17Is the insulation made of endangered white rhino hide or?

    Im starting to think about getting into the audiophile business, they seem to love 1000% markups.
  • MikeCI, on 06/20/2008, -2/+5Heh. Now a REAL audio enthusiast would buy a bunch of these and make the highest quality, most expensive DIY speaker cables: http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/triple_t_e.html

    All the satisfaction of making something yourself, plus the added pretentiousness of pure, unadulterated conspicuous consumption.
    • yorkseo, on 06/27/2008, -0/+0"Listening to these cables with an extremely revealing system, they sported a well extended and articulated bass range, a polite and never-invading midrange, cold-leaning mid frequencies, yet with rather good thickness, sharply glossy mid-highs, and very refined and accurate extreme highs. Their spatial reconstruction ability is simply very good (I'd say incredible, bearing in mind its cost), and is the real strong point of "TNT tripleT". There is a lot of air between the elements, which also sound stable and focused (here I experienced a relevant difference compared with the other cables I could test!). Their dynamic features are at very good level, too. "

      Words cannot express how retarded this is
  • Runyon3, on 06/20/2008, -10/+3it's pure lunacy to spend $500 for a freaking cable! As far as i know the audio would be the same as the $4 counterpart
  • jwhitman89, on 06/20/2008, -4/+54Denon Electronics (USA), LLC
    100 Corporate Drive
    Mahwah, N.J. 07430-2041

    Aaahhhh, they'r