An Affordable Cable That's As Good As The High-Priced Stuff?
I know this will seem like a considerable departure from my usual playing field, but an extremely affordable Litz-wire interconnect from ultra-high-end Japanese manufacturer Audio Tekne, handmade by the wife of Mr. Imai (the designer of all Audio Tekne gear), has come my way and it has all the makings of a genuinely terrific bargain. It is exceptionally high in transparency, low-level resolution, and sheer naturalness from top to bottom (and I'm talking in comparison to the best interconnect I know of, $12k/m Tara Labs Zero). It may not be the Zero's match, but for 4.5% of the Zero's price ($550/meter-pair) it is phenomenally good.
I haven't tried the Audio Tekne speaker cable yet, nor have I heard an entire system wired with ARC-500 (I'm mixing it with a little Zero Black and with Omega Gold speaker cables until I can get the whole Audio Tekne schmeer). But if the speaker cable is as swell as the ARC-500 interconnect we may have one of those rare price/performance breakthroughs in the very area that seems to rub audiophiles rawer than any other. For the time being I can say this: I've mixed and matched many other interconnects with Tara Labs and none of them, no matter what its price, has "fit in" as seamlessly as the Audio Tekne.
Here is the Audio Tekne price list:
ARC-500 all litz wire interconnect with RCA, 0.7 meter=$460.00 pair
ARC-500 all litz wire interconnect with RCA, 1 meter= $550.00
pair
ARC-500 all litz wire interconnect with RCA, 1.5 meter=$650.00 pair
ARC-500 all litz wire interconnect with RCA, 2 meter=$800.00 pair
ARC-500 all litz wire interconnect with XLR, 1meter= $500.00 pair
ARC-500 balance all litz wire interconnect with XLR, 1.5 meter=$575.00
pair
If you're interested in getting information about Audio Tekne interconnect and cable, call or write:
Tangram Audio
Yujean Kang
3131 Piccolo St.
Pasadena, CA 91107
(626) 689-8904
info [at] tangramaudio [dot] com
tangramaudio.com
Comments
Sorry dont consider 1 meter at $550 affordable for most folks. Now I used to buy Transparent or MIT's best for my two and home theater systems but one day tried interconnects and speaker cable from Better Cable at $80 a meter and a $149 for 9.84 ft for the bedroom system.
Switched out the interconnects and speaker cable on the music system and listened and listened and thought they sound damn good for the money. Wondered why I was spending 20 times as much for sonic improvements that cjust couldnt justify the cost.
Now this my system with REL sub, Maggies 20's and CJ with a Linn Sondek etc.
And its nice the company for me is local. Like local cables, good VA wine and great VA meat and produce
Sheepherder
Shenandoah Valley, VA
Compared to $12k/m Tara Zero the Audio Tekne is a steal (though not as good it is damn close).
I have no experience with the latest "best" of Transparent and MIT or the best of Best Cable. (Nor do you have any experience with Audio Tekne ARC-500.)
I just bought the Arc-500 and swapped it with my nordost valhalla IC. The ARc cable sounds very relaxed and transparent and in comparison with the nordost sounds a bit lean in the midbass. I would very much appreciate it If JV knows about how much break-in time the ARc-500 needs? Thanks for all the helpful Info.
Dev
For Dev and williamsims: any new comments or findings on the Audio tekne cables? in comparison to the Nordost Valhalla or in general? have you been using it for the last 4 months consistantly? were you just using the interconnects or speaker cables as well? Any input would be useful.
Dear Jonathan Valin, I have replaced my current speaker cables (Audience AU24) with the Audio-Tekne cables and am letting them break in. Will withhold judgement until 500+ hours. I note that Audio-Tekne doesn't offer a digital AES/EBU cable. Presumably there's a difference between a single Audio-Tekne XLR terminated run and a cable designed to connect transport to DAC? Thanks for the recommendation -- Bill
Jonathon,
This is not affordable cable. Double blind tests have put the cable question to bed. Expensive cables are audio's answer to structured investment vehicles. The emperor is not wearing any clothes. Twisted CAT5 cable is as good as anything.
Tom
I'm not starting down the Double Blind End.
I'll merely repeat this is an extraordinary cable that is priced quite reasonably for the exceptional fidelity it delivers.
Kimbwer is exceptional for a "reasonable priced cable". Anything that works is also. Nothing that costs $500 a meter is reasonable.
Sorry.
You guys wonder why some of us think you are shills. It
You think we wonder why guys like you think we're shills? We don't. We're not.
Kimber 4TC and 8TC are excellent, but nowhere near as good as the Audio Tekne. Sorry.
Hi Jonathan,
I think the issue we're discussing here is centered around economics.
For the median (50% point) household in the US (which is living on 50,233/year according to Wikipedia) a $600 Home Theatre In a Box system from Best Buy is quite expensive, and most likely the biggest "treat" for Christmas. To put it in perspective, that's a DVD player + amplifier, 6 speakers, and all the cables required to set the Sytem up.
For a better off family living on $100k/year (less than 16% of all households in the US), we start talking about a dedicated stereo / HT system in the range of $2 to 5,000, maybe 10,000 if there's an audiophille in the household.
A well off family living on $250,000/year (1.5% of all households in the US), might look at a $5000 speaker cable, and find it good value...
I think that what offends most people, is the easiness with which the audiophille press treats a five figure cable as a good value. For most of us that money could be soooooo much better spent on an amplifier, or a DAC, or a better set of speakers... not to mention a really good downpayment for a car (or a house remodelling, or a year of college education). we maximize our resources across all our needs, and there's so much competition there...
Some magazines seem to recognize this, and offer reviews of various systems at different price points (most magazines review equipment across various price points - if only to follow the democratic creed of the western world). I find this approach very appealing, because my budget is a given (and it doesn't go into six firures).
On the other hand, if I could afford a $200,000 system, you can be certain that I would not consider a cable that's cheaper than $5,000, as conspicuous consumption has its benefits. Alas, I am not there yet.
Maybe an easy solution would be to have a yearly issue decicate to the most fortunate of us (loosely defined as those making $250,000 or more), where you can present the great value $20,000 cables, $75,000 amps, and so on). Most of us would not buy that issue, and everybody would be happy. Not sure how you'd deal with the advertisers who pay you for the ads pimping the ultra-expensive components in this case, but then they are reasonable business people, and they don't expect most of your buyers to ponny up the cash...
I think that a good magazine would be able to show me both great-value-for-the-money products, and products that might be achievable if I stretch... what I seek in a magazine is a reviewer whom I can trust, who has a philosophy on sound and equipment that I buy into - as my goals when buying an audiophille magazine is to learn about products and build a short list for equipment that should be auditioned at a dealer.
I enjoy your articles, keep up the good work.
Jonathan,
I have to agree with the other two posters, $550 for 1 meter pair of interconnects is not affordable; it is expensive. I know that TAS editors are not shills, but I do think editors of high-end audio publications get out of whack with what they think provides real value pretty quickly. I know for a fact that the markup on high-end gear is very, sometimes, extremely high. I recently bought a pair of Zu Wylde IC's...these normally sell for $340 for a 1-meter pair. I bought them on a one day sale for $130 from Zu directly. That's a 60% price difference, and I know for a fact that Zu still made money on them. Looking at the cable, my guess is it cost them probably no more than $45 to manufacture and market this cable. So they still made approximately a 300% profit on them. Personally I think paying anyone $12,000 for a 1-meter pair of interconnects is patently ridiculous.
It is next to impossible to reply rationally to any of these posts since none of you has heard the interconnects in question and all of you rule out, ipso facto, the very possibility that any cables and interconnects can be worth the money asked for them. This attitude strikes as being as "patently ridiculous" as a $550 cable strikes you. I knew going in that the prices of cables and interconnects, as I said in my original blog, are among the things that rub audiophiles the rawest, and I freely concede that the markup on interconnects and cables is substantially greater than it is on other pieces of gear (save, perhaps, for phono cartridges). But until you've heard the difference that $12k Tara Labs Zero, for instance, makes in a system--as I have--and until you've heard how surprisingly close to this genuine paragon of transparency the $550 Audio Tekne ARC-500 comes, you don't have an informed opinion; you have a prejudice.
Many of you take comfort in double-blind tests where different cables and components often prove indistinguishable to the idiots who agree to participate in them (and if, God forbid, a blind listener can reliably distinguish among different cables or components under test, he is immediately dismissed as a freak of nature). I have pointed out the fallacies of this approach in another thread, and I don't intend to rehash them here because it is fruitless. So...let me just say that you are perfectly free to believe whatever you want to believe about cables, interconnects, or any other components. But please do not tell me that I don't hear what I hear when you haven't heard the products that I have.
Your point about $550 being a lot of money, however, is well made, and perhaps I should have titled the post "Quasi-Affordable Interconnects, etc." I couldn't afford $550 interconnects, either, but some people can and in the insane world of high-end audio their price doesn't make them less of a relative bargain considering how good they are.
Gentlepersons, the point -- as Mr Valin suggests -- is context -- the relatively high prices of much high-performance audio cable. In high-end journalism "affordable" doesn't mean that a product conforms to our own norms of what is sensible or what fits our financial circumstances. "Affordable" in this case is relative to the level of price(s) that one expects to pay for high-performance cable. Given the astromonical prices that manufacturers charge and that audiophiles pay, the A-T ARC-500 is a relative bargain, assuming one has decided to acquire high-performance cable.
And surely we can manage a more productive level of discourse than relative cost and double-blind testing, not to mention imbecilic ad-hominem attacks (just to be clear: I'm talking about you, "fitshoeman": what are you a shill for?).
Mr Valin has an established record of integrity and insight, and getting to interact with him is a great opportunity to increase our knowledge and enjoyment of high-end audio. Let's not waste it.
My question for Mr Valin: can you speculate in more detail about which types of electronics and speakers would be most compatible with the A-T wire?
Thanks.
Williamsims,
First of all, thank you.
I fully understand the frustration many audiophiles feel about the pricing of cable and interconnect. Were I not a reviewer with free access to just about anything at any price point, I would feel exactly the same way (and, in fact, did feel exactly the same way back in the day). The Audio Tekne interconnect is, if not "affordable" (I should have thought twice about using that word), at least a "very good deal" compared to the ultra-expensive stuff. It isn't as good as the very best I've heard--the standard-setting Tara Labs Zero Black and Tara Labs Omega Gold--and if price is no object I still unqualifiedly recommend Tara. But if price is an object (and nowadays how could it not be for the majority of us?), then AT is a much more affordable alternative that offers a level of transparency and resolution that isn't shamed by the high-priced stuff. It isn't the only alternative--Tara Labs itself, for one, makes very fine cable and interconnect at much more affordable prices than its Zero and Omega--but it is a very good one.
The only system I've heard the AT in happens to be the most transparent-to-sources system I've yet had in my home (for which, see www.avguide.com/blog/transparent-system-further-thoughts-martinlogan-clxes-soulution-electronics-da-vinci). Ironically, it is the very fact that this system IS so transparent that made me take notice of the ARC-500, which, when I swapped it in, turned out to have many of the same virtues as what I swapped it for.
I will have more to say about Audio Tekne cable and interconnect when I've wired up a whole system with it. (I'm currently awaiting a few more pieces to complete the package.)
Jon
Jonathan,
Thank you for qualifying your comments about the A-T IC's...
I think you missed my point a bit, and that's perhaps my fault for not being clear enough. Note that my "patently ridiculous" comment about Tara Zero One IC's at $12,000 per meter is my own, *personal*, view. It really all comes down to what a particular individual's concept of what is value for money. One can think of Value=Quality/Price. We both know that the performance/pricing ratio in high-end is asymptotic. One can pretty quickly approach "very good" for what could be viewed as a reasonable amount of money. For example, the cost A-T IC's you reference here, which even though I think they are expensive, could still be viewed as "reasonable" in cost. But things very quickly go completely out of whack in high-end, and getting that little bit of improvement very quickly starts to cost a LOT more money. I think many of these audio companies know that many audiophiles demonstrate something tantamount to addiction-behavior, constantly seeking "more and more", and they take advantage of that "seeking-behavior", and mark their products up with very or extremely high margins, knowing that there are some audiophiles that will pay for them. Whether it constitutes value is another matter, though. Granted, there are folks who don't care about value, they want the best they can get, value be damned. For my own personal "value-system", $12,000 is way, way, way out of line with what could conceivably be construed as value, hence the patently ridiculous comment. Everyone has to answer the value question for themselves with their understanding of what comprises value for money, but personally, no way, $12,000 is more than twice the amount of money I would spend on entire system. Granted, this won't cut it for some folks, but that's where my value-proposition area lies. Yes, I am sure the Tara's are exceptional, but do they provide $11,500 more performance that the A-T's? Not in my book. Personally, I'm weighing whether or not to buy a $1500 Antique Sound Lab tube preamp. Yes, it sounds better than my old NAD 1300 pre that I bought used for $220, but not a LOT better. Is it worth $1300 more? Maybe, but $1300 is still $1300. I'm also thinking of buying a used Audio Research VT-100 amplifier for $1500. I'm really vacillating on this one, because my old, vintage HK Citation 12 sounds SO good with a good source and the ASL pre that I really wonder whether $1500 will really provide THAT much more enjoyment than what I have now. I think you'll agree that the correlation between cost and what comprises a very satisfying, musical, and enjoyable stereo system doesn't have a particularly high R^2 value.
Stephen,
You touch on several important points in this thoughtful post, the most relevant of which to this discussion is value measured in sonic gain plotted against cost. God knows this has been a topic of discussion and debate since the dawn of the high end. How much "more" do you really get for more dollars? Early on the answer was shaped by J. Gordon Holt—back when he was sole proprietor, spouse, and chief drudge at “Stereophile” (and busy cementing his reputation as one of the three all-time-best writers on hi-fi, alongside Robert Harley and HP)--who famously announced that you could get 90% of the best possible sound for considerably less than best-possible-sound money. Or, put differently, you were paying a lot more for that extra 10%.
All due respect to Gordon, but I’m not sure that this was true when he said it in the late 60s and early 70s. And I know it’s not true today. Over the past few years we’ve been experiencing a quiet revolution in the high end, and I mean “quiet” quite literally. The gross distortion and noise and coloration that contributed to the easy “stereotyping” of audio gear as dark/bright, warm/cool, musical/analytical, tube/transistor, analog/digital, yin/yang have, in the very best (and, alas, often more expensive) products, been so greatly reduced that the old critical dichotomies simply don’t hold the way they used to. When you can listen, as I have, to fifty-year-old LPs—records you have played since you were a kid on every stereo system you’ve owned or tested—and hear an abundance of previously unheard details of recording, mastering, and performance on every single one, then some things have gotten a lot better (for which, see my latest blog post at http://www.avguide.com/blog/transparent-system-further-thoughts-martinlogan-clxes-soulution-electronics-da-vinci). The difference between a Magico Mini II and a typical contemporary LS3/5a clone is so huge that it is hard to even think of both of them as belonging to the same speaker category of mini-monitors. Ditto for solid-state electronics like the Soulution products, turntables/arms like the Gabriel/Da Vinci, cartridges like the Air Tight PC-1 Supreme or the Da Vinci Grandeeza, and, yes, cables and interconnects like the Tara Labs Omega Gold and Zero Black.
Does this then mean that all expensive high-end gear is substantially better than all less-expensive gear. Nope. That was never the case. For one thing, not every ultra-expensive, ultra-high-end product is part of this quiet revolution. Only the best products are (and highest price doesn’t—and never has—meant the highest performance). Like any careful shopper, you have to pick and choose carefully and intelligently from what is available, from, for instance, speakers that were designed and engineered to seventies’ or eighties’ standards of transparency and low distortion and speakers that are taking advantage of today’s breakthroughs in driver/crossover/enclosure design. You also have to keep your eye open for bargains—for products at a more affordable level that share the much-lower-noise signature of the very best, like, for instance, the Audio Tekne ARC-500.
Jon
Thanks, Jon, for your thoughtful reply.
Right now, I am in a bit of a "old vs new" quandary...trying to decide between a used ARC VT100 Mk I and a new Vincent SP-331. I haven't heard either (yet), but I know both are very good; but not having the info at hand to make an informed "value-proposition" decision is proving troublesome.
Cheers,
Stephen.
I last read TAS in c1996. I had slowly been building a system and I found the reviews refreshing from the Stereophile college boy scene.
Now, with all of my audiophile gear long sold off (c1999), I'm coming back into building a system.
I visited the TAS site to subscribe tonight, after just casually reading the forums.
After seeing a teaser for this blog, this article above, I've decided not to subscribe.
It's the same old story as a dozen years back, magnified - reviewers with hard-ons for high ticket items, justifying them, goose stepping all the way.
Think of the music you could buy and try to enjoy without burning away that cash on the snake skins from which olde tyme peddlers used to squeeze snake oil.
You know, Returning, guys like you remind me of a thing that happened to me when I was a freshman in college. That fall, I volunteered to campaign for a Democrat running for a House seat in a very Republican district. I was passing out flyers when a couple of old ladies walked up to me. One of them said: "You know we were going to vote for your candidate until we saw all of you kids handing out these leaflets. Now we're not." I was crestfallen. At the end of the day I went to our crew chief and told him what had happened and that I felt bad that we had cost our candidate a couple of votes. He smiled and said, "Don't feel bad, Jon. Those biddies were never going to vote for our man. They just wanted to make you feel like it was your fault." Since that day, nasty old ladies like you just don't bother me, Returning.
Don't let the door hit you in the ass as you leave.
Gentlepersons, all I can add is listen yourself in your own system before buying anything -- if the dealer/seller refuses to lend the item or guarantee a refund, find one who will. In my experience you'll never know how a component "sounds" until you hear it in your system.
Stephen Scharf, a case in point: a number of years ago I'd quickly grown unhappy with the huge Krell amplifier I'd bought on the advice of my then dealer, and I told him I wanted to listen to the ARC VM200s. After we listened for a few minutes (to the Shaw reading on Telarc of Brahms's "Deutsches Requiem"), my wife -- who's no audiophile -- turned to me and said "Get 'em". In that moment of transcendence cost became secondary. When the dealer told her the price, she again looked at me and said, "Well, negotiate." I was equaly enthusiastic about spending more than I'd originally conceived as "sensible", and fortunately the dealer -- who wanted us a long-term customers -- agreed to swap the new Krell behemoth for the demo pair of ARCs for a modest and fairdifferential.
My point is that sometimes you really don't know what "makes sense to spend" until you hear it.
Gabriel, the whole point of this blog was NOT to recommend a five-figure cable or a four-figure cable. Instead, I was recommending a mid-three-figure cable that has many of the qualities of the best I've heard. One would think that would be a cause for rejoicing rather than complaining. But, for some, apparently not. In any event, thank you for the thoughtful post (and the kind words about my articles).
I fully take your point about the sheer extravagance of very expensive cable and interconnect such as the Tara Labs Omega Gold and Zero Black. In turn I wish you would take mine: I have never claimed that Tara Labs' top-of-the-line cables/interconnects were "good values"; what I have claimed is that they sound great--more lifelike and faithful to sources upstream and downstream of them than any other cable/interconnect I've heard. If you can afford them, then you'll get higher fidelity from your system (whatever your system is). That's just a fact. I If you can't afford them but can budget $1000-$2000 for a set of speaker cables and two or three sets of interconnects, then I most highly recommend the Audio Tekne. And if you can't afford the Audio Tekne, then I would opt for Kimber 8TC or 4TC or some of the less expensive Tara Labs.
Jon
Hi Jonathan, maybe the word "bargain" has touched a raw nerve for some but I think it's great that you take the time to point out these gems like discovering that relatively unknown restaurant or good wine which otherwise would have never come across or be bothered looking into. Now if you can only find a $200 ic that's close to the Zeros that would be an amazing find.
$400 isn't $200 but it's closer than 12K.
Therefore I invite you to visit Klee Acoustics web site.
Kleeacoustics.com.
Six years in development. More money spent on the project than you want to know.
And a patent---7,388,155.
L. R. Forbes
Jonathon, can you tell me what sort of run-in you experienced on these interconnects? I have a pair here now that are brand new to try. Wondering what changes I might be able to expect, and what time frame? Thanks.
I think we've all heard enough about expensive cables that we can't afford. It's time to finally do something about it. We've bailed out car manufacturers, banks, and even governments. I suggest we write Nancy Pelosi immediately and tell her that we want our share of that 350B. That's right. Free Tara Omegas and Zeroes to anyone who can prove they own separate components for their stereo! What's that? You only have an iPod and a receiver? OK, you get the Audio Tekne stuff....
Often throughout these forums you see people criticizing TAS for not being conscious of the 'economy'. I don't really get it. TAS isn't teh Economist, they are reviewing high end audio. I am not trying to defend TAS. i think they are too complimentary about all equipment, but that is why i like the forum because i think they are willing to compare equipment on a head to head basis here. I am not saying TAS is soft, but they aren't Top Gear who will bash anyone an anything if they find a fault (granted a subjective fault). Anyway, the point of this posting is this. We all know that hi end audio products have serious diminishing returns. But there are still customers willing to pay for what they want, therefore, it is not the responsibilty of anyone to determine an equation to value the diminishing returns of an audio investment. I am not sure who said that the word 'bargain' set off a sensitive chord, but i think JV said it was a bargain relative to 12k/meter. I am not defending JV as he doesn't need it. but i do get surprised how so many threads complain about the price of hi fi. obviously there is a demand as the supply is still in business.
Hi Jonathan, please do not let the uninformed or unobjective derail you from your purpose of posting this blog.
there are people like me who cannot afford the Tara Labs Zero Black & Omega Gold and genuinely share your view that the Audio Tekne gear is a bargain.
Please keep us updated on your views about them when your system is fully wired up with the Audio Tekne cables and interconnects. Thank you.
Hi Jonathan, please do not let the uninformed or unobjective derail you from your purpose of posting this blog.
there are people like me who cannot afford the Tara Labs Zero Black & Omega Gold and genuinely share your view that the Audio Tekne gear is a bargain.
Please keep us updated on your views about them when your system is fully wired up with the Audio Tekne cables and interconnects. Thank you.
Jonathan,
Did you recieve the full set of audio tekne cables yet? When can we expect a review in TAS?
Sam and everyone,
I now have a SERIOUS reservation about the Audio Tekne cable and interconnect. This reservation has nothing to do with how it sounds or how it's priced, but rather with how it functions with certain amplifiers. When I first received the AT cable and interconnect I was using ARC tube gear and experienced no problems with it. Indeed, it sounded great, as I said earlier in this blog. However, since then I've learned that the cable is so high in capacitance that it may cause ultra-high-bandwidth, ultra-fast solid-state amplifiers to oscillate. (To be fair, it's not the only cable/interconnect that may be unsuitable with ultra-high-bandwidth solid-state, but it is definitely one of them.)
At the time that I received the AT cable/interconnect neither the manufacturer nor the importer alerted me to the capacitance issue or warned me that oscillation was a possibility with ultra-high-bandwidth solid-state; since then, they've tacitly conceded this point, and I've concluded that AT cannot be recommended for use with ultra-high-bandwidth solid-state amps and preamps like those from Soulution or Spectral or Technical Brain. With any and all tube amps and preamps, it remains a bargain-priced wonder--and problem-free.
Jon
Jonathan, IMHO your cautionary post highlights two of your qualities:
-first, you do have a solid technical background and do not rely ONLY on subjective opinion. This clearly differentiates you from many moonlighting reviewers... I wish my friend who tried a Spectral preamp with high-capacitance ICs had read your post...he fried his tweeters in about 60 seconds;
-second, you write in plain, straighforward English, meaning that you do not dodge around the issues, "Sarah Palin-style". I like straight shooters and congratulate you for being so frank and humbly aknowledging the need to correct your previous recommendation.
I have auditioned some of the gear that you recommend and mostly agree with your findings.
Hi-end is advancing by leaps and bounds. It will probably never sound like live music, however, I prefer my current system to any system I have owned in the past....even more expensive ones. I also find that my system now sounds better than many "live" PA amplified concerts/shows.
To the naysayers who believe that cables do not make any difference, I recommend that you store your e.g. Monster cables in the closet and buy Radio Schack ICs and lampcord from Home Depot. Then, after a week of suffering, please post your impressions.
This is plain Socratic logic, about 3,000 years old: if a poorly made cable makes your system sound worse, then it follows that a better cable will make your system sound better. In the example, putting back the Monster Cables will be a huge relief.
If the logic is valid when downgrading as a perceived degradation in sound quality, then it is ALSO valid when one upgrades the cables.
JV, keep up the good work, it is highly appreciated.
Thank you very much, Carlos.
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