AudioQuest Coffee Series
The AudioQuest Coffee Digital Audio Cable is in the middle of the range and is a great choice when you want performance at a price that's not too crazy!
Skeptics will argue that digital cables do not have a relevant influence on the reproduction of digitally stored music. However, the cabling does have influence, and its effects are very similar to the effect of a very accurate clock in a digital system. In other words, the cabling applied apparently influences the accuracy in the time domain of the signal, not the order or accuracy of the bits being transported: a 1 remains a 1, and a 0 a 0.
The timing of the moment when you go from 1 to 0 or from 0 to 1 does make a difference. Good digital cables ensure that you maintain accuracy in the system. The question is whether you can measure this, but tests that have been carried out with different digital cables point to clear effects that these cables have on the result of the reproduction of a digital music system. The speed of digital communication is important. For Digital Coax audio "speed" is critical not because of how-much how-fast, but because time relationships within a digital stream are critical to the reconstruction of the analogue waveform that brings information, music and joy to our ears. Time-based damage (jitter) to this information within the data package makes the sound small and flat instead of 3D, harsh and foggy instead of smooth and clear. AudioQuest Coffee digital audio cable is really where you start to get an exceptional product.
Solid (10%) Silver Conductors: Solid conductors minimise the harmful effects of both electrical and magnetic strand-to-strand interaction. For digital cables, whose signals are of such high frequency that they travel almost exclusively on the surface of the conductor, increasingly thick layers of silver plating are applied to AudioQuest's Long-Grain Copper (LGC) conductors to further improve Noise-Dissipation. Placing the superior metal on the outside of the conductor produces the greatest benefit on overall performance—a superbly cost-effective way to maximise a digital cable.
Hard-Cell Foam Insulation: Hard-Cell Foam (HCF) Insulation ensures critical signal-pair geometry. Any solid material adjacent to a conductor is actually part of an imperfect circuit. Wire insulation and circuit board materials all absorb energy. Some of this energy is stored and then released as distortion. Hard-Cell Foam Insulation is similar to the Foamed-PE used in their more affordable Bridges & Falls cables, and is nitrogen-injected to create air pockets. Because nitrogen (like air) does not absorb energy and therefore does not release any energy from or into the conductor, distortion is reduced. In addition, the stiffness of the material allows the cable's conductors to maintain a stable relationship along the cable's full length, producing a stable impedance character and further minimising distortion.
100% Shield Coverage (FOIL + Tinned Braid): Shielding always plays an important role in any cable design, but the shield on coax interconnect plays an especially important role because it functions not only as a shield but a return path as well. Because of this, AudioQuest pays special attention to the shield's metal quality and the fabrication techniques as both will affect the sound and the picture.
72V Dielectric-Bias System: All insulation slows down the signal on the conductor inside. When insulation is unbiased, it slows down parts of the signal differently, a big problem for very time-sensitive multi-octave audio. AudioQuest's DBS creates a strong, stable electrostatic field which saturates and polarises (organises) the molecules of the insulation. This minimises both energy storage in the insulation and the multiple nonlinear time-delays that occur. Sound appears from a surprisingly black background with unexpected detail and dynamic contrast. The DBS battery packs will last for years. A test button and LED allow for the occasional battery check.
Carbon Based, 7-Layer Noise-Dissipation System (NDS): It's easy to accomplish 100% shield coverage. Preventing captured Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) from modulating the equipment's ground reference requires AQ's Noise-Dissipation System (NDS). Traditional shield systems typically absorb and then drain noise/RF energy to component ground, modulating and distorting the critical "reference" ground plane, which in turn causes a distortion of the signal. NDS's alternating layers of metal and carbon-loaded synthetics "shield the shield," absorbing and reflecting most of this noise/RF energy before it reaches the layer attached to ground.
Terminations - Hanging-Silver Directly Over Pure Red Copper: The Coffee's plug design allows for a connection devoid of solder, which is a common source of distortion. It features the latest design connectors and pins. The connectors are fastened by cold welding — a solder-less process that uses high pressure and silver paste to minimise signal loss. By contrast, solder tends to impede the signal, and the heating of the conductor during soldering can negatively affect its performance. Pure Red Copper offers a cleaner, clearer sound than the nickel-plated or OFHC metals commonly found in other manufacturers' plugs. Finally, because the ground shells are stamped instead of machined, the metal can be chosen for low distortion instead of machinability.
Main Features & Specifications
- Product Description: Digital Audio Cable
- Termination: Cold-Welded RCAs, Hanging-Silver directly over pure Red Copper
- 72V Dielectric-Bias System (DBS, US Pat #s 7,126,055 & 7,872,195 B1)
- Conductor Material: Solid 10% Silver over copper
- Wire Size/Gauge: 21 AWG
- Dielectric/Insulation: Nitrogen-Injected Hard-Cell Foam
- Noise Dissipation System: Carbon-Based 7-Layer Noise-Dissipation System
- Shield: Foil + Tinned Braid Shield
- Jacket Colour: Brown/Black Braid
- Geometry: 75 Ohm
- Available Lengths: 750mm; 1 Metre; 1.5 Metre; 3 Metre
- AudioQuest Product Code: AQ-COFCOD/0.75
- Manufacturer's Australian Warranty: 5 Years - Does not cover misuse or abuse
Note: Features & Specifications Subject To Change Without Notice. E&OE