High End 2016 • Hot Product

Astell & Kern showed a prototype of a newly developed headphone cable. The company claims that Graphene, developed in 2004, is the most conductive material in existence (67% more conductive than copper), 200 times stronger than steel and a million times thinner than the human hair, meaning that it can be coated on another surface and formed into cabling. Astell & Kern coats copper with Graphene and then bundles this into traditional-looking wire. In addition, Graphene is claimed to have anti-oxidation properties that improve the conductivity of the underlying copper cabling.

A comparison station was set up, but show conditions made it impossible to tell if this new technology could leap buildings in a single bound -- or perform any aural magic at all. The company disclosed neither a timeframe for production nor pricing information.