Van Damme beater?

[Gazjam]

eBay item:320104298231

From the guy that brought us Gotham Interconnect.

Got some, running it in just now.

First impressions very very good - even straight out the jiffy bag.

Much deeper and tighter bass than the VD (4x4mm shotgunned) and everything seems tighter. VD very good but this is better.

Not as shouty as the VD in the highs, voices smoother yet clearer at the same time.

The soundstage is the biggest difference I notice - the speakers tend to disappear more and the front to back stuff is very pronounced.

Generally sounds more sorted.

Running in now and its getting better and better.

Will report back in a few days after run in.

The S.O. noticed the diffrence too (and she thinks Im a saddo!)

G.

 

[JANDL100]

Yeah - I've got these. The Gotham seller saw mythread on the Wigwamabout his interconnects and sent me a freebie pair of the speaker cables to see what I thought. (Just being honest here, folks!

).

They now take pride of place in my system. I think they are great. I've not seen the eBay auction so have no idea of the price ... hang on, I'll check .... £34 UK delivered. Ooooh - that's a bargain and a half I would say. There's a lot of copper in there, so not cheap to post.

The Gotham seller has MIT garden hose-type speaker cables (we've been swapping emails a bit - he's a nice guy!) and thought the Gothams weren't quite as good, but after a few days running in (sorry you running-in doubters out there

) he now reckons they beat the MITs. I don't think he's bull-shitting - he really believes what he says.

I think they are a great cable regardless. They have handily replaced my Chord Signature look-a-like RF cables, and not by a small margin - a lot more natural and un-hyped sound.

I'd say they were way better than the Gotham interconnects too - genuine hi-end sound, not just great vfm.

EBAY_AUCTION

I'm not sure they beat Asda cheapo baked beans though ...... :lmao:

Look out for his Gotham digital cable too (yes, I've said this before) - it's just as good as the speaker cable.

 

[Gazjam]

Those Asda beans you speak about...

you know they are made by Heinz in the same factory as their own?

Interesting, I wonder if that goes on anywhere else in industry - say the cable industry?

Im a tight scotsman and I know a bargain when I see one

Gaz.

 

[JANDL100]

Hey Gazzer - I see you have the KK Titan power cords - of course, they can't possibly make any difference ... but they are good aren't they !

 

[Mark LJ]

Bought some of this as well and I like it so far.

Excellent vfm, although I got him to do me some slightly longer runs..

 

[bertie]

Bit off topic but i think Gales XL315 is good vfm. I dont know where else you can get more OFC strands per pound.

Saying that i havent heard many speaker cables.

 

[Uncle Bob]

I've just bought a set of these cables, arrived today. Excellent service, emailed for a quote on custom lengths, replied within an hour -asked for a special config with two sets of banana plugs at the speaker end - no problem. Ordered later that day, cables made and despatched within 24hrs, arrived 1st thing today, and I've had several friendly messages to keep me well informed.

The cable is substantial and it's put together well, he even pre-treats the connectors with detoxit. My only gripe would be with quality of banana plugs which 'appear' slightly cheap. But given the price of the cable, this is perhaps understandable.

I've spent the last few hours listening to my system with the new cables in place. First impressions are plus & minus, they've definitely added more bass slam and it's more tuneful, while the top end has more detail but is just a touch too forward at the moment. On the negative side, I'm finding the midrange muddy and congested compared to my old cable. However, I'm hoping that some further running-in will improve things.

UB

 

[gaul]

Did you say "Van Damme beater"?

Here you are:

 

[JANDL100]

Uncle Bob wrote:

I've just bought a set of these cables, arrived today...........

First impressions are plus & minus, they've definitely added more bass slam and it's more tuneful, while the top end has more detail but is just a touch too forward at the moment. On the negative side, I'm finding the midrange muddy and congested compared to my old cable. However, I'm hoping that some further running-in will improve things.

UB

They def run in and get smoother on top.

Muddy & congested mids? - the exact opposite of what I find - I think they are open and detailed !!

What cables are you comparing them with?

 

[Gazjam]

Me again with another £0.02 worth..

Cables fully run in now. They get substantially better after a week or so of running in. Everything just sounds "right". I'm not hearing just sound coming from the speakers but seperate instruments playing in their own space adding to the whole. I think its a function of the increased clarity but the "boogie factor" is now there which I never had before.

I sanity checked them by swapping back to the VD's (steady......) and the clarity, slam and boogie-factor was gone. I wasn't imagining it.

Actually, I now have a second run of the cable (2.5mm not 4mm) biwiring my AE109's and God Almighty another big jump up. I know not all speakers respond well to biwiring but my 109's certainly do.They could have beencritisisedfor sounding slightly dark and shut-in at low levels - they are a different beast when you turn the wick up though - and these cables have totally opened them up.

Soundstaging is the cables biggest forte for me - I didn't know my speakers could image so well. IMHO these cables dontget in the way- they just let more music through.

Bargain.

Gaz.

 

[Uncle Bob]

JANDL100 wrote

They def run in and get smoother on top.Muddy & congested mids? - the exact opposite of what I find - I think they are open and detailed !!

What cables are you comparing them with?

The original cable was QED Silver Profile-12. The major dissapointment for me, so far, has been the midrange. Previously, I'd have proudly pointed out how vocal harmonies were resolved on my system, that you could identify individual voices and follow them. Now I'm finding that effect has gone. Solo vocals are fine, but background vocal choruses are just that - background mush.

Perhaps, this is just a system synergy thing. I'm really hoping this will improve after they're run in as I do quite like what they do to the sound in other regards.

UB

 

[Miller-8]

Just bought a set of these.

 

[Miller-8]

Got it yesterday, bass is very punchy and powerful and tight too. Great detail. Much better than my old van damme stuff.

 

[Gazjam]

I got a second set of cables (2.5mm not 4mm) for bi-wiring.

I figured at this price it was worth a punt.

Major improvement - tried biwiring with the Vann Damme before, didn't really rate it much went on to shotgun it to my AE109s.

This cables good.

Gaz.

 

[JCL]

The specs for that cable seem fairly standard.

 

[Matt J]

As above, any of these copper cables of similar construction will sound pretty much the same, I'm very happy with the Van Damme I bought a while ago, I have some Exposure cable which is slightly thicker and theres no difference to my ears.

 

[Napoleon]

Well, been trying them for 4 days now and the Siltech Forbes Lakes are being ordered....

Utterly awesome, like buying a new amp and CDP!!

 

[Miller-8]

Well it's defo better than the van damme in my system, has brought it to life.