vdH First Ultimate i/c

Glens of Antrim

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Jul 25, 2005
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Norn Iron, , United
vdH 1ST Ultimate i/c: [/b]I hadn’t actually been planning to upgrade my interconnects, but in the last couple of week, I was able to snap up two Ultimates at pretty decent prices.

First thoughts were that they looked liked beefed upped, better made versions of the D-102, and to be honest that was what I was expecting them to sound like. Talk about being wrong. There isn’t a positive hifi cliché they don’t deserve. I have been hearing all my CDs in a new light; I have been listening into the wee small hours & my partner did notice a difference.

The bass is powerful, taut & tuneful. There’s more oomph & drive than with the Integrations. Vocals are more intelligible & lyrical when that’s what the music requires, tougher when that’s demanded. There’s a tangible sense of musicians playing in their own space & time. And, final hifi cliché, my system sound much more musical – I’ve no better way of putting it.

Perhaps the synergy is due to the famous vdH smoothness balancing out my Triangle speakers’ forwardness in the treble; or that Musical Fidelity & vdH go well together, I don’t know. But whatever it is the result is a bloody marvel to behold.

GofA [/b]

 
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Guest

Guest
One of the best cables at its price out there imho. I had to spend a lot more to replace them;)

 

Glens of Antrim

Wammer
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Jul 25, 2005
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Duvet wrote:

One of the best cables at its price out there imho. I had to spend a lot more to replace them;)
Too true Duvet. I still want to hear the TCI Cobras the EofS bought recently - I've the same company's Super Constrictor power-cords & they're stonking. I've heard the Cobraswith Roksan kit & they managed to work wellplus Paul's a good judge. But it would be a Icey side-ways move & I'm determined to prove Gobind wrong & keep them longer than 6 months. Plus the 1st are stonking!
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Effem

Guest
I have had the the First Ultimate Mk1's and 2's, the metal screenedvariants too and all of them exhibited the same sonic traits which IMHO are only suited to one particular system - one with a surfeit of treble, or anuncouth treble. The conundrum with them though is that they seem to roll off the lower treble yet let the upper treble throughfairly unhindered, which gives the perception that it actually isn't doing that. In a system with good tebleresolution it sounds fairly lacklustre and sightly muffled with a smoother tonal balance. Bass and midrange performance is very good indeed despite that.

What it is ideally suited for is beingusedto curea lively trebleand I suppose it's a cheaper option than undoing the underlying system mismatches. The good Earl has found this out when he started his latest round of system tweakery when the VDH FU's shortfalls rose to the surface and I think too that GofA is finding the MF/Triangle marriage a tad on the brighter side too, so in that instance it's perfect for the job. If anyone else asked a similar question about how to tame a prominent treble which maintaining the rest of of the spectrum intact, the VDH FU would be myfirst and probably my onlyrecommendation each time.

The original unscreened version hummed dreadfully between my pre and power amp and I'm told this is a common problem with them, yet the information highlighting this trait to prospective buyers isn't all that clear to prevent that particular mistake being made.

 
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earl of sodbury

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Frank sums that up about perfectly IME/IMHO. For the purpose inJohn's system they will be hard to beat.
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That said both TCI and our friendly local cable vendors have excellent money-back guarantees
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Effem

Guest
I have a very high regard for the VDH FU's because it is one of the very few cables on the market where it's strengths and weaknesses are veryclearly defined and more importantly I think the consistency and their predictable attributes in various systems make it virtually a no brainer forrecommending them or not as the case may be.

 

Glens of Antrim

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Jul 25, 2005
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earl of sodbury wrote:

Frank sums that up about perfectly IME/IMHO. For the purpose inJohn's system they will be hard to beat.
thumbs_up.gif.3c8ee62eda0e86146178ab30b9facd86.gif
That said both TCI and our friendly local cable vendors have excellent money-back guarantees
wink.png
Can't hear, won't hear, na na na nahna... Can't hear, won't hear, na na na nahna...
wink.png


Still very chuffed with them & they do seem to mellow the Triangle's full on treble (though I wonder if Frank agrees with me that the treble isn'tthat pronounced because it so well integrated wit the mid / bass drivers?) to the advantage of the whole system.

And they do an awful lot of other stuff very, verywell
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Don't agree about the hum problem. It was a problem with the original Firsts, but been sorted out in the new models - to my ears anyway.

GofA

 

ErikFH

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Aug 2, 2005
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AKA
Erik
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Effem wrote:

The original unscreened version hummed dreadfully between my pre and power amp and I'm told this is a common problem with them..
True for the green version (which I own).

Glens of Antrim wrote:

Don't agree about the hum problem. It was a problem with the original Firsts, but been sorted out in the new models - to my ears anyway.

GofA
Glens, do you use the yellow version betweenpre and power? Just curious if hum issue hasbeen solved now. BTW, VdH indeed works well with MF.

 

Glens of Antrim

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Jul 25, 2005
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Norn Iron, , United
ErikfH wrote:

Effem wrote:
The original unscreened version hummed dreadfully between my pre and power amp and I'm told this is a common problem with them..
True for the green version (which I own).

Glens of Antrim wrote:

Don't agree about the hum problem. It was a problem with the original Firsts, but been sorted out in the new models - to my ears anyway.

GofA
Glens, do you use the yellow version betweenpre and power? Just curious if hum issue hasbeen solved now. BTW, VdH indeed works well with MF.
Eric - yes I use the new yellow version & out of curiosity, today, I turned my amp up to full volume & there was no hum that I could hear. Though it was between my valve buffer & X-150 - I don't own a pre/power

GofA

 

ErikFH

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Aug 2, 2005
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Erik
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Glens of Antrim wrote:

Eric - yes I use the new yellow version & out of curiosity, today, I turned my amp up to full volume & there was no hum that I could hear. Though it was between my valve buffer & X-150 - I don't own a pre/powerGofA
Ok Glens. Think the FU workswell outsideconnectingof pre-power amps.I asked VdH himself about it and he confirmed the hum being therein such application (and of course that themetal screen version was the alternative to solve this
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). Use the green version between tuner and pre (and have used itbetween different cdps and integrateds/pre´s in the past) without any hum problems. Enjoy!

 

mosfet

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Jul 20, 2005
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AKA
Richard
The reason the first First hummed was not because it was unshielded - it was - rather the use of high resistance carbon conductors for the ground return shield is a recipe for creating humming ground loops if there ever was one.

I'm sure VDH knew this (at least he should have done because it's very basic unbalanced connection stuff) but was more interested in selling his carbon “technologyâ€.

 
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earl of sodbury

Guest
In myexperience you really do need the metal-screened version between pre (or in my case integrated) and power amp. Not an issue here of course.

 

Marco

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Nov 18, 2005
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I swapped my VDH First Ultimates (used from my MC step-up transformer to preamp)for these chaps and got, quite frankly, amazing results:

Atlas Titanall Cu PTFE

Features:

  • Asymmetrical / unbalanced
  • Multi-stranded 99.9997% pure OFC copper screen with an aluminium foil for 100% coverage and the rejection of RFI
  • FEP Teflon primary dielectric
  • Low loss foamed polyethylene secondary dielectric
  • Concentric stranded rope-lay 99.9997% pure OCC copper multi-stranded conductor
  • 8.5 mm diameter with a soft PVC jacket
  • Direct silver plated non-compressing, double screened, self-cleaning, All Cu OCC RCA plugs
  • Colour: Pearl Blue

Technincal Data:

Resistance (Ohms/m @ 20°C)

0.044

Capacitance (pF/m)

61.14

Inductance (µH/m @ 1 kHz)

0.401

View Larger Image

titan.jpg


I think Atlas cables are about to become huge here in the UK, such is the level of performance they offer at reasonable cost. Like Frank, and others, I do like VDH, though, in certain applications.

 
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falconer1

Guest
Effem wrote:

I have a very high regard for the VDH FU's because it is one of the very few cables on the market where it's strengths and weaknesses are veryclearly defined and more importantly I think the consistency and their predictable attributes in various systems make it virtually a no brainer forrecommending them or not as the case may be.
Have you discovered the best cables to go with the Trivista.

 
E

Effem

Guest
falconer1 wrote:

Effem wrote:
I have a very high regard for the VDH FU's because it is one of the very few cables on the market where it's strengths and weaknesses are veryclearly defined and more importantly I think the consistency and their predictable attributes in various systems make it virtually a no brainer forrecommending them or not as the case may be.
Have you discovered the best cables to go with the Trivista.
I sold 2 sets of VDH FU cables just before the Trivista arrived. Would have been very interesting to see how they would have gelled. I'm keping an eye out for another set at the right price, but in the meantime I have got another unknown brand winging their way here.

BTW, why is it that VDH have decided on odd lengths to sell their cables? I need just over 1m but most I see for sale are 0.8m. Annoying too when one of the sets I sold was actually 1.5m long
cry_smile.gif.e6f167d6925baafe229b8957ba771316.gif


 
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falconer1

Guest
Effem wrote:

falconer1 wrote:
Effem wrote:
I have a very high regard for the VDH FU's because it is one of the very few cables on the market where it's strengths and weaknesses are veryclearly defined and more importantly I think the consistency and their predictable attributes in various systems make it virtually a no brainer forrecommending them or not as the case may be.
Have you discovered the best cables to go with the Trivista.
I sold 2 sets of VDH FU cables just before the Trivista arrived. Would have been very interesting to see how they would have gelled. I'm keping an eye out for another set at the right price, but in the meantime I have got another unknown brand winging their way here.

BTW, why is it that VDH have decided on odd lengths to sell their cables? I need just over 1m but most I see for sale are 0.8m. Annoying too when one of the sets I sold was actually 1.5m long
cry_smile.gif.e6f167d6925baafe229b8957ba771316.gif
I know,its known as SODS law. Seriously I am interested as I reckon I will be looking for a Trivista myself before too long .
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