VFM/SPPV studio cables test

[Jimbo]

Hi Kevin,



Of course much will depend on the partnering system, however one thing the Gothams seem to excel at is in areas such as transient attack and timing acuity, presenting instruments such as drums with real dynamic 'snap', as well as a rather engaging and 'bouncy' rhythmic swing. They make music fun to listen to with their addictively tuneful sonic presentation!





Furthermore, because of seemingly being devoid of 'grain', they allow music to ebb and flow naturally from the quietest of backdrops (most likely a by-product of their excellent RF-rejection), allowing, for example, cymbals to shimmer with a sparkling clarity, without any sense of smearing, which I've seldom experienced from other cables.

In short, the level of clarity, resolution, and most importantly musicality, on offer from the Gothams, is astounding given their bargain-basement price. If you can, I'd defo give them a listen, as I think you'd be rather pleasantly surprised by them

Marco.

I think I will try a pair of these having read your enthusiastic appraisal of them! At that price they should be in Lidl

[Marco]

Noted - and I've just bought a pair of the Ultra Pro to check 'em out.

You'll notice that they're quite a bit thicker than the standard GAC-1s (if you remember what they looked like). Btw, if the plugs are a slightly loose fit on the sockets of your kit, as they are on mine, simply crimp the ends a bit with some pliers. It makes a difference having nice snug connections

Marco.

[Marco]

I think I will try a pair of these having read your enthusiastic appraisal of them! At that price they should be in Lidl

Indeed, Jim. Let me know what you think. They certainly do some good things in my system. Worst case scenario is that you'll end up with a nice new necklace!

Marco.

[kininigin]

Kevin, I'll throw a curved ball into the mix... Before deciding on anything, I'd advise you to listen to a set of these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3803165476...84.m1439.l2649

Ignore the price. The Gothams are what many well-known studios use, often to produce some top-notch recordings. If they were 'audiophile branded' cables they'd cost £100s more. I've been playing around with some recently and have been rather shocked at how good they are!

More info here: http://roadworthycables.com/gotham-cable and here: http://hey-wire-cables.myshopify.com.../guitar-cables

Marco.

I've had a couple of pairs of these for a few years! And currently have a pair between dac and pre! I pulled them back out the draw after i sold my Mark grants (to fund a trip).

[CageyH]

I plugged the CuSat50 in last night before going to bed, and left the CD player spinning all night.
The sound is much better than I remember on first listen. It's now sounding very good indeed. Almost as good as the Mercury (similar to the Pluto).
I am really intrigued by current happenings, as when I begun, I didn't believe that cables would make that much difference, nor did I believe that a cable could "run in", but the sound has opened up so much more from what I remember.
I don't think it lets as much detail through in comparison to the Mercury, but it's reasonably close. It's a nice sounding cable. It's a really tough choice between this and the Pluto, but I think I would buy the Pluto, as it's cheaper, and more than likely based on the same cable. The only difference is the plugs. (My GSP forum members 10% discount makes it even tougher choice between the two).
I still keep going back to the Mercury though. Now I just need to figure out where in my system I should put my cables to maximise the sound quality.

So, from what I have heard during my auditions, my preferences in order for sound quality (ignoring price) are as follows:
RFC Mercury
MG G2000HD
RFC Pluto & GSP CuSat50 - Hard to separate these two.
SSC - (very close behind the two above).
Black Rhodium Coda

VFM wise, the list would look completely different, with the SSC topping the list for me. It's a really good IC for the money.

[CageyH]

I have answered my original question, and I have also managed to remove all of the VDH cables from my system.
It's sounding sweet now, but I am thinking of rearranging my room to shorten the length of speaker cable runs I currently use. I have currently got 10m runs of cable, but with a cunning bit of planning, I can probably get that down to 3m, so I can buy some better cable. That will have to wait a while though...

I have a RFC cable to pay for.

[Wakefield Turntables]

These comparisons are all very well but surely it makes more sense to try and get a "full loom" of the same cable in your system to make a real meaningfull test of any interconnect. I have only done this once, and this was with Yannis IC's, and cos I've got active speakers I didnt need any speaker cable. I'd personally love a whole loom of RFC IC's, I dont think Paul would be too happy doing that though.

[User211]

RFC Mercury
MG G2000HD
RFC Pluto & GSP CuSat50 - Hard to separate these two.
SSC - (very close behind the two above).
Black Rhodium Coda

I'm glad you've said that, because I use Mercurys twixt pre and power in a 3m length. This was a huge upgrade over some old Maplin Thor cable, unsurprisingly. I rate it highly - it really is fantastically well resolved stuff. I tried some seriously expensive ICs from a chap who used to do cables for AN UK. the other week This was twixt pre and DAC versus some Nordost Red Dawn. I was really surprised how well the Red Dawn stood up, though the mystery cables were 2m+ as opposed to the 0.6m length of Red Dawn with Eichmanns. Mind you, Nordost seem to think longer ICs sound better. I wonder why, LOL. What really surprised me, if I am totally honest, is I could hear bugger all difference between the Red Dawn and the expensive stuff. Well, really incredibly small differences might have been heard, if you know what I mean.

[CageyH]

These comparisons are all very well but surely it makes more sense to try and get a "full loom" of the same cable in your system to make a real meaningfull test of any interconnect. I have only done this once, and this was with Yannis IC's, and cos I've got active speakers I didnt need any speaker cable. I'd personally love a whole loom of RFC IC's, I dont think Paul would be too happy doing that though.

I totally agree, but one cable at a time for me. My next purchase is likely to be another cable of the same type to go to the headphone amp. This is what I use the most. I'm also likely to ask Paul if he can do a much shorter cable, as I have a 0.5m cable between my amps, and it's far too long.

For my "testing", the IC connected the source component to my headphone amp, so I could hear what each cable was doing without interference from anything else. It's the only way I could achieve a meaningful audition.

[Marco]

Have those of you who ordered the Gotham GAC-1 Ultra Pros received them yet, and if so, what are your impressions?

Marco.