Van Damme Blue v Hifi speaker cable reviewed

[RichB]

Hi Oliver,

Glad its working for you too.
If your equipment suits this cable I can second that it is very revealing.
I dont think it would suit bright amps, based on the results I am getting and from your results using the Croft Power amp.
But the only way to know for sure is for someone with bright gear to try it.

Switching between various sources I can see weaknesses in some of my other gear/Interconnects that will need attention to balance things out.
I never noticed this before when using other speaker cables.

Ken, see you tried to PM but my inbox was full. Cleared now, sorry.

I wouldn't say my system was bright but it's very honest and revealing now.

I've just got my hands on some tellurium q blue which should arrive within the next week. I'll bring them along when we get together.

R

[icehockeyboy]

The Van Damme (Blue) Studio quality speaker cable has been the default entry level cable for many audio enthusiasts, myself included.

I recently read a review of the 6mm square “Blue” (What I use) on Hifipig, where they did a comparative review with Van Damme’s UP-LCOFC Hifi cable (crap name) also in 6mm square. The review/s can be seen here:
http://hifipig.com/van-damme-blue-an...es/#more-14566

After such a glowing review I was curious to try the Hifi cable as it’s in the same low price range, both cables are available (new) on the Bay for about £6.80/meter delivered.




This is what the two cables look like.
The Blue, being for Pro use has a thick heavy protective jacket, the Hifi is light weight in comparison but they both house 6mm square OFC copper (other sizes available).
The Hifi is marked as directional – I’m not sure I fully subscribe to this notion, but it’s something that costs nothing to do, I have got into the habit of marking my cables and always connecting them the same way round anyway.

So how does it sound?

I have to say I agree with the review, the Hifi cable is better, a lot better than the Blue.
I listened to tracks I was very familiar with on my latest set up using the 6mm Blue.
When I swapped it out for the 6mm Hifi the difference was immediately noticeable even before any burn in period. More detailed top end, if a little harsh and just more bass. Once the cable had a few hours on it things smoothed out, with a very detailed top end, symbols that had sounded splashy on the Blue came into focus and shimmered. The bass grew even deeper and had great textural detail, there is a very rhythmical feel to the music with great punch and attack.

I don’t believe in spending huge amounts on fancy cables, the UP-LCOFC Hifi cable from Van Damme is a very good cable and amazing for the price, a significant upgrade from the Blue in my opinion and its the same price.

Based on this very positive result, I will look next at the Van Dame Silver Series interconnect cable in particular the low cap 55pf/m (£6/meter) and see if that can give an equally impressive performance.

I just happen to be selling my Van Damme Silver ic, albeit the one with the ' better' Audioquest plugs. It's the flat cap version.

Save yourself a few quid they cost me £50, yours inc posting for £30.

Save

[icehockeyboy]

Ken

You have PM.

[icehockeyboy]

You around Ken?

Messaged you a couple of days back......

[Qwin]

Got to the PM eventually Craig, been away over Easter.

I'm looking at using the VD low Cap interconnect and WBT type (Chuck) clamp on plugs. You can buy the parts off the Bay to make a 500mm pair for less than £22 including delivery and that's what I will be doing.

[icehockeyboy]

Got to the PM eventually Craig, been away over Easter.

I'm looking at using the VD low Cap interconnect and WBT type (Chuck) clamp on plugs. You can buy the parts off the Bay to make a 500mm pair for less than £22 including delivery and that's what I will be doing.

Ok, thanks for letting me know.

[hifinutt]

Hi Ken,
I have just replaced 4 metres of Chord Odyssey with 5 metres of the 4mm Hi Fi cable & my initial thoughts are that the Van Dammes sound more revealing in the mid range (the Chords seem to have more bass & treble) , and the music just seems to flow easier. My Croft S7 just seens to gel better with my Proacs, (or should I say "more to my taste") with the 4mm cables.
Oliver

ha and as if to confirm RFC`s post I enjoyed my van damme 6mm for a fair while but my chord epic was better !! more detail and transparency and zing!

[Desmo]

Inspired by this thread I've just replaced my Van Damme blue cables with the hifi version this afternoon. I'll leave them playing for a few days before making any judgment.

FWIW I bi-amp/bi-wire using the 6mm for the lower registers, and the 2.5mm for the higher. I've replaced, like for like, and used the same connectors.

[walpurgis]

Inspired by this thread I've just replaced my Van Damme blue cables with the hifi version this afternoon. I'll leave them playing for a few days before making any judgment.

Why?

[Yomanze]

Why?

I do suppose the first gut feeling also goes a long way in evaluating HiFi, but I also do like the long-term listening test.