Are my Van Den Hul interconnects genuine?

[admin_exported]

I have been looking at interconnect cables and during my search I noticed that the connectors on the Van Den Hul 102 Mk III interconnects are different from mine. I can't find anywhere that sells them with the same connectors as the ones I've got.

I bought mine a few years ago on e-Bay and I'm hoping that the connectors have been changed in recent years and that mine are the old style. The more I looked at images on the net I started to think that perhaps mine are not actually genuine after all.

The cables now retail at about £170 a metre but I can't remember paying anywhere near that, I paid around £40, I can't remember but I think they were used and came with no packaging, mine are 0.6m.

Genuine Van Den Hul 102 Mk III

My 'Van Den Hul' Interconnects

 

[aliEnRIK]

Dunno without looking into it

Why not email them direct with the pics so they can tell you for definite?

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Where did you buy them? I know VDH cables are copied a lot and eBay throws up some fake ones from time to time. For what it's worth, I wouldn't buy second hand cables from the Far East on eBay. Actually, I wouldn't buy new ones from there either on eBay.

 

[fatboyslimfast]

It could be that the cable is genuine but the connectors are 3rd party...

 

[Clare Newsome]

Yep, i've seen a lot of that on eBay. We recently had to get a seller to stop using our five-star logo against his own sets of cables that were not the same spec as the original pair we'd tested/highly rated.

 

[JamesOK]

Ric969:
I have been looking at interconnect cables and during my search I noticed that the connectors on the Van Den Hul 102 Mk III interconnects are different from mine. I can't find anywhere that sells them with the same connectors as the ones I've got.

I bought mine a few years ago on e-Bay and I'm hoping that the connectors have been changed in recent years and that mine are the old style. The more I looked at images on the net I started to think that perhaps mine are not actually genuine after all.

The cables now retail at about £170 a metre but I can't remember paying anywhere near that, I paid around £40, I can't remember but I think they were used and came with no packaging, mine are 0.6m.

Genuine Van Den Hul 102 Mk III

My 'Van Den Hul' Interconnects

Ric - this is interesting as I have exactly the same cables from eBay. I am pretty sure I paid about the same as you and have always had my doubts about them. Do you find that the connectors slide on to the posts a little to easily. Even compared with some cheap Cambridge audio cable I have. The cambridge audio connection is much stiffer.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the replies.

I think I will send them an e-mail for confirmation. I did think that the cable might be genuine but that a 3rd party had put their connectors on the end.

Like Clare said though, if that is the case then they aren't the ones recommended by What Hi-Fi?

I won't be buying cables from e-Bay again, I'll stick to an authorised dealer in future.

 

[Anonymous]

I've been on the Van Den Hul website but I can't find any contact details

I did find this on the main page though

WARNING! There are currently quite a few offerings of
fake copies of our cables (more specific The D-102 III Hybrid, The
INTEGRATION Hybrid and The MAGNUM Hybrid) on various Ebay websites.Most
of the people who offer these products are living in (the vicinity of)
HongKong. The products are always offered without the original box and
are mostly packed in a black bag with our copied logo on it.The inside
of the cable is of very low quality and quite often completely different
from the original. Buying such a cable is at your own risk and
basically illegal.

Does anyone know the e-mail address for Van Den Hul?

 

[Anonymous]

JamesOK:Ric969:
I have been looking at interconnect cables and during my search I noticed that the connectors on the Van Den Hul 102 Mk III interconnects are different from mine. I can't find anywhere that sells them with the same connectors as the ones I've got.

I bought mine a few years ago on e-Bay and I'm hoping that the connectors have been changed in recent years and that mine are the old style. The more I looked at images on the net I started to think that perhaps mine are not actually genuine after all.

The cables now retail at about £170 a metre but I can't remember paying anywhere near that, I paid around £40, I can't remember but I think they were used and came with no packaging, mine are 0.6m.

Genuine Van Den Hul 102 Mk III

My 'Van Den Hul' Interconnects

 

[Clare Newsome]

Ric969:
I've been on the Van Den Hul website but I can't find any contact details

Does anyone know the e-mail address for Van Den Hul?









I'd suggest you contact their UK distributor, Henley Designs

 

[Anonymous]

Clare Newsome:Ric969:
I've been on the Van Den Hul website but I can't find any contact details

Does anyone know the e-mail address for Van Den Hul?









I'd suggest you contact their UK distributor, Henley Designs

Thanks Clare

 

[fatboyslimfast]

Looking closely at the two cables, the V in van den hul is capitialised (incorrectly) on the ebay ones, but not the boxed ones. Small detail, but the sort of thing that generally goes unnoticed by fakers...

 

[Anonymous]

fatboyslimfast:Looking closely at the two cables, the V in van den hul is capitialised (incorrectly) on the ebay ones, but not the boxed ones. Small detail, but the sort of thing that generally goes unnoticed by fakers...

Yes, you're quite right, I hadn't noticed that either

 

[idc]

Clare Newsome:Yep, i've seen a lot of that on eBay. We recently had to get a seller to stop using our five-star logo against his own sets of cables that were not the same spec as the original pair we'd tested/highly rated.

The ebay seller sammybalamy is still doing it clicky

 

[idc]

The easiest way to spot fakes are the phonos. VDH genuine ones have their name in a red band around them.....

The fakes use other phonos. There was a previous post where someone reported that the writing on the cable was coming off. The best way not to get ripped off is to buy boxed ones from authorised dealers.

 

[Anonymous]

i bought an integration hybrid from e bay and it sounded superb so i am sure it was genuine and it had the same plugs as yours. The guy i bought it from had lengths of cable with no plugs and made them up.My mte bought one too and we were quite happy with the sound. i would have thought if it was a rubbish copy that you might be able to hear it. Does it sound good?

 

[idc]

Unless it is VDH cable and VDH plugs made by VDH it is not genuine, no matter how a seller dresses it up. It may well work fine, but is that really the point?

 

[Frank Harvey]

A seller using VDH cable to make up their own interconnects can't sell it as a VDH cable. If the cable isn't made in the VDH factory, it's not VDH, and can't be sold as genuine VDH.

 

[Thaiman]

FrankHarveyHiFi:

A seller using VDH cable to make up their own interconnects can't sell it as a VDH cable. If the cable isn't made in the VDH factory, it's not VDH, and can't be sold as genuine VDH.

Am I right to think that you can specify a certain set of plugs to be terminate with VDH cables? (through dealers)

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Fraz1:i bought an integration hybrid from e bay and it sounded superb so i am sure it was genuine and it had the same plugs as yours. The guy i bought it from had lengths of cable with no plugs and made them up.My mte bought one too and we were quite happy with the sound. i would have thought if it was a rubbish copy that you might be able to hear it. Does it sound good?

The capital 'V' is the killer blow - van den Hul would not make that mistake.

 

[JamesOK]

Ric - did you get any feedback from your email?

 

[idc]

Thaiman:FrankHarveyHiFi:

A seller using VDH cable to make up their own interconnects can't sell it as a VDH cable. If the cable isn't made in the VDH factory, it's not VDH, and can't be sold as genuine VDH.

Am I right to think that you can specify a certain set of plugs to be terminate with VDH cables? (through dealers)

You can buy VDH cables, bit I cannot find the VDH phonos for sale. So to get the genuine item you need to buy the VDH cable with their phono off an authorised dealer. Or else you can put your own phonos onto their cable, but I would then say it is wrong to describe the cable as genuine or do anything to create that impression.

 

[Henley]

Sorry guys but these are fakes. van den Hul only supply their cables in terminated, packaged versions and do not sell interconnects by the drum. This decision was taken solely to avoid problems such as this but, I regret, there is very little a manufacturer can do except warn customers and complain to Ebay (like that's going to work!)

 

[idc]

Sorry, correction, I saw cables for sale without termination, so I thought they came unterminated.

 

[JamesOK]

Henley:Sorry guys but these are fakes. van den Hul only supply their cables in terminated, packaged versions and do not sell interconnects by the drum. This decision was taken solely to avoid problems such as this but, I regret, there is very little a manufacturer can do except warn customers and complain to Ebay (like that's going to work!)

Grim. Well, if something appears to good to be true...

Thanks for the info.