Ha! Gotham GAC-1 review........

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Octopo:
Gerrard you missed my point.

Until WHF review whatever cables you mention then Gotham has a case.

But they have reviewed alternatives - as the prof mentioned (QED one). Just because you don't like QED (why I cannot understand - surely not all there stuff is not to your taste), doesn't mean that it's not an alternative.
 
Gerrardasnails:Octopo:
Gerrard you missed my point.

Until WHF review whatever cables you mention then Gotham has a case.

But they have reviewed alternatives - as the prof mentioned (QED one). Just because you don't like QED (why I cannot understand - surely not all there stuff is not to your taste), doesn't mean that it's not an alternative.

You see, I really rate QED SA XT and use it to biamp. I find it detailed, revealing, not bright, plenty of bass. All in all, perfect. Much better than some 6mm copper, terminated with gold plugs I have in the kitchen. I suspect the latter is rather like the Gotham, average to say the least. At least when compared to the QED.

And if you need clarification on whether it is bass light, ask Survivor as he has heard it.

ÿ

ÿ
 
I can't help but question why you posted all those other links, whilst prof had already mentioned the QED cable?
 
JoelSim:
You see, I really rate QED SA XT and use it to biamp. I find it detailed, revealing, not bright, plenty of bass. All in all, perfect. Much better than some 6mm copper, terminated with gold plugs I have in the kitchen. I suspect the latter is rather like the Gotham, average to say the least. At least when compared to the QED.

Crikey, I said before I didn't want to get into an argument. When I said I didn't like QED I meant that there needs to be more competition to summarize a 2 star result. I'm sorry.

ÿ
 
Octopo:JoelSim:
You see, I really rate QED SA XT and use it to biamp. I find it detailed, revealing, not bright, plenty of bass. All in all, perfect. Much better than some 6mm copper, terminated with gold plugs I have in the kitchen. I suspect the latter is rather like the Gotham, average to say the least. At least when compared to the QED.

Crikey, I said before I didn't want to get into an argument. When I said I didn't like QED I meant that there needs to be more competition to summarize a 2 star result. I'm sorry.

Joel were talkng about £20 interconnects here, I'm sure your QED speaker cables are great.

ÿ

Didn't you used to be a Bond villain? Did you use Gotham cables on the bomb that failed to detonate just as it clicked onto 1 second of the CD left?

ÿ
 
well there's a suprise,another cable arguement, its a sub £20 cable, dont know what people were expecting from it. it is what it is, and quite frankly doesn't warrant all this attention imo
 
I have the QED on my Arcam system - sounds brilliant to me...then again, I havn't heard what a £100 cable would do to it!

As for speaker cable, I believe there are improvements to be made with it (not huge, but improvements) but I still use Maplin bi-wire 99.999% copper-free (edit:Oxygen-free copper) which I think is superb.
 
Hughes123:I have the QED on my Arcam system - sounds brilliant to me...then again, I havn't heard what a £100 cable would do to it!
As for speaker cable, I believe there are improvements to be made with it (not huge, but improvements) but I still use Maplin bi-wire 99.999% copper-free which I think is superb.

I would imagine it's 99.999% oxygen-free copper mr Hughes. ÿ
 
JoelSim:Hughes123:I have the QED on my Arcam system - sounds brilliant to me...then again, I havn't heard what a £100 cable would do to it!
As for speaker cable, I believe there are improvements to be made with it (not huge, but improvements) but I still use Maplin bi-wire 99.999% copper-free which I think is superb.
I would imagine it's 99.999% oxygen-free copper mr Hughes. ÿ
emotion-1.gif
 
Look, it would be ridiculous for this topic to enter the realms it is doing.

Joel, I misread your message you were talking about QED interconnects, I'm sorry.

It need not enter territory of how good QED is.

The message is there is no competition at £17 to warrant a 2* result to the hifi commoner. Where's the 5*?ÿ
 
Octopo:I can't help but question why you posted all those other links, whilst prof had already mentioned the QED cable?

The other links were for similarly priced alternatives.

Do you think that the Gotham should be awarded 5 stars until an alternative beats it? I don't quite understand your point. The Gothams were reviewed and they weren't raved over. End of.
 
Erm, where did all the mentions of QED suddenly come from? Chord Crimson, Supra Dual - both of these interconnects can be had for just over £30 and far outperform the Gotham.ÿ

Products don't win five-star ratings by default - we've had many a test (at all price points, and for all sorts of product) where there has not been a five-star winner, simply because even the best in the test was too compromised for us to fully recommend it.ÿ
 
Octopo:

Look, it would be ridiculous for this topic to enter the realms it is doing.

Joel, I misread your message you were talking about QED interconnects, I'm sorry.

It need not enter territory of how good QED is.

The message is there is no competition at £17 to warrant a 2* result to the hifi commoner. Where's the 5*?

If I created a hifi brand called Ajani Audio and introduced a 2000 watt x2 @ 8 ohms power amp for £100, would I be entitled to a 5 Star rating just on the grounds that I have no competition at that price level? Even if the product sounds like utter rubbish and is a major fire hazard?

I understand that it seems harsh to give such a low rating to a cheap product (without alternatives being suggested), but a bad product is still a bad product, even if it has no/few alternatives...
 
Ajani:[snip]...a bad product is still a bad product, even if it has no/few alternatives...
I would describe a CDP which was fussy about the CDs it choose to play as a bad product....but that didn't prevent the Cyrus CD 8 SE getting 5 stars. What that all about? I would have thought that a max of 4 stars would be appropriate.....however good the rest of the product.

Anyway, I agree that the lack of competition at a price point should not necessarily guarentee a good rating. My understanding is that ratings are on a sound per pound basis.
 
Anyway, I have been beaten to the ground. Good evening... I excuse myself from this elitist argument.
 
PJPro:I would describe a CDP which was fussy about the CDs it choose to play as a bad product....but that didn't prevent the Cyrus CD 8 SE getting 5 stars. What that all about? I would have thought that a max of 4 stars would be appropriate however good the rest of the product.

I agree... I remember when I "upgraded" from an ultra-cheap Technics 5 disc player to an entry level NAD single disc CD player, and was majorly annoyed, when the NAD couldn't play all of my CDs... I had never had that problem with the Technics or any Panasonic mini-system... I eventually traded the NAD for a Marantz (which worked just fine) and later dropped CDs altogether in favour of a Squeezebox (but that's a whole other story)....
 
Ajani by the way. If I was shedding a reasonable amount of cash I would expect scrupulous examining.

As I keep saying we are not talking about avid readers of reviews. We are talking about people who want a good cable for the cheapest price.ÿ
 
I bought a gotham interconnect a few months back and used it in what was then my main system (sold now). It was more a curiosity thing as I have accumulated enough cables to make a bolognese, some cheap, some not. I certainly would'nt say its a bad cable though I broadly agree that the tonal balance is slightly restricted in both frequency extremes as I have mentioned a little while back. Now if you need a cable to be as transparent as possible then thats clearly a bad thing. However, many people use cables as tone control substitutes so as with most other system matching issues, its one to try and judge for yourself.

But then I tried something else which imo lifted this cable in to a far higher price category. I had a Tacima conditioner thingy collecting dust as I never liked the result of it being inserted in whatever system configuration I had. For some reason it made what was an ok cable for a tenner sound transparent with lovely, clear highs, smooth decay and a rock solid, extended bass. Dont ask me why, I have no idea and it was unique to this particular interconnect. I ended up using it as my tuner/amp connection not least due to nice natural sound with voices.

One to try imo.
 
Octopo.....my comments were not directed at you or the cable, of which I have no experience.

However, I stand by my statement regarding the principal of a low performing product (whatever it is) being awarded 2 stars even if it has no competition for the same price.
 
But does this allow such a low rating if it's the top budget somebody can afford?

Don't forget WHF irregularly give such a low rating and people will realise this.

What this cable represents though is "significant" upgrade in sound quality for little money.

I'd like to point out in reference to competition, WHF have taken a stab at the Gotham when they can't offer an alternative to someone who can't afford to spend £40.ÿ
 
We haven't "taken a stab" at anything - we've been ruthlessly honest about a cable that's being promoted by its retailer as being far, far better than it actually is.ÿ

I've said it repeatedly on this thread and i'll say it again - for just about £17 more than the Gotham you can get a cable that is way, way better. If someone can afford the hi-fi to attach an interconnect to, they can afford another £17.ÿ

If not, they'd be better off searching eBay for a decent second-hand cable - as people trade up, they tend to sell off great-quality cables at a superb price. ÿ
 
Clare Newsome:
If not, they'd be better off searching eBay for a decent second-hand cable - as people trade up, they tend to sell off great-quality cables at a superb price. ÿ

Good idea, maybe you could offer a WHF guide of how to do this?ÿ
 

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