Van Damme Hifi Speaker Cable

Rollo

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Hi all, Been toying with the idea of trying some of the Van Damme Hifi cable. I notice that Naim do a similar style also. But in the back of my mind I think I saw either Audioholics Or PS Audio state that this cable design was really bad due to high inductance due to the split conductors. Does anyone have any experience with these cables that could give me an idea of their sound quality?

Cheers
 
D

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Hi all, Been toying with the idea of trying some of the Van Damme Hifi cable. I notice that Naim do a similar style also. But in the back of my mind I think I saw either Audioholics Or PS Audio state that this cable design was really bad due to high inductance due to the split conductors. Does anyone have any experience with these cables that could give me an idea of their sound quality?

Cheers

i can not comment on naim and their own cables (naca5) but i believe many use woven kimber (12tc) with naim amplifiers and experience no problems.

whether thats the case with the older naim amplifier models maybe another forum member can help ?

(which naim amplifier are you using ?)

as for the van damme speaker cable i (and many others) use this :-
 
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Rollo

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Many thanks, that's the cable I'm looking at the 6mm. Read a couple of reviews saying it was superior to the blue. Emailed VDC and was told they were in fact the same copper.
 
D

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Many thanks, that's the cable I'm looking at the 6mm. Read a couple of reviews saying it was superior to the blue. Emailed VDC and was told they were in fact the same copper.

its a different construction / design and i believe thickness hence lower resistance.
whether you would hear the difference between the blue or hifi version though is down to you and your system.
 

Rollo

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Plus, do you find the sound characteristics to be flat/neutral in terms of what you put in you get out. Or do you find the cable emphasises any special area, top end/bass etc
 
D

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Plus, do you find the sound characteristics to be flat/neutral in terms of what you put in you get out. Or do you find the cable emphasises any special area, top end/bass etc

to be honest i think its system dependant. the 6mm version has as stated a lower resistance than the 2.5mm etc which i find / found means better bass extension.

i'll add only used the van damme hifi never the van damme blue. i have also read how users, when they switched from the blue to the hifi, found the blue cable "muddy" / blurred sounding in comparison.

the van damme blue, to me, just looks (is it the same ?) as qed 79 strand in a thicker blue protective outer "jacket" :-
 

shadders

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Many thanks, that's the cable I'm looking at the 6mm. Read a couple of reviews saying it was superior to the blue. Emailed VDC and was told they were in fact the same copper.
Hi,
It is difficult to get poor quality copper - so, any copper in a cable will be same as the next, and any supposedly differences are just marketing - even single crystal etc., has no audible effect on the cable properties.

It has been stated on other forums that Naim do not use an output inductor in the output stage of their amplifiers, such that the Naim cables have high inductance to compensate for this. Hence for Naim amplifiers, it is better to check that the cable has sufficient inductance per metre, and its capacitance per metre is not an issue too. The cable should be low capacitance per metre to ensure stability of the amplifier.

Regards,
Shadders.
 
D

Deleted member 188516

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Hi,
It is difficult to get poor quality copper - so, any copper in a cable will be same as the next, and any supposedly differences are just marketing - even single crystal etc., has no audible effect on the cable properties.

It has been stated on other forums that Naim do not use an output inductor in the output stage of their amplifiers, such that the Naim cables have high inductance to compensate for this. Hence for Naim amplifiers, it is better to check that the cable has sufficient inductance per metre, and its capacitance per metre is not an issue too. The cable should be low capacitance per metre to ensure stability of the amplifier.

Regards,
Shadders.

may i ask are there any cable(s) you could suggest in such a situation ?
 

shadders

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may i ask are there any cable(s) you could suggest in such a situation ?
Hi,
I have never purchased Naim equipment, so never had to look for which cables are suggested by Naim. Naim has a foruum - and i recall somewhere on another forum that the accepted cables other than Naim were listed. Apologies, i cannot recall which forum i saw that on.

Regards,
Shadders.
 
D

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Hi,
I have never purchased Naim equipment, so never had to look for which cables are suggested by Naim. Naim has a foruum - and i recall somewhere on another forum that the accepted cables other than Naim were listed. Apologies, i cannot recall which forum i saw that on.

Regards,
Shadders.

thanks for the reply. just wondered if a really thick cable, with lots of strands, would be better than say a thinner qed 79 type (?).
 

camcroft

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I use the 6mm cable and I find it very good I always bought what won the awards on this website after speaking to a guy in our area that sells equipment and makes up cables of all sorts he made me two lengths and they are much better than what I had previously used Audioquest, Atlas, qed after that I changed all my interconnects to Van Damme
 

shadders

Well-known member
thanks for the reply. just wondered if a really thick cable, with lots of strands, would be better than say a thinner qed 79 type (?).
Hi,
A cable with a greater cross sectional area is better than one with a lower cross sectional area. Depending on the cable, the parameters can change. So, it is probably a good idea to check the parameters such as capacitance and inductance, per metre. The lower these two are, the better.

High values in both reduce the higher frequencies, and in general, they really have to mess up the cable design for it to become audible. There is no value you can state which says above a certain value don't buy, else you can buy.

For Naim, their amplifier design is a problem for cables with high capacitance per metre. So for Naim, consulting their forum is best to see which cables are acceptable.

Regards,
Shadders.
 

Rollo

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Thanks for the info guys. Currently running 12 awg DIY cables. But had to remove a banana the other day and found that the copper had oxidised really quite badly in only 3 weeks hence the change. Noticed a difference going from 15awg to 12awg so also hoping going to 10awg yields further benefits
 

michael hoy

Well-known member
i can not comment on naim and their own cables (naca5) but i believe many use woven kimber (12tc) with naim amplifiers and experience no problems.

whether thats the case with the older naim amplifier models maybe another forum member can help ?

(which naim amplifier are you using ?)

as for the van damme speaker cable i (and many others) use this :-
I use the 4mm version of the Van Damme linked to above. I had them in my HiFi system and now have them in my Cinema system, some short runs and some long runs. Sounded good in both systems.
 
D

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Hi,
It is difficult to get poor quality copper - so, any copper in a cable will be same as the next, and any supposedly differences are just marketing - even single crystal etc., has no audible effect on the cable properties.

It has been stated on other forums that Naim do not use an output inductor in the output stage of their amplifiers, such that the Naim cables have high inductance to compensate for this. Hence for Naim amplifiers, it is better to check that the cable has sufficient inductance per metre, and its capacitance per metre is not an issue too. The cable should be low capacitance per metre to ensure stability of the amplifier.

Regards,
Shadders.

Problem is they now do but they keep pedalling this story to sell their cable, they used to have a warranty disclaimer that made it null en void if the wrong cable was used. Its not longer mentioned in there lower end gear and newer uniti sereies
 
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D

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its strange that the dealer said that (?).
the naim cable is expensive though i believe...

Very strange! weather it needed or not un this day and age Naim is tuned with the cable in mind

Wasn't always the case, naca5 was 5 quid 15 years ago then jumped to 15 quid then 30 about 5-6 years ago has it changed? nope just raised the price as they do with there electronics from time to time.

If you want naim cable on the cheap get Linn k20 virtually the same as A5, but apparently Naim have used a different "design" to improve upon k20/a4
 

Rollo

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Well I plumped for the 6mm hifi cable. Just ordered from Lucas Sound and Vision. Was going to terminate them myself, but getting them cold pressed terminated turned out to be only a few quid more. Good price as well, 2 x 5 metre runs of 6mm terminated for £90 delivered.
 
D

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I use the 4mm version of the Van Damme linked to above. I had them in my HiFi system and now have them in my Cinema system, some short runs and some long runs. Sounded good in both systems.

i've said it before but i'll say it again that's a class looking room !
 
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Gray

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Well I plumped for the 6mm hifi cable. Just ordered from Lucas Sound and Vision. Was going to terminate them myself, but getting them cold pressed terminated turned out to be only a few quid more. Good price as well, 2 x 5 metre runs of 6mm terminated for £90 delivered.
Good for you Rollo - plenty of cross sectional area in that cable.
It's funny how you, me and everyone reading this think that £90 is reasonable.
If you told a layman £90 was a bargain for wire to connect his speakers, he'd laugh.....if you told him you could pay thousands.........:LOL:
 
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Rollo

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Too true Gray! That was pretty much the wife's reaction. Before I told her I had added the Audioquest Golden Gate RCA and the Audioquest Cinnamon Coaxial. That soon wiped the smile of her face 😂😂😂
 
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D

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Too true Gray! That was pretty much the wife's reaction. Before I told her I had added the Audioquest Golden Gate RCA and the Audioquest Cinnamon Coaxial. That soon wiped the smile of her face 😂😂😂

cable prices are ridiculous agreed.
however as long as they are constructed well, with quality connections to the plugs, they will last forever and never wear out !
 
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