page updated: January 19 2002
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A system is as
strong as it's weakest link.
Please visit my Reactive Cable page . I've designed a cable with a built in FET buffer to prevent signalloss from my guitar to rack. And it works very good. It has greatly enhanced my sound. I'm still testing it, so expect improvements in the near future. I've seen many expensive 19" racks and setups of (professional) guitar players. What surprised me is that a lot of them were (still) using normal (read: mediocre) guitar and connection cables. A cable is a cable, right?!...... NO!!! There is a lot difference between them and they play a vital part in the setup. Because I use quality amplifiers I also wanted high quality cables. They do cost (a lot) more than stock cables , but why buy quality equipment if you loose all the tone and signal when using normal cables....???!!
They are well known to produce top of bill cables for high end audio equipment and studio's and have won many (high end audio magazine) awards for their innovations, especially this cable. They currently produce almost 100 different types of cables!!. This cable is made out of special selected and fabricated copper with a thick silver coating to ensure the lifespan. But the most noticeable about the cable is that it also uses CARBON for better audio transport, connection and shielding. They are the first to use it in the world!. Does that make a difference?? Well normal cables have a capacitance (signal loss) between 80 pF/M and 150 pF/M. Quality cables such as George L's and Monster cables have a capacitance of 70 pF/M, but this Van Den Hul cable has a capacitance of 37 pF/M !!!!!!. That means that 3 meters of this cable has as much signal loss as one meter of other cables!. Also the use and fabrication of the cables ensure a much longer lifespan and a better transportation, thus projection, of the signal. The cable has diameter of 7.25 mm, that's almost twice a normal cable. And it has a triple shield, so noise and interference is something unknown to me. The price? Well, it costs 16 Euro per meter, which is aprox $ 4.50 per feet, and then you also have to buy a bunch of Neutrik connectors. But the result is an absolute noise and hum free installation, no "Radio Russia", and a audio projection that is simply amazing. This cable is unanimously praised for its solid, natural and clear projection, extended and under control bassresponse, uncolored and natural mids with sweet treble, without emphasizing any frequencies. It should say more then enough that this cable has won many years in a row Best Buy from the leading UK magazine What Hifi?. If you want to know more about this cable (or others), the technology or the company, please take a look at their website: http://www.vandenhul.nl/. It is very informative. All cables are wired in the following
way:
The depth and relaxed projection is such an improvement, especially when playing clean. And if you look at the website of Van Den Hul, you'll understand why. This cable is made out of 2x 147 strains of pure copper with a thick layer of pure silver and their innovative use of Carbon. This cable has a resistance of 0.58 Ohm per 100 meter, while my previous speaker cable by Tasker (which was made out of plain copper) had a resistance of 21 Ohm per 100 meter. I really can not express how much I respect Van Den Hul products. They really make a difference!. Because this cable is extremely thick, I didn't find Neutrik connectors easy to work with. I've used Switchcraft 188 which where ok, but the plugs that where on the cables made by Sixt where even more rugged I now use those. I had enough cables from Sixt to use their plugs, too bad you can't order these plugs anywhere, they are the best for heavy speaker cables. btw if you look at the image on the left, keep in mind that each of the cables is as big as a normal guitarcable! For my speakercabinet I now use Van Den Hul CS-16 for internal wiring. Which was a big upgrade coming from the slim-'N'-cheap-O' cables that Marshall puts in them. From my guitar to the rack I now use standard cables made by Sixt. These are quite good. The cable has a diameter of 7mm and they use an outer and inner shield to (double!) protected the signal from noise. The connectors are very rough, even rougher than Neutriks!! They are really roadworthy, which is very important to me. When my budget will permit it I will replace the cable from guitar to wah and from the wah to the rack with the Van Den Hul Fleximic cable for even less audio loss. But money is a huge issue because each cable is 6 meters and the Fleximic ain't cheap......... For studio's I use Tasker C128 cables which are low capacitance (61pF/m), but they are not really roadworthy. Please visit my Reactive Cable
page . I've designed a cable with a
built in FET buffer to prevent signalloss from my guitar to rack. And it
works very good. It has greatly enhanced my sound. I'm still testing it,
so expect improvements in the near future. |
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© 2003, Tubefreak
When I bought the
I recently upgraded my 17
gauge speakercables (Tasker C275) with Van Den Hul CS-122 (12 gauge)
cables. The result was more then amazing. The bass was so much deeper and
clearer, it was like playing with a subwoofer. Not flappy at all, real
tight and strong. And the overall sound was much clearer and more detailed
and rounder - more even. The balance between all frequencies was much
better then with my previous cables. I never knew a guitarsound could have
so much openness in it. I expected a small difference between my normal
speaker cables and the Van Den Hul CS-122, but the opposite was true. I
could REALLY hear it. And I'm glad to, cause each speaker cable of 2.5
metres cost me $50. But it was well worth it.
