For sale thread of VDH cable D102 MKIII

[srinisundar]

This is related to an for sale thread of VDH D102.

Just to clarify the seller, ebay seller is not fake and he is not selling duplicated cables. His cables are genuine and the word in the VDH website tells that he is not selling factory terminated so warranty is not there for sound

Here people are discussing that cable doesn't make any difference ?? I just want to know whether RCA makes any difference ??? I have tested with normal neutrik plugs + VDH plugs ( i do have spares), i can strongly tell there is no difference if the connector are professionally terminated.

I have bought original VDH D102 MKIII from UK + vendor terminated ( sammybalamy ) with neutrik plugs and i never heard any difference between both. For your kind information i do have some decent system like Krell + Thiel and also Epos + Music hall to test it.

 

[captrajesh]

I had a HFV member who saw rates of similar, but fake, cables on eBay and presented me with his logic.

Yeah that was me. I preferred to by from a fellow HFV member than some unknown and has linked to the ebay sale pages where costs are significantly lower.

The d102 cables are one of the most heavily counterfeited cables along with certain Audioquest and XLO cables. There is an user on eBay (sammybelamy) who sells deep discount d102s and there is an advisory regarding him at the bottom of the vandenhul.com homepage itself.

This is what the company website says about him implying that the cable is not fake but only, it is not factory terminated:

There is also a regular offering of 50 cm van den Hul D-102 III Hybrid interconnect on Ebay by the seller sammybelamy. Please be aware that the cable is NOT factory terminated and does not have van den Hul RCA plugs on them. For this reason they are not an original van den Hul product, are not supported by us and don't fall under our warranty program.

I'm now confused as to whether to buy the factory terminated one which is almost double to that of sammybelamy.

Right now there are only two definite ways to find out if the cable is genuine: 1) The letter "v" in van den Hul is small and it is surprising that this error has not been duplicated yet

Is there anyone who has the first letter 'V' in capitals?

 

[tirthankar]

VDH sells unterminated rolls of D102MK3 by the drum and any one can buy them and terminate the cables themselves.

Here are some genuine sellers who sell unterminated VDH D102Mk3 at 80 SGD per meter.

Singapore HiFi & IT Online Store

Getting a meter from there and two pairs of Neutrik connectors should give one an original VDH cable with self terminations at a cost much lower than the factory terminated cables.

I myself use self terminated VDH ICs, terminated with Neutrik Pro-fi rca and can vouch for their quality. The factory terminations that VDH use are highly overpriced in my opinion.

 

[malvai]

what tirthankar says is also true... the erstwhile dealer (mabin) used to sell these either as pre-terminated or as custom lengths (from a roll)...

however, if i were to look at the sellers logic, the price is fair... one cannot get these pre-terminated at the price he is asking... I for one, would jump at it, as it is just marginally over the cost of a cable off the roll + the cost of the neutrik connectors...

even when compared to the 'pre-owned' prices... this is a fair deal! just my 2 bits!

 

[srinisundar]

What Malvai said i agree on the price and also the price fixed by the seller is his wish and no comments on that. Only thing i intend to indicate about the seller in ebay and his comments on the factory terminated plugs.

Yes, factory terminated cables do have high margin which is to attack and enhance the belief of an audiophile.

Regards

 

[BLASTO]

I recently got a VDH 102 MkIII from aashish351 which he sourced from sammybalamy. It is sounding amazing. I don't know how much more better the original terminated cable can sound. Should be same but I never know.

 

[srinisundar]

I recently got a VDH 102 MkIII from aashish351 which he sourced from sammybalamy. It is sounding amazing. I don't know how much more better the original terminated cable can sound. Should be same but I never know.

Dont worry. It sounds same, i have used both and sold here only.

Regards

 

[Gerry_the_Merry]

From very knowledgeable FMs, I have heard that VDH D102-III is the most misunderstood cable of all, with people usually terminating them wrongly, and then not getting the results. I have heard them say that they would not trust even a Spectra (Mumbai) type of company to do it. But when done correctly, the cable can beat much higher priced cables. Hence I feel termination is the most important part, in this particular cable.

 

[srinisundar]

From very knowledgeable FMs, I have heard that VDH D102-III is the most misunderstood cable of all, with people usually terminating them wrongly, and then not getting the results. I have heard them say that they would not trust even a Spectra (Mumbai) type of company to do it. But when done correctly, the cable can beat much higher priced cables. Hence I feel termination is the most important part, in this particular cable.

There is no misunderstanding about any cable in the market. However tend to agree termination makes difference, a rightly soldered and tightly fitted plugs will sound better and this is the case of power cord too.

Nevertheless company terminated is nor better or superior if any the cables were properly terminated by DIY or professionally.

 

[captrajesh]

company terminated is nor better or superior if any the cables were properly terminated by DIY or professionally.

Tend to agree. Termination is no rocket science. The cables are just soldered on to the terminals. As long as original or equivalent plugs are used and the soldering is done professionally, there should not be any difference.

 

[nowwhat?]

Saw this thread only now.

There was a warning until last year on the van den Hul website which is no longer there on the redesigned website.

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 websites such as Ebay. Most of these products are offered by people who are living in (the vicinity of) Hong Kong. The products are always offered without the original box and are mostly packed in a black bag with our logo on it copied. 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. It will for sure ruin the quality of your installation.

The following is a (not complete) list of Ebay traders who are known to offer fake products:

245300c.hk audiophile_king buyeasy88 charming_audio currygipson dream_mart easybuy_mart fantastic_audio greataudio_store hi_amp9 hi-end_amplifier highendgear hongkongsupply ibidmart janeh2100 jewelmart_hk jp_hobby_jp Fotan on9cowcow richtonaudio trade-bid-bid we-do-best-audio, Hong Kong

sammybalamy, Chelmsford - Essex United Kingdom ​

Part of the above message is still being displayed by vdh's Oregon dealer RCA CABLES

Old thread here -> Are my Van Den Hul interconnects genuine?

Like all other audiophile matters, this too is subjective. The price of vdh cables are quite high and detracts many from buying. There are also many who are satisfied with the cables bought off eBay.