VAN DEN HUL The Revolution
Speaker cables
VDH The Revolution definitely improves over the cheaper VDH The Magnum – it is more effortless, more mature and more nuanceed. The Revolution, though not really revolutionary, lets you better hear into breathing ambience and provides significantly more of the "be there" enjoyment.
Function and form
The VDH The Revolution is directly derived from the VDH's top model, The Revelation. There is a kind of coaxial design going on inside the Revolution: the core is a strand of 308 fine silver on copper wires enrobed in a "Linear Structured Carbon" layer. The helically wound outer conductor structure employs the same silver coated MC OFC metal quality as found in the core and consists of 16 separate conductors, each with 19 strands. These 16 outer conductors are individually insulated and are standardly wired in parallel with the centre conductor, giving a single lead cable. The total cross section area of the conductor is arround 7,63mm2. The outer jacket is from VHD's proprietary Hulliflex (a variation on PVC).
There are several implications of the Van den Hul The Revolution's design. A single run of the speaker cable can be terminated by RCA cinches and used as an interconnect. Two runs of the cable can be used as a speaker cable plus the owner can decide if he twists both runs or not, or how much. The Revolution sells by meter or it is available as a set.
In use the The Revolution is a breeze - it is extremely pliable and therefore it was pleasure to work with it.
Bass management
This review is a part of The Low and Mid-tier Speaker Cables Megatest that includes 18 different speaker cables. The pilot article is available at SPECIAL EDITION REVIEWS section of Audiodrom.
Clarity & delicacy
The VDH The Revolution was beautifully resolving especially in higher mids so I could savour different tapping, jingling and clinging sounds in Pink Floyd's Young Lust. The sounds did not have a tendency to blend together and they provided plentiful detail. It was not the type of microscopic resolution though - The Revoluton is not an analytical cable, it only manages to provide a sufficient level of resolution, not more than it is necessary to enjoy the music. Still, I found the VDH to be more detailed than e.g. the Telos Black Reference which gave cymbals more brassy quality with a touch of liquidity.
Tonal accuracy
The Revolution's bass was weighty and deep, perhaps too weighty. It exhibited slight prominency in the mix. It was not bad with jazzy double-bass in Barbra Streisand's In The Wee Small Hours of The Morning, but it was contributing to already low-end heavy mix of Mobile Fidelity's The Wall. If the bass of The Revolution had been more articulate, I would have rejoiced, but this way the bottom end became unnecessarily heavy. The same feeling (too much bass) I had with a big drum in Star Wars suite.
Spatial resolution
The more I listened to it the more I liked the Van den Hul The Revolution on intimate jazz and blues numbers and the less I liked it on complex orchestral music or on rock.
There is one tweak how to completely transform the sound, however. I mentioned that a user can twist the two runs together. The tightness of such a braid has impact on the tonal balancce, of course. To keep the story short I liked the cable the most when it the two runs were braided really tight. Unbraided the The Revolution was bloated and smeared, braided it become more focused and punchy. This is quite an important thing as by the braiding the length of the cable shortens by ca 20-25%, so you need to calculate with a reserve when buying.
Recommended resellers
High-End Audio Studio, Belgická 4, Praha, tel. +420 224 256 844
Manufacturer's website: http://www.vandenhul.com
Associated components
- Sources: Primare CD32, Luxman D-05 and Accuphase DP-510
- Amplifiers: Primare I32, Luxman L-590AX a Accuphase E-560
- Interconnects and speaker cables: Krautwire Fractal, Cardas Clear, Homegrown Audio DNA
- Loudspeakers: Audio Physic Virgo V, Dynaudio Confidence C1 and Xavian Giulia, Chario Constellation, Xavian Preludio, Revel Ultima Studio2, B&W 805 Diamond and Atohm G 1.0
- Power conditioning: Nordost Thor (modified), Snakeblock, Nordost Valhalla
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