“Voodoo Labs Godspeed
Voodoo Labs, a Hamburg-based manufacturer of original cabling, backed by rationally formulated interpretations of the laws of physics, albeit viewed from an unusual perspective, has recently added the first cable to itsportfolio for interconnecting turntables and phono preamps. Very "fragile",low level signals are transmitted on this signal path and therefore any accumulated interference can clearly affect the resulting listening experience. That's why - in the spirit of his philosophy "nothing is impossible" - Jan Hendrik Geschke (by the way, a connoisseur of art andespecially of the old masters by profession, but also for many decades a creative for brands such as Dynaudio, Audionet, Peak Consult and others) decided on a radically different design.
After all, you can tell that at first glance - you probably won't find such a thick and inflexible cable anywhere else on the market. And in the end,probably not another one that would be wrapped in genuine Lamborghini leather instead of the traditional and more boring braid.
But it's not the bright blue case with the burnt cat head, the unmistakable company logo, that catches the eye most about Godspeed. It's the rigid, straight, cylindrical construction that's almost impossible to bend, where a pair of gilded cinches in a soft woven braid carefully forge at each end. If you want, you can also include a DIN at one end, or just bare wires for hard installation into the turntable. They have a thinner braid on one end (the one belonging to the turntable), and a thicker one on the other (the one belonging to the phono preamp). The 50 cm of standard length available thus forces careful spacing of components and handling in general to a precautionary calming meditation - installing Godspeed into a system is no fun. On request, Voodoo Labs can make a 20 to 90 cm version.
The philosophy of Voodoo Labs is to provide the "fastest" signal transmission, i.e. the least interference to get as close to mathematical and physical theoretical numbers as possible. In their patented solution theyachieve this by using a 4x4 matrix of very thin tinned copper wires of Danish origin with a solid core. This is said to ensure minimum resistance and capacitance.
However, the reason for the thickness of the cable is the use of DTCS technology, or Distant Triple Carbon Shield. As the name says, it is acombination of carbon layers, which, according to the author of this solution, have the right distance from the conductors and between each other, and each layer has a slightly different shape. Oil-infused cotton is used as the dielectric.
The shielding in Godspeed is to protect the transmitted signal from any external electromagnetic influences, and to provide enough space to create an adequately large field through which the signal is transmitted, accordingto the company's approach and findings - i.e. not through the conductoritself, but through the EM field in its vicinity. As he sees it, this theory is summarized by J.H. Geschke in a rather long text right at the bottom of the product description: https://voodoolabs.myshopify.com/products/vl-godspeed%E2%84%A2-terminal-velocity-phono-cable .
Voodoo Labs doesn't share any extensive technical specifications or deeperinformation, you'll only learn that the aforementioned solutions deliver an internal resistance of only 0.03 ohms per meter.
Since our editorial turntable has a DIN output from the arm, we had toborrow "external" equipment for the test. And because the physical characteristics of the cable did not allow for installation in the normal way, we had to lay out the system a bit unaesthetically as Godspeed allowed.
We tested the cable both on a very non-proportional system with the Pro-Ject Debut EVO 2 / Lindemann Limetree Phono II, and then on a TechnicsSL-1300G, fitted with our editorial HANA ML in combination with Musical Fidelity M6x Vinyl. The main system consisted of a Norma Revo SC-2 LN / Norma Revo PA 160 MR amplifier and KEF Blade One Meta speakers. See the right column --> for more details.
Paul Chambers' decent double bass strumming in "Wild Man Blues"("Legrand Jazz" | 2022 | recorded 1958 | WaxTime In Color | 950725) was much freer with the Godspeed cable. It's hard to describe the qualitative change that took place - it's not that Heimdall 2 lacks concreteness, legibility or a sense of depth. But the Godspeed-like increase in contrastmakes the bass more realistic, plain and simple, the sense ofmechanicalness and effort disappears, so the music flows and floats, it's rich, totally free, and while perhaps the proportional representation of low notes or their accuracy isn't revolutionarily different, the overall sensation is diametrically different. It is as if each note is more accessible, closer and more meaningful, has more content and, above all, a harder-to-capture-in-words "life". With Heimdall 2, it was kind of a cumbersome reproduction in comparison.
Similarly, in Sara K.'s "I Can't Stand the Rain" ("In The Groove" | 2011 | Stockfisch Records | SFR 357.8011.1), where only guitar and voice work,resonating through the surrounding recording space. Here again, we mainly felt that all the action opened up and became clearer, that where Heimdall 2 offered a clear sound, Godspeed was able to open a window and erase all obstacles, thus both instrument and vocal become extremely concrete and distinct, without, however, the reproduction losing its character, primarily defined by the HANA cartridge. It's just like when a Voodoo Labs cable knows its way around and lets much more of everything through.
The Godspeed connection also had exactly the same effect on the highest spectrum, typically slightly quieter when listened via the HANA cartridge.The recorded cymbals in The Dave Brubeck Quartet's "It's a Raggy Waltz" ("Time Further Out" | 2014 | recorded 1961 | WaxTime Records | 771959)actually had a prolonged decay, a more brilliant tone, but all in all some individual thing that we would point to and say "this is the difference". It was a complexly matured delivery, a sense that each metallic note had taken a breath, that the metal was brighter without being emphasized. It's moreabout more contrast and a sense of a necessarily accentuated presence, but that's very difficult to attribute to any particular phenomenon. You simply have a sense of absolute reproductive freedom, speed and openness.
The energetic dynamics in "One for Joan" by the Chico Hamilton Quintet ("Drumfusion" | 2023 | recorded 1962 | WaxTime Records | 772338) also caught some spark. Not that the music with Heimdall 2 sounds somehow flabby, but it's hardly comparable to how swanky and unpolished the same music sounds on Godspeed. It doesn't matter whether it's a drum kit, where the effect is therefore most striking, or perhaps a bass - every note has notonly a certainty, but more importantly a kind of hard-to-describe immediacy, presence and self-esteem. The Voodoo Labs cable gives the impression that it actually isn't, that it "unburdens" the reproduction and gives the music a sincerity, lightness and non-mechanicalness that wasn't there with any other cable.
When we dropped the needle on Gould's "Aria" from Bach's repertoire ("The Goldberg Variations" | 2022 | recorded 1955 | WaxTime In Color |950733), it was very surprising to hear the absence of noise in the quiet old recording. This particular pressing is indeed "old" in terms of sound quality, and despite careful reconstruction, there's a certain haze to it - but through the Godspeed it's almost as if it's not there, the way Gould plays thekeyboard is concrete, clear and distinct, close and not distant as it sounds through Heimdall 2. It's almost unbelievable how much more contrasting the reproduction seems - it's almost not "reproduced" and it goes beyond our previous experience with "just cables".
We also heard sounds and reverberations that were not there before - orrather, were obviously masked by some present noise and curtain in the background
Also, the sense of plasticity and spatiality in the purely vocal re-interpretation of the famous "Hotel California" by Vocal Sampling ("Akapelleando" | 2021 | recorded 2006 | Vocal Sampling | ESAAI0192356) seems to be completely different when Godspeed is connected. You can't say that the space has somehow grown, stretched backwards or anything else. It's not a singularity, but a transformation not unlike when you werelooking at a printed page full of strange characters more than a quarter century ago and then suddenly it made a "click" and there was an almost three-dimensional image in front of you. It's nothing that isn't already there - but it's suddenly clearer, cleaner, more comprehensively concrete and "unhindered". It's really not easy to find the right words to describe it - because Godspeed doesn't change the basic character and feel of thereproduction, it simply removes the mechanics, the uncertainty and, collectively, just the limits. And that leaves the music.
This also applies to the ancient and not always easily digestible "Non, je ne regrette rien" by Édith Piaf ("L'Essentiel" | 2021 | recorded 1946 | French Connection | 490633). Occasionally a kind of haze bothers, which the higher resolution systems almost accentuate and yet - plug in Godspeed and this feeling virtually disappears. The slightly hoarse recording of the vocals, the slightly dull definition of the instruments, as well as the feeling of "old age" remain unchanged - and yet it's more immediate, clearer, the vocals are more present, but more importantly, overall, much more capable of stirring the blood, of engulfing you, it was a more entertaining, musical manifestation with all the right stuff.
Subjectively, Godspeed greatly suppressed the importance of the individual components in the lineup and instead emphasized the music itself.
The Voodoo Labs Godspeed phono cable is something you've definitely never seen before. We haven't either... Completely impractical, extremely difficult to place and manipulate construction without much flexibility and with fixed spacing requires a lot of space and patience for correct installation, the price is also very, very bold by our standards. And yet, the Godspeed's involvement in the analogue journey was beautiful... No noise, no fuss, no element to distract from the recording itself, or rather the ability to "open the curtains", "wash away the buildup", "clean the windows" or whatever you want to call it. It's an effect that no cable should rightly have, yet - it seems - it does. It's not a solution available to everyone (whether forfinancial or physical reasons), but those who try it will surely find that the spirit of completely free, non-mechanical and thus wonderfully open reproduction is an addictive thing.
EUR 12 800,- (without VAT)
approx. CZK 388 285,- (incl. VAT) PHOTOS
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PROS
+ free, light, living breathing sound
+ zero noise / hum even without ground wire
+ we heard sounds in the recordings that we were not aware of before
+ opens the window to recordings and the system more than we would everexpect from "just a cable"
CONS
- you must necessarily adapt the spacing of the components to thecable form.
- the price is not insignificant
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MANUFACTURER: Voodoo Labs |
for e-magazine Hi-Fi Voice / www.hifi-voice.com / by Daniel Březina“