Good news. Thanks for the explanation.
So I still go to Bob at Belden and put in an order for the cables, pay Belden and they deliver the finished product? Or do I now purchase produced cable from Belden and then contact someone else (Galen??) to get cable terminated & delivered?
Sorry to be pedantic but I’m 10K miles away.
I wish Galen the best of luck. Partly for the selfish reason that I’m likely to want to buy more of his cables in the future. And partly because I had such a positive experience with him (and his cables). Please keep us posted Will.
@frank7036 Yes, you should be able to take care of all of it through Belden. You never have to deal with the company that does the termination.
Will, Galen made my MkII interconnects just a few months ago. Does Belden have the capability of replicating them? Or are they only making MkI’s? I.e., do I have to put mine into a fire safe after every use in case the house burns down here in LA?
I always put mine in a fire safe to guard from exposure to cosmic rays…and airborne kitchen smells!
As far as I know they are still available. Galen did terminate items himself but I think that the MkII’s are available through Belden alone. I’ll ask him and get back to you. Perhaps he will join the conversation now that his restraints are off…
When Paul told me last week that Galen was leaving I was afraid I’d have to order another set of MKII’s in case the house burned down as I was not aware if the new design was handed off to the cable contractor yet. Hopefully I won’t have to buy another set just yet.
Still, I’d love to see what Galen wants to do with power cables. . . . .
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One advantage of these cables (unlike many) is that the engineer is quite clear about what he’s optimizing and why. The price is reasonable for the technology involved and the quantity built, which you may not be able to say for many cables. One has to decide for themselves if they might be the most cost effective addition to their systems: they may be or perhaps they may not be. I like them.
I’m sure they’re great. I was disappointed to see the pricing when I saw the enthusiasm on the thread. I guess I’m just jealous - don’t think a multi thousand dollar cable will be within my reach in the near future.
It all depends on what you want out of your system and how much you want to pay to get it. A clock radio will get you the basic music, hearing the primary instruments and vocals without any soundstage. Go to a Stellar system and you get all that in a decent soundstage. Go up to the BHK and you start hearing the secondary instruments around the primaries, but you can’t quite tell where they are. When I added the Iconoclast speaker cables the soundstage for the secondary instruments locked in and I could point to each (whereas before I knew the instrument was there but really couldn’t point to it.)
So it all depends on what you want out of your system. Yes, it’s wonderful to get to the final level, but it took me 30 years to get there. If you’re happy with your system, be happy with your system!!
Based on what I’m hearing now with Transparent and these at 200-390 a ft.- I better be able to get off the couch and hug Miles Davis (not just point him out) before they become worth it to me. But that’s just me. They look like great wire.
I can’t tell you from any personal experience with Transparent, but a former Transparent rep sold his Transparent set (signal and speaker wire) that would have cost him about what a nicely appointed Escalade would set him back, for Iconoclast. It would be interesting if you would get a set of the TPC Iconoclast cables (returnable, of course) and compare. I can’t say whether you would prefer Iconoclast or not, it’s really up to the individual but it would be cool to know your thoughts.
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I feel compelled to remind people that you can purchase the current best sounding XLR cable in the Iconoclast line for less than $1000. You will never be able to truely hear what your components can sound like, regardless of their price, without good cabling. I thought it prudent to order a spare pair one month ago just in case. Hopefully, Belden will work out a fair deal with Blue Jeans to represent the cable.
Highly inadvisable.
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Is there a chance that Belden will discontinue the Iconoclast line since they are such a low volume product and the main cheerleader has departed.
Intending to purchase speaker cables and have them delivered to me whilst I’m at a conference in Anaheim, CA in October 2018.
To anyone who is using Iconoclast speaker cables with Vandersteen speakers, how are your cables terminated on the speaker end?
Are you using the standard spade on the speaker cable with an adapter to the narrow spade on the Vandersteens? Did you have a narrow spade installed on the speaker cable? Are your cables bi-wire or are you using a jumper from the treble to bass terminals? If you are using a jumper, what are you using?
I am trying to investigate the options before investing in these speaker cables. Any pictures of your speaker connection would be appreciated. Thanks.
Can’t reply to Vandersteen’s narrow spades, but for the ML Spire I ran one set of Iconoclast wires to the treble inputs and got some solid gold coated 6AWG wires that I connected to the bass inputs via some banana plugs. (DO NOT use the stamped plates provided by ML)
Do the Vandersteens have a banana input at the terminal? If so, you can use the standard Iconoclast spade and get the banana-spade adapter to use on the speaker ends. Then you can do the trick I used above to jump over to the bass.
To fit Vandersteen speaker terminal blocks we use;
Furutech FP-209-10® (see SPADE 3.JPG picture)
I used Quatro’s for several years. I know your pain. Great speakers. The amplifier end can use the standard WBT standard or 9mm standard Cardas Rhodium plated billet copper spades.
Galen Gareis
Stay tuned everyone. Belden is WAY too big to properly manage a consumer account product and/or be a full line distributor of “all” audio products. To that end, an alternative approach needs to be settled that allows Belden to do what it does best (make cable) and hand off the sales and marketing to a firm that excels at that.
We need a corporate fit that sells based on achievable changes based on DESIGN. There are few cable companies that fit that description. I did not design ICONOCLAST to “sell” but to perform based on pure measured physics and what was measured based on each cable design requirements. Changes in measurement and industry accepted calculations are what is sold, nothing more.
Trying to offer well designed cables at more attractive price points may not be what the market wants, even though the market has asked for it. It has happened before. We still struggle with PERCEPTION based on PRICE. Too cheap and its too good to be true, too expensive and well, about any story can be “perfected”.
I chose to not have a story, but real measurements that can certainly be argued to not be “inaudible” individually if that’s your thing. That may be your case, system dependent. What is STILL the case, is it is very hard to reach best in class R, L and C in each cable design that is measurably better. This is what I have designed and sell, no more. Changes are DESIGN verified.
I will work VERY hard to pull-in prices on the more $$$ copper types (OFE and UP OCC) to keep the market as large as possible. I feel PS Audio’s market design is superb, and people feel they get exactly what they pay for and more. No one expects the best to be the cheapest be really, to be near the price of a car or a house?
I have a thing or three to learn about how to keep a business financially afloat, but prices that limit the total market reach to me are too high. More sold at a lower price expands this hobby to more users, and user we need to sell more for less. You can’t charge the last customer in your store the cost to run it!
Thank you all that show interest in ICONOCLAST. Yes, I have “retired” from Belden to better align myself with YOU, the customer. I have to be on the sales / marketing side to do that and not manufacturing.
I need to bridge the price to manufacture bulk cable to the price to assembly, sell and marketing to reach a much better price structure for YOU. Can this be done? I’ve learned to make the product, you’ll agree, but not so much to sell it!
Galen Gareis
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