Anti-Cables on their way/have arrived

[frenchmon]

So did the anti cable malfunction ?

[JohnMichael]

So did the anti cable malfunction ?

No I would not say they malfunctioned at all. I am not sure if they have a high frequency resonance or the OML's soft dome has a resonance that the combination causes the distortion I heard. The AntiCables did not have this problem with the RS6's metal dome tweeter. The AntiCables were great with the Monitor Audio speakers. I am glad I have the AntiCables and will use them when I am playing the M A RS6's. The Krell, RS6's and AntiCables work well together especially when I fire up the Black Eyed Peas about 1 AM to send a message to those below me who might be partying a little too loud. The OML1's do not have the bass to deliver the message.

Also the sound of the AQ Slates that sounded thick with the RS6's make the OML1's a little more filled out in the bass range.

[frenchmon]

JM...thought of you as I read this thread.


Speaker Asylum

[texlle]

JM, did you have the later, multi-stranded AQ Slates in the black jacket? I just picked up a 12" pair from a local on craigslist for use with my 603's and just want to get an opinion on some positive qualities of these cables, if possible.

I upgraded from standard wal-mart 14 gauge wire and noticed right away that the AQ cables are terrible out of the box. I assume they were unused when I bought them from the first owner as they have opened up substantially after two weeks. At first, the upper range sounded veiled, if not blanketed, mid-bass around 200-250Hz was over-proportioned and almost boomy. When I moved to the seductive Rotel from the harsh yet precise Yamaha a week before getting the AQ's, I was really enjoying the open and airy nature offered by the Rotel. The AQ slates seemed to take that away completely. The music was extremely closed-in, as if the various instruments were being performed in a tight huddle.

After a few days, the soundstage opened up a bit and some of the airiness returned, but it still seemed a little concentrated. The highs opened up as well- far smoother than the wal-mart cable. Bass is definitely "thicker"- say fuller and just as tight, which was nice.

Now having used them for two full weeks, the tonal balance has shifted upward, away from the 500-1000 Hz range and more toward the area of 1500-3000. Much more balanced overall. The boomy mid-bass has toned itself down, the highs have broken free, and the midrange has gained depth. Soundstaging is still more narrow than I generally prefer, but it seems to be improving by the day, even still. Depth is sensational. Definitely moved the focal point back about 7-10 rows from the front and center stage I'm used to by the B&W's presentation.

Overall, I'm quite satisfied by my purchase. Though the bass does seem a tad embellished, I've written off any further mid-bass boom to crappy acoustics of the house that I wasn't bought out by the wal-mart cables. My favorite album thus far has been Natalie Cole's unforgettable. Her voice hits in that sweet range of 2kHz that really sings with the AQ's. The piano is true, with no glare or roll off thanks to slightly curtailed/smoothed out highs. Brass is bold and weighty. So far, so good!

[JohnMichael]

JM, did you have the later, multi-stranded AQ Slates in the black jacket? I just picked up a 12" pair from a local on craigslist for use with my 603's and just want to get an opinion on some positive qualities of these cables, if possible.

I upgraded from standard wal-mart 14 gauge wire and noticed right away that the AQ cables are terrible out of the box. I assume they were unused when I bought them from the first owner as they have opened up substantially after two weeks. At first, the upper range sounded veiled, if not blanketed, mid-bass around 200-250Hz was over-proportioned and almost boomy. When I moved to the seductive Rotel from the harsh yet precise Yamaha a week before getting the AQ's, I was really enjoying the open and airy nature offered by the Rotel. The AQ slates seemed to take that away completely. The music was extremely closed-in, as if the various instruments were being performed in a tight huddle.

After a few days, the soundstage opened up a bit and some of the airiness returned, but it still seemed a little concentrated. The highs opened up as well- far smoother than the wal-mart cable. Bass is definitely "thicker"- say fuller and just as tight, which was nice.

Now having used them for two full weeks, the tonal balance has shifted upward, away from the 500-1000 Hz range and more toward the area of 1500-3000. Much more balanced overall. The boomy mid-bass has toned itself down, the highs have broken free, and the midrange has gained depth. Soundstaging is still more narrow than I generally prefer, but it seems to be improving by the day, even still. Depth is sensational. Definitely moved the focal point back about 7-10 rows from the front and center stage I'm used to by the B&W's presentation.

Overall, I'm quite satisfied by my purchase. Though the bass does seem a tad embellished, I've written off any further mid-bass boom to crappy acoustics of the house that I wasn't bought out by the wal-mart cables. My favorite album thus far has been Natalie Cole's unforgettable. Her voice hits in that sweet range of 2kHz that really sings with the AQ's. The piano is true, with no glare or roll off thanks to slightly curtailed/smoothed out highs. Brass is bold and weighty. So far, so good!

My AudioQuest Slates are solid core not stranded. There are a total of eight solid core wires per run. Mine are also bi-wired with 4positive and 4 negative lengths connecting at the amp end and at the speaker wire there are two solid core cables for both low and high frequency and both positive and negative.

The sound is smooth and well focused.

[Mr Peabody]

I ordered a set of AntiCables Reference IC's. I had the privilege of talking with Paul a bit, he is an EE who works in the Telecom arena so has experience getting signals from one place to another. He also designed the crossover for the Gilmour loudspeakers. I certainly came away with the impression he knows what he is doing and does extensive experimenting. Much of his new products are sold by word of mouth and used for a year or more before he puts them on the website. For instance, unless something has changed recently the "Reference" IC's aren't shown yet.

Open debate and exchange of ideas can be good or fun but when people who have not even tried something try to tell you that you imagine things it's insulting and not productive at all. They remind me of those who said the world is flat and could not possibly be round. Some demand science, I demand you try it and you have your science, nothing lost you have a 30 day return. If audio is all based on expectations I would certainly try to convince myself cheaper gear sound better. Hmmmm.... maybe it's not us who is imagining things

[frenchmon]

I ordered a set of AntiCables Reference IC's. I had the privilege of talking with Paul a bit, he is an EE who works in the Telecom arena so has experience getting signals from one place to another. He also designed the crossover for the Gilmour loudspeakers. I certainly came away with the impression he knows what he is doing and does extensive experimenting. Much of his new products are sold by word of mouth and used for a year or more before he puts them on the website. For instance, unless something has changed recently the "Reference" IC's aren't shown yet.

Open debate and exchange of ideas can be good or fun but when people who have not even tried something try to tell you that you imagine things it's insulting and not productive at all. They remind me of those who said the world is flat and could not possibly be round. Some demand science, I demand you try it and you have your science, nothing lost you have a 30 day return. If audio is all based on expectations I would certainly try to convince myself cheaper gear sound better. Hmmmm.... maybe it's not us who is imagining things

I guess its time to update your sig.

[JohnMichael]

I agree Mr. Peabody. Until you have heard a product one can only speculate.

I mentioned a hint of distortion in the highs and now I wonder if that signaled the beginning of the troubles with the Krell. The increased distortion I was hearing I now think was the amp and not the cables. When the Krell is back the AntiCables will be the cables of choice again.

[Mr Peabody]

I received my AntiCable Reference IC's. I picked up the box they came in and it felt empty to me, then I opened up the box, and, lets say the cables didn't make a good impression from what I was used to seeing of other cables, the Ac were just a thin twist of wire connected to plastic ends. The "plastic ends" were actually Eichmann bullet RCA which are said to be very good. The proof was in the performance, the AC's replaced a set of entry Transparent IC's I was using until the AC's came in. The AC's provided immediate better resolution, focus, and gave a more realistic image to instruments. The bass may have been a bit more punchy with the Transparent but the AC was better in every other way, the bass had more bloom with the AC which may give the the impression of less punch, that or the much more midrange detail. The Reference IC's use silver conductors, I'd recommend any one with bad experience with silver to give the AC's a try, Paul Speltz says the purity of the silver is the key to making silver a good sounding material and he worked with his cables until he found the correct balance.

Paul's theory is cables sound different from each other due to the dielectric used, the dielectric can also cause capacitance, the same for shielding. I thought this a very reasonable explanation why some of us hear differences.

I already put the Siltech between my phono preamp and preamp but if I get energetic one day I may pull them for a direct comparison but from memory and knowing the differences between them and the Transparent I'm confident the AC's would still be best. The Siltech is better than the Transparent but they are also a level up as well.

[frenchmon]

And what is the price difference between the Siltech MXT Pro New Yorker and the Anti Cable Reference?

Im sure its hundreds and he AC best them?!?!?!?!?!

[LeRoy]

JM and Mr. P., thanks for the insight on the AC's. I will have to keep them in mind should I decide to begin a cable search. Have a nice day fellas.

LeRoy

[Jack in Wilmington]

Mr P. where did the AC's go in your setup? You said they replaced the Transparent cables and you moved the Siltech's to between the phono pre and the pre right. Is that where the Transparent cables were before? I tried a pair of "The Link" cables in my system, but I never tried anything farther up the ladder.

[LeRoy]

I ordered 2 pair of IC's Eichmann and 2 pair of speaker wire from A.C. I plan to use one set of each on the MiniWatt/System Audio/Marantz DVD 6001 set up in the living room. I will try the second set on the Rogue/Stello/Dali Ikon 2 mk2 set up, The Dali's are a recent purchase.

I will A/B against the Virtue Audio speaker cable I got about 3 weeks ago.

[LeRoy]

Update: I got my Anti-Cables wire sets in today. Two pairs of IC's with Eichmann bullet plugs and two pairs of speaker wire. I only have the IC's in play right now with the Rogue, Stello units, and Dali Ikon 2 mk2 speakers.

At first glance the bullet plugs look cheap. The spiral wire guide that protects and hold the signal wire looks really pretty...like a christmas wrapping or ornament. The signal wire itself....looks awfully alike to the Radio Shack 30 gauge Magnet Wire that I have mentioned before on other posts. I still have the R.S. wire on hand in a drawer and will have a closer look at the RS wire next to the other IC set I have.

[Ajani]

The signal wire itself....looks awfully alike to the Radio Shack 30 gauge Magnet Wire that I have mentioned before on other posts. I still have the R.S. wire on hand in a drawer and will have a closer look at the RS wire next to the other IC set I have.

Please let us know how that comparison goes. Especially whether the Anti-Cables sound the same as the magnet wire. It's clear that Anti-Cables are essentially magnet wire, but the question is whether there is something special about the wire in Anti-Cables versus generic magnet wire.

[LeRoy]

First and foremost I have to give a great deal of praise for the excellent customer service provided to me by the entire A/C staff. My order inquiries, processing, and return of goods was handled by a great deal of courtesy and professionalism.

With regard to my experience with A/C- I wound up returning the 10ft pair of speaker wire and both pairs of I.C's. Even though Paul S. was willing to take back the 6 ft. speaker wire set I still needed something for the MiniWatt so I kept them.

The reason for my return is that for my rig and my subjective tastes I simply preferred the cables from Neko Audio. My Neko I.C.'s are XLR out with RCA input to the Rogue.

I listend to the A/C I.C. with a variety of music for 2 weeks through the Rogue. After the initial 24 hour break in I did enjoy what I was hearing....neutrality, separation/space, and unfortunately also some distortion was in the system that I had not noticed before. The A/C cable is very transparent and apparently also delivered whatever distortion my rig is giving out. Of course this is no fault of the A/C.

However, after a couple of weeks the frequency of hearing such distortion was increasing and with a variety of music that I had never heard such distortion before.

My Stello DAC has three outputs all of which can be utilized, XLR out, RCA out, and Toslink out. I had the Neko XLR out to Rogue CD input, and A/C RCA to the Aux 1 Rouge input. All is takes is a turn on the dial on the DAC and Rogue to switch input signals and I don't have to turn anything off..the music just keeps playing.

To my ears the Neko not only met the best attributes of the A/C but also surpassed it. In addition to the detail retrieval, space/separation I also got a richer tonal palate in the mids, warmth with romance, more bass depth and weight, and a presentation that is pushed forward toward the listener. I bought the Neko a couple of years ago and it's a 2 ft set. I think I paid like $67 for the set.

Bottom line: I am sticking with the Neko cable. It's the best cable my ears have heard in a system to date.

With regard to speaker wire. I did not use the 10 ft run and the 6 ft run is on the MiniWatt and I have to spend more time with that before I can comment on it.

[JohnMichael]

Cables are certainly system dependent. I can hear differences in cables but it takes time to decide if the differences are an improvement. I am glad to read you received good customer service.

I either need to solder the wires on one lug at the amp end or buy a banana that will clamp on both lugs for my bi wire pair. I was listening and one lug came off the amps terminal. All of a sudden no midrange or treble in one speaker. Fearing a short I am back to the AQ's until I create a solution so I only have one lug under each terminal.

I think the clarity of the AntiCables helped me hear the distortion that was building and indicated my amp needed repair.

No wire is perfect but the AntiCables are great for their price. My only very minimal criticism is I hear a reduction in instrumental textures. When I put some of my stranded cables in the system I hear more space and air but the sound is less focused. On some recordings I hear almost what I would call ghost images. I like the more focused soundstage.

[LeRoy]

JM, sorry to hear about your A/C cables becoming unhinged. Thats a bummer for sure. Yes, I agree with your assessment of a reduction of texture from the A/C wire. When I did a/b with the A/C vs Neko, the A/C sounded dry and somewhat mechanical but not sterile while the Neko gave the system presentation some warmth, emotion, texture, and a different kind of flow that I can only describe as sounding right to me.

Well, I hope you get the A/C cables fixed and back in the music chain. Have a great Easter Holiday.

[eisforelectronic]

I replaced my Anti-cables with Audio Quest Gibraltar. There's a huge price difference, so I would say the Anti's still win for bang for your buck. I am happier with the sound I get from the Audio Quest's though.

[JohnMichael]

You can well guess what I was doing when one of the bananas at the speaker side of my AQ Slates pulled free from the wire. Oh **** it had not been a good audio day. So I decide to grab a pair of the AntiCables and was only going to single wire.

Since for ease and the hope of no more damage I opted to single wire I needed to untwist a biwire pair. Being late and lazy I did not twist. When I first hooked up the cables in biwire I had not twisted them. I will not twist them again.

Untwisted I lost that glassy sound I noticed with the cables twisted. I had also complained about a loss of instrumental textures and they were back. Twisting may brighten the sound but in my system non twisted gives me more of what I want. Now I will be the only thing twisted in my audio room.

[JohnMichael]

Bi-wire is back and still no twist to the cables. I am amazed by the sonic degradation of the metal plate jumpers. My advice is to not twist the cables. The sound was a little brighter but the lack of detail caused by the glassiness and lack of instrumental textures was not worth it. If you try these do not twist.

[JohnMichael]

My new speakers the JBL Studio 530's benefit from the AntiCables and are back in the mix. My new speakers are a bargain at the sale price I purchased them and the AC cables are an equal deal. The combo is very amazing.