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Anticables Review

Category: Cables

I need to preface this by saying I don't have what y'all would probably consider an "Audiophile" amp: An Onkyo 805 receiver. But it drives my Vandersteen 2ce sigs wonderfully (and in Pure Audio mode has no video circuitry on. I use Pure Audio (no time processing, no sub) for this comparison.

Ok so I got two pairs of Anticables from Paul. He shotgunned them to bananas on the amp end and put vintage spades on the other (biwired to the Vandys). My other cable is a set of Canare 4S11 star quad: hard-wired on the amp end with BJC spades on the speaker. My conclusion: I can only hope that others in this forum are correct in saying that AntiCables need 400 hours to break in. Right now, they sound thin, tinny, and very lacking in bass and overall stage depth. Putting the Canare back on, Jacqueline Dupre's cello once again sounds like a Strad (instead of a high school instrument), and the bass section sounds full and present (instead of weak and distant).

This comparison duplicates results across genres. For example Alison Kraus' Live SACD, the guitar strum sounds precise with the anticables, but very thin. With the Canare you can hear the string depth through the pick.

My next step is to clip off the spades and hard wire the AntiCables, as some have suggested. Will post an update if anyone's interested :) But for now I just wanted to voice my dissatisfaction thus far, and hope that this magnet wire I paid $200 for might somehow 'burn in' to match my $30 Canare 4S11.
kontrabass
david99's avatar
david99
1,467 posts
 
"you get what you pay for" ??
I think most audiophiles know more money doent mean better sound.
The Anti-cables are a perfect example of this false thinking.
I have a single run with bare wire ends and I made jumpers from a bit of Anti-cable I didnt need.
I've owned speaker cable 5-6 times the cost,and the anti-cables are the best sounding speaker cables I have ever owned.
These cables were 'hyped' by people that bought them and loved them.
If a few people were fooled into buying the Anti-cables,there are countless people that werent fooled.
If people can afford Nordost Valhalla's, I think its safe to assume there's a very fine stereo system involved.
I highly doubt owners of a $$ rig would
sell their high cost cables for inexpensive cables if the Anti-cables didnt sound better.
Paul has countless testimonials on his web-site from people that sold their $$ cables after they bought and heard the Anti-cables.
Most audiophiles are a smart bunch and I dare say,arent easily fooled.

Audiphile 1,do you think audiophiles are dummie's? Your post srongly hints in that direction.
Have you ever heard the Anti-cables?
if so,did you get caught up in the hype of the Anti-cables and were fooled like the 'few' people you mention?
If not,you have never heard the Anti-cables.
dave
rlwainwright
1,904 posts
 
Bless you, KontraBass, for offering an honest, un-varnished opinion. Too many times folks write how great everything now sounds and how much better their system is because they just bought XYZ cable (or interconnect, etc.)

This indicates to me that their system was a piece of junk before and somehow the cables magically transformed it into a world beater. Thank you for telling it like it sounds, a rare commodity on these pages...

-RW-
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drubin
3,275 posts
 
Kontrabass, how have you configured the + and - leads -- twisted them together, tied them together? In my experience, they must be very close to one another or the sonics suffer dramatically. YMMV.
timrhu
2,779 posts
 
Kontrabass, thanks for the honest assessment.
I concur with the sentiment expressed by Tvad. My experience with swapping cables is that I usually hear an immediate difference which seems to dissipate with time. I don't believe the difference is gone, just that I become accustomed to the new sound and don't notice it so much. Sometime the change is positive, sometime negative and sometime I can't hear a difference. In any case the noticeable change seems to fade with time and listening.
audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,314 posts
 
David99, do I think audiophiles are dummies? Certainly not. But what I do think is that audiophiles tend to get too excited too quick when judgement(I'm guilty of it as well at times) is impaired. This is when hype starts.

I didn't mean to offend anyone, you included, but if you read my post and understood it that way, then there is nothing I can do.

You're right, I never got caught up in this hype, never heard the Anti-Cables. But I did get caught up in similar hypes before I learned what this is all about. So there is no need for me to try this cable to know it is hype.
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