I had a recent opportunity to compare the original Anaconda Alpha with the new Anaconda Helix Alpha. The 6 ft long chords were used to power Babybear's Teac Esoteric X-01. To test the effect of the chords we used several SACDs of Jazz music to gage transient response and staging, as well as three CD disks of string music to gage behavior on sostenuto extension and micro dynamics throughout the spectrum: Edgar Meyer playing Bach's Suite No. 5 on double bass, Georg Piatigorsky on cello playing Dvorak's cello concerto, and Lara St. John on Bach's partita No. 3 for violin.
As some of you know, the Anaconda Alpha has been my favorite PC for c.ca 16 months, since I heard it for the first time in NYC during the summer of 2004. No longer so: it has been super seeded in my heart by the Anaconda helix Alpha. . . and the difference between the two chord was quite remarkable on all cuts. As much as I love the original Anaconda, it was still creating some residual sheen or glare on treble and mids, as well as some 3rd harmonic distortion or overpressure in the lowest register of the double bass which was perceived as a 'wolf' note.
Changing to the Helix was as if we had illuminated the instruments with a polarized light source, or if the image of the instruments was now coming to us through a polarizing filter. The residual sheen was gone, and the overpressure on some bass notes was gone as well. There was now much more the sense of being in front of actual performers in a venue with well controlled acoustics with even more subtle nuances becoming real and solid, rather than in front of a terrific recording of the same.
It is very difficult to categorize the Helix as either neutral or warm, or in between. Rather, it sounds exceedingly transparent or unburdened and it caused me to sink deeper into the armchair with the increased suspension of disbelief.
With Helix, initially we had the superficial impression that we were hearing less treble detail, yet to closer examination, this initial impression appeared to be deceptive: there was in fact plenty of treble detail, even more than with the original Anaconda, yet we were feeling at the same time that with the Helix notes were not thrown at us through an artificial overpressure. True enough instrument images with the Helix were slightly smaller and more 'solid' than with the original Anaconda, in the same way that a well focused image in a photograph looks slightly smaller and sturdier than its out-of-focus counterpart. A final analogy I can make is that of watching an aquarium filled with exotic fishes from the room it sits in: with the Helix you would have the sensation that all lighting in the room is turned off, and you would see the inside of the tank as if there were no intervening glass panes. With the original anaconda the image of the fishes would still be vivid, but it was as if moderate lighting had been turned on in the room, so that the crystal walls of the tank had suddenly become real, and because of their soft reflections of the room lighting they were somewhat inhibiting your enjoyment of the view of the marine life.
The Anaconda helix Alpha appeared to produced slightly softer transients than the original: while I call these more realistic, some may prefer the more explosive nature of transients in the original. And finally while I much prefer the completely unadorned view of the music of the Helix, so largely devoid of any sonic 'lensing' effects, I am sure that some will prefer the slightly more hifi-ish presentation of the original, or the even glittery presentations of other chords.
