[bullethead]

I ordered a pair of 8 foot anticables from Speltz.  I hooked them up this morning.  I have a fond record by "Pink Martini" called "Hang on Little Tomato".  I decided to put it into the cd player and see if I noticed a difference when comparing the anticables to the Analysis Plus cables.

Differences:  immediate.  No contest, the anticables took away the sound which seemed to be muffled.  The AP's seemed like they were behind a thick curtain when compared to the Anticables.  I noticed that a break in period is supposed to be about 100-500 hours but I noticed a difference out of the box.  The only issue I came accross is that I ordered too much in length.  I had to wrap the anticables up my speaker stands to make it manageable.  It looks ugly but I usually listen in the dark anyways. 

I recommend the Anitcables at $10 a foot it's worth toying around with.  They cost me about 1/3 what I paid for the AP's. 

Sounds are more detailed, more air and a much powerful midrange.  Lack of boomy bass was also apparent.  Everything seemed tight and in your face when compared to the laid back sound of the AP Oval's. 

In case you are wondering here's a movie of them / the system in action: (49mb) http://www.stevevarga.org/images/stereo1.mov

System:

AES AE-3 tube preamp
Audioquest Interconnects
Gutwire/Kimber/Cardas Power Cords/PS Audio Wall outlet
Monster Power power conditioner
Dussun v6i (running in amplifier mode)
Audes Excellence 1 loudspeaker / Polk Audio PSW 650 powered Sub
Musical Fidelity A3 CD Player
Bel Canto DAC2 DAC
Slimdevices Squeezebox v3

[bullethead]

After getting some recommendations about twisting the Anticables together I tried exactly that.  I noticed increased top end extension immediately. 

Magic! 

These are a great buy for $10 a foot!

[Jose Garcia]

Happy New Year to to you!

My experience..... After searching and reading about the Speltz Anticables, I decided to use magnetic wire and bought about 100' of 13awg wire from E-Bay at $16.00 ( shipping included). I took off the dielectric at around 1" of every end. The cable looks so weird ( like the originals) that I tried it on an ancient NAD integrate and a pair of inexpensive speakers ( from Radio Shack) just in case something blow-off...

Wow!!!  ... it amazed me from the beggining at how the little system just worked and the bass I got from the tiny 5.25" woofers. Highs were very extended, the sound was upfront but not on your face although the middle wasn't free of grain. The highs were crystar clear too.

After that, I use them with my main system ( McCormack DNA-125 and RLD-1, Dynaudio speakers and Sony SCD-C2000ES player). Same results. After some time I twisted them, as mentined somewhere, and the middle got better and cleaner.

I found these cables ( my clones) to has good tight bass, a clear sound, percussion and drum plates has an extended sound, details float in the air. My only critci is that they are as ugly as cable could be, I haven't tried them encapsulated into a Poly....teflon ( don't know the correct name) tubing. The same tubing used with fridge water dispensers. Those will make the cables more manageables and better looking.

Anyway, I suggest you to try some of these magnet wires and compare them to your Anticables just for the fun of it.

Regards,

Jose.

[Gordy]

Techflex would make a nice cover... http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&DID=7&WebPage_ID=3&manufacturer=299&sm=2&so=1

[smargo]

I ordered a pair of 8 foot anticables from Speltz.  I hooked them up this morning.  I have a fond record by "Pink Martini" called "Hang on Little Tomato".  I decided to put it into the cd player and see if I noticed a difference when comparing the anticables to the Analysis Plus cables.

Differences:  immediate.  No contest, the anticables took away the sound which seemed to be muffled.  The AP's seemed like they were behind a thick curtain when compared to the Anticables.  I noticed that a break in period is supposed to be about 100-500 hours but I noticed a difference out of the box.  The only issue I came accross is that I ordered too much in length.  I had to wrap the anticables up my speaker stands to make it manageable.  It looks ugly but I usually listen in the dark anyways. 

Much has benn said about the anticables over the last year - and i concur - i have been using them for the last year and think they are marvelous - the interconnects (which i purchased about 6 monts ago) he sells are just as good and create wonderful synergy with the cables. My system never sounded so consistently good.

happy new year
smargo

[tomjtx]

I have the anti's as well and they are a vast improvemrnt over my 3,000 XLO's.

I wouldn't put a sleeve on them, however. My understanding is that the sleevelessness is one reason they sound so good.

I could be wrong, but you might want to check with speltz first.
I suspect the e-bay version sounds just as good.

The interconnects are a little harder to DYI (especially balanced) and are probably worth it.

[Rob Babcock]

Thanks for a nice writeup.  I've been considering trying the Anti-Cables for a month or two now, or more spefically the Anti-ICs.

[navi]

Techflex would make a nice cover...

I've used cotton tubing  over the magnet wire 1 for the (+) and 1 for (-). I've had a buyers rave about.

[robert1325]

Excellent cables!   Like them better than Nordost Solar wind an Blue heaven.

[PaulFolbrecht]

I have three things to say:

1) My system is now all anti-cable wire: ICs and speaker cable.  This is a $30K (retail) system.  This wire is the stuff indeed.  Has beaten Nordost and WireWorld.

2) "Hang on Little Tomato" is a killer recording.

3) "It looks ugly but I usually listen in the dark anyways."  That was funny.

[BubbleChamber]

Just curious if anyone has tried and compared these cables with the Anti-cables.

http://www.dnm.co.uk/cables.html

[Voncarlos]

I've heard good things about cutting off the soldered spades and just using them bare.
CO

[Sonny]

I've heard good things about cutting off the soldered spades and just using them bare.
CO

I agree, I use magnet wires 11awg for the woofers and 15.5awg for mids / highs.  All bare ends.  i find that it's cleaner, but you know, it cuts the signal having to travel through solder and the spades to get to the cables...I think as much as you can, keep it short and well, as few obstacles in the signal path as possible.

[Sonny]

Happy New Year to to you!

My experience..... After searching and reading about the Speltz Anticables, I decided to use magnetic wire and bought about 100' of 13awg wire from E-Bay at $16.00 ( shipping included). I took off the dielectric at around 1" of every end. The cable looks so weird ( like the originals) that I tried it on an ancient NAD integrate and a pair of inexpensive speakers ( from Radio Shack) just in case something blow-off...

Wow!!!  ... it amazed me from the beggining at how the little system just worked and the bass I got from the tiny 5.25" woofers. Highs were very extended, the sound was upfront but not on your face although the middle wasn't free of grain. The highs were crystar clear too.

After that, I use them with my main system ( McCormack DNA-125 and RLD-1, Dynaudio speakers and Sony SCD-C2000ES player). Same results. After some time I twisted them, as mentined somewhere, and the middle got better and cleaner.

I found these cables ( my clones) to has good tight bass, a clear sound, percussion and drum plates has an extended sound, details float in the air. My only critci is that they are as ugly as cable could be, I haven't tried them encapsulated into a Poly....teflon ( don't know the correct name) tubing. The same tubing used with fridge water dispensers. Those will make the cables more manageables and better looking.

Anyway, I suggest you to try some of these magnet wires and compare them to your Anticables just for the fun of it.

Regards,

Jose.

Jose, I too use magnet wires...they are amazing...I even made some i/c with them...one pair of RCA to XLR, one just RCAs and one that is 12ft long...and well, now RF pick up and EMI pick up... I have a non-patented design...  I love it!!!  Extremely revealing and like you say, at nothing of a price.  you can get them at planetengineers.com
T

[gooberdude]

Its great to hear about so many folks enjoying the anti-cables....my bulk pair is a few years old now and i'm not sure i'll replace them.  If i do, i'll have to spend $400 or more I figure, maybe CV's CheLa?  i'm in no rush.

for those just getting their anti-cables I have a weird tweak to try.   To my ears, all of Paul's copper cabling is directional.   its easiest to test for this one speaker at a time...  One direction has a bit o' brightness whereas the other is smooth as silk...even a little 'dark' that smooths out upon burn-in.  
this has been the same for both sets of A-C's and both my Anti-IC pairs.    its not a night and day diff, just a way to squeeze your $ further and get the most out of these.

Take one run of the A-C and turn it around and see if there's a change. don't reverse a pair at a time though!   just a single cable.

I did this a yr after installing mine - on both speakers reversing the negative run cable had a positive audible effect - long after burn-in was complete.   i reversed both the runs individually, but only the - run made a change i could hear and that i liked.  

If i were to order a new bulk length, i'd lay the cable out & cut the pieces & set them side by side making sure not to turn any of the lengths around from the way they came off the spool.  separate them into pairs, then flip one cable of each pair around.   this way, if there is a directionality to the crystalline structure, the 'right' way should be pointing in opposite directions. (think 2 way street).   man that sounds confusing, sorry!    then, you can simply flip the entire pair to test for directionality.  since the + flows one way and the - flows the opposite...

For almost 2 yrs i listened to them untwisted.  Taking the suggestion of one of the posters here i twisted them and will never look back.  such a hassle to keep them separated!  the HF really smoothed out after the twists and the ergonomics of the cable increased 100 fold...so much easiesr to deal with.

I think the anti-IC's are a giant killer for sure also, a GREAT bargain for $150 a set with Bullett plugs, and
there's definite synergy with having all speltz cabling.  My TVC digs these fast cables as well.

so cool to hear about folks replacing big league cables with these.   i use them w/o spades, and even use them as banana plugs (no solder, screws or dielectric).    Take one bare end and slip it into the sp post banana hole.  carefully bend it to 70-90 degress or so.  remove it and bend the bare end a little more with a pliers.  next time you slip these in you'll feel and hear a click...the plugs will not pull out, a very secure connection.  the last bend gives a spring action to the bare copper when its inserted.   Works so good i have this set-up on my floorstanders...they are under my speaks and reside upside down.  never had a problem with them falling out.  gravity has got nothin on the anti-cables!

using this same idea I added a sub and now have it connected via sp level connections.  Being kinda worried about a rigid connection to my amp (vibrations from the sub) the banana plug technique allows the vibes from the sub to not travel back directly to the amps sp posts (at least to my tweaky brain).  Also, try attaching 2 loops of A-C to a sp post...not easy to get a good grip since they are SO thick and rounded.  

IF you are using A-C's with Eichmann Cable Pods be careful, they can destroy the plastic screw down collars easily.  I found this out the hard way, but the issue led me to devise the banana plug technique.

no affiliation, which sucks.  pimping paul's cables is easy to do.

matt

[Psychicanimal]

Techflex would make a nice cover...

I've used cotton tubing  over the magnet wire 1 for the (+) and 1 for (-). I've had a buyers rave about.

Robert Schult of Ridge Street Audio told me to do the same for DIY subwoofer cable, except 2 for neg and one for pos, braided.

[mfsoa]

Mark them in some way so you know the + and - BEFORE you twist!!

How do I know that?