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Anti-cable speaker cables

post #1 of 16
12/14/05 at 6:29pm
Thread Starter 
Anyone have any experience with the Anti-cable Speaker Cables ? I was very unsatisfied with the Audioquest type 6. My home made Canare LS-11 speaker cables trumped them soundly in clarity and imaging.

I like the idea behind the anti-cables so I decided to give them a try. Hopefully this will be the Grover UR-6 (or Oritek X-1) of speaker cables.
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post #2 of 16
12/14/05 at 7:09pm
I'm using SET monos and single driver horns and I love me some magnet wire speaker cable. They aren't Anti-Cables, but rather Jim Hess' Magwire. In my system they really own--kill the Acoustic Zen Cable I had previously especially in terms of speed and dynamics.

Buy 'em and try 'em. IIRC they have a money back guarentee.
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post #3 of 16
12/15/05 at 12:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gopher
I'm using SET monos and single driver horns and I love me some magnet wire speaker cable. They aren't Anti-Cables, but rather Jim Hess' Magwire. In my system they really own--kill the Acoustic Zen Cable I had previously especially in terms of speed and dynamics.

Buy 'em and try 'em. IIRC they have a money back guarentee.
where do you get magnet wire from, and what AWG is best? Is the enamel coating on it safe enough to prevent risks of shorting?
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post #4 of 16
12/15/05 at 2:56am
pne,

I think there are a ton of online vendors that you can purchase magnetwire from and additionally I think I've heard radioshack and home depot are sources. I'm not sure the ones I am using are still available--they were actually sold by a guy named Jim Hess on Audiogon. He was the owner/maker of the "Magwire" line. In my experience and the expreience of many others the enamal is perfectly suitable for preventing shorts.

Another cool thing about them is how stiff they are--thin enough to easily work with, but stiff enough to retain any form you choose, so it saves you the trouble/expense/ugliness of buying into cable riser mumbo jumbo.

The gear in my speaker rig isn't the creme de la creme, but it certainly isn't cheap. I am a believe in cables and do not skimp in this area--I let my ears decide. And to my ears they sounded MUCH better then the $1200 cables I used before experimeting with them in my configuration.

FYI I have them between special edition Fi 2a3 monoblocks (upgraded tamaura 7001 transformers) and Cain & Cain Abbys. I think this might mean something as I notice magnetwire is particularly popular among SET/high efficency guys (not so much from what is said, but look at the pictures people post of their rigs).
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post #5 of 16
12/15/05 at 3:06am
Gopher got it. Enamel is way more than enough. Pain in the @ss to scrape off if you work with it in the raw like I did a few times. I actually don't like how stiff it is.
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post #6 of 16
12/15/05 at 11:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ooheadsoo
Gopher got it. Enamel is way more than enough. Pain in the @ss to scrape off if you work with it in the raw like I did a few times. I actually don't like how stiff it is.
I think you can torch it off too... just watch out for the fumes.
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post #7 of 16
12/15/05 at 3:21pm
Quote:
Anyone have any experience with the Anti-cable Speaker Cables ? I was very unsatisfied with the Audioquest type 6. My home made Canare LS-11 speaker cables trumped them soundly in clarity and imaging.
I've some experience with AQ LS-cables like the type 6; solid core copper. No matter how convincing their hype is, al the budget cables I tried had the same characteristics; soft friendly treble, soft undefined bass, limited dynamics. A sound not unlike applying a cheap severe power conditoner; never offensive, but never thrilling, veiled and not very spatial.
Tried lots and lots of other cables too, Supra, vdHull, Nordost etc. The I discovered Kimber 8TC and knew this was what I was looking for in my priceclass. Clear, dynamic, spatial and detailed in a natural way.
That was 8 years ago and since then I completely lost interest in LS-cables.
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post #8 of 16
12/15/05 at 4:22pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by pne
where do you get magnet wire from, and what AWG is best? Is the enamel coating on it safe enough to prevent risks of shorting?
Paul Speltz at anti-cables will sell you the magnet-wire he uses by the foot. Check out the link in my first post. You can use any wire of any gauge you choose, the only thing to be careful about is to make sure that the enamel coating on the wire is securely bonded. You really don't want two uninsulated speaker wires coming into contact. Been there, done that, don't want to go back
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post #9 of 16
12/15/05 at 5:19pm
Michael Percy sells Vampire Single Crystal Cast Copper polyurethane "enameled" 6N wire in 26.5, 21 and 20 gauge, from $5 to $8 for 50 foot rolls.

The same wire is also available in stranded configurations. I tried a 4 wire braided interconnect cable, and it was not a success; I would strongly suggest separating the wire(s) with teflon tubing or similar. I am trying the 12ga stranded version of this as speaker cable, and early results are very encouraging. I'll revisit the magnet wire for interconnects, but this time using teflon tubing and air.

http://www.percyaudio.com/
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post #10 of 16
12/15/05 at 6:49pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by SemperFidelity
Michael Percy sells Vampire Single Crystal Cast Copper polyurethane "enameled" 6N wire in 26.5, 21 and 20 gauge, from $5 to $8 for 50 foot rolls.

The same wire is also available in stranded configurations. I tried a 4 wire braided interconnect cable, and it was not a success; I would strongly suggest separating the wire(s) with teflon tubing or similar. I am trying the 12ga stranded version of this as speaker cable, and early results are very encouraging. I'll revisit the magnet wire for interconnects, but this time using teflon tubing and air.

http://www.percyaudio.com/
Just to be clear the anticables use a single 12 gauge conductor (2 per speaker) for each connection. You can twist those or keep them seperated depending upon your preference.
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post #11 of 16
12/15/05 at 7:20pm
I've used the Paul Speltz Anti-cable speaker cables with my setup at one point and they were all right. They were an upgrade from super-cheap, super-thin generic speaker cables. The stiff wire is definitely kind of a pain to work with. My cables had bare wire terminations.

I later began using some Nordost Blue Heaven cables that were a pretty good deal at the time on Audiogon and am happier with them (this could be due to the speakers or amp I suppose...also, the Nordost cables were bi-wired, which let me take off the jumpers on my speakers, which could have helped).
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post #12 of 16
1/19/10 at 11:19pm
by way of reviving the old question: I'm still using the anticables where they take the place of "thick purple snakes" that were too visible for WAF etc - but sneaking some high quality interconnects into the mix. anyone out there who has opinions on anticables?
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post #13 of 16
1/20/10 at 3:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by melomaniac View Post
anyone out there who has opinions on anticables?
They are good. However, each amp-speaker interaction is very different, and the only way to know for sure is to try in your own system. Here is a review of them from a reviewer I personally know and trust.
anticables

These things are cheap enough to allow that, unlike 99% of "audiophile" stuff.

BTW. I have a spool of 13 AWG magnet wire supposedly coming in the mail for a project. If you are coming to the 1/30 Orange County meet and want to try some, PM me. Presuming it gets here before that, that is..
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post #14 of 16
1/20/10 at 3:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by SemperFidelity View Post
Michael Percy sells Vampire Single Crystal Cast Copper polyurethane "enameled" 6N wire in 26.5, 21 and 20 gauge, from $5 to $8 for 50 foot rolls.

The same wire is also available in stranded configurations. I tried a 4 wire braided interconnect cable, and it was not a success; I would strongly suggest separating the wire(s) with teflon tubing or similar. I am trying the 12ga stranded version of this as speaker cable, and early results are very encouraging. I'll revisit the magnet wire for interconnects, but this time using teflon tubing and air.

Michael Percy Audio Ordering Information
Can you elaborate as to why it wasn't a success? Thanks for the tip, might have to try this.

I've purchased custom AWG wires from Paul Speltz, and while I can't comment on the quality of his wires (project was put on hold), supposedly better than magwire as it is of higher purity than your typical mag, I can vouch that Paul is a stand up guy.
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post #15 of 16
1/20/10 at 4:25am
if you are intrested search for my romex posts. it includes information about the anti-cables and what i ultimately decided upon. hint:i agree with bound for sound that these at less than a dollar a foot are the best cables i have ever heard. it is just a fluke actually. they were never intended for audio applications. you can make them as pretty as you wish as well. mine look real nice now. not to mention how they sound.

music_man
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