Bake-off re-visited - Tue 6th December

WM, enough people have found it to better the Au24 to make me suspect it's all down to the amp:cable:speaker equation - and therefore definitely worth a go at this price. I needed 5m runs, which came to around £100 all-in. What with a money back guarantee (though returns at your own expense) it's, as you say, a no brainer.

 

Update: sorry to kinda hijack this topic, but my Anti-Cables have just turned up (I'd given up on them turning up today, so this is an added plus) so I'll report back once I've had a chance to do some listening.

"New Toy For John"

 

Don't forget the piccies!

 

I'll be there, will bring some tunes.

 

Hi,

I would like to pop along if there is room. I can bring the odd cd or two.

SCIDB

 

I was hoping you were going to say that

Chris1968 hasn't been hanging around the forum much, but I'll give him a call to see if he wants to come along too.

 

I am a complete cable unbeliever and it is not my intention to start a cable war (there are enough of those elsewhere), but I'd just like to point out that the explanation given on the website:

We believe the Anti-Cables are sonically transparent and neutral because they virtually eliminate the most common sources that give speaker cable their sonic signature, the plastic dielectric material. Beyond the extremely thin red coating, there is nothing left but air, and air is a near ideal insulation dielectric because it causes virtually no dielectric effect! Air is also why break-in time is almost non-existent with the Anti-Cables. This is because "break-in" is actually the bad sounding plastic dielectric material, which simply sounds less bad with time. Since the Anti-Cables have almost no dielectric material, there is almost no "break-in". If you have ever experienced a typical speaker cable breaking-in, you understand how much the dielectric material affects the sound. Again, it gets better with time, but the dielectric effect will never fully go away (unless you simply remove it, like the Anti-Cables).

is nonsense. It's exactly analogous to the cable vendors' use of the skin effect - one takes a known physical phenomenon which does occur, but under very different circumstances, and one extrapolates it to circumstances where it occurs either not at all or to a negligible degree. Regardless of how the cables sound (and that's an individual thing), the deliberate distortion of fact makes this vendor highly suspicious, and one from which I would never buy (yes, yes, I know, I would never buy from ANY of them...).

Over and out (and I hope you like them).

 

Hey, it may well be a nonesense explanation, but so great is the improvement these wires make I doubt anyone could remain cable skeptic. I don't know enough about electronics and signal transmissions to have an opinion over the statement's validity, but they could claim black=white and it wouldn't change the obvious fact that they do indeed work fabulously well. A bit of a hassle to work with at longer lengths due to its inflexibility, but for the money it's a no-brainer. Tones, you should suspend your cable disbelief and order a short pair just to try. $10 per foot pair, terminated. I mean, that's pretty damn cheap - you could afford to risk $40 or so, surely?

 

PS. No, I'm not on here 24/7 - I'm just on briefly before I go to feed the livestock (aka pets).

PPS. Wouldn't you be better posting your thoughts on the matter to my 'Initial Impressions' thread?

 

No. Been there, done that with sooooo many things that promised the earth and delivered nothing that, as far as I'm concerned, it simply isn't worth one cent more, never mind $40. $40 will buy me nearly two more volumes of Gardiner's SDG cantatas (you can see where my priorities lie). But as long as you hear a difference and enjoy the results, that's all that matters. Your ears are the only ones you have to satisfy.

 

Fair enough, you are welcome to keep your head in the sand (kidding)

Actually, I feel we owe it to ourselves to get the best out of our systems - and last night's conclusion was that by using ordinary cables we are likely throwing a significant chunk of our music away. So, to reclaim that chunk, $40 is but a small price to pay...

John

 

Agreed, but I've done that, and with non-exotic wires.

P.S. Mine cost 13 Euro for 10 metres.

 

It will be good to see you again Dean.

So far then -

1) Rsand - Rob
2) Zanash - Peter
3) Isaac
4) Lodsummit - Richard
5) ChrisPa
6) SCIDB - Dean

 

By the way do you do those big black compact disc things Rob, or am I going to rifle the little silver ones?

 

I have no TT its something I fancy trying at some stage, I still have some vinyl from years ago that would be fun to listen to, just not sure its worth spending ££'s to listen to it?

 

Ah, but me suspecta you no get best from system with da wires non exotic.

 

There we beg to differ. But who cares?

 

That means there'll no time available for listening to kit... whole evening spent listening to Deans CD's (and I can't think of a better way to spend an evening)

I could bring a spare TT ... not showing vinyl at its best but readily transportable, although...
- I'll have to work out what to bring as a phono stage
- It would either be my rega planar 2 or a thorens TD160/Basik, so nothing extravagent
- do we have time for this as well?

Isaac

Find out if Chris1968 is coming too and I'll arrange a mutual pick up time with you

Tones

Way off topic - as jtc said, his cables are in another thread

Chris

 

No surprise there then

Chris
I want to do the cables first as this gives us time to digest the data and discuss our findings during the break, I want to avoid any discussion during the testing as it would void the results, and Zanash has gone to a lot of trouble on this one.

After that no one is planing to bring anything but music, so I would guess we have time for a TT so long as its not too much hassle for you to bring it?

I love the way Dean says 'a few cd's' I too am looking forward to that.