Anticable - the real deal?

jtein -- Tue, 04/20/2010 - 05:31

I'm about to purchase some new interconnects and speaker cables for my Thiel/Parasound setup. Then I came across Anticable and read the endless glowing testimonials on their website plus Sue Kraft's review. Are they for real? Will they outclass the MIT Magnum MA and Taralab Gold Zero and Omega? There's no way to audition them since they are bought directly from Anticable. That said, there's no way for me to audition the MIT or Taralab either. Anyone has anything to say?

Robert Harley -- Tue, 04/20/2010 - 18:58

My understanding is that the Anti-Cable is good for the money, but not in the same league as MIT and Tara.

danielaparker -- Tue, 04/20/2010 - 20:38

Given how much you enjoyed the Thiel CS3.7 audition, why not just go with the cables recommended by the dealer? It sounds from your earlier posts that they know what they're doing. And if you buy it with the package, you can probably negotiate a good discount on the inevitably astronomical margins on cable. It might also be worthwhile getting a recommendation from Thiel, or ask what cables they use for voicing speakers. The performance of wire depends on the relationship between the wire, amp and speakers, so generic advise here may not be that helpful.
-- Daniel

cod (not verified) -- Tue, 04/20/2010 - 21:39

These 3 companies approach cable design with 3 different tecnologies ~ Anticable uses round conductors with "dialectric-less" wire, MIT uses round conductors with "network" boxes and TARA uses their proprietary RSC conductor (with a mix of various dialectric materials at different levels/$$ points).

While i have never heard the Anti-cables, I have long (10+ years) been a fan of TARA cables and find them to be the most "like-live" sounding cables. They allow the instruments to "play individually" (each instrument is dynamic on its own) instead of compressing all instruments into one dynamic movement. Resolution, sound-staging, timbral truth, etc are all part of TARA's RSC sound as well.

There are a couple mail order guys you can try these cables for the cost of shipping
~ which is a small investment to make certain you have a cable to your liking

Hope this helps

Happy listening
Chris

danielaparker -- Wed, 04/21/2010 - 08:17

So, if I understand this correctly, you claim that you've tried the same system with several cables, and some "[compressed] all instruments into one dynamic movement", but TARA "[allowed] the instruments to 'play individually'". Could you tell us which cables would not let the instruments 'play individually', and what speakers and amp you were using in your tests?

Thanks,
Daniel

jtein -- Thu, 04/22/2010 - 06:56

Thanks guys for your helpful comments. Unfortunately I live outside of the US and am unable to take advantage of the "library service" of these mail order companies which allows a person to home-demo their cables. My dealer was using the Purist Audio Dominus speaker cables. How's Purist Audio compared to MIT and Tara?