For more than 24 years, ANTICABLES has focused on a single idea: achieve the highest level of musical performance by designing with simplicity. From the beginning, that meant avoiding unnecessary materials, cosmetic complexity, and inflated pricing—and instead concentrating on fundamentals that matter.

That approach has earned the trust of listeners around the world, many of whom have remained customers for decades.

Today, ANTICABLES enters its next chapter.

Introducing New Ownership

Clayton Shaw is now the owner of ANTICABLES.

Clayton and I have worked together for over a decade, sharing demo rooms and earning multiple Best-in-Show awards. We approach audio the same way: simplicity, applied carefully, produces the best results.

Clayton is the founder of Emerald Physics and Spatial Audio. His recent Caladan loudspeaker reflects the same design discipline that has always defined ANTICABLES.

Continuity by Design

ANTICABLES will continue exactly as customers expect.

• Operations remain in Lake Elmo, Minnesota
• The existing ANTICABLES team remains in place
• Production continues using the same materials, tooling, and processes

There is no change to product quality, service, or support.

Looking Forward

Clayton brings long experience, clear vision, and deep respect for the ANTICABLES philosophy. I will remain involved throughout the transition to ensure continuity and stability as the company moves forward.

For questions, Clayton can be reached at clayton@anticables.com or 651-735-0534.

Thank You

It has been a privilege to build ANTICABLES and to serve a community that values thoughtful design and honest performance. The most rewarding part has always been hearing from customers who rediscovered their music.

ANTICABLES is in good hands. I’m excited to see what comes next.

— Paul Speltz
Founder, ANTICABLES

By Paul Speltz

Our power cords took three years to develop.

The first two years were spent understanding why power cords can make an audible difference. The final year was dedicated to refining the design based on that understanding. That work has endured. More than a decade later, customers who purchased our power cords in 2012 are enjoying the same performance as those sold today.

That consistency matters.

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Rethinking the Role of a Power Cord

Most people think of a power cord as the last five feet of electricity traveling from the power plant to an audio component. Viewed that way, it’s easy to assume the cord can’t matter much.

There is a more useful way to think about it.

A properly designed power cord is the first five feet of removing noise generated inside the component itself—noise that would otherwise contaminate the music signal.

Seen this way, power cords make a great deal of sense.

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Where Most Designs Go Wrong

Many manufacturers promote their heaviest power cords for power amplifiers and lighter cords for DACs and preamps. That approach assumes power delivery is the priority.

In practice, noise management is the priority—and digital components are far more sensitive to noise than power amplifiers.

If I had only one ANTICABLES Level 3 Power Cord in my own system, I would use it on my DAC rather than my amplifier.

The reason is simple.

Noise inside a DAC causes timing errors known as jitter. Jitter is what makes digital audio sound flat, hard, and dynamically lifeless. It blurs bass, robs voices and piano of harmonic richness, and turns cymbals into something resembling spray cans.

The Level 3 Power Cord is exceptionally effective at removing this internal noise. That is why it remains my top recommendation for DACs, CD players, and other digital sources.

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The Real Source of Noise

Audiophiles are often told that noise enters their systems primarily from external sources—appliances, lighting, computers, or even their neighbors.

Those sources exist. But in my experience, the largest contributor to audible noise is much closer: the component’s own power supply, often just inches away from critical audio circuitry.

Once you see it this way, both the problem and the solution become almost self-evident.

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Power Conditioners, Explained

During development, we noticed something unexpected. Our power cords consistently sounded best when plugged directly into the wall. When used with many passive power conditioners, their effectiveness was often reduced.

Most passive conditioners reduce noise by adding series impedance at certain frequencies. That impedance works in both directions. While it may filter incoming noise, it can also limit the component’s ability to shed internally generated noise back into the AC line.

The result is often a subtle softening of dynamics.

For me, dynamics are essential. They are a major part of what separates live music from reproduced sound.

Over the years, nearly every customer who tested our power cords found better results without a passive power conditioner. In the rare cases where improvements remained, the devices involved were power regenerators—not passive conditioners. That distinction matters. Regenerators do not introduce the same electrical softness.

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What This Means for You

If your goal is better sound, you may find that investing in properly designed power cords delivers more benefit than adding a passive power conditioner.

If protection is your priority and you prefer the sonic results with conditioning in place, that is a valid trade-off.

For those who want both protection and performance, many customers have reported excellent results pairing our power cords with power regenerators—including further gains when using our Level 3 Power Cord on the regenerator itself.

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Designed for Results

Power cords designed around the first five feet principle consistently deliver greater musical clarity, dynamics, and realism. That is why our power cords have evolved from a niche offering into our most requested product.

The Level 3 Power Cord remains our best-selling design.

We invite you to try one in your own system and hear the results for yourself.

Every ANTICABLES product includes:

• A 30-day in-home trial

• A 60-day upgrade option

• Our buy-back program

• A 5-year warranty

We think you’ll enjoy what it does for your music.

ANTICABLES does not release a product until it can outperform top-tier offerings at a fraction of the cost.

For our power cords, that meant taking an unconventional path. In 2012, after three years of development, we released our first power cord as a reference-level design: the Level 3 Reference Series Power Cord. It was not a starting point. It was the benchmark.

From there, we worked backward—preserving performance while refining materials and construction to reduce cost. That process led to the Level 2 Performance Series and Level 1 Classic Series power cords, each offering a clear step down in price while maintaining the same core design philosophy.

Why Power Cords Matter

A power cord is not simply the last few feet between the wall and a component. It is the first opportunity to manage noise generated inside the component’s own power supply.

ANTICABLES power cords are designed to allow internal power-supply noise to dissipate along the conductor surface before it can contaminate the music signal. At the same time, the conductor geometry reduces the impact of noise traveling in the opposite direction from the wall outlet.

The result is improved clarity, dynamics, and musical coherence—without altering tonal balance.

Where to Use Them First

For a progressive and cost-effective upgrade path, we recommend prioritizing power cords in this order:

1. Digital sources (DACs, CD players, phono preamplifiers)
2. Digital transports
3. Power amplifiers
4. Preamplifiers
5. Turntable motor supplies

Digital components are particularly sensitive to power-supply noise, making them the most effective starting point.

Choosing the Right Level

Each power cord level represents a refinement in performance. While the differences are cumulative, the best choice is always the highest level that fits comfortably within your system and budget.

To make that decision easier, every ANTICABLES power cord includes a 60-day upgrade option. If you decide to move to a higher level within that window, you receive full credit toward an equal or longer cord.

ANTICABLES product names reflect design evolution, not marketing tiers.

We don’t pre-plan a fixed lineup. Our products evolve as materials, connectors, and topologies improve. When something changes meaningfully, the name changes with it.

That’s the system.

Levels

Levels indicate performance position within a product type.

• Level 1 — Classic

  Our original designs that challenged conventional cable thinking.

• Level 2 — Performance

  Refinements to the Classic Series with audible improvements.

• Levels 3–5 — Reference

  Our best-performing designs, including the use of ACElectrum™ Silver/Gold alloy in analog and digital interconnects.

• Level 6 — Signature

  Reserved for designs that use a fundamentally different topology. Created when performance exceeded what our existing structure could describe.

Dots matter

• “.1” and higher indicate the use of ACElectrum™ Silver/Gold alloy signal conductors.

• “.2” denotes a significant hardware upgrade, such as the adoption of Keith Louis Eichmann’s Harmony RCA connectors.

When a notable connector defines performance, we include it in the product name.

Most customers simply refer to products by type and level — for example, Level 3.2 RCA.

That works for us.