Hi-Fi+ Interview – Part 1

Paul: That would have been too long ago for me to remember specifically. You see, in addition to running the ANTICABLES, I am also an electronic engineer in the telecom industry. For 32 years I have been a board level designer, creating circuitry used to transfer an analog signal from point A to point B over long distances. Understanding signal transmission has been my job for years, so I feel like I have always known cables matter, even before I started DYI’ing my own audio cables back in the 90’s.

What was the first range of cable products you designed and when did it enter the market? How did it compare to other cables at the time?

Our first product was the ZERO-Autoformers, which when used with mono block amplifiers took the place of speaker cables. They were first introduced early 2001. The “ZEROs” were used to increase the impedance of any speaker, so it would be “easier” for an amplifier to drive.

Improvements were made to the autoformer’s lead out wire. Long story short, the wire was so good, it in itself became its own product called “Anti-Cable Speaker Wires”. I named them this because the un-jacketed red coated wire didn’t look like, cost like, or sound like typical speaker cables. Since “cable” is basically wire with thick jacketing, and since it didn’t use thick jacketing, they were the Anti-Cables.

I should explain. Every time I tried dressing up my good sounding wire with jacketing so it looked like a speaker cable, it sounded like a speaker cable. Jacketing causes dielectric effect distortion that time smears the music signal and makes cables sound like cables. I decided to give up the jacketing, call them the “Anti-Cables”, and sell them in their naked form. The product was so popular that ANTICABLES later became the business name.

How has the audio cable industry evolved over the past several years? What are the pros and cons of the path the industry has taken?

This answer might be a bit dated, and may offer little insight, but the ability to sell direct to customers still feels the biggest change to me. It is what enabled me to go into business years ago.

The “cons” are, there are a lot more competitors, and a lot more for the consumer to sort through. The “pros” are, the competition keeps me on my toes. I am constantly looking for ways to push for even higher performance and greater value to remain competitive, and the customer benefits.

Some audio cable manufacturers focus primarily on premium-priced products, but your firm offers some ranges of cables that are far more sensibly priced. What led you to create ranges of value-minded cables?

Through the years, I personally was not willing to spend the asking price of some of the cable offerings I wanted in my system, so I now get a kick out of being able to offer higher performing cables at lower than typical prices.

I do not base our product prices on where they “fit” in the marketplace. In other words, I don’t say since our product “X” sounds better than their product “Y”, we should ask more for it. Instead, I base our asking price on the cost of materials, the cost of labor, and add on enough margin to cover business expenses.

Also, since I still hold my original career job as the Senior Electronic Engineer for a telecom/security equipment manufacturer, I don’t need to sell cables to “pay the mortgage”, so I am able to keep the ANTICABLES as a fun business.

What do you personally consider to be the ‘sweet spot’ product (or products) in your range in terms of maximum performance per dollar ($), pound (£), or euro (€)? What sets those products apart?

Our original “speaker wires”, from 14 years ago, have been through 11 improvements and are now called our Level 2.1 Speaker Wires. Anyone asking where to start with our products in their system will probably hear me recommending these, (or our Level 3.1 which is the same speaker wire but doubled up). At the cost of only $8/ft. per speaker, they offer ridiculously good sound for the cost.

Customers that fall in love with these speaker wires typically come back next for interconnects, and then finish out with our power cords.

Might I say, don’t underestimate the importance of a properly designed power cord. As a second sweet spot, I’d consider our Level 3 Power Cord, which was our #1 selling product for 2016, because of its cost to performance ratio.

– End of Part 1 –

Many thanks to Chris Martens and the rest of the Hi-Fi+ staff.

Paul Speltz
Founder, ANTICABLES