Capital Audiofest 2019

October 24, 2019 by

Dear Fellow Audiophiles,

We are excited to announce that we will be attending Capital Audiofest 2019, November 1-3 at the Twinbrook Hilton, Rockville Maryland.

We are partnering with 8 great companies and can be heard in 3 different listening rooms and the Linear Tube Audio Headphone Lounge. Hear us in these rooms:

Room #410 with Caprice Audio, Alta Audio, KR Audio

Room #508 with McGary Audio, Salk Sound, Exogal

Room #526 with Linear Tube Audio, Spatial 

…and at the LTA Headphone Lounge with Linear Tube Audio

For more information about CAF, check out their website by clicking HERE.

See you there!

-Paul Speltz

Filed Under: All News, Listening Room

🎶 AXPONA This Weekend!

April 12, 2019 by

April 12 – 14, 2019
Renaissance Schaumburg
Hotel & Convention Center

Dear Fellow Audiophiles,

We invite you to come visit us and hear our cables this weekend at AXPONA in Chicago. We’ve teamed up with eleven great companies for this show and can be heard in five different listening rooms as well as an Ear-Gear Booth.

Stop by any of our rooms to chat with us and learn more about our products. Hope to see you there!

Paul Speltz
Founder, ANTICABLES

Special Pricing at AXPONA!

Stop by any of our rooms to pick up the new ANTICABLES brochure and price sheet. In it will be a price list and a Coupon Code towards your next purchase of  Speaker Wires, Interconnects, and Power Cords.

Listening Room #366

Listening Room #558

Listening Room #510

Listening Room #570

Listening Room #696

 

Filed Under: All News, Listening Room

Spatial Audio Factory Tour

February 22, 2019 by

Dear Fellow Audiophiles,

             Earlier this month I went on a snowboarding trip to Park City, Utah.  I was lucky and timed it just right as a massive snowstorm passed through the morning I arrived. The storm dumped so much snow it took hours to dig a path into the small miner’s cabin I rented.

After three days in the mountains enjoying the best snow conditions of my life, I had a few hours to spare before my evening flights out. I called Clayton Shaw of Spatial Audio to see if I could visit his new factory in Salt Lake City.  Even though it was Saturday, Clayton said, “Sure, I’ll be here all day”.  

When I arrived, Clayton was in the middle of personally assembling a pair of his newly revised Lumina L2 speakers finished in beautiful Lamborghini orange paint.

When Clayton debuted his M3 Triode Master speaker at AXPONA 2017, I took delivery of my own pair in black just a month later. 

Anyone interested in hearing them in the Twin Cities area is welcome to contact me for a private audition ( paul@anticables.com or call 651-735-0534 ).

 

The M3 Triode Master is Spatial Audio’s current top-selling speaker. 

Clayton moved into this new Salt Lake City location a year or so ago. He more recently doubled his facility space which enabled him to build out a dedicated listening room for customers to do factory auditions, and…

…move all aspects of manufacturing into this one location. 

ANTICABLES and Spatial Audio have been teaming up at trade shows for years. We make good show partners because we both offer factory direct audio products that far outperform their price point. This is achieved with solid engineering, designing towards simplicity, low overhead, efficient manufacturing, and personal support. 

Look for our products teamed up in multiple demo rooms at AXPONA in Chicago April 12 -14th 2019. 

Thank you, Clayton, for the great factory tour!
 

Paul Speltz
Founder, ANTICABLES
Filed Under: All News

Hi-Fi+ Interview – Part 1

February 1, 2019 by

Dear Fellow Audiophiles,

We are looking back to over a year ago when Hi-Fi+ published a Cables Buyers Guide in which they interviewed six experts from the audio industry including: 

George Cardas of Cardas Audio

Ray Kimber of Kimber Kable

John McDonald of Audience

Joe Reynolds of Nordost

Caelin Gabriel of Shunyata Research

and Paul Speltz of Anticables

Below is the first half of their interview with me, Paul Speltz. The entire Hi-Fi+ Cable Buyers Guide can be downloaded HERE

 

Photo by Chris Martens of Hi-Fi+

As part of the Hi-Fi+ Guide to Audio Cables and Power Products (http://www.hifiplus.com/buyers_guides/6/), we spoke to Paul Speltz of AntiCables about the technologies used by the company, the history and future of AntiCables, and more…
Hi-Fi+: How and when did you first discover that differences in audio cables could actually affect the sound of hi-fi systems? Were you surprised at the time?

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
Filed Under: All News, Awards & Reviews

Audiophilia – 2018 Products of the Year

December 13, 2018 by

Dear Fellow Audiophiles,

I am pleased to announce that this year Audiophilia has named our Level 3 Power Cordin their 2018 Products of the Year list. We are proud the be among a number of great products and would like to thank Anthony Kershaw of Audiophilia for this honor. 

In his review of our power cord, Anthony says…

“Introduction of three Level 3 Reference Series Power Cords into my system was quite a shock.”

“The music flowed, was rhythmically astute to each piece, and reminded me why I like my system so much.”

“Power cords can cost far more than the very reasonable Level 3s. So, considering the Anticables Level 3 Reference do what they do for $330, and come with a 30 day, risk-free trial, are beautifully made, a listen in your system is a no-brainer… these superb ancillaries will make a very musical difference.”

To read the full review, click here and here! I would once again like to personally thank Anthony Kershaw for his efforts. I am happy to hear he is enjoying his reference system more than ever.

When you are ready to take your music system to the next level, I invite you to give our Level 3 Power Cords a try. Most customers start with one, love what they hear, then come back for more. 

Paul Speltz
Founder, ANTICABLES

 

Filed Under: All News, Awards & Reviews, Power Cords

News from Capitol Audiofest! 🇺🇸

November 4, 2018 by

Dear Fellow Audiophiles,

We’re here at Capitol Audiofest here in Rockville, Maryland and have teamed up with some great companies in two different listening rooms.
__________________________________

In Demo Room 512…

__________________________________

In Demo Room 526…

CAF has one more day and we’ve already received some great press from Part-Time Audiophile.
Hope to see you at the show!
Paul Speltz
Founder, ANTICABLES
Filed Under: All News, Awards & Reviews, Digital, Interconnects, Listening Room, Power Cords, Speaker Wires

🌟 Best System at RMAF Under $60,000

October 29, 2018 by

Dear Fellow Audiophiles,

We’d love to share with you some of the great press we’ve received from our rooms at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest and would like to thank all who attended for making it such a successful show.

Demo Room 3018

Click HERE to read more from The Audio Beatnik

Click HERE to read more from The Part-Time Audiophile

Demo Room 7021

Click HERE to read more from Audio Nirvana

Paul Speltz
Founder, ANTICABLES

Filed Under: All News, Awards & Reviews, Digital, Interconnects, Listening Room, Power Cords, Speaker Wires

Audiophilia Star Awarded to Power Cords

September 20, 2018 by

Dear Fellow Audiophiles,

We are thrilled to announce that our Level 3 Power Cord has won Audiophilia’s Star Component Award, and we invite you to stop in and hear them in rooms 578, 3018, and 7021 at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest (October 5-7).

Anthony Kershaw, who is not only Audiophilia’s Editor & Publisher but is also one of Canada’s most respected classical conductors, wrote about his experience with our power cords in two parts. First with the introduction of three of them in his system as shown HERE. Then more recently in a follow-up article describing all of his reference system improvements, where he fleshes out his entire system with seven Level 3 Power Cords as shown HERE.


Anthony highly recommended them and stated in his first review:

“Introduction of three Level 3 Reference Series Power Cords into my system was quite a shock.”

“…now, the music flowed, was rhythmically astute to each piece, and reminded me why I like my system so much.”

“The perceived volume increase? I didn’t check with a dB meter, but the sound 
more fulsome, better resolved, with ample flesh on bone, felt louder and more substantial. In contrast, the stock cords robbed Peter and did not pay Paul. After listening to Speltz’ cords, it would be difficult to return to stock cabling.”  

“The openness, with more musical information was my favorite Level 3 attribute.  …little details crept in from extremely well-known recordings. I could hear deeper into the recording and instruments and voices sounded fresher and more vibrant.” 

“Bass on my Raidhos does not shatter the listening room but is scary accurate down to below 50 Hz. My go-to bass and speed test is the theme from American Beauty by Thomas Newman. Heard hundreds of times in umpteen setups, I can tell you that the bass detail was the best I’ve heard on my system—exquisite Latin Percussion, marimbas and synthesized bass in a maelstrom of rhythmic complexity. From layered synthesized glissandi to various timbral changes in the very low bass to the echo in the drum cylinders, the AntiCables really shone light on ultra minor details. I kicked myself for not noticing them before on a track I felt I knew intimately.” 

“…considering the AntiCables Level 3 Reference do what they do for $330, and come with a 30 day, risk-free trial, are beautifully made, a listen in your system is a no-brainer.  …these superb ancillaries will make a very musical difference.” 

In the follow-up review, announcing “they are definitely an Audiophilia Star Component,” Anthony goes on to say:

“I replace all my power cords (a hodgepodge of Cardas, Audioquest, CorePower Technology, and stock) with his top of the line model. That’s seven AntiCables Level 3 Reference Series Power Cords if you’re counting.”

“The effect and cohesion of the seven power cords was immediate and quite remarkable.  …the effect was so clear, even a cloth-eared dolt could tell the difference.” 

“I had three AntiCables Level 3 power cords in my system for a few months (the other four were back ordered), but all the gear changes over the summer obviated any objective or even subjective data. But when the gear dust had settled and I introduced the extra four into the system, the effect of all the power cords was as if a clear, cool stream was made sound—even more refinement was added to the already glorious sound. Yes, glorious sound made better, somehow, and not psycho acoustically. It was tangible.”

“The Level 3 Power Cords from AntiCables leverage your system gradually into another level. They are definitely Audiophilia Star Components.” 

I would like to personally thank Anthony Kershaw for his efforts, and I am happy to hear he is enjoying his reference system more than ever.

When you are ready to take your music system to the next level, I invite you to give our Level 3 Power Cords a try. Most customers start with one, love what they hear, then come back for more, which is why they are our number one selling product.

Paul Speltz
Founder, ANTICABLES

Filed Under: All News, Awards & Reviews, Power Cords

Inside the ANTICABLES – Office Remodel Complete ✅

August 7, 2018 by

Dear Fellow Audiophiles,

I am thrilled to announce we are finally complete with the build-out and re-organization of our newly expanded space.

We recently we took possession of a neighbouring commercial space and have used that to double our office and production square footage.

After cutting out and finishing off three large “pass-throughs” in the walls (needed to combine the two spaces into one), we now have a more functional and open feeling workspace that is being set up for better production flow.

Additional workstations have been added to eliminate bottlenecked multi-purpose stations, and the office and production spaces are now more “connected”.

Keeping the business running during the construction process had its set of challenges, but I now feel we are over the hump and running smoothly again.

I’d like to publicly thank the entire ANTICABLES team for their patience throughout this process.

Paul Speltz
Founder, ANTICABLES

Filed Under: All News, Inside ANTICABLES

Inside the ANTICABLES – Zach

June 14, 2018 by

Dear Fellow Audiophiles,

This past week we passed well wishes on to one of our employees, Zach Gunelson. Zach started at Anticables back in 2016 as a Speaker Wire Technician and over the years began assembling Interconnects as well. If you’ve purchased IC’s or Speaker Wires over the past two years there’s a good chance they were made by Zach.

“I have never worked at a company like Anticables before and I can easily say it’s been one of my favorite jobs. With it being a smaller company, I really got to know everyone…   it feels almost like family. I’ve loved my time here. I learned a lot and have had a lot of fun.”

Having recently graduated with a degree in Additive and Digital Manufacturing, Zach is now pursuing his career with a new job working in research and development for 3D printing materials.

We are proud to have been able to help Zach support himself as he put himself through school. He will be greatly missed around the office. We wish him all the best and every success in his new career.

Paul Speltz
Founder, ANTICABLES

Filed Under: All News, Inside ANTICABLES
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