Mapleshade single or double Helix, I have both. After ownning and demoing most of the major manufactureres over the years, including Audioquest, Tara Labs, Harmonic Technologies and others, Mapleshade has all the coherence and detail I could ever want. Plus they are very fairly priced. The only drawback is that they are stiff.
Anti-Cables speaker cable impressions:
Forgive me in advance for possibly using audiophile terms incorrectly, as they seem to make sense as I use them?
I purchased the Anti Cable L3 speaker wires, Level 2 interconnect, and a digital cable from anti cables. I am upgrading from 12awg tributary brand standard style speaker wire, Tributary A1 silver interconnects, and Blue jeans dig coax.
The Anti cable digi-coax is much better than blue jeans digi coax as it should be ($20 vs $150), much more open and wider soundstage. The Anti-cable interconnect was an improvement that seemed obvious at the time I made teh switch. Unfortunately something has happened and to one of the tributary interconnects and it is not letting the signal through, so no back and forth testing on interconnects after the initial switch.
Speaker cable: First impression was surprise at how they look and feel. These are stiff (quite pliable but stiff) and not meant to lie neatly on the floor. No problem for me, it’s the sound I am after. After a little bit of a struggle to hook them to the amp and speakers due to stiffness, I cued up some music and got to work.
Initial reaction was being impressed by how the cables open things up and widened the soundstage. The sound took on a more pronounced holographic nature. I was excited and all seemed good until I started noticing some sounds that seem out of place or not connected to the instrument they were coming from as they should. After further examination it became obvious that a lot of the musical information in the mid-section was less dynamic than I was accustom too. Basically it seemed out of balance. Sounded great on the musical extremes but the in between stuff got a little loss. I hope that make some sense?
Break-in. I let them run non-stop for days and got well over 100 hours on them. I could not detect much change or improvement. Maybe a little after the first several hours?? Hard to say?
Of the two options I now have, I would prefer the more balance sound of 12 gauge zip wire that I already have over the greater clarity and extension from the anti-cables speaker wire.
I now need to find a cable that maintains the temper of the 12 gauge zip wire with more openness and wider extension for under $500. Way under $500 would be nice too. Any suggestion on speaker cables and interconnects would be welcomed.
My set-up
McIntosh MC 2150 solid state
Parasound Halo P5 pre-amp
KEF LS50 Speakers + 2 SVS sealed 12” subs (all speakers still in audition stage and in question)
Airport express via Wireworld Super Nova 7 Toslink to Preamp DAC
Rotel CD player via digital coax to Preamp DAC
I currently use Tributary A1 Silver RCA cables and Tributary 12AWG Speaker wires. 14 x 19 room carpeted 75% or the area
I purchased the Anti Cable L3 speaker wires, Level 2 interconnect, and a digital cable from anti cables. I am upgrading from 12awg tributary brand standard style speaker wire, Tributary A1 silver interconnects, and Blue jeans dig coax.
The Anti cable digi-coax is much better than blue jeans digi coax as it should be ($20 vs $150), much more open and wider soundstage. The Anti-cable interconnect was an improvement that seemed obvious at the time I made teh switch. Unfortunately something has happened and to one of the tributary interconnects and it is not letting the signal through, so no back and forth testing on interconnects after the initial switch.
Speaker cable: First impression was surprise at how they look and feel. These are stiff (quite pliable but stiff) and not meant to lie neatly on the floor. No problem for me, it’s the sound I am after. After a little bit of a struggle to hook them to the amp and speakers due to stiffness, I cued up some music and got to work.
Initial reaction was being impressed by how the cables open things up and widened the soundstage. The sound took on a more pronounced holographic nature. I was excited and all seemed good until I started noticing some sounds that seem out of place or not connected to the instrument they were coming from as they should. After further examination it became obvious that a lot of the musical information in the mid-section was less dynamic than I was accustom too. Basically it seemed out of balance. Sounded great on the musical extremes but the in between stuff got a little loss. I hope that make some sense?
Break-in. I let them run non-stop for days and got well over 100 hours on them. I could not detect much change or improvement. Maybe a little after the first several hours?? Hard to say?
Of the two options I now have, I would prefer the more balance sound of 12 gauge zip wire that I already have over the greater clarity and extension from the anti-cables speaker wire.
I now need to find a cable that maintains the temper of the 12 gauge zip wire with more openness and wider extension for under $500. Way under $500 would be nice too. Any suggestion on speaker cables and interconnects would be welcomed.
My set-up
McIntosh MC 2150 solid state
Parasound Halo P5 pre-amp
KEF LS50 Speakers + 2 SVS sealed 12” subs (all speakers still in audition stage and in question)
Airport express via Wireworld Super Nova 7 Toslink to Preamp DAC
Rotel CD player via digital coax to Preamp DAC
I currently use Tributary A1 Silver RCA cables and Tributary 12AWG Speaker wires. 14 x 19 room carpeted 75% or the area