Anyone tried Shunyata's Antares interconnect yet ?

This is a most interesting thread. I stumbled across it.

I owned the Andromeda speaker cable and the King Cobra V2 power cords, and now own Python Helix and Taipan Helix, and my reaction to them is that the bass is less forceful and weighty, too. I'm not sure I would agree that "accurate" bass is lean. A standup bass is NOT lean, and if every recording of a standup bass is lean, the component producing it is wrong, plain and simple.
I have owned Shunyatas for years, and I like them, but, objectively speaking, I find the weight in the lower octaves to be a factor in ALL components sounding what is called "neutral." Usually, this means that "lean" is more neutral, in which case Nordost wins the race. This isn't how I hear it in real life, and I hear cellos up close, I hear pianos up close, I hear symphony orchestras at least 6 times a year. Without a real-life reference, it is easy to convince oneself that a component is accurate. However, as any musician knows, the midbass is the foundation (NOT the low bass -- ever) of the orchestra. I like my Shunyatas, but they have clearly moved in the wrong direction in the midbass and maybe even the upper bass/lower midrange, although they are inarguably more linear than the older ranges, which sucked out the upper midrange, but had positively concussive bass. the older range looked like this:

-------/\------------v, with the "/\" being the mid/upper bass and the "v" being the dip in the upper midrange. The current line looks like this:
------------- but it is also (arguably) less forceful (dynamically speaking) in the mid/upper bass. Linear? Perhaps. True to Life? Ummmmmmmm, I don't think it's quite there yet. Not unless the cello I hear in real life is "inaccurate."

Ozzy,

The bass being lean, means that it sounds lighter, with less presense than the Transparent. A string bass sounds smaller and further back in the room. To be honest, bass is the foundation of music and the Shunyata cables just miss at this point of break in. IMO the Shunyata will need probably another 200 hours of break in. At that point I will compare again. Also, most cables do not have the bass of a Transparent so the comparison is one of extremes.

Garebear here......and I am the one who started this post nearly 5 months ago. I listened to the Shunyata Antares and in my opinion....where very ''thin'' sounding cables. They just did not sound true to life...don't get me wrong Shunyata makes great stuff..but the Antares just did not do it for me. I own an originl Hydra, 4 Anaconda power cords but my ic's and soon to be speaker cables will be and are now currently Synergistic Absolute and Designer's Reference cords. ( I bought the Synergistic ) They have the musical presence that the Shunyata's lacked.....rumor has it that Shunyata is coming out with a phase two of the Antares that addresses the thin sound. So, hang on and see what comes of this change.

Oh, I forgot to address a question posted by Mkilpi to dgad about the Transparents vs. The Shunyatas. I have both. I like both, but the Transparent clearly has more midbass energy -- and weight -- than the Shunyata. I have the Shunyata Gemini speaker cable and I like it, but, but, but. At one point, I owned the Andromeda. Now THAT cable has considerable midbass weight, although I must mention that, at that point, all the power cords were King Cobra V2s, and Black Mamabas and the interconnect was Nordost Quattro Fils (some might call it a mismatch: I wouldn't have). Even before I Put in the King Cobras, though, the Andromeda CLEARLY had more weight to the sound. Should have never sold that speaker cable....good stuff, great dynamic range AND contrasts, very quiet. The Transparent is very quiet too, and I have the MM stuff, which is how I became aware that the Shunyata (mostly the Gemini) started a trend toward less midbass. I wish Shunyata would put that darn midbass weight back in there, even if it does cause the sound to be slightly "dark" which personally, I didn't notice to any great degree. But still (ramble, ramble, ramble), the Transparent is clearly a weightier sound. (I'm still going to buy Andromeda speaker cable the next time I see some for sale on Audiogon, though. I REALLY liked that stuff).

Has anyone in this thread tried the Orion Shunyata speaker cable (their current top of the line) or is this thread just about interconnects?