Anticables speaker wire have no plastic jacket/insulation?


Yesterday I received in the mail a pair of Anticables "Level 3 Reference Series Speaker Wires". I bought them because I had heard good reviews about them and relative to other speaker wire they are inexpensive so I thought I would give them a try. I read the reviews of these wires several years ago so I forgot that one of their selling points is that they have no insulation. They are, as far as I can tell, red-painted (anodized?) bare wire. The second thing that was immediately obvious that I did not know before I bought them is that they are very stiff. Almost as stiff as a metal-wire coat hanger. 

My question is, if these are bare wire, are they unsafe to touch while the amplifier that is driving them is powered on? I'm not an electrical engineer, but I would think yes. If that is not the case, I'd like to know why. If they are unsafe to touch these wires could be a hazard to children and pets (at the very least), which I do not have but some people might take that into consideration. 

At this time the wires are still in "break in" period. Anticables recommends 100 hours. I will wait at least that long before judging them. Afterwords I will post my impressions of them, detail the equipment I'm using and compare them to my current speaker cables which are also inexpensive but good. 
e91811
Anticables was magnet wire wire many years ago....no longer.  No, they are not coat hangers. If you don't know what you're talking about, don't talk.
I have been using them for close to ten years now and they still work fine and sound great. The idea behind the minimal insulation thickness is almost zero capacitance. They are so simple and so basic, just a solid copper conductor. Nothing to get in the way of the signal. I am not one to use cables as tone control devices and these fit that bill nicely. I use two twisted pairs separated by a few inches in a bi wire configuration (to prevent induction cross feeding of the the bass cable into the high frequency cable) feeding Vandersteen 3a signatures. The Anti Cables provide a very clean and clear sound.
Stringreen, read the post before you bloviate.  The OP said the wire was "almost as stiff as a metal wire coat hanger".  Big difference.  But then again, what can one expect from someone who thinks exotic speaker cables make any real difference in sound. Ohms law rules..   
On my Usher BE 718's, I had been using a "full range" Grover Huffman cable w/ his silver ribbon jumpers.

I purchased a used pair of Anti-Cables level 2 shotgun.

The positive difference was night & day!

This may be that the anti-cable construction (shotgun) is a better way to drive the Ushers?

mofi, It may be useful for you to elaborate on the (system) in which you are referring to in which you "didn't like them".

I've since upgraded my speakers to Usher Mini Diamonds. Using the same cables. Awesome!