New owner of used Cary 306 SACD

Deliberate1, nope. No comments. Haven't worked with either one. Each company has its own "science" (some with what seems to be very sensible science, and some less so) behind their design.

Magnan Cables uses an extremely flat "sheet" of copper as a conductor. MIT uses passive networks. Jena Labs uses multiple stranded wires which are braided. Tara uses single rectangular solid core conductors in air dielectric. Wire World uses multiple small gauge conductors in individual dielectric. Everyone's got their thing!

Silver coated copper is not a must have, but definitely worth checking out if you have the means. If you have a silver conductor PC and a copper conductor PC definitely switch them around (say, on the cdp, pre, or amp) as that alone can yield an interesting difference in sound.

Douglas. many thanks for your time.

Deliberate1, just last night I had a chance to hear the Anticables for the first time. A very kind local audiophile allowed me to come over and hear his rig. He runs the introductory Prima Luna integrated, a Lector cdp and Von Schweikert VR-1 monitors, and sub. Clean sound from a compact system.

We moved a rug into the listening area to cut down on floor reflections from the hardwood floor. Also adjusted the output of the sub a bit.

I took along a set of Wire World Equinox ICs to try between the Lector and the Prima Luna. Huge difference which easily passed my Law of Efficacy. As to whether the difference was positive or negative, I felt it was 100% positive. The owner felt so as well.

I had wondered what the Anticables sounded like. To my ear they are the equivalent of the 40 year old vintage copper wire (which to my eye looks to be the same gauge) with a thin cotton dielectric that a manufacturer gave me to try. It (meaning the results of both the vintage wire and the Anticables) sounded OK, but when compared to contemporary, more advanced designs was fairly lacking. The Equinox 5 Squared had a much more exploded/expanded sound stage, as well as better depth, a very solid/higher "density" sound versus pixilated, and the voices of singers went from being created by a mouth to an entire torso.

People can draw their own conclusions. The distinction between the two sounds was so great as to be unquestionable, as I said, easily passing the Law of Efficacy. (Again, I'm not going to debate these things; these are my findings with direct comparisons, and no one is going to change my mind about it through their logic or argument.)

My host seemed surprised at just how much difference there was between the Anticables and Wire World ICs. I was not so much surprised at how much difference there was between cables, but that it was so easily discerned on an economical rig. One reason that may be is the fact that his system is streamlined - cdp/integrated/speakers. It's a great way to get primo results. Only one set of cables/link in the upstream components.

Douglas, perhaps IC's will be my next quest.
Cheers.
D1

Del- you have indeed done well. It is a great player. I was grateful to have the chance to try out a 306. I would give it a try with a passive linestage if I were you. It certainly has the balls for it!

ET