Anyone tried Shunyata's Antares interconnect yet ?


I have heard that Shunyata's got a good interconnect with their new Helix construction with the Antares....Has anybody actually listened to it ??? If anybody has, let me know your thoughts.....
garebear

Showing 2 responses by gbmcleod

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."
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).