Anechoic: Free From Echoes

Anechoic means free from echoes or non-reflective. You record music inside an anechoic chamber, and you cover a stealth fighter with an anechoic coating. 

It’s something that absorbs and deadens sound, and thus is a great name for a silencer company — provided the cans can deliver. Originally named Alpha Silencers until early 2024, Anechoic hails from one of the states that’s a superspreader of silencers: Utah.

Anechoic’s new centerfire suppressor line, AnechoX, premiered at our CANCON event in Arizona earlier this year. More than that, each VIP attendee at CANCON got an Anechoic of their choice. 

These user-serviceable suppressors are available in standard (6.6 inches) and “L”/long (8.2 inches) sizes with bores designed for .223, .300, .350, and .450 projectiles. At the time of this writing, there are a total of eight centerfire configurations. (And oh yeah, there’s also a rimfire version rated to 5.7mm that only weighs 2.5 ounces you’ll see later too 😉).

You’ll notice the weight as soon as you pick one up. The standard is a hair over 9 ounces including the mount.

From tail to tip, the grade 5 titanium exterior tube has tastefully machined swirls and is coated in Cerakote C (unless you go with the unfinished option). You smartly start off with a HUB universal mounting base. No diving into proprietary pitches and muzzle devices here; while each silencer ships with a direct thread mount, you have endless aftermarket options. 

Though you’d expect a suppressor to have a 1.5-inch diameter, Anechoic went with 1.6. This extra wiggle allows them to have a ridge at the base just above the mounting threads, which not only means that not everything falls out the ass end in the absence of a mount but also ensures real HUB device compatibility. 

If you just looked at an X-ray of a centerfire Anechoic can, you might be left with the impression that there’s nothing special going on, just a tube and some baffles. Firstly, “a tube and some baffles” can be a wonderful combination with just a little consideration, given how much of the silencer industry runs on designs Dr. Phil Dater (see RECOIL Issue 42) did in the 1990s. But secondly (and importantly), these plain looks are definitely deceiving here. 

There’s a removable 17-4 steel liner for the expansion chamber followed by a blast baffle of the same. The outside of the blast chamber isn’t a straight tube but instead machined similar to the exterior to ensure it’s accessible for cleaning and maintenance. 

Anechoic employs some key pieces of technology inside all of their wares to disrupt and change the flow of gas, with the number one being the X-Baffle. When you examine one, you’ll notice what looks like screw threads along the inside. These are actually serrations, first demonstrated as gas flow disrupters with prong flash hiders and serve the same role here; this is one of those small touches that really sets Anechoic apart.

Each X-Baffle nests into the next, with a precision-machined lip to ensure alignment. They don’t snap together — designs like that seem to always get stuck — but you know when you’ve done it right. There’s a square notch cut from every titanium X-Baffle stem and combined with ports in each lower cone keeps gas away from the centerline.

It’s finished off with the endcap, which features angled ports for gas flow-through to reduce backpressure. It’s left-hand twist with large, flat ACME threads — no more wondering if you’re taking the endcap or the silencer off the mount when you start twisting. The center of the endcap is cut for a T60 Torx bit (included) if it’s being particularly stubborn. In addition to the T60 bit, you get a tool to aid in disassembly and mount swapping. 

FURTHER 

So, you can run it on everything from pistols to more powerful rifles. For the world of tilt-action semiautomatic pistols, HUB boosters like those from SilencerCo, Yankee Hill Machining (which they sell), and Griffin Armament fit flush. 

What’s the catch? The baffle designs are similar with every can regardless of caliber. The long versions get two more inches and two more X-Baffles and the bores get discrepant diameters, but there’s fundamentally no dominant difference in design. Would the silencers be more capable if they were more tailored to individual calibers? Almost certainly. With this level of universality comes compromise, but how these work is a step above the multi-caliber monocores of the previous generation.

As there’s no free lunch, here what makes it lightweight gives it some limitations. Anechoic lists restrictions on each model, and while there are minor variations they’re listed at 50 rounds full-auto of 5.56, 20 rapid-fire rounds in 7.62/.308, and to not exceed 800F/426C without cooling. 

LOOSE ROUNDS

Anechoic is making good, lightweight, general-purpose suppressors. Not just OK, but good. The AnechoX is light enough and effective enough that combined with the HUB base you can put it on almost any rifle or pistol that you own. 

This would make for an excellent first silencer. Not only is it auditorily acceptable on most guns, but since you can use it on so many, you can figure out which silencer to buy next. For example, shooting suppressed handguns isn’t for everyone; it would suck to learn you hate shooting your semiauto Smith & Wesson with a silencer only after shelling out for a dedicated can. 

We always recommend you try before you buy when it comes to silencers; it’s one of the reasons we started CANCON, but sometimes you simply won’t use it in a given role as much as you think.

With the titanium construction you’re not going to want to put it on a machine gun or a hard-running AR-15 — something purpose-built is better in that situation anyway — but on an AR in your bedroom? No problem. 

While we’re sure that Anechoic would be more than happy to sell someone the entire AnechoX line, if you’re only going to get one, our recommendation would be the AnechoX 35. It’s small, works well enough on both rifles and pistols, and it’s lightweight.

All in all, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts; the smaller touches add up on the Anechoic AnechoX. 

SPECS:

• Anechoic AnechoX [223/30/35/45]
• Length: 6.6 inches (standard), 8.2 inches (long)
• Weight: 9.1 ounces (standard), 11 ounces (long)
• Materials: Titanium, stainless steel
• MSRP: $1,099 – $1,249

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