[lonewolfny42]

OK.........OK........OK.......... the verdict is in............I prefer the Plain M&M's over the Peanut M&M's ! Their smoother and quieter, without the crunch ............. Now on to the real reason your reading this post!   Robert Schult of Ridge Street Audio Designs was kind enough to send his Midnight Silver Edition Gen. II cables out for Audio Circle members to try in their home system. The package contained a pair of speaker cables, two pair of IC's - rca, one pair IC's - xlr, and one digital cable. Upon their arrival , I first installed the digital cable between my Phillips CD-80 player and a stock ART/DIO dac. This replaced a Stereovox HDXV cable. Cd's sounded clearer.I let the music flow for about 30 minutes. Next, the two pair of IC's were installed. One pair between the Dio and my Audio Research SP-9 mkII preamp, the other between the SP-9 and my Krell KSA-100 mkII amp. Now the system really started to come alive ! Finally, I added the speaker cables between the Krell and my Mirage M-3 speakers. I could not believe what I was hearing ! ! No B/S ! That's about the time I wrote "We're Dance'in Now !!"

The music flowed, natural,detailed,clean ! It's sounds crazy- it was such an improvement ! The bass was strong and firm. Mids and hi's were smooth. I felt like I had just bought a new system![/list:u] The cables I had been useing, Zu Cable Wax speaker cables and Zu Warmouth IC's, never gave me the sounds I was hearing ! On James Taylor's new cd, "October Road" - he was here, center stage, sweet guitar work, silky smooth vocals, the snap of the snare drum, the pluck of the bass, all crystal clear ! I'm still shaking my head !
You know, you read different reviews, and they say "a veil was lifted, and everything sounded clearer". Well thats how I felt !![/list:u] Another example, AudioQuest's Works of Art, Vol. 1 (an excellent cd),is a fine cd with various artists. Every cut sounded fantastic. I love to hear fine details in music. I'm always listening for sounds.On a few tracks there are some great bass lines that stand out. With the Ridge Street cables, I felt the bass lines had such authority, that it seemed I was listening to a system that had a sub woofer! I don't !
I must of played over fifty cds while I had the cables in my system. The good ones sounded great, the crappy ones.... still sound like crap . I had plenty of time to compare things, it was snowing , so no place to go.[/list:u] I pulled out a couple of other IC's I had on hand.Kimber KC-1 , Zu Disco , Modern Audio Designs Pearl 1's ,  Audioquest Jade, and again the Zu Warmouths. I placed each IC between my CD-80 player (it has a variable output) and the Krell amp. The speaker cables were still Ridge Street. One on one , each IC could not compare to the Ridge Street IC.
All of the cables from Ridge Street were light, well made, directional marked, and of the highest quality, IMHO ! Info about and care of, was included in each package.I think I've given you some idea of the enjoyment  I had with these cables.I hope others give them a try in their systems.Thats the ONLY way you'll know if they are your "cup of tea"!
Sad to say , the cables have moved on. That spark in my system is not here now. Still sounds good, but sounded "Much" better when they were here ! So I'll be putting my money where my mouth is, Robert expect my order shortly - I need that sparkle back ![/list:u]..................... One other thing I'd like to say. I enjoy this website! It has an excellent mix of members and manufactures, which I feel is unique. Some of these companys, I had never heard of. By reading about their products and services, and with the different home auditions that they have sponsored, my knowledge of audio has increased.As I have said before, try before you buy. This home audition has helped me get the best from my system. If it was not available, I would not have known about the company or the improvement that it has made in my system. I urge companys to run more home auditions. For your benifit, and ours! My hats off to Robert Schult for this audition. Thanks !!

[satfrat]

Bravo Wolfy sounds like your talking from the heart, and I happen to agree with most of your observations but I must disagree on one. GIVE ME THE NUT! Those damn plains melt all to quick and besides, nuts and this hobby go hand in hand. Other than that, I' glad it as an enjoyable Nor'eastner for ya. Now go replace them shoes!    Regards, Robin

[Lak]

lonewolfny42,
Nice review, I know it came from your heart.  I can't say that it surprises me, as I've said before I've tried and written reviews on the Generation I and II this past Summer and Fall on Audiogon, my thoughts were the same as yours (in a bit more detail) and the products are in my system.
I anxiously await the arrival of the digital cable (this Friday) and will post a review!

[audiojerry]

Another Believer! Thanks Lonewolf!

I am a Zu owner, also, and I've put my Wax and Varial up against many contenders, and the Zu had won every duel (except for some hand made  wire from Tritium). That's why it was so shocking when I discovered how dramatically better the Ridge Street was. Like Lonewolf said, it excels at details, but with absolutely no brightness or harshness that so many silver designs display, and with rock solid articulate bass.  

Lak, I am looking forward to learning about your experience with the digital, since you've done so much research in that area. It will be interesting to hear how it compares to your reference I2S.

I must find out how good that Poiema is.  

[vpolineni]

audiojerry said:

I must find out how good that Poiema is.  

They're damn good.  

[audiojerry]

They're damn good.  

I'm   with envy. Which pieces do you have?

[vpolineni]

audiojerry,
  i have a 3' pair of the poiema interconnects and a 6' pair of the speaker cables with bybees attached on the positive legs.

[vpolineni]

audiojerry,
  i have a 3' pair of the poiema interconnects and a 6' pair of the speaker cables with bybees attached on the positive legs.  I couldn't afford robert's power cord... I am probably going to try a Chris Venhaus flavor 4 instead.

[Lak]

I use the flavor 4 power cord, and I think it's very good!

I'm also waiting to receive two pair if the Poiema interconnects and one pair of the Poiema speaker cables. As robert says he has not forgotten about me, but it's going to take a while longer.

[zybar]

I use Flavor 4's with Gold option on my Kora Cosmos Reference Mono Blocs and like them a lot.  The Flavor 4's replaced Audience and Acoustic Zen power cords.

BTW, I did just try the Midnight Gen II ic's and speaker cable.  Although they were nice, I preferred the Argent Audio Jaden Signature.  I will post my comparison in the next week or so with the details.  After talking with Robert, it seems that maybe I should have tried the Poiema instead of the Midnight Gen II.

GW

[Lak]

I failed to say that I can hear a difference, and recommend the Flavor 4, cryo'd with the gold plated ends.

[satfrat]

lonewolfny42,
Nice review, I know it came from your heart.  I can't say that it surprises me, as I've said before I've tried and written reviews on the Generation I and II this past Summer and Fall on Audiogon, my thoughts were the same as yours (in a bit more detail) and the products are in my system.
I anxiously await the arrival of the digital cable (this Friday) and will post a review!

         I too await your views on Robert's digital against your "stash" of digital cables Lak. I know how much I love mine but then again, I haven't had anything to compare them with. And you've always been dead on with your opinions that I have been able to compare my own with. It'll be interesting to see/hear how the MSE digital measures up. Regards, Robin

[Robert C. Schult]

Good morning Lonewolf and 'Circlers.
 
Wanted to take a bit of space here and again say Thank You to Lonewolf for spending time with our cabling. It's very gratifying to me that we are able to make a positive difference in the enjoyment of your music. It gets me jazzed!  

I've posted this to a few people inquiring about our cables and thought it might be of interest to all of you. I love the unorthodox, tinkering and the discovery in learning. I'm a bit dyslexic and that has contributed to me seeing things a little differently sometimes. How that relates to our cabling is that I'm always looking for incremental (my new favorite word) ways to improve our product. One of the things I've taken some pride in is the surface finishing of our conductors. It's one of those things that has to be done here for it to be what I want. I believe a conductor's surface is very important in getting certain parts of the audio spectrum right. If we could get our surfaces smoother than glass, that would be ideal. As of this past weekend, we're getting closer and all our cabling will incorporate this improvement. The sonic result is not earth shattering but it's another detail that I find worth while to get more of the music's coloring providing a given system can portray it and that that kind of care was taken in the recording. At the very least, cymbals, for example, sound even more like cymbals and a harp in a large hall sounds more like a harp in a large hall...with more of a sense of you in the midst of the venue rather than you looking in. More "effortless" would be a good one word descriptive. I love it!

Anyway, thought maybe others of you might share a little in our excitement. I'll certainly keep everyone posted as other new developments take place.

Thank you again Lonewolf for taking time to post your impressions and I trust it's helpful to some of you. I appreciated your conveying more of the emotional excitement and impact your system was portraying since that's what I believe our cables are about as opposed to making your comments an intellectual exercise of what you observed. Nice job!