First I want to thank Robert Schultz for sending out his "audition pack" of cables, since I have wanted to hear some quality "silver" in my system and see what it might bring to the table.
Due to the "logistics" of my system set up I was only able to audition the Midnight Silver Edition Gen II speaker cables and a pair of the Same level RCA interconnects.
The interconnects were placed from the Denon DVD2200 analog outputs to the inputs of my Integra P303 preamp. The Speaker Cables were placed of course to the speakes.
I was comparing these to my current Reference cables which are AudioQuest Jaguars w/DBS (dielectric bias system) interconnects and CV-6 w/DBS speaker cables.
While the RS are silver, the AudioQuest are termed Perfect Surface Copper.
The Ridgestreet cables list for:
$625 for a 6 foot pair of Speaker Cables
$650 for a 1 meter pair of RCA/RCA interconnect
The AudioQuest list for:
$400 for an 8 foot pair of speaker cables
$300 for a meter pair of interconnects
I used three primary cuts to make the listening evaluations"
1) Josh Groban - "You are here"
2) Bela FLeck - "Flight of the Cosmic Hippo"
3) Blacklight Syndrome - (Have to supply the name later)
So what did I hear?
Plenty. Which one was better? Actually neither. As is often the case
I did my listening in different combinations. Since I use VMPS 626Rs with the FST tweeter, I have a rather revealing system and this can be glorius as well as a "curse" if the upstream chain is not in pretty good shape.
First i inserted the Ridge Street speaker cables.
(still using the AQ Jags for interconnects)
What differences did I hear? Very small changes in a slightly leaner midrange and slightly "clearer" high end. Contrary to what I expected the bass did not fall off to any significant degree although I might say that if anything it might have been a touch leaner than the total AQ bass I was used to.
And I have to emphasize these are very small differences and required much A/Bing to hear them.
Then I A/B'd with the AQ Jag speaker cables:
Found the Jags slightly warmer, with a bit more body in the bass. Detail and soundstage were very good and arguably a bit better by virtue of the slightly richer body. Soundstage was wide and tall and imaging was incredibly deep and textured
Then I switched to the Ridge Street Interconnect and the AQ Jag speaker cables:
Much the same result as adding their speaker cables. Very clean and clear sound with just a touch less body. But this seemed to have extremely good depth whcih may have been caused by the clairity of the detail.
Then I did the "all AQ" combo:
Deep 3-D soundstage with incredible blackness between instruments, with very full frequency spectrum from top to bottom.
Then I did the Ridge Street "full Monty":
BINGO!! this is the ticket. While using the cables individually they offer some nice sounds, the synergy of using them together seems to offer the best overall sonics.
Bass deepened and became more full bodied, the midrange bloomed a bit more (although still leaner than the AQ) and the Dynamics and transients were smoother (as in leading edges of metallic instruments like cymbals was more lifelike at the leading edge)
So in conclusion, I would say that these are "exceptional" cables and I am certainly glad that I got to hear them in my system. Silver "is" the real deal, as far as clairity and detail. Where it may give up a "slight bit of warmth" it certainly add back in with resolving power. And don't worry about giving up much bass. These in some recordings matched or exceeded my Reference Cables which are "exceptionally clean in that dept.
If you already have a cold system you may want to mix and match a bit, but if you have a "warmer" system you might find the Full Monty RS package quite to your liking.
While I have grwon to really like my AQs in the soundstage and -D depth dept, I have to say that the RidgeStreets certainly equal that quality in their own way.
Now if I have one slight criticism, it is purely a small one. The terminations are somewhat stiff and short, which makes them just a bit difficult to use (small change), but it also makes them subject to "touching" if you are not real careful when connecting and disconnecting (as in the A/B'ing I had to do.
In fact I did tocuh them and was praying that I didn't "fry" my amp
Thank good ness it was OK
But as an overall rating, I can say I would highly recomend trying these in your system. If what they did in my system is any indication, you may find they will "light up" you soundstage, depth, and detail.
If you have a slightly warm or dark sound these could "turn it up a notch" and "BAM" you have some real good sound.
As always, you impressions may differ based on your system, setting, hearing and preferences.
Thanks Robert, these were a good listen
They may also be good for "Masked Men" and doing away with WhereWolves, but that's another post
Who was that "masked man"? (depends on who you ask ehh Tonto?)
