2. member-reviews
  3. 1052269499

Review: Ridge Street Audio Midnight Silver Edition Interconnect

Category: Cables

Associated Music:

Patricia Barber Companion
Count Basie 88 Basie Street
Tracy Chapman New Beginning
Golden String Audio Repertory Top 12 In Gold
Norah Jones Come Away With Me
Luther Kent Luther Kent & Trick Bag Live
Diana Krall Live In Paris
Hugh Masekela Hope
Buddy Rich Keep the Customer Satisfied
Sonny Rollins This Is What I Do
Santana Supernatural

I’m an independent audiophile and have no association with any manufacturer whatsoever. I was very content with my interconnects and speaker cables, which I purchased in March of 2002. A friend had purchased a pair of Ridge Street Audio Midnight Silver Edition Interconnects and told me I had to hear these, so he brought them over and we put them into my system. Since I need to use two pairs of interconnects in order to make sure my reference interconnects weren’t masking any sounds. I ended up with two pairs of Midnight Silver Edition interconnects and a pair of Midnight Silver Edition speaker cables for review purpose.

Before I begin the review, let me state up front that I believe interconnects and speaker cables can be system-dependent. In addition, I also think audiophiles are capable of liking different products. Just because I prefer item A and you like item B does not mean one of us is wrong. We can agree to disagree over personal choices. My review is based upon listening results from my tube system and my Solid State system.

The Midnight Silver Edition interconnects and speaker cables are fantastic sounding products. If I had not heard them for myself, I never would have believed that they could have sounded better than my reference interconnects and speaker cables that I was very happy with!

The Midnight Silver Edition are extremely fast, neutral and transparent. They don’t favor one frequency band over another, and are very coherent, allowing me to hear deep within a recording. There is a wider and more dimensional soundstage with a deep fast bass, sweeter mids and extended silky highs with a timbre to kill for. There is a very black background that reveals the detail in a very positive manner, even when listening at very quiet levels.

Construction of the Midnight Silver Edition interconnects and speaker cables is excellent.

The Midnight Silver Edition speaker cables bettered my reference speaker cables (no doubt in my mind) by a larger margin. (I heard the same improvements as mentioned above).

The interconnects that I have owned over the past four years were all good. However, the Midnight Silver Edition interconnects and speaker cables are number one to me in my audio systems. I highly recommend you give them a try if you are in the market for interconnects and/or speaker cables.

Associated gear
Tube:
First Sound Presence Audio Linestage I
Wadia Transport #20
Dodson Audio Model DA-217 MK II D
Cary 2A3 Monoblocks that sit upon SP 004 Sistrum Platforms including three direct coupled Audio Points or Bel-Canto EVO 200.2 Amp
Equi=Tech 2Q Power Balancer
Abby Speakers ported, modified Voight pipe with Fostex FE 166 E speakers or Legacy Studio Speakers
Velodyne F-1200X Subwoofer with Bass Euphoria RAC interconnects
Bybee Quantum Force – single ended Interconnect Filters
Bybee Quantum speaker filters
Pure Note Epsilon Reference Speaker Cables
Pure Note Epsilon Reference Interconnects
Purist Proteus Digital Cable
Purist Proteus 20 Amp Power Cord
BMI Whale Elite MK I Power Cord
BMI Whale Elite MK II Power Cords
BMI Shark Power Cords
Absolute Power Cord (cryogenically treated)
Virtual Dynamic Power Three Cryo Power Cord
Audio Points under all componenty
Salamander Archetype 5.0 with Mega-spikes
Dedicated 20 Amp circuits with FIM #880 (cryogenically treated), Wattgate 381 (cryogenically treated), Hubbell 8300’s and 5362 (cryogenically treated) outlets.

Solid State:

Legacy High Current Amplifier 250 watts/ 8 ohms, 400 watts/ 4 ohms
Legacy High Current Preamp
Legacy Signature III Speakers (4 ohms)

Similar products
Cardas Golden Reference IC’s and SC.
Maple Shade Clearview IC’s
Silver Audio Appassionata IC's and Silver Symphony 48 SC.
Bear Lab Silver Lighting IC and SC.
Granite Audio # 470 IC
Audience Au24 IC and SC
HMS Topline IC and SC (not the brand new ones they came out with recently).
Pure Note Epsilon Reference IC’s and S/C.
lak
lak's avatar
lak OP
4,751 posts
 
Poorguy,
Are you referring to physical characteristics of sound/music or a description of the interconnects and speaker cables?
viggen
838 posts
 
Lak,

Can you compare the Bear Silver Lightning to the Ridge Street IC? Thanks.
lak's avatar
lak OP
4,751 posts
 
Hi Viggen,
I thought the Bear Silver Lighting were neutral and I liked them however I learned that they did not allow my audio gear to perform to their fullest potential. Everything is more musical, transparent, and dimensional with greater bass, mids, highs and outstanding timbre. Don’t misunderstand what I’m trying to say, from the Bear Labs I felt I moved up the ladder, HMS Topline, Granite Audio #470, Pure Note Epsilon Reference, etc.
poorguy
90 posts
 
Sonic characteristics.
psychicanimal
1,738 posts
 
Poorguy, these interconnects have made my system sound realistic for the first time. Before using them it sounded like an excellent sonic illusion, with a high degree of *fun factor*.

The interconnects have no sonic characteristics per se and that's the beauty of them. What I find most characteristic of the Ridge Street Audio is that they convey the force, speed and robustness of live music (if the rest of your system is capable of).

Technically speaking, the interface between conductor and insulation is extremely tight and vibration resistant. The conductor is custom made, cryogenically treated and fused with hydraulic clamping instead of soldering.

I have been totally surprised at the way some of my old, poorly recorded salsa CD's can sound. With Mapleshade CDs it's unbelievable: everything is there. I am so impressed that I asked Robert if he could do the rewiring of my modded Technics 1200 tonearm wires and istall custom, hard wired interconnects. I heard reports of a modded 1200 outperforming a VPI TNT and an ultra modded Linn Sondek, so I figure using custom Ridge Street phono interconnects will be definitely worthwhile.

Now, I do not understand what you mean by equaling the terms "tangible body" with "sonic characteristics".
More to discover