I recently had the opportunity to substitute a pair of balanced Ridge Street Audio Poiema 3 signature I/C's in place of Purist Audio Design Aqueous Anniversary I/C's. They were used between a Resolution Audio Opus 21 cdp and an Aesthetix Calypso preamp. I thought the differences were quite substantial in favor of the RSA Poiema. The Poiema's gave the music more air and life. I thought the Poiema was more extended in both frequency extremes. The front to back layering was far better, as well as some added width. The most important difference however was the inner detail and timbral accuracy that each instrument, and even notes posessed. The strings on Acoustic guitar had a much more complexed harmonic structure. I was hearing instruments conveyed in a far more thruthful manner. The Poiema's consistantly brought more inner detail to every instrument on the many discs I sampled. The Aqueous are known for having a mid-range liquidity and presence, so I thought perhaps they would out-perform the Poiema's in this area. The Poiema's midrange was nothing short of spectacular. It retained the liquidity of the Aqueous, but was more refined and overall a much more tonally balanced cable. There is nothing in the frequency spectrum that stands out more than anything else with the Poiema's, it is very coherent and balanced top to bottom. The Aqueous sounded slow, dark, a little thick, and veiled by comparison. I have used Purist's products for five years, and really think they are an outstanding product, however the Poiema's in my sytem were seriously good.I felt the differences between these two cables warranted a comment or two. Thanx
