Audience Au24 vs. Ridge Street Audio?

I didn't know Deano could be so *eloquent*...

I truly believe the RSA Poiema's are very high quality cabling and most likely will work great in most systems. However, it is also worth noting that system matching is critical. I know RSA claims they are not a tuning cable, however there are certain factors out there, such as some speakers will not work well with silver speaker wire or cabling. I called the Cable Company and talked extensively to find out many speakers don't mate well with silver, no matter the brand. I had that unfortunate experience with the Poiema's on my Meadowlark Nighthawks, in which should never sound the way they were interracting with the silver cabling. I was told from the research done in their records Meadowlarks prefer solid core copper, etc. I switched everything out to Synergistic Research Resolution Reference X2 and am astounded. Center image and pinpoint imaging in focus... sounstage well behind the speakers, well outside the speakers, almost as wide as the walls in the room. Harmonics, timbre, in spades, yet much quieter background.

I don't want to inflame any of the RSA camp, trust me, I kept wanting them to work and get better, but well into the extended trial period it was obvious it was not a match for my speakers/system.

With that being said, if or when in question on cabling I would strongly suggest looking into the Cable Company or the like in which you can borrow 3 or 4 different companies products that are already broken in and compare as to what works best with your system.

Kirk, the Poiema's were too much cable for your system. They would be too much in mine, too. When you e-mailed me asking about the cables and listing your gear I knew it, but wasn't going to knock down your enthusiasm. Some poeple must have the 'best', whatever that means. Because of that the Poiema's have been Robert's best seller, even though he wasn't promoting them at all. The Midnight Silver Edition's are as far as one should go in a class B system, IMO.

Copper cables quieter? You mean rolled off! Silver cables like the Ridge Street will let noise & digital glare through. If your electricity & digital glare are not under control then it's not fair to blame the silver cables.

Just a friendly reality check..

Whoa , hold on boys. If I knew nothing about Ridge Street Audio's Poeima's and read the above two posts , I would conclude that the cables only sound good with special speakers and a $100,000 system. The basics on my system are a Classe CDP-10, a Classe SSP-60, a Classe 301 and Legacy Signature III speakers. In my system the Poeima's sound great. I discovered this when I owned Audience AU 24 cables but this applies to any cables as far as Im concerned. On your digital front end , you should use some type of PC filtering whether it be a Power cord , Power conditioner or both. {Every cable, interconnect and speaker} should never touch a power cord . This reduces dramatically any "noise" or "glare" coming down the stream. I would hardly call my system Class A, and the Poeima's in my system are not "too much" , they are "perfecto" .

Psychicanimal- No, I am not one of those that "have to have the best." I chose components for their performance, not their price tag. The same holds true with cabling, as well as the RSA in MY system. I actually talked to Robert about this, as he also felt there was either a impedance or capacitance (don't recall which) issue between the preamp and the amp perhaps. He also offered to make another cable to correct the situation and send it out right away. Robert and his cables are first rate. I truly wish there were more companies like his! However, with that being said I made the post due to letting others know there is always something to be said for system matching. Most of the time system synergy comes into play when you least expect it.

I was not just going off on a tangent about RSA. I spoke with many on the cable interaction... from the manufacturer of equipment, to the Cable Company, who keeps track of systems and what works well with some speaker lines. For expample - from what I was told there are several dozen speakers out there that do not mate well with silver. Silver. Not RSA, but any silver cable. I wasn't trying to knock RSA, but to inform others that some speakers will react better to some cables than other. I don't chose cables to be a "tuning device" and that is what attracted me to Ridge Street Audio. I chose components on performance. In this particular case there was a mismatch somewhere. I was told that in particular Meadowlark speakers don't mate well with silver. Is that a fact? I don't know. Do I know how it sounded? Yes - the Ridge Street Audio Poiema's in my system sounded as if one speaker were wired out of phase. It was not "noise" or "digital glare" as you mentioned in your post. It was a compressed soundstage, and a prominant "reverb" in harmonics when there was a complex passage in the music.

As for copper cables quieter, again I don't know. I am not proposing them. If you take the time to look at my system I can assure you I don't have system "noise." Since the insertion of the Balanced Power Technologies BPT-3.5 Signature the background is dead quiet. Again, if you look at my system, I use an Electrocompaniet EMC-1UP for digital front end, many, many users here on A'gon will attest to this being one of the most analog sounding cd players out there! "digital glare?" - don't think so from there. Perhaps the Quicksilver tube gear or the Meadowlarks are inherently producing the noise or glare? Don't think so, as you can hear a pin drop now. Why? I can't say. I didn't purchase the "best" cabling from Synergistic Research but again basing on how I personally judge gear, by its performance, there is no comparison - and I will state again in my system. I won't necessarily take a back seat to the Synergistic Research being berated or saying it is rolled off... I actually think it is a copper silver combo, I don't know. I didn't ask. If they didn't work extremely well - I wouldn't keep them in my system either. As you would say, it is not fair to blame poor electricity and digital glare if there is none. In my experience, in my system, it was the silver cables that caused the sonic problems.

Again my point was system matching is a factor. If you have the ability to "borrow" 3 or 4 manufacturers cables form a company such as the Cable Company I encourage you to along with the Poiema's! Listen for yourself, in your system.

Neither the Ridge Street Audio Poiema's or the Synergistic Research Resolution Reference X2 are inexspensive. With the amount it cost me to biwire, and run two pair of interconnect would equal in most cases the cost of a component. The sonic differences between the two were not subtle, and were substantial. I don't have a money tree in my back yard, and I assume most others work hard to earn their money as well as permission from the wife... so when you are at the point to drop that amount of money on cabling I would suggest trying a few different cables in that price range and make an educated decision for yourself, in your system. There can be major sonic differences.

Happy listening!