Audience Au24 vs. Ridge Street Audio?

Let me respond to Robert with what I hope is an "on topic" post:)A few months ago I decided (before I had heard of RSA)that my Krell KMA 160s/Wilson Watt-Puppy 3/2's were too "harsh" for my ears and I started looking for a new Amp (tube) (Separate thread in Amps). This is taking longer than I had hoped because of a dearth of dealers in Connecticut selling the tube amps that I am looking for, so in the meantime, I changed my front-end and tried various cables from The Cable Company and also RSA Poiema! balanced interconnects. I really liked the Poiema! between the Esoteric DV-50 and ML-32 pre-amp. It was my first choice (vs Syn Res Ref x2, Au 24, and various others, although I must confess that the cramped space behind my set-up made the RSA cables a breeze to install (vs the heavy PAD cables - however, I did hook up the Vensustas for a short time and still liked the RSA the most after a shorter listening period than maybe a true reviewer would give - it was enough time to savor the dynamics, depth and sparkle of the sound (not the cable, Robert!!) -just seemed more musically pleasing. So I kept the Poiema! cables. Then I did what I have wanted others to do for me - but nobody has obliged - compared Poiema! with PDA Venustas/Dominus Speaker cables. What happened, is either a reflection of what I knew before - (which I suspect) or else a function of the cables (which I doubt) :the Krell/Watt Puppy combination is too harsh, lean, almost, but not quite glaring (my wife said it was brightly harsh and left the room - she exaggerates......)with the Poiema! cables and with the Venustas was pleasing, mellow and laid-back to an acceptable - but still, to me, neither musical enough nor "warm" enough for my taste. However, I believe that the fact that the RSA cables sounded so good with a front end of gear that is probably neutral and accurate and too bright with a system that is probably too lean/ bright to start with,is affirmation of what Robert is saying. Poiema! cables are in my opinion extremely dynamic and accurate, and, in my opinion, just showed me what I already knew......
I will put my money where my mouth (or pen) is, and keep these cables until I get my new amp, which I hope will be an Atma-sphere if I can find a used one, and will then compare it to PAD Venustas again. If they are still too lean and bright, you'll see Poiema! cables for sale. But I wouldn't count on that!
For what it's worth, on my junior rig, in a small room, the Poiema! sounds glorious on a modified Jolida 502B/Totem Sig 1 set-up.
(The RSA were still "better" - in terms of tonality and range than the Au-24 in my speaker cable tests, behind Syn Res and Harm Tech Magic Woofer as well as Venustas - which is how this thread started!!)

Robert, you did real good! Congratulations. BTW, my little sister tried your MSE Gen II's between her DAC and classic NAD 7125 receiver when I set up her stereo back in October and she wanted to keep them! She said that of everything that was done to her system they made the most improvement. She wanted them for free, of course...

One more thing quickly, I owe Darrylhifi a humble apology. Please forgive me for lumping you in the "last 4 posts" Darryl. I actually didn't consider your post as part of what could could have been the degradation of this thread. I assumed people would get that and that was wrong of me to make that assumption. As usual, when one (I) assumes, it makes an ass out of u and mes (I've never been able to figure the "mes" part).

And now I feel I must also apologize for having to post this but if I didn't, I think that would be the greater wrong.

Bumbly,
Robert

Ridgestreetaudio,
although I was the one asking for advice, I did not get the feeling the thread went off-topic. Interesting questions were raised. I, for one, have found the advice of Robert Stein of the Cable Company to be as helpful as correct.
Thanks everybody for advice. Unfortunately, nobody seems to have experience with the Virtual Image ICs. If I were in the US, I´d give them a try, but living in Moscow I will go for cables I can easily sell off if the result is not to my liking. Reading all your advice and other threads on this forum and elsewhere, I have just taken advantage of Audio Advisor´s special sale and ordered 2 PS Audio Statement ICs to try. I tried their power cable against Shunyata Black Mamba, the Eichmann power cable, a HMS and a LAT, and the PS Audio trumped them all. Maybe their IC is of the same quality. On top of that, I will order the new Pure Note Cerulean IC and speaker cable. And if the distributor here in Moscow is right, he shall receive Audience 24 cables soon which I will try as well. I will post about the results.

I have never heard of Ridge Street Audio cables until this. Interesting..

KiD