Cable Asylum: REVIEW: Ridge Street Audio Designs Poiema Speaker cable Cable by oldzmann

Model:	Poiema Speaker cable
Category:	Cable
Suggested Retail Price:	1200
Description:	Flat, Silver speaker cables
Manufacturer URL:	Ridge Street Audio Designs
Manufacturer URL:	Ridge Street Audio Designs

Review by oldzmann ( A ) on June 25, 2004 at 15:11:59
IP Address: 192.55.52.1

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Background: I have been through a number of mid-fi speaker cables; like Audioquest, Tara Labs, Kimber, MIT, Tributaries, Wireworld, LAT International and plain old 14g copper wire. With regard to (RCA) Interconnects I have used versions of all of the above plus Bogdan, Siltech and RS Audio. An honorable mention here to LAT with respect to price/performance. However there are better cables and it just takes some extra money to go there. Initially I had settled on LAT interconnects but they were beat out by the Bogdan Silver, RS Audio Duet and Siltech G5, with the Siltech SQ-28 G5 being noticeably better than the others mentioned. I now have a mix of the last 3 mentioned but the following speaker testing was performed with the Siltech's.
Back to speaker cables: I had settled on LAT 1000's. I then tried the Siltec (LS-28?) G5 and they were not much better then the LATs, certainly not worth the money IMHO. After reading some threads here on the asylum I decided to give the Ridge Street Poiema's a try. I am so glad I did. I was planning on doing a little A-B testing with other cables I could get my hands on but the Poiema's are so good I decided that would be a huge waste of time. Right out of the box the Bass was (surprisingly to me) superior to everything else I had tried (Siltech is the closest here). Granted they are partially broken in before Ridge Street ships them but I did not expect them to be significantly stronger and not at the expense of the other frequencies. After a few days of break-in (CD repeat loop) the high's came into focus and a little while later the mid range. After a couple more days the clarity, definition arrived in full and the soundstage completely opened up. I hate to use this phrase but it is so appropriate here, it was as if a veil had been lifted from in front of the speakers. (gasp, cringe)
There are a lot of cables on the market and it is difficult if not impossible to hear them all. As anyone here on the asylum knows the room acoustics and system synergy will have a big affect on the performance of a given combination of audio components. So there may be better cables but not too many I would venture to say, especially at this price. Overall I find these cables to be quite nuetral and do not favor any type of music. Certainly revealing of the source equipment and they are very quiet. I don't even think about them anymore, they just don't seem to be there. Which I think is quite a compliment of any cable.
I have finally gotten a pair of speaker cables that I can 'Live/stay' with and I have no inclination to look any longer (that is difficult to say for a perpetual system tweaker). These are my keepers. Now maybe a pair of Poiema interconnects are in order. ;-)

Product Weakness: Maybe a little fragile but nobody should be messing around with them after they are installed. (right, kids!)
Product Strengths: Everything!!

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Jeff Rowland Concentra2
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	none
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Exemplar Audio D2900, Nottingham Interspace
Speakers:	Avalon Arcus, James EMB-1000
Cables/Interconnects:	Siltech G5, Poiema, Bogdan, RS Audio
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	All kinds, everything except pop music!
Room Size (LxWxH):	60 x 20 x 12
Room Comments/Treatments:	DAADs, Echo Busters
Time Period/Length of Audition:	permanent, 3+ months
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Equitech, Gingko Audio, Audio Refinement
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner
Your System (if other than home audition):	more details, see inmate systems

Product Weakness:	Maybe a little fragile but nobody should be messing around with them after they are installed. (right, kids!)
Product Strengths:	Everything!!