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!!)
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!!)