Rx8man,
Those speakers are awesome! Down the road who knows? At this time of my life they are out of my price range.
Those speakers are awesome! Down the road who knows? At this time of my life they are out of my price range.
Review: Ridge Street Audio Designs Sason Ltd. Loudspeaker Monitor
Category: Speakers
Ridge Street Audio Designs SASON Ltd. LOUDSPEAKER
As I understand, for the last two years, Steve and Robert of Ridge Street Audio Designs have been working on and developing a loudspeaker project. They are now complete. I had the opportunity and pleasure to audition a pair of the Sason Ltd. loudspeakers in my dedicated music room for one week during the month of October 2004.
As per Steve and Robert, “Sason is from the Hebrew language and when expressed as a verb, it is the act of rejoicing expressed in dance. When one reaches the epitome of joy, his moment of ecstasy is referred to as sason, whose root is sas, which in Kabbalah is considered to be the sixth emotion of the heart.”
If you’re in the market for a unique new pair of high end loudspeakers that can give the best two-way, or even much more expensive three-way speaker designs (Sonus Faber, Silverline, Dynaudio, Nova Audio, and Proac, including the Kharma Ceramique 3.2 Reference Monitor Speakers, Merlin VSM, JM Labs Diva Be, Revel Ultima Studio, Epiphany 12-12, or Peak Consult InCognito Monitor) competition, you must listen to the Sason Ltd.
The Sason Ltd. Speakers sounded very dynamic regardless of whether I was driving them with my Legacy (by Coda) 200 watt SS amp class A/B, Forte 4A SS 50 watt class A amp, or my Cary SE 2A3 monoblocks (tube) 5 watts per channel class A.
I was very pleasantly surprised to discover that the Sason Ltd. loudspeakers sounded extremely smooth, fast, neutral, and transparent, yet still convey the force, speed and robustness of a live performance. On several occasions I had to get out of my listening chair to make sure my subwoofer was not in use because of the tighter, cleaner, deeper sound, with more punch and bass slam. The modified QB3 bass alignment allows adjustment for room variations, thus I was able to adjust the bass tuning as per my room needs. The mid range was natural and very musical with no signs of artificial harshness. The treble was extended and smooth.
Soundstaging and imaging was deep, wide and expansive. I noticed incredible detail and airiness, with no edginess or sharpness. It seemed as though the upright bass, guitar, piano, cymbals, etc., were palpably present and being played live in my own private listening room.
The only limiting factor I could detect would be the other components in your system. A mediocre or poor recording will continue to sound poor; however, good recordings played with good components sound fantastic!
The Sason Ltd. appears to be very well engineered and constructed. I found it gorgeous in appearance - a piece of eye candy.
Due to the weight of the Sason Ltd. (approximately 140 pounds/each) it is advisable to have assistance when transporting and positioning the speakers, however one strong individual could handle the job if need be.
In conclusion, I realize that audiophile componentry is system dependent, and what sounds good in one system doesn't always work well in another. In this case the Sason Ltd. speakers sounded excellent with my tube and solid-state systems. I highly recommend you give it a try if you're in the market for a new high-end speaker.
Below is the Features page from their manual of the Sason Ltd speaker. If you should have questions e-mail Ridge Street Audio Designs at ridgestreetaudio@comcast.net or the creator, Steve at: sasonbysteve@sbcglobal.net
Associated gear
Click to view my Virtual System
Similar products
AR-4, Advent Loudspeaker, Polk Monitor 5B, Polk SDA-SRS 2.3, Klipsch 2.5 Monitor, Klipsch KLF 30 Towers, Soliloquy 5.0, NHT Super 1, Legacy Studio, Legacy Signature III, Cain & Cain Abby.
Ridge Street Audio Designs SASON Ltd. LOUDSPEAKER
As I understand, for the last two years, Steve and Robert of Ridge Street Audio Designs have been working on and developing a loudspeaker project. They are now complete. I had the opportunity and pleasure to audition a pair of the Sason Ltd. loudspeakers in my dedicated music room for one week during the month of October 2004.
As per Steve and Robert, “Sason is from the Hebrew language and when expressed as a verb, it is the act of rejoicing expressed in dance. When one reaches the epitome of joy, his moment of ecstasy is referred to as sason, whose root is sas, which in Kabbalah is considered to be the sixth emotion of the heart.”
If you’re in the market for a unique new pair of high end loudspeakers that can give the best two-way, or even much more expensive three-way speaker designs (Sonus Faber, Silverline, Dynaudio, Nova Audio, and Proac, including the Kharma Ceramique 3.2 Reference Monitor Speakers, Merlin VSM, JM Labs Diva Be, Revel Ultima Studio, Epiphany 12-12, or Peak Consult InCognito Monitor) competition, you must listen to the Sason Ltd.
The Sason Ltd. Speakers sounded very dynamic regardless of whether I was driving them with my Legacy (by Coda) 200 watt SS amp class A/B, Forte 4A SS 50 watt class A amp, or my Cary SE 2A3 monoblocks (tube) 5 watts per channel class A.
I was very pleasantly surprised to discover that the Sason Ltd. loudspeakers sounded extremely smooth, fast, neutral, and transparent, yet still convey the force, speed and robustness of a live performance. On several occasions I had to get out of my listening chair to make sure my subwoofer was not in use because of the tighter, cleaner, deeper sound, with more punch and bass slam. The modified QB3 bass alignment allows adjustment for room variations, thus I was able to adjust the bass tuning as per my room needs. The mid range was natural and very musical with no signs of artificial harshness. The treble was extended and smooth.
Soundstaging and imaging was deep, wide and expansive. I noticed incredible detail and airiness, with no edginess or sharpness. It seemed as though the upright bass, guitar, piano, cymbals, etc., were palpably present and being played live in my own private listening room.
The only limiting factor I could detect would be the other components in your system. A mediocre or poor recording will continue to sound poor; however, good recordings played with good components sound fantastic!
The Sason Ltd. appears to be very well engineered and constructed. I found it gorgeous in appearance - a piece of eye candy.
Due to the weight of the Sason Ltd. (approximately 140 pounds/each) it is advisable to have assistance when transporting and positioning the speakers, however one strong individual could handle the job if need be.
In conclusion, I realize that audiophile componentry is system dependent, and what sounds good in one system doesn't always work well in another. In this case the Sason Ltd. speakers sounded excellent with my tube and solid-state systems. I highly recommend you give it a try if you're in the market for a new high-end speaker.
Below is the Features page from their manual of the Sason Ltd speaker. If you should have questions e-mail Ridge Street Audio Designs at ridgestreetaudio@comcast.net or the creator, Steve at: sasonbysteve@sbcglobal.net
Associated gear
Click to view my Virtual System
Similar products
AR-4, Advent Loudspeaker, Polk Monitor 5B, Polk SDA-SRS 2.3, Klipsch 2.5 Monitor, Klipsch KLF 30 Towers, Soliloquy 5.0, NHT Super 1, Legacy Studio, Legacy Signature III, Cain & Cain Abby.
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- 13 posts total
I had the pleasant surprise of hearing the Sason's at an audio get together about a month ago. A wide variety of music was played at the event and various gear was swapped in and out of the system. I must say that when the Sason's were in the system the sound was simply spectacular. Just wanted to throw in my two cents and help get the word out on this. |
Larry, As the Sason Ltd creator, I appreciate the time and effort you put in for this review. I also am glad to have met you and hope we can further share in this hobby. The real surprise for me was listening to what the little 5-watt Cary amplifier can do. Very seductive and the bass has unexpected punch! I really did not know what your conclusions would be and now I’m gratified to see my efforts are on target. Thank you! . |
Hi Lak and fellow A'goNers. Since Ridge Street has earned the respect of Lak's ears with much of what we do here, I thought it appropriate to once again say Thank You Larry for your time and efforts on our behalf. I've come to learn lots of (good) things are keeping you busier than ever and that you would take time for us is much appreciated! Not sure what happened to the "Features" copy that appears to be missing in your commentary but, for those with interest or just curious, you can link HERE. We are really excited about how these loudspeakers can reproduce music and are anxious to get others impressions. To that end in part, we have a tentative invitation to be presenters at the Chicago Audio Society late Winter or early Spring '05 and we will be presenting our cabling and the Sason Ltd loudspeakers at the N.E.Wisconsin Audio Society January 22, 2005. We trust we'll turn more than a few ears. Lugnut! How are you? Good I trust. Beautiful work on vetterone's equipment stand! No dealer network for Ridge Street. Not sure I want to pursue that here in the states. I really enjoy working personally with enthusiasts. I think enthusiasts with interest in us and our clients enjoy being able to work directly with us and our business has done well with that approach. Helps keep our pricing more attainable for what we're doing also. Here's what you (or vetterone) doesn't know yet; Not sure who the contact would be, I was thinking Steve but I don't know, but we would like to make ourselves available to present at one of your folk's gatherings. If you and Steve are representative of the enthusiasts in your club, Mr. Rothermel and I would enjoy spending time and hangin' with you folks I'm sure. I'll send you or Steve off an email soon. Just to tie up a few loose ends I think, MSRP on the Sason Ltd is $12,500.00 but we'll be selling direct typically which is about 40% to maybe 45% off MSRP. Also, we're happy to deliver these personally at no extra cost to within about 4 hours of where we are for anyone who is seriously interested in auditioning the Sasons. Also, we'll post an image here sometime this week so you can appreciate the (as Lak says) "eye candy" these are. Best to all of you. Sincerely, Robert |
- 13 posts total