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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

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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 responses Add your response
nrchy's avatar
nrchy
2,124 posts
 
Larry is onto something. I heard the Sason speakers at our meeting 1/22/05. These speakers show remarkable potential. They were able to overcome some serious obsticles. Rooze's room is very difficult. Robert and Steve were very helpful and their talk was very informative. More info is available at http://www.newaudiosociety.com This is another shameless plug, it's a rather sameless group!

There is a lot of studying and effort in this product, especially for a first effort (as if there is such a thing). They must have been at it for a long time. I guess these speakers are only available through Ridge Street Audio Design right now but they have a money back guarantee.

It's worth the effort to get to hear this product.
rooze's avatar
rooze
635 posts
 
Lak, I was fortunate enough to hear the Sason speaker in action this past weekend at the NEW Audio Society's January club meeting (www.newaudiosociety.com - a shameless plug for our little website!).

The Sason is a remarkable achievement given that it's the first speaker offered by Ridge Street Audio Design.
Fit and finish on the speaker is stunning and the sound is incredible. Fast, dynamic, focused, dimensional and with a purity in the midrange to die for.
I'll probably post a mini review here in a few days.

Rooze
ehider
286 posts
 
Hi,

Just wanted to post "my two cents" here as I have spent quite a few days with the Sason speakers in my crib:

Basically the Sason granite monitors are one of the best (if not the absolute best) monitor speakers that I have ever expereinced. The Sasons convey inner detail and soundspace with a sense of "see through" quality that is lacking with most other speakers in comparison. When you hear them for the first time, it is fairly hard to critisize their sound since so many things are sounding right from the get go. Everyone at my recent audio get together (around 20 people) all commented postively on their performance (which is saying something since there always seems to be a "naysayer" in the crowd saying something like "my speakers do this or that much better"). I suspect the Sasons are also very revieling of the electronics in the chain and I imagine they may not sound so good with entry level electronics (should any "great speaker" really sound "good" with crappy front end components though?)

I seriosuly would like to put the Sasons up against the best of the best monitors in the world just to learn where they stand in comparison. The designer may have set new standards which other monitors can be judged.

FYI: Regarding my current reference system: I Currently own the 7 foot tall 42 driver Epiphany speakers (read; a MUCH better designed Pipedream type of speaker) along with the matching dual Epiphany 18" subwoofers. With that in mind I consider myself a fairly "picky" audiophile when it comes to loudspeaker choices.
psychicanimal
1,738 posts
 
Well, what happened to your Swans? I would have loved to compare mine to the Sason, though the Sason's are an order of magnitude more expensive.
lak's avatar
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lak OP
4,626 posts
 
Hello Nrchy,
I realize that comparisons are very helpful however I’m not in a position to compare the Sason Ltd. to the other speakers that I listed. I know that the Sason Ltd. is competition for them, and I would recommend that anyone considering the purchase of an expensive high-end speaker also consider auditioning the Sason Ltd. as well. Since it’s new on the market, and I had the opportunity to listen to it for a week I wanted to share it’s birth and say it’s a serious contender.
Best regards…
nrchy's avatar
nrchy
2,124 posts
 
Larry, you mentioned many other speakers in the intro to your thread, but how do the Sason's compare to these? I am not suggesting that you reviewed these speakers in a vacuum, but comparisons are very helpful.

As a member of the NEW Audio Society I am looking forward to hearing these, but I'd like an idea of what is coming. Thanks!
lugnut
1,190 posts
 
Robert,

Thanks for a serious response to my smart ass post. It was meant as a joke since I consider this to be an audio wasteland. Man, oh man would I love to have you come to one of our audio society meetings and Steve's place would be my choice! Please email him and I'll do some gentle prodding. We have about forty members with some pretty serious gear. For the record, your interconnects and speaker cables have rocked my world.

Patrick

Thanks for the compliment.
ridgestreetaudio
221 posts
 
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
music1st
6 posts
 
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!
.
dlwask
270 posts
 
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.
lugnut
1,190 posts
 
Who's my dealer in Nampa, Idaho?
lak's avatar
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lak OP
4,626 posts
 
Rx8man,
Those speakers are awesome! Down the road who knows? At this time of my life they are out of my price range.
rx8man's avatar
rx8man
1,481 posts
 
I was told by Psychicanimal earlier on that these were to be some pretty phenomenal speakers, glad you enjoyed them Lak !!
Where they hard to part with, or do you think you might........................ well you know !!
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