Review: Argent Room Lens - Ric Cummins Cables Speaker cable

I wanted to post an update to my review. I tried Ric's speaker cables and interconnects in my friend's system (Maggies 3.6's speakers, BAT 51SE pre-amp, and BAT VK75SE amp). The results were quite amazing. Ric's cables fleshed-out the dynamics from these speakers. The Maggies played big (as they are meant to play) with much more dynamics and sound pressure. And again, there was no hardshness and the system had tonal balance.

Previously, my friend had used two (2) BAT VK75SE amps without achieving the same results as with one (1) BAT amp and Ric's cables. Without Ric's cables, his system was more laid back and less involving.

With more playing time, I've come to the conclusion that Ric's cables are very good and an absolute great buy. Especially, his interconnect cables are very lively and musical. I've tried Ric's interconnect cables in other hi-end systems and have heard similar results.

I am a happy consumer of Ric's cables and I'm very proud to give these cables a thumbs-up!

I ordered new speaker cables from Ric several month ago together with a set of interconnects. I installed the new speaker cables in my system first and right out of the box I heard a significant improvement over my previous loudspeaker cables, which are FAST AUDIO Compact 6M terminated with WBT copper spades. The Compact 6M are rated "best buy" in a German audio magazines and compare favorable to much more expensive cables.
My first impression was an increase in soundstage. The soundstage increased in a sense that the listener moved much closer to the artists and also images appeared more real. The images of instruments and singers are rendered with their realistic sizes in space and you could easily tell if a singer was sitting or standing on stage. Furthermore there is clear separation of instruments and voices and with the right CD's such as Eric Clapton's "unplugged" I had Eric sitting in my room singing the blues.

My previous interconnects are FADEL ART Aerolink, highly regarded in German audio magazines as a best buy (about $330) and classified as neutral. Ric's interconnects clearly proved that the FADEL ART Aerolink are rather warm sounding cables emphasizing the bottom frequencies, in a sense that they even overshadowed the midrange which results in a lack of transparency. Ric's interconnects in comparison were neutral and transparent with no emphasis to any frequency range but not rolled off at the bottom or top end of the frequency spectrum either.
Comparing the interconnects it made a big difference which speaker cable was involved. With Ric's speaker cable the differences between the interconnects were much more pronounced than with my old speaker cable. The Aerolink sounded definitely worse with Ric's speaker cable but also Ric's interconnects improved significantly in combination with his speaker cable. There is a clear synergy using Ric's cable throughout my system.

If you are looking for cables that are supposed to act as tone control to correct frequency issues of your system look some place else but if you are looking for cables that are true to the signal that are not warm or analytic but are transparent and musical and will give you goose bumps because of the realistic images they are able to throw in your listening room then look no further. Now, take the very modest price into account and these cables are a steal.

My system consists of Arcurus ACD11 CD transport, Perpetual Technology P-1A digital correction engine and P-3A (incl ModWright update) DAC and P3 Perpetual Power Plant, Acurus DIA 100 Mk2 amplifier and Martin Logan SL3 speakers. My analog front end is Acoustic Signature Final Tool turntable with Rega RB-300 tonearm, AT OC9 cartridge and Lehmann Black Cube phone pre-amp.

Often I have read threads and reviews about interconnect and speaker cables that are suppose to be amazingly good. I must admit that I have succumbed to buying some of these cables and have gotten very good results. I had been quite satisfied with my Nordost Quattro Fil interconnects and Coincident TRS Speaker cables until I discovered the new cables designed by Ric Cummins and marketed under the Rosinante trade name. Ric is also the designer of the Dark Matter shelf, Room Lens treatment devices, and the Rosinante Dulcinea speakers. Ric's website is www.roomlens.com

The Jaden Signature Interconnect and Speaker cables are absolutely wonderful and very synergistic together. The Jaden Signature IC has great tonal balance, is very detailed & dynamic, and has lots of clarity, finese, and musicality. The Jaden Signature speaker cable has great control, tonal balance, clarity, depth, and dynamic balance.

Many cables emphasize a frequency range, and ultimately are not tonally or dynamically balanced. The Jaden speaker cables have lots of resolution and ARE NOT frequency or tonally challenged. In my opinion, there is no cable in the market today at the price level of the Jaden cables that can equal the Jaden's performance. May I also clarify that I am purely a consumer and do not represent Ric Cummins in anyway as a dealer or distributor.

Many of my audio buddies have substituted their existing cables with the Jaden IC's or speaker cables. The Jaden cables have even replaced very high quality interconnect cables from Silver Audio (Appassionata), Tara Labs, and Nordost Valhalla and Quattro Fil. Most recently, these cables were used with the Maggies 1.6's and 3.6's with very good results (these cables enabled the music to play out of the box with good sound pressure and dynamics).

I personally have no doubt the Jaden cables are very good. The Jaden cables are not widely known or marketed because Ric Cummins doesn't have the deep pockets to mass market his cables. Nevertheless, this does not mean that the Jaden cables do not rival or surpass other acclaimed cable makers. I really am not sure how long Ric will continue to divert his time and energy to making these wonderful cables. That'll probably depend upon the future success of selling his cables and in today times, this is not an easy feat to accomplish without mass advertising.

I feel fortunate to be an owner/user of the Jaden Signature cables. These cables have taken my system to a new level that I thought would be extremely difficult to achieve.

Oahuan,

I have been wanting to try these, but the spades are too small to fit my speakers' posts. You speculated that they cannot be reterminated. Is there some way I could verify this?

Or, how would one contact Ric to find out more?