RINGMAT PURE
SIGNAL BLUE INTERCONNECT
"Inserting the Signal Blues into our
reference system ... seemed to remove a hitherto unnoticed
fine layer of 'mush' from the background of the music,
making instruments more stable and vivid within the
soundstage. As a result, soft acoustic material gained a
better impression of intimacy and atmosphere, while more
complex recordings became much better defined. Backing
vocalists and instruments seemed to move forward within the
mix to become more prominent, adding to the feeling that the
performance had gained more of a coherent whole. The low
end was confident and detailed, the Signal Blues capturing
the rhythmical essence of bass lines to really bound them
along with great enthusiasm and alacrity.
All in all,
the Ringmat Signal Blues mark a fine and notable step up...
and can be heartily recommended."
Adam Smith, Hi-Fi World, July 2008
audio cables FOR THE REAL WORLD
-
Hi-Fi+,
Issue 49 - Jan
2007
by Roy Gregory
"Over the years,
Hi-Fi+ have tried to develop a strategy that ensures
consistent and musically coherent results across a wide
range of products. Beyond that they have also suggested that
listeners and the industry in general have seriously
underestimated the impact that a coherent cable loom can
make to the musical performance of a system. With this in
mind, the editor, Roy Gregory, has carried out a survey of
cables in an over-populated market based on what the
magazine regards as 'affordable' and in an article headed
'Information Technology... Audio Cables for the Real World'
he has reviewed those that survived the initial selection
process. Yes, there are cheaper options out there but few
that Hi-Fi+ would entertain in a genuine hi-fi system.
The survey included the Ringmat 'loom', made up of the
Ringmat Pure Power Mains Cable, Pure Signal Premium Blue
Interconnect (with the WBT Nextgen phonos) and Pure Power
Speaker Cable (with WBT locking 4mm plugs). Roy reported as
follows:
"The sound of the Ringmat loom is fast, light yet powerful,
organized and energetic. Excellent pace, momentum and shifts
in dynamic density are achieved without hardness or
aggression, while textures, phrasing and vocals display a
lightness of touch and air around instruments and within the
soundstage. There is a slight rosiness to the upper mid and
lower treble, a sweetness if you like, but it doesn't
prevent them capturing the full air and beauty of the
Gorecki piece, or the space and tension in the Barbirolli.
The Cure sound impressively punchy without getting brash or
congested, while the message in the music, be it classical,
acoustic or pop was always well to the fore.
I wonder how much of the musical clarity and coherence
available from the Ringmat cables is down to their use of
such excellent connectors. I also wonder how much more you
can extract from them (and the system they're being used
with) in concert with Ringmat's various support and tuning
devices. As they stand and used in isolation, they offer a
superbly balanced and extremely musical solution which is
well worth seeking out."
Gathered in that article readers will find a report on many
other cable brands: van den Hul, Nordost, True Colours
Industries, Kimber Kable, The Chord Co., Brilliance Hi-Fi,
Cardas, Oehlbach, Abbey Road Cables and Supra."
To find out more, and a wealth of other reviews, buy the
magazine:
www.hifiplus.com
Ringmat Audiophile Cables
AUDIO SMORGASBORD
Ringmat join the cable wars...
by Roy Gregory
|
Supporters of all things that
support, Ringmat Developments recently sent us samples of their
latest products, an interconnect and speaker cable. Quite a
departure from their usual ground you might well be thinking.
You might also be wondering who in their right mind would want
to get involved in what is already a saturated marketplace?
Well, undaunted, John Rogers has sallied forth with what are
outwardly a pair of utterly conventional designs. The
interconnect is a simple four core structure, as is the speaker
cable, although the latter is both significantly heavier and
more flexible than most cables at this price. Despite the four
cores it is not intended for bi-wiring. Costs are £120 a metre
pair for interconnects, a three metre pair of speaker cables
weighing in at £225, and both are nicely terminated with
sensibly chosen connectors. Extra length will cost you £7.50 and
£25 a mono metre respectively. The terminations themselves are
actually much more unusual than they seem, the interconnect
using only one core for signal and three for ground (shades of
the Eichmann ratio here) while the heavily stranded speaker
cables are slightly |
reduced in
diameter (from 56 to 49 strands) before
being crimped up. The end result is a set of leads that sit
firmly in the one up from budget category. So dropping them
straight into the Madrigal starter system, immediately after the
Valhallas probably wasn’t the kindest thing I could have done!
Surprisingly, the Ringmat leads
stood up remarkably well, which speaks volumes for their musical
balance, evenness and coherence. Sure, they lacked the detail,
transparency, focus, dynamics and scale of the Nordosts, but at
least they were playing recognisably the same recordings, and
that’s quite a feat when you consider the extent to which the
Valhallas embarrass the vast majority of even the most expensive
competition.
So, with good bandwidth, especially
at low frequencies, good presence and an excellent sense of pace
and musical flow, the Ringmats can certainly hold their own
against their price peers. But that still hardly makes them
news. No, the thing that intrigues me is the way these cables
dovetail with the other Ringmat products. I first noticed it
when I used the |
Statmat CDi Blue in the 390S. A much
bigger than normal difference. Experiments with a Ringmat on the
record player were similarly impressive, as were the Statfeet.
All of which suggests to me that
either the Ringmat products manage to interrelate regardless of
system (which is pretty weird) or that John has managed to
define certain common features in their performance, features
that work in concert with the cables. Certainly, what was an
indifferent degree of treble separation and definition in the
original system was dramatically improved by the application of
other Ringmat products. Similar effects were noted across the
range, building detail, dynamics and finesse onto the basis of
the cables’ impressive body and presence, lifting the overall
performance well beyond the norm. All of which I think you’ll
agree, is pretty spooky.
Good cables at the price, but much
better in concert with the other Ringmat products.
Hi-Fi+
Issue 19 – Sept /Oct 2002
|
Comment by John Rogers on Roy Gregory’s
Review
I am
extremely pleased with what I consider to be a fabulous review, and
to have it as the first review of our cables is most encouraging.
From the
literature for our cables you will see that we embarked on this
somewhat perilous course because we simply could not find a cable
most people could buy that did justice to our other products.
Accordingly, without our own cables, users would be unable to reap
the full benefits of using our Ringmat and Statmat based designs.
Most hi-fi cable suppliers have to
assume that their cables would be used in systems where a typical
range of distortions and phase anomalies would exist from source and
at intervals along the signal path. And yet the sound using their
cables would still need to be of the highest order, without
displaying the distortions which are a natural phenomena of all
systems that are not suitably treated by our products. This is not
an easy task, and for serious cable companies it means considerable
expense and resource to develop such cables, resulting in complex
designs and high prices, and, in some cases, extremely high prices.
Our approach has been completely
different. If the appropriate Ringmat and Statmat based designs are
used in a system, the distortions and phase anomalies inherent in
the set-up and operation of the components of all systems are
largely removed. In this way, all we need are cables that operate
as near as possible to a bit of straight wire without needing to
cover our tracks for the otherwise inherent failings of hi-fi
systems, as other cable suppliers have had to do. This makes the
design and construction of our cables much more straight-forward and
therefore we have been able to market them at a sensible price
whilst still offering the highest fidelity in performance.
Accordingly, they can be put up against the most expensive
alternative cable products, and provided the system used is
appropriately treated with our other Ringmat and Statmat designed
products, they will not only acquit themselves with honour but, in
most cases, will blow away the competition.
Because, unlike other cables, Ringmat
Audiophile Cables are not tailored to mask inherent system
distortions, it is essential that they are used with other Ringmat
and Statmat based products. Otherwise, it is the old adage, rubbish
in, rubbish out. Or you could start with the Ringmat cables and
then see how the other Ringmat and Statmat based products will
dramatically lift the sound. There is no “voodoo” in this, and is
the simple explanation for the results Roy Gregory reported in his
review of the Ringmat Cables. As he says, he found these results
“weird” and “spooky”, but if we analyse what he says it all makes
sense and is why I am a happy man. Let me explain.
The session starts with Roy Gregory
slipping the Ringmat Cables into a system he has just been using for
evaluating the Nordost Valhalla Digital interconnect, with the
Nordost Valhalla Reference Interconnects and Speaker Cable. Now I
know these Nordost Cables are not everyone’s cup of tea, but some
sections of the press around the globe still regard them as the best
cables in the world, or at least amongst the best. To put this into
greater perspective, a 1m pair of Valhalla Reference interconnects
costs some £2,195.00 and a 3m stereo pair of the bi-wiring speaker
cable £5,500. In comparison, the same length of Ringmat
interconnect is £120.00 and a bi-wiring of the Ringmat speaker cable
(2 x £225.00) £450.00. (Incidentally, an extra length of Ringmat
Pure Signal interconnect cable costs £15 per mono metre, not the
£7.50 mentioned in the review).
The first thing
he noted on listening was that the Ringmat cables stood their ground
and were not blown away in comparison with the Valhalla cables which
preceded them. Sure, by comparison, the Ringmat Cables “lacked the
detail, transparency, focus, dynamics and scale of the Nordosts ...
(and there was) an indifferent degree of treble separation and
definition... .” But this is what I would expect because this
description fits entirely within the parameters of a system that is
full of those distortions which inevitably, and always, arise when
the components are not supported or treated by other Ringmat and
Statmat products. As explained above, other cables are designed to
mask these distortions, whereas the Ringmat cables simply output
what is put in. Rubbish in, rubbish out. Pure signal in, pure
signal out. The Ringmat cables were doing precisely what they were
meant to do. They are simply more accurate than the Valhallas.
Now move to when Roy uses the Ringmat
products and a whole new ball game is in play. He only used the
Statmat CDi Blue, a Ringmat and some Statfeet, but already the sound
is being transformed. “A much bigger than normal difference.”
“Normal” meaning other cables. Had Roy used all the Ringmat and
Statmat based products presently available, it would have sounded
even better, and there is yet still more to come. In the end, the
sound will be light years beyond what the Valhalla or any other
cables could ever offer.
As a footnote,
here are the measurements of the respective cables, just to show
that the Ringmat cables really are comparable with the best.
(Generally speaking, the lower the figure, the better).
| Measurement |
Ringmat
Pure Signal/Power |
Nordost
Valhalla Reference |
|
Interconnect
|
| Capacitance |
44pF/m |
72pF/m |
| Inductance |
0.108microH/m |
0.180microH/m |
|
Speaker
|
| Capacitance |
137pF/m |
38.6pF/m * |
| Inductance |
0.054microH/m |
0.314microH/m |
| Resistance |
0.00165ohms/m |
0.00855ohms/m |
* Note: The lower capacitance of the
Valhallas is not untypical of many flat speaker cable designs.
 |
