Review #115 - Cable Invictus Speaker Reference - Ricable Review
Leon W.
Sources: NAD M10 V2
Amplifier: Hypex Nilai500DIY 250W
Acoustic Speakers: KEF R3 Meta
Other: Nothing
The following review of the Invictus Speaker Reference cable is the result of the "Ricable Review" initiative. Ricable Review is the program designed by Ricable, created to collect feedback from audiophiles, in order to lead to continuous improvement of the products in the catalog. Last but not least, those who join the program receive a certificate at home, with the purpose of certifying how the customer has become to all intents and purposes part of the " Ricable" family.
The following Feedback was created on the basis of a predefined questionnaire to which the user returned his impressions, in a completely free. We thank Leon for his time.
I am a relative newcomer to the Hi-Fi space about a year ago after having my setup consisting of KEF LS50 wireless + sub for about seven years. After moving house I decided to take the plunge into a more separate system.
I had done some upgrades to various parts of my system over the year and had been really happy with each stage of performance improvement. Each step along the way I've thought, "How is it going to sound better than this?" and then another significant improvement comes along. Its been a fun ride!
I decided to look into speaker cables as a potential upgrade after reading this very awesome and inspiring cable mega test on Alpha Audio.
and aesthetics of the product?
The product is beautifully built and beautifully packaged. The metallic braiding on the outside of the cable is particularly beautiful and is hard to fully appreciate from looking at the speak cables.
Packaging is top notch, if you are considering Ricable products as a gift then feel confident that the present will impress the person opening their present.
The plugs are also a pretty unique locking mechanism which is very interesting.
I decided to conduct my own A/B/C test of cables and narrowed my search to three different options which appeared to be the highest performers within the price range that I had in mind. The advice that I got from the folks at Alpha Audio was to definitely test the cables in the context of my system rather than relying on written reviews (ironically as I am writing this review of the Ricable cables). The cables were:
- Audiomics Dolomit
- Audioquest Rocket 88
- Ricable Dedalus Elite
So I decided on a testing protocol:
- Do an initial listen test across the cables comparing to my starting point.
- Â Two weeks of "burn in" of each of the cables by rotating one cable per day to avoid the potential influence of burn in and try to compare steady state listening performance.
- Then over the course of a weekend do some comparison listening and make a decision.
listening impressions?
The initial feedback from the test was:
- Dolomit. Sounds very correct for some songs. Some of the micro-dynamics were amazing. Not the biggest soundstage;
- Rocket 88. Great timing, big soundstage, but in terms of the detail it was not the best fit for the system it didn't seem though;
- Dedalus Elite. Great layer separation and air to the different layers. Nice soundstage.
The Dedalus Elite was the front runner after initial listening. As I was going through the burn in period I kept on wanting to hear how different tracks sounded "on the Dedalus" after hearing them on the other cables. However it was still a tough decision.
Then Black Friday happened and suddenly it became an A/B/C/D test because I had a set of Ricable Invictus speaker cables on the way.
Honestly after first listening to the Invictus cables I knew straight away that these were the ones. The bass was great, the soundstage wider, the micro dynamics better without giving anything away in terms of the great layer separation that I loved from the Dedalus Elite. I gave it a few days to burn in, did the listening test and confirmed that these were the ones. It felt as thought I was getting everything that I loved about the Dedalus Elite cables but with no tradeoffs. Beautiful cables too.
Your conclusions.
I was so happy with these that I bought some Magnus interlinks to try (loved these too) and I am likely going to try the Invictus Bridge cables next. The returns policy gives a lot of confidence with Ricable, good job!
I was very happy that I took the time to do the A/B/C/D test at home in my own system. If I had just bought the cables that I was first intending to then I wouldn't have got the best ones for my enjoyment of my system. Everyone tells you to do this but its hard as a new audiophile to be patient and take the time to find the right product for you.
What do you like?
- Soundstage
- Airiness of the layers
- Dynamics
- Looks amazing and looks like a very expensive speaker cable
What would you improve?
- Cable management is hard with such thick cables (on the other hand thick cables look super cool so you can't have everything)
- Some extra correctness on the micro-dynamics would be awesome
I am a newcomer to the world of Hi-Fi about a year ago, after having my system consisting of KEF LS50 wireless + sub for about seven years. After moving, I decided to take the plunge into a more segmented system.
I made some upgrades to various parts of my system over the course of the year and had been really pleased with each step of performance improvement. Each step along the way I thought, "How can it sound better than this?" and then another significant improvement came along. It was a fun journey!
I decided to consider speaker cables as a potential upgrade after reading this fantastic and inspiring mega cable test on Alpha Audio.
and aesthetics of the product?
The product is beautifully constructed and beautifully packaged. The metal braid on the outside of the cable is particularly beautiful and is hard to appreciate as a whole when looking at the cables Speaker .
The packaging is first-rate; if you are thinking of gifting products Ricable, you can be sure that the gift will impress the person who opens it.
The connectors in turn have a decidedly unique locking mechanism, which is very interesting.
I decided to conduct my own A/B/C test of the cables and narrowed my search to three different options that seemed to be the best performing in the price range I had in mind. The advice I received from the Alpha Audio staff was to definitely test the cables in the context of my system rather than relying on written reviews (ironically as I am writing this cable review Ricable). The cables were:
- Audiomics Dolomit
- Audioquest Rocket 88
- Ricable Dedalus Elite
So I decided to follow a testing protocol:
- Do an initial listening test on the cables comparing them to my starting point.
- Two weeks of "break-in" each of the cables by rotating one cable per day to avoid the potential influence of break-in and try to compare listening performance while keeping the same cable.
- Then, over the course of a weekend, do some comparative listening and finally make a decision.
listening impressions?
The initial feedback from the test was:
- Dolomit. It sounds very correct for some of the songs. Some of the micro-dynamics were incredible. Not the best soundstage;
- Rocket 88. Great timing, great soundstage, but in terms of detail it was not the best for the system.
- Dedalus Elite. Very good frequency separation and air in the different frequencies. Good soundstage.
The Dedalus Elite was the favorite after initial listening. As I was going through the break-in period, I kept wanting to hear how the different tracks sounded "on Dedalus" after listening to them on the other cables. However, it was still a difficult decision.
Then Black Friday came and suddenly it became an A/B/C/D test because I had a set of speaker cables coming in Ricable Invictus .
Honestly, after hearing the cables Invictus for the first time, I knew right away that they were the ones. The bass was fantastic, the soundstage wider, the microdynamics better without giving up anything in terms of the great frequency separation that I loved in the Dedalus Elite. I gave them a few days to break them in, did the listening test, and confirmed that they were the ones. I seemed to get everything I loved in the Dedalus Elite cables but without compromising. The cables are also beautiful.
Your conclusions.
I was so pleased with these that I bought some Magnus INTERCONNECT to try them out (I liked them too) and will probably try the jumpers Invictus. The policy on returns makes one have a lot of confidence in Ricable, good job!
I was very glad I took the time to do the A/B/C/D test at home in my system. If I had only bought the cables I was originally planning to buy, I would not have gotten the best ones for my enjoyment with my system. Everyone tells you to do it, but it is hard for a new audiophile to be patient and take the time to find the right product for you.
What did you enjoy?
- Soundstage
- Airiness of frequencies
- Dynamics
- Fantastic aesthetics that gives the feeling of luxury
What would you improve?
- Cable management is difficult with such thick cables (on the other hand, thick cables are super nice, so you can't have everything)
- A little more precision in microdynamics would be great
