The Ryan Speakers room at T.H.E. Show featured their new S610 that sells for $3,995. I understand this speaker debuted at AXPONA, but as large as AXPONA was this year, I never got back to their room for a second listen. It turns out that this was my loss. By the way, that’s also one of the best things about smaller shows; you have time to really listen, choose some music you know, hear some new music and visit.
The rest of the system in the Ryan room was a Pass Labs INT-250 integrated amplifier at $12,000, and the wiring was the Cardas Audio Clear Reflection cables. The source was a Small Green Computer SonicTransporter for $1,250 and a PS Audio Directstream DAC at $6,000. The power conditioner was an AudioQuest Nagara 5000.
Ryan continues to make their cabinets in Riverside, California, and the speaker is an interesting shape in that the speaker front slants toward the back of the speaker. These speakers are made from a “silent core” material that uses internal constrained damping. The tweeter is the same beryllium one employed in Ryan’s top-of-the-line Tempus speakers. It is crossed over to a 6.5″ Nomex cone at 2000Hz.
The overall sound was notably uncolored. I was very impressed with how Ray Brown’s acoustic bass sounded. Both female and male voices were very natural. Most modern speakers get female voices right, but many have trouble with male voices as they add a bit of a cupped hand sound to them.
The sound of a violin was sweet with very nice attack and decay. Massed strings were reproduced with good timbre and had a feeling of real scale and space.
This system wasn’t just for playing vocals, strings, jazz and heavy rock. It sounded equally impressive playing large orchestral works and produced real scale and space.
The S610 speakers aren’t shipping quite yet, but they will be available some time this summer. I have heard several monitor speakers that cost more than three times what the Ryan S610s cost, and they are not nearly as musical. One other thing to note, I asked if they really needed the Pass Labs 250 Integrated amp. I was told that they had requested the 60-watt amp from Pass, but it was back ordered, so they sent the INT 250.
This was one of the rooms we went back to on Sunday afternoon intending to spend some time just listening. By the time we went back, the crowd had thinned, and I was able to request specific albums that I know well. I walked away smiling!
I live only a few miles from where the show was and I was heading out the door to go when my wife stopped me and laid a big guilt trip on me for not spending the afternoon with her . I had been planning on hearing the new Ryans with Pass Lab amplification. I own a pair of 610’s so I have a real interest in hearing the new model. But such is life, every time there is a So. Cal. show my wife finds a way to keep me from going. But thanks for the review, at least I know the combo is a success!
Well, Charles, I understand your situation. My wife and I have been married for 43 years now. For the first almost 42 years, she really didn’t support my audiophile passion at all, even though I’ve been a reviewer now for almost 20 years. So, last year, she decided to retire from her marketing/PR career and thought it would be a good thing for us to do this audiophile thing together. So, she runs our website, edits my reviews, etc. We are having fun, but I tell you, this is a shock to me. So, you may win your wife over if you give it long enough.