Thanks, Ivan. And not just for the comment.
Just after posting that assessment I listened again to the RR
Ports of Call and was struck by the even more vivid re-creation of the soundstage and everything in it. It seemed to my ears on this go-around that another thin gauze curtain between recording and listener had lifted just beyond the 90-hour marker--suggested by more foundational heft and more step-into-the-soundstage "presence," an illusion fostered and punctuated by more nuanced instrumental cues. (And this without benefit of HDCD decoder.)
What I may not have stressed enough (if at all) in the earlier review is the neutrality I perceive in the Equinox 6's. If there's warmth, or conversely analytical "chill," in the presentation, it's coming (as I'd want it to) from the recording. The cables seem neither to enhance nor to subtract from whatever's being picked up by cartridge or laser. Which suggests to me that the 6's embody David Salz's ideal of a "direct connection" to the extent that's possible at this price point with a copper conductor one meter long. (I was tempted to omit the "at this price point" qualifier given the degree to which my ears tell me that he's implemented that ideal in the Equinox, but I don't want to be accused of "gee-whiz hyperbolic gush.")
Suffice it to say that I'll be acquiring more Equinox 6 cables from my anonymous vendor as circumstances permit, and they can be assured of longevity in my primary system.