Greatest Technological Breakthrough — The Absolute Sound

“About five seconds into the first A/B someone behind me who had come in during the middle of the demo whispered,                 “Holy —-!” My feelings exactly” The Absolute Sound’s Steven Stone on our new Tranquility Base

“… (with the) Tranquility Base … sound was remarkably expansive and realistic, but with the Tranquility Bases removed low-level ambient cues and layered depth were reduced. A remarkable demo.” The Absolute Sound’s Jonathan Valin

CES 2012 Synergistic Research System

11 New Products Launched:

• Tranquility basik
• Tranquility Base
• Tranquility Base XL
• PowerCell 10SE Mk III
• AC Master Coupler 20th Anniversary
• Enigma Mk II- A new limited edition valve power supply for Active Shielding
• Transporter- A new one box solid state power supply for Active Shielding
• basik Active- A new affordable active interconnect and speaker cable
• basik Active SE- Upgraded basik Active Series featuring Enigma Tuning Bullets and SR 20 terminations
• basik Active USB- a new high performance affordable Active USB cable
• The Music Cable 24/192- A new SPDIF version of our award winning “The Music Cable” capable of playing 24/192 files

To celebrate our 20^th year we want to thank our partners for making this the most successful of 19 consecutive CES shows. Esoteric Audio for their remarkably transparent and refined class A amplifier and pre amplifier, YG Acoustics for their absolute reference quality Anat Studio III speakers and Grand Prix Audio whose exceptional carbon fiber racks and stands supported our new active Tranquility Base XL EM Stabilizers.

Synergistic Research Tranquility Base conditioning Esoteric A-03 Class A Stereo Amplifier

We began set up with the rising sun on January 9th at the Venetian Hotel to allow our system at least 15 hours of passing signal before Ted started the critical tuning process the following day. This proved a smart move as dialing in the system was more difficult then at RMAF where set up to great sound was a relatively straightforward process. To our surprise we found we were able to voice nearly all the Element Series interconnects and speaker cables with Silver Enigma Tuning Bullets and approximately 25% of the TESLA SE power cords. Had we not had the option to voice Active Shielding at the show our sound would have been somewhat dark and closed in. (Normally systems with a full loom of Element Series active interconnects and speaker cables and TESLA SE active power cords sound their best with a majority of Grey Enigma Tuning Bullets and only a handful of Silver (or Black) Enigma Tuning Bullets in strategic locations- like source to pre amp interconnects / speaker wires or on a few power cords). Our lead designer took this challenge and the solution his Enigma tuning bullets provided as positive reinforcement for his decision to leave the final voicing of Active Shielding in the hands of Synergistic Research Element Series and TESLA SE users who would otherwise be limited by fixed Active Shielding circuits as found in older Synergistic Research designs. Time will tell but it may be the case that in densely populated areas, or when systems are located in tall metal structures like the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, that Enigma Tuning Bullets will prove especially beneficial in over coming problems to deliver natural holographic sound.

Element Tungsten speaker cables with Grey Enigma Tuning Circuits as upgraded leads from the Galileo Universal Speaker Cells to the YG Acoustics Anat Studio III reference speakers

For this year’s CES we were excited to showcase our new Tranquility Base active EM stabilizers. Not only were they used under the Mac Mini / Western Digital hard drive / Synergistic Research The Music Cable digital front end, but under every component in the system including a big surprise we did not discover until midway through the show. As anticipated once the system was dialed in and working properly we had the most holographic sound of any CES in our 20-year history. What we did not expect was the effect the Tranquility Base had under our wireless router communicating with our iPad when selecting tracks and play lists during the show. Either the Tranquility Base eliminates digital hash or noise caused by the router or it somehow aligns the energy between router and the Mac Mini in a positive way. Regardless the difference this made was far from subtle and in the end, pushed our system over the top to the best sound we have ever created under show conditions.

Synergistic Research Tranquility Base making a surprise improvement to the system when placed under the wireless router

For Active Shielding we used the Limited Edition Enigma Mk II valve power supply to power the active shielding on Element Series interconnects, speaker cables and Galileo Universal Speaker and Interconnect Cells while TESLA SE power cords and digital cables including our new active Firewire 800 cable and new basik Active USB cable were powered by Galileo MPCs all plugged into QLS9’s. Nearly 30 active circuits and power supplies were treated including 3 power amplifiers all plugged into a single PowerCell 10 SE Mk III line conditioner. To increase the number of outlets we simply used one QLS 9 and two QLS 6 line strips each connected to the PowerCell 10SE Mk III with their own T3 SE active power cord.

Enigma Mk II Valve Power Supply for Active Shielding

CES 2012 System Components

• 5 Tranquility Base XL – MSRP $ 2,995.00 each
• 1 Tranquility Base – MSRP $ 1,995.00 each
• Synergistic Research NEW Active FireWire 800 tuned with Gray Enigma Bullets MSRP $ 850.00
• Western Digital 2 TB Hard Drive MSRP $250
• MAC Mini file server with 8 GB Ram  MSRP $499.00
• Synergistic Research “The Music Cable”  SP/DIFF 24/192 version all in one, plug and play Computer Audio Solution MSRP $3,599.00
• Esoteric Audio C-03 Preamp MSRP $ 13,000.00
• Synergistic Research NEW Element Copper/Tungsten/Silver interconnects tuned with Silver Enigma bullets between preamp and Power amp MSRP $ 3,600.00 per pair
• Esoteric Audio A-03 Stereo Amp MSRP $ 14,000.00
• Synergistic Research NEW Element Copper/Tungsten/Silver Speaker cables tuned with Silver Enigma bullets MSRP $ 7,500.00 8 ft pair and Synergistic Research Universal Speaker Cell MSRP $2,500.00 per pair.
• Synergistic Research NEW Element Copper/Tungsten/Silver Interconnects tuned with silver Enigma bullets between Pre amp and sub woofers MSRP $ 5,490.00 per pair and Galileo Universal IC Cell MSRP $1500
• Synergistic Research PowerCell 10 SE MK III MSRP $ 5,500.00
• Grand Prix Monaco Rack $ 6,500.00
• Grand Prix Monaco Amp Stand $ 1,995.00
• YG Acoustics Anat III Studios MSRP $ 89,000.00
• Synergistic Research NEW ENIGMA MKII Valve Power Supply for Active Shielding MSRP $ 10,000.00 (Limited availability March 2012)
• Synergistic Research ART Acoustic Room Treatment with 9 Satellites, 2 Bass Stations and one Vibratron  MSRP $ 5,700.00
• Synergistic Research standard MiG’s MSRP $150 per set of 3 under all components including the Western Digital Hard Drive and Mach 2 music server with BIG MiG’s under the Esoteric Audio A-03 and Enigma MKII  –  MSRP $ 200.00 per set of 3
• Synergistic Research TESLA SE Active Power Cords- Hologram A MSRP $2,600.00, Hologram D MSRP $ 2,800.00, Precision AC MSRP $ 1,800.00 all voiced with Gray Enigma bullets

Acoustic ART Bass Stations located in front of YG Acoustics Anat Studio IIIs to control low frequency room acoustics

The Absolute Sound

By Steven Stone • Posted: January 18, 2012

Link to original article

Steven Stone’s Best of Show— Most Significant Product Introduction

“Ted Denny and Synergistic Research have come up with another head-scratchingly good new product—the Tranquility Base. How does it work? All I know for sure is it’s based on the same technology as his Galileo Cable Cells. With several patents pending, this is anything but snake oil. During his demo Ted turned on and off the Tranquility base under a router and it had an audible effect. About five seconds into the first A/B someone behind me who had come in during the middle of the demo whispered, “Holy —-!” My feelings exactly.”

Tranquility Base conditioning a Mac Mini and Western Digital hard drive

By Neil Gader • Posted: January 18, 2012

Link to original article

Neil Gader’s Best of Show— Greatest Technological Breakthrough

“Head-scratching, as well, are the Synergistic Research Tranquility Bases from the fertile mind of Synergistic’s Ted Denney. Available in three levels these active, tunable isolation platforms made me a believer.”

By Alan Sircom • Posted: January 18, 2012

Link to original article

“There is a growing community of people discontented with the sound of computer audio, and for people like Ted Denney, the finger is firmly pointed at the way a computer can propagate electromagnetic interference. To help prevent this kind of hash, Synergistic Research has launched a range of three Tranquility Bases; the bäsik, Base, and Base XL, to fit on conventional furniture or into dedicated racks (the XL is custom designed to fit the Grand Prix Audio range). The active platforms take a variation on the theme of the EM Cell patented by Synergistic, so that the signals from any component sitting on that Tranquility Base are being conditioned while still in the component itself. Multiple components can be used on each table, and it’s easy to demonstrate (just turn the platform off). Prices start at $995 for the bäsik and rise to $3000 for the Base XL.”

Photo by Alan Sircom

By Jonathan Valin • Posted: January 18, 2012

Link to original article

“Ted Denney of Synergistic Research managed his usual magic with the $90k YG Acoustics Anat Studios, driven by Esoteric electronics with Synergistic’s Music Cable as a source and a new Denney item, the Tranquility Base (an equipment stand with active EM), removing grit and grain from noisy components like servers. The sound was remarkably expansive and realistic, but with the Tranquility Bases removed low-level ambient cues and layered depth were reduced. A remarkable demo.”

Photo by Jonathan Valin

Tranquility Base XL, Tranquility Base & Tranquility bāsik

• Under Turntables – Dramatically improves clarity and sound staging
• CD Players, DACS and Transports sound almost analouge
• Computer Audio- a significant upgrade to MAC and PC based file servers
• Hard drives- A surprising but significant improvement
• One Tranquility bāsik has enough area to treat a Mac Mini, a hard drive and small DAC or Music Cable
• Pre-Amps
• External Cross-overs
• Amplifiers

Video Applications:

• DVD and BluRay players
• Cable and satellite boxes are dramatically improved in both picture and audio quality

Isolation:

• Outperforms state-of-the-art $10,000+ isolation platforms and racks
• Delivers game changing performance to common non audio furniture
• A significant upgrade when paired with the best isolation racks and platforms
• Tranquility Base XL is a direct replacement for shelves on large Grand Prix racks and amp stands

Easily Demonstrated:

• Place any component atop a Tranquility Base and enjoy amazing improvements in audio and video quality
• All Tranquility Bases are Active so you can turn their benefits on and off
• The Tranquility Base can be tailored to suite your tastes with included Enigma Tuning Bullets
• Enigma Tuning Bullets change the sound of your system from rich and warm to open and airy

Enigma Tuning Bullets on a Tranquility Base

Easy to implement in any system or décor:

• Works wonders with standard furniture as well as audiophile grade isolation platforms and racks
• Can be daisy chained so one power supply powers multiple bases
• Passive ground plane can be daisy chained so one AC outlet grounds multiple bases
• One Tranquility Base can treat multiple components

Audible Benefits Include:

• A significant opening of the sound field
• A drop in the perceived noise floor
• Smoother more extended highs
• Tighter and more defined bass
• Improved layering of images in the sound stage
• A dramatic decoupling of the sound field from the speakers and room
• Allows listeners to hear deeper into recordings revealing intricate as well as subtle passages with never before attained clarity

Available in three levels:

Tranquility bāsik

• Level 1 Active Signal Flow Control
• 7 layer laminate mechanical isolation
• One set of MiG resonator footers
• 17 inches wide x 14 inches deep

Tranquility Base

• Level 2 Active Signal Flow Control
• Level 1 Passive Ground Plane
• 9 layer laminate mechanical isolation
• Two sets of MiG resonator footers
• 18.5 inches wide x 16 inches deep

Tranquility Base XL

• Level 2 Active Signal Flow Control
• Level 1 Passive Ground Plane
• 9 layer laminate mechanical isolation
• One set of MiG resonators and one set of BIG MiG resonator footers
• 20 inches wide x 23 inches deep
• Amp stand for large stereo and mono block amplifiers
• A direct replacement for shelves on large Grand Prix racks

For more information on the inspiration behind the Tranquility Base

As Ted saw it, the problem was simple: clean up inherently dirty power supplies and circuits found in a PC or Macintosh, and the deleterious effect they have on the music we listen to. Past attempts to improve computer audio focused mainly on power supplies, but Ted knew the core issues went far deeper then merely re-engineering a regulated power supply. In order to extract all the information hidden in Red Book and high resolution digital files, the PC and Macintosh circuits (and their noisy EM fields) would first need to be tamed while the signal was still in the computer! Simply filtering signal and electricity as it leaves a computer only goes so far, and fails to address this fundamental distortion. Namely, the negative effects that closely positioned circuits, RAM chips, CPU processors, IC chips, circuit components (ie. resistors & capacitors), inductors, and power supplies have on the overall sound of computer based music. By cleaning up the problem before it can affect the music, Ted discovered a fundamental way to improve music reproduction and bring it much closer to the live event; not only for computer based audio but for all audio components.

Tranquility bāsik conditioning a Mac Mini and Western Digital Hard Drive

Ted’s breakthrough came when he contemplated the nature of his patented EM Cell technology, as found in our PowerCell line of conditioners and Galileo Cable Cells. He reasoned that if he placed a variation of his EM Cell technology beneath a computer, it would have a similar ability to condition signal while still in the computer, as it does when conditioning AC and signal running through cables. This led to several new patents pending, and one of the most amazing new products to come to audio in over a decade: the worlds first Active isolation platform capable of conditioning signal while still in your stereo’s components!

Click here for more information on the Tranquility Base

Element Copper Tungsten Silver speaker cables embody the best from our Element Copper and Element Tungsten models with the addition of Silver Air Strings for the most balanced and refined performance in the Element Series. Blind listening tests confirm pure silver when suspended in an actively shielded air dielectric deliver the most refined sound of any element.

• Combines the best traits of all three elements, Copper, Tungsten and Silver
• The most balanced performance in the Element Series
• Outperforms any cable from any other manufacturer regardless of price

When silver is combined with copper’s low frequency weight and tungsten’s holographic portrayal of space you get a cable that embodies everything without compromise; air, speed, finesse and thunderous low frequency extension in the most holographic soundfield you have ever experienced.

Of course with world first technologies like pure tungsten signal conductors, air dialectics with Active Shielding, system tuning with Enigma Bullets, and harmonically selected elements like copper, tungsten and silver, Element CTS outperforms any cable from any manufacturer by a wide margin; we guarantee it so set up an in home audition today.

Enigma Tuning Bullets

As with all Element Series cables start with Grey Enigma Tuning Bullets first and allow the cable to settle in for at least 48 hours before experimenting with Silver and Black tuning options. If after 48 hours you wish to open up the sound field and upper registers substitute Silver bullets or if your system requires more warmth, try listening with the Black bullets.

Element Copper Tungsten Silver Speaker Cable Specifications:

• Silver Air String:
• Silver Air Strings: 99.9999% pure mono crystal silver conductor with a separate ground conductor from DC shield
• 4 separate conductors: 2 signal, 2 DC Shield
• Dielectric: Air (sealed)
• Shielding: 30-volt, 250 milliamp Active Shielding
• Hand Made in our California factory

• Tungsten Air String:
• Tungsten Air Strings: 99.99% pure tungsten conductor with a separate ground conductor from shield
• 4 separate conductors: 2 signal, 2 DC Shield
• Dielectric: Air (sealed)
• Shielding: 30-volt, 250 milliamp Active Shielding
• Geometry: four channel
• Hand Made in our California factory

• Copper Air String:
• Copper Air Strings: 99.9999% pure mono crystal copper conductor with a separate ground conductor from DC shield
• 4 separate conductors: 2 signal, 2 DC Shield
• Dielectric: Air (sealed)
• Shielding: 30-volt, 250 milliamp Active Shielding
• Hand Made in our California factory

• Tricon 3^rd Gen High Current:
• Silver Copper Matrix: Mono crystal conductors with a separate ground conductor from shield
• Dielectric: Teflon
• Shielding: 30-volt, 250 milliamp Active Shielding
• Geometry: 3 channel single ended / 6 channel balanced

• H.C.S.P Active:
• Silver Copper Matrix: Mono crystal conductors with a separate ground conductor from shield
• Dielectric: Modified Polyethylene
• Shielding: 30-volt, 250 milliamp Active Shielding
• Geometry: 2 conductor twisted pair + foil shield w DC drain wire

• Spade or Banana Terminations:
• Gold plated copper

• Geometry Count:
• Each Pair of Element Copper Tungsten Silver Speaker Cables are actually 7 separate pair of cables: 1 pair Copper Airstring w separate signal, ground and DC shield conductors, 1 pair Silver Airstring w separate signal, ground and DC shield conductors, 1 pair Tungsten Air String w separate signal, ground and DC shield conductors, 2 pairs 3^rd Generation Tricon High Current w separate signal, ground and DC shield conductors and 2 pair Element H.C. Active with separate signal and ground conductors from shield / DC

• Power Supply:
• 1 Standard 30 volt MPC

• Build Notes:
• 136 point-to-point hand soldered connections
• Hand build time: 16 hours
• Quantum Tunneling: 2 step process, one for signal / ground, one for Active Shielding conductors and shields
• Hand Made in our California factory

Element Tungsten speaker cables utilize a special high current parallel geometry alongside its Tungsten Air String to take full advantage of tungsten’s holographic characteristics. With an overall diameter smaller then a US Quarter this cable delivers performance to rival even the world’s thickest (and most expensive) speaker cables in an affordable and easy to manage profile. Aside from our Galileo System and Element Copper Tungsten Silver speaker cables this is the highest performance cable we have ever made and should establish the benchmark for performance and value against which all other speaker cables will be measured.

• The most holographic of all elements
• More air with smoother performance then copper
• Delivers state-of-the-art performance at real world prices
• Flexible- easy to manage even in tight spaces

Enigma Tuning Bullets

As with all Element Series cables start with Grey Enigma Tuning Bullets first and allow the cable to settle in for at least 48 hours before experimenting with Silver and Black tuning options. If after 48 hours you wish to open up the sound field and upper registers substitute Silver bullets or if your system requires more warmth, try listening with the Black bullets.

Element Tungsten Speaker Cable Specifications:

• Tungsten Air String:
• Tungsten Air Strings: 99.99% pure tungsten conductor with a separate ground conductor from shield
• 4 separate conductors: 2 signal, 2 DC Shield
• Dielectric: Air (sealed)
• Shielding: 30-volt, 250 milliamp Active Shielding
• Geometry: Four channel
• Hand Made in our California factory

• Tricon 3^rd Gen High Current:
• Silver Copper Matrix: Mono crystal conductors with a separate ground conductor from shield
• Dielectric: Teflon
• Shielding: 30-volt, 250 milliamp Active Shielding
• Geometry: 3 channel single ended / 6 channel balanced

• H.C.S.P Active:
• Silver Copper Matrix: Mono crystal conductors with a separate ground conductor from shield
• Dielectric: Modified Polyethylene
• Shielding: 30-volt, 250 milliamp Active Shielding
• Geometry: 2 conductor twisted pair + foil shield w DC drain wire

• Spade or Banana Terminations:
• Gold plated copper

• Geometry Count:
• Each Pair of Element Tungsten Speaker Cables are actually 3 separate pair of cables- 1 pair Tungsten Airstring with separate signal  and ground conductors from shield / DC, 1 pair 3^rd Generation Tricon High Current with separate signal, ground and DC shield conductors and 1 pair Element H.C. Active with separate signal and ground conductors from shield / DC

• Power Supply:
• 1 Standard 30 volt MPC

• Build Notes:
• 68 point-to-point hand soldered connections
• Hand build time: 8 hours
• Quantum Tunneling: 2 step process, one for signal / ground, one for Active Shielding conductors and shields
• Hand Made in our California factory

Element Copper speaker cables were voiced to compliment the inherent strength of copper with thunderous low frequency delivery and control in a flexible easy to manage profile. With an overall diameter less then two No.2 pencils, Element Copper speaker cables deliver performance that surpasses even large unwieldy cables in a svelte and stealthy package.

• Exceptionally powerful in a small flexible package
• More holographic then our prior top of the line models
• Delivers performance well beyond its price point

Enigma Tuning Bullets

As with all Element Series cables start with Grey Enigma Tuning Bullets first and allow the cable to settle in for at least 48 hours before experimenting with Silver and Black tuning options. If after 48 hours you wish to open up the sound field and upper registers substitute Silver bullets or if your system requires more warmth, try listening with the Black bullets.

• Copper Air String:
• Copper Air Strings: 99.9999% pure mono crystal copper conductor with a separate ground conductor from shield
• 4 separate conductors: 2 signal, 2 DC Shield
• Dielectric: Air (sealed)
• Shielding: 30-volt, 250 milliamp Active Shielding
• Geometry: Four channel
• Hand Made in our California factory

• Tricon 3^rd Gen High Current:
• Silver Copper Matrix: Mono crystal conductors with a separate ground conductor from shield
• Dielectric: Teflon
• Shielding: 30-volt, 250 milliamp Active Shielding
• Geometry: 3 channel with separate conductors for signal and DC ground

• H.C.S.P Active:
• Silver Copper Matrix: Mono crystal conductors with a separate ground conductor from shield
• Dielectric: Modified Polyethylene
• Shielding: 30-volt, 250 milliamp Active Shielding
• Geometry: 2 conductor twisted pair + foil shield w DC drain wire

• Spade or Banana Terminations:
• Gold plated copper

• Geometry Count:
• Each Pair of Element Copper Speaker Cables are actually 3 separate pair of cables- 1 pair Copper Airstring with separate signal  and ground conductors from shield / DC, 1 pair 3^rd Generation Tricon High Current with separate signal, ground and DC shield conductors and 1 pair H.C.S.P. with separate signal and ground conductors from shield / DC

• Power Supply:
• 1 Standard 30 volt MPC

• Build Notes:
• 68 point-to-point hand soldered connections
• Hand build time: 8 hours
• Quantum Tunneling: 2 step process, one for signal / ground, one for Active Shielding conductors and shields
• Hand Made in our California factory

Element Copper Tungsten Silver combines the best traits of each element for the most balanced and highest resolution interconnect in the Element Series. Imagine the low frequency authority of copper, the holographic soundstaging of Tungsten and the refinement and resolution of silver combined in one cable. This is by far the highest performance interconnect we have ever manufactured excluding the Galileo System interconnects which are nearly 10 times the Element CTS’s price and arguably this is the highest performance interconnect option your can choose from any manufacturer at any price including flagship products from our competitors. Add a Galileo Universal Interconnect Cell and you truly have a state-of-the-art interconnect that comes very close to our flagship Galileo System cables.

• Combines the best traits of Copper and Tungsten and Silver
• Silver delivers the highest level of frequency information
• The most balanced of all Element Series cables

Listening notes and findings for Element Silver:

“Silver has a deep soundstage in a well rounded polite and non offensive presentation. Absolutely no glare or grain in the upper registers. Balance is the word that comes to mind”

Of course silver is only one of three elements found in Element Copper / Tungsten / Silver. For more information on how each of these three elements stack up visit the Element Series Overview page here

Enigma Tuning Bullets

As with all Element Series cables start with Grey Enigma Tuning Bullets first and allow the cable to settle in for at least 48 hours before experimenting with Silver and Black tuning options. If after 48 hours you wish to open up the sound field and upper registers substitute Silver bullets or if your system requires more warmth, try listening with the Black bullets.

Element Copper Tungsten Silver Specifications:

• Copper Air String:
• Copper Air Strings: 99.9999% pure mono crystal copper conductor with a separate ground conductor from shield
• 3 individual conductors RCA / 5 individual conductors XLR
• Dielectric: Air (sealed)
• Shielding: 30-volt, 250 milliamp Active Shielding
• Geometry: five channel single ended / balanced geometry
• Hand Made in our California factory

• Tungsten Air String:
• Tungsten Air Strings: 99.99% pure conductor with separate ground conductors from shield
• 3 individual conductors RCA / 5 individual conductors XLR
• Dielectric: Air (sealed)
• Shielding: 30-volt, 250 milliamp Active Shielding
• Geometry: five channel single ended / balanced geometry
• Hand Made in our California factory

• Silver Air String:
• Silver Air Strings: 99.9999% pure mono-filament conductor with separate ground conductors from shield
• 3 individual conductors RCA / 5 individual conductors XLR
• Dielectric: Air (sealed)
• Shielding: 30-volt, 250 milliamp Active Shielding
• Geometry: five channel single ended / balanced geometry
• Hand Made in our California factory

• Tricon Active 3^rd Gen:
• Silver Copper Matrix- mono crystal signal and ground conductors with a separate ground conductor from shield
• One pair Tricon RCA -or- Two pair Tricon XLR
• Dielectric: Teflon
• Shielding: 30-volt, 250 milliamp Active Shielding
• Geometry: 3 channel

• RCA and XLR Connectors:
• Silver Teflon SR-20 RCA -or- XLR connectors

• Geometry Count:
• One Pair of Element Copper Tungsten Silver Interconnects are actually 4 individual pairs of cables RCA -or- 5 separate pairs of cables XLR.
• RCA: 1 pair Copper Airstring 3 channel, 1 pair Tungsten Airstring 3 channel and 1 pair Silver Airstring 3 channel + 1 pair Tricon 3^rd Gen
• XLR: 1 pair Copper Airstring 5 channel, 1 pair Tungsten Airstring 5 channel and 1 pair Silver Airstring 5 channel + 2 pair Tricon 3^rd Gen

• Power Supply
• 1 Standard 30 volt MPC

• Build Notes:
• 98 (RCA) 104 (XLR) point-to-point hand soldered connections
• Hand build time: 14 hours
• Quantum Tunneling: 2 step process, one for signal / ground, one for Active Shielding conductors and shields
• Hand Made in our California factory

Element Tungsten was the surprise of our blind listening tests with unsurpassed soundstaging and holographic realism. Overall Element Tungsten is more resolved and palpable then copper and hands down the most realistic of all elements where three dimensionality is concerned.

• The most holographic of all elements
• Smoother frequency extension then Copper
• Exceptional mid-range presence

Listening notes and findings from our exhaustive 6 month blind listening tests reveal Element Tungsten to be THE cable for anyone who wants a “you are there” experience from their favorite recordings; a cable suitable for upper end components capable of a high degree of resolution, Element Tungsten represents state-of-the-art performance at a real world price.

Enigma Tuning Bullets

As with all Element Series cables start with Grey Enigma Tuning Bullets first and allow the cable to settle in for at least 48 hours before experimenting with Silver and Black tuning options. If after 48 hours you wish to open up the sound field and upper registers substitute Silver bullets or if your system requires more warmth, try listening with the Black bullets.

Element Tungsten Interconnect Specifications:

• Tungsten Air String:
• Tungsten Air Strings: 99.99% pure conductor with separate ground conductors from shield
• 3 separate conductors RCA / 5 separate conductors XLR
• Dielectric: Air (sealed)
• Shielding: 30-volt, 250 milliamp Active Shielding
• Geometry: five channel single ended / balanced geometry
• Hand Made in our California factory

• Tricon Active 3^rd Gen:
• Silver Copper Matrix: Mono crystal signal and ground conductors with a separate ground conductor from shield
• Dielectric: Teflon
• Shielding: 30-volt, 250 milliamp Active Shielding
• Geometry: 3 channel single ended / 6 channel balanced

• RCA and XLR Leads:
• Silver Teflon SR 20 RCA or XLR connectors

• Geometry Count:
• Each Pair of Element Copper Interconnects are actually 2 separate pair of cables RCA or 3 separate pairs XLR- 1 pair Copper Airstring 3 channel RCA -or- 1 pair Copper Airstring 5 channel XLR, 1 pair Tricon Active 3^rd Gen RCA -or- 2 pair Tricon Active 3^rd Gen XLR

• Power Supply:
• 1 Standard 30 volt MPC

• Build Notes:
• 76 (RCA) 82 (XLR) point-to-point hand soldered connections
• Hand build time: 10 hours
• Quantum Tunneling: 2 step process, one for signal / ground, one for Active Shielding conductors and shields
• Hand Made in our California factory

Copper lovers will rejoice to the sound of pure copper suspended in an Actively Shielded Air Dielectric. Strong and powerful with rich harmonics and excellent soundstaging; these are the traits copper brings to the Element Series.

• Most powerful bass of all elements
• More holographic then prior top of the line models
• Blends well with any system

Listening notes and findings from our exhaustive 6 month blind listening tests reveal Element Copper to be an excellent cable for audiophiles and music lovers who prize PRAT with strong BASS; a cable suitable for nearly all systems and components, Element Copper outperforms our previous top of the line interconnects (aside from our Galileo System IC’s) at a fraction of the price.

Enigma Tuning Bullets

As with all Element Series cables start with Grey Enigma Tuning Bullets first and allow the cable to settle in for at least 48 hours before experimenting with Silver and Black tuning options. If after 48 hours you wish to open up the sound field and upper registers substitute Silver bullets or if your system requires more warmth, try listening with the Black bullets.

Element Copper Interconnect Specifications:

• Copper Air String:
• Copper Air Strings: 99.9999% pure mono crystal copper conductor with a separate ground conductor from shield
• 3 separate conductors RCA / 5 separate conductors XLR
• Dielectric: Air (sealed)
• Shielding: 30-volt, 250 milliamp Active Shielding
• Geometry: five channel single ended / balanced geometry
• Hand Made in our California factory

• Tricon Active 3^rd Gen:
• Silver Copper Matrix: Mono crystal conductors with a separate ground conductor from shield
• Dielectric: Teflon
• Shielding: 30-volt, 250 milliamp Active Shielding
• Geometry: 3 channel single ended / 6 channel balanced

• RCA and XLR Leads:
• Silver Teflon SR 20 RCA or XLR connectors

• Geometry Count:
• Each Pair of Element Copper Interconnects are actually 2 separate pair of cables RCA or 3 separate pairs XLR – 1 pair Copper Airstring 3 channel RCA -or- 1 pair Copper Airstring 5 channel XLR, 1 pair Tricon Active 3^rd Gen RCA -or- 2 pair Tricon Active 3^rd Gen XLR

• Power Supply:
• 1 Standard 30 volt MPC

• Build Notes:
• 76 (RCA) 82 (XLR) point-to-point hand soldered connections
• Hand build time: 10 hours
• Quantum Tunneling: 2 step process, one for signal / ground, one for Active Shielding conductors and shields
• Hand Made in our California factory

Element Series speaker cables are strategically voiced to bring out the best from their respective elements with unique geometries that compliment each element’s inherent strengths. Flexible and easy to manage, Element Series speaker cables represent a major leap forward in both absolute performance and value; delivering never before achieved performance at real world price points.

• Flexible
• World’s first Active Shielded Air Dielectric
• World’s first use of Tungsten as a signal conductor
• Trickle down technology from our cost no object Galileo System Cables
• Full set of Enigma Tuning Bullets included
• Hand Made in our California factory

Element Copper and Element Tungsten interconnects combine either a pure copper or tungsten element suspended in an actively shielded air dielectric with a 3^rd generation actively shielded Tricon geometry in parallel for balanced impedance matching between components. Element Copper Tungsten Silver interconnects have three separate actively shielded air dielectric geometries for each element and a parallel 3^rd generation active shielded Tricon geometry to ensure perfect system compatibility. As with all Element Series cables Enigma Tuning Bullets come standard so you can voice Element Series interconnects to better match your system.

• Flexible
• Fast break in time- no more then 100 hrs
• Enigma Tuning Bullets for easy system matching
• World’s first use of pure tungsten as a signal conductor
• Direct trickle down technology from our Galileo System cables
• World’s first Active Shielded Air Dielectric
• Hand Made in our California factory

Best Small Room Sound – Steven Stone, The Absolute Sound

Stereophile’s John Atkinson “Despite the absence of any conventional room treatment (we were using our Acoustic ART System) the sound of Bela Fleck’s “Flight of the Cosmic Hippo,” with Victor Wooten’s deep bass grumblings, was articulate and clean-sounding.”

Audiostream.com’s Michael Lavorgna “My listening notes read, “No room, no walls” … we listened to Bach’s Suite for Solo Cello and I’ll let you decide where you want to lay the blame for this neat sonic trick—making the room disappear.”

The Synergistic Research 2011 RMAF Show System

We had another GREAT show at this year’s Rocky Mountain Audio Fest and want to thank our partners Mach 2 for their excellent music server, YG Acoustics for their exceptionally transparent and powerful Kipod II Signature speakers and Esoteric Audio for their always refined and holographic Class A amplifier and pre amplifier.

Set up started on Thursday October 13th at the Marriott Tech Center Hotel, Denver CO where we were eager to get our show system playing to best introduce our 10 brand new products. One of these products is a new product category called “The Music Cable” Designed from ground up with a single goal in mind: To make Red Book files (standard CD’s) and Pandora internet radio sound like your best CD’s when played through state-of-the-art multi-box digital separates. In addition we were launching our 20^th anniversary and highest resolution to price performance cables in our Company’s history, the Element Series with direct trickle down technology form our cost no object Galileo System research program. Also on hand was an advanced prototype of our Enigma Mk II valve power supply for Synergistic Research Active Shielding. (Available January 2012 in limited quantity)

The Music Cable- All in one plug and play hi rez Computer Audio Solution

10 New Products Launched:

• The Music Cable
• Element Copper Interconnects
• Element Tungsten Interconnects
• Element Copper/Tungsten/Silver Interconnects
• Element Copper Speaker Cables
• Element Tungsten Speaker Cables
• Element Copper/Tungsten/Silver Speaker Cables
• Active Firewire 800
• Active Tricon USB
• Enigma MKII Valve Power Supply for Active Shielding

As with all shows our lead Designer Ted Denney and team started set up early (6 am) to give the components, speakers and cables as much time as possible to warm up and settle in before finalizing speaker placement and tuning room acoustics with the Acoustic ART system. As any experienced audiophiles knows, a cold system’s sound shifts as it warms up so it’s vital to allow as much time as possible playing music through the system before beginning critical system tuning and speaker placement for best sound. With 17 hrs of continues non stop music playing through the system final tuning began at 8 AM and continued all the way to the start of the show at 12 noon when our system’s sound was nothing short of amazing!

Acoustic ART Bass Station for Tuning Low Frequency Acoustics

RMAF 2011 System Components:

• Synergistic Research NEW Active FireWire 800 with Gray Enigma Bullets MSRP $ 850.00
• Western Digital 2 TB Hard Drive MSRP $250
• MACH 2 Music Server, with Battery Power Supply MSRP $1,700.00
• Synergistic Research NEW “The Music Cable” All in one, plug and play Computer Audio Solution with built in Active USB Cable, 24 Bit DAC, Element Tungsten Active Interconnects, PowerCell line conditioner and Galileo Universal Interconnect Cells. Final voicing was with two Silver Enigma bullets – MSRP $3,599.00
• Esoteric Audio C-03 Preamp MSRP $ 13,000.00
• Synergistic Research NEW Element Copper/Tungsten/Silver interconnects with Gray Enigma bullets between preamp and Power amp MSRP $ 3,600.00 per pair
• Esoteric Audio A-03 Stereo Amp MSRP $ 14,000.00
• Synergistic Research NEW Element Copper/Tungsten/Silver Speaker cables tuned with gray Enigma bullets MSRP $ 7,500.00 8 ft pair and Synergistic Research Universal Speaker Cell MSRP $2,500.00 per pair.
• Synergistic Research NEW Element Tungsten Interconnects tuned with silver Enigma bullets between Pre amp and sub woofers MSRP $ 2,600.00 per pair and Galileo Universal IC Cell MSRP $1500
• Synergistic Research PowerCell 10 SE MKII MSRP $ 5,000.00
• Grand Prix Monaco Rack $ 6,500.00
• Grand Prix Monaco Amp Stand $ 1,995.00
• YG Acoustics Kipod II Signature MSRP $ 49,000.00
• Synergistic Research NEW ENIGMA MKII Valve Power Supply for Active Shielding MSRP $ 8,500.00 (available Jan 2012)
• Synergistic Research ART Acoustic Room Treatment with 9 Satellites, 2 Bass Stations and one Vibratron  MSRP $ 5,700.00
• Synergistic Research standard MiG’s MSRP $150 per set of 3 under all components including the Western Digital Hard Drive and Mach 2 music server with BIG MiG’s under the Esoteric Audio A-03 and Enigma MKII  –  MSRP $ 200.00 per set of 3
• Synergistic Research TESLA SE Active Power Cords- Hologram A MSRP $2,600.00, Hologram D MSRP $ 2,800.00, Precision AC MSRP $ 1,800.00 all voiced with Gray Enigma bullets

Mach2 Music Server atop a set of Synergistic Research MiG’s

Notable coverage for Synergistic Research at RMAF 2011:

Audiostream.com

http://www.audiostream.com/content/synergistic-research

By Michael Lavorgna • Posted: Oct 19, 2011

“The Music Cable isn’t a cable it’s a 24 bit DAC with captive cables coming out of both ends—the Active Tricon USB cable and the Element Tungsten Active interconnects “hand soldered direct to the custom 24 bit DAC board”. The interesting part of The Music Cable’s design lies in the use of “Enigma Tuning bullets” which the company describes as “Active Shielding circuits”. They come in colors which, according to Synergistic Research, correspond to sonic flavors: Silver Module = Open and airy, Black Module = Warm and rich, Grey Module = A hybrid of both the Black and Silver.”

“My listening notes read, “No room, no walls” and that we listened to Bach’s Suite for Solo Cello and I’ll let you decide where you want to lay the blame for this neat sonic trick—making the room disappear. This was certainly not the case across the board as some exhibitors sounded as if they’d rather wrestle with room acoustics…”

Stereophile

http://www.stereophile.com/content/music-cable-synergistic-research

By John Atkinson • Posted: Oct 20, 2011

“Synergistic Research room was a Mach 2 music server feeding USB data to Synergistic’s The Music Cable D/A converter ($3599). This has a flying USB input cable on one end and two flying, single-ended analog output cables on the other, and it gets power not from the USB bus but from two mono supplies. The system was wired with Synergistic’s new Element cables, which use tungsten conductors, a material chosen, I was told, using blind listening tests.”

“Despite the absence of any conventional room treatment—instead, the room was littered with Synergistic’s little ART “magic bowls”—the sound of Bela Fleck’s “Flight of the Cosmic Hippo,” with Victor Wooten’s deep bass grumblings, was articulate and clean-sounding. Perhaps Synergistic’s Ted Denney is just a master at setting up speakers to work with the room acoustics rather than despite them.”

The Absolute Sound

http://www.avguide.com/blog/rmaf-2011-report-loudspeakers-priced-20000-and?page=6

By Jonathan Valin at 2:02 pm, October 19th, 2011

“The real story here might have been what Denny calls The Music Cable, which is a plug-and-play solution for high-res computer audio: A 24-bit DAC that comes prewired with Synergistic’s Active Tricon USB cable (to hook to your Mac Mini) and actively-shielded tungsten interconnects hardwired to the DAC board (to go to your preamp). The Music Cable also comes with a built-in power conditioner and two power supplies.”

“All I can say about this combo is that it delivered a good deal of the same sound that I get in my own room with full-bore Galileo interconnects and speaker cables and a Berkeley Audio Alpha DAC/Mac Mini for about one-fifth the price. Equally interesting was Denney’s new 30V DC power supply for biasing cables and interconnects, the Enigma Mk II (launching at CES 2012), which allows you to switch between solid-state and Mercury-vapor-tube power. This is one you’d have to hear to believe, but with the Mercury-vapor tubes doing the active biasing, I thought the Kipods sounded better than anything else at the show with digital sources. The sound was, well, so analog-like.”

JV’s Most Significant Product Introduction at RMAF 2011: The Music Cable and Enigma Mk II Valve power supply for Synergistic Research Active Shielding

The Absolute Sound

http://www.avguide.com/blog/rmaf-2011-report-digital?page=2

By Steven Stone posted at 11:11 am, October 19th, 2011

Best Small Room Sound:

“… Synergistic Research’s room 8030 with the YG Kipod II Signature speakers and Empirical Audio’s Iris room with the YG Kipod II Signature speakers.”

“Synergistic’s room included its new active FireWire 800 cable, “The Music Cable” DAC/cable all-in-one solution, SR’s Element Copper/Tungsten interconnect cable, Element copper/tungsten/silver speaker cables, PowerCell 10 SE Mk II AC device, and Enigma Mk II valve PowerCell AC device, Mach2 Music server, Esoteric C-03 Preamp, and full SR ART room treatment system.”

The Element Series is an offshoot from our cost no object Galileo Research Program that developed the World’s highest performance audio cables.  Direct trickle down technologies include the world’s first use of an Active Shielded Air Dielectric, the use of Tungsten as a signal conductor and Enigma Tuning Bullets that allow you to custom match Element Cables to complement your system. These combined technologies enable us to build entry level Element Series cables that outperform our prior top of the line models at a fraction of the price.

How we arrived at the elements used in our new Element Series cables:

We knew from research on the Galileo System that any element coming in contact with signal (Silver, Gold, Platinum or Copper) has a direct effect on the sound. For the Element Series we first wanted to isolate the fundamental characteristics of as many different elements from the Periodic Chart as possible looking for new and hopefully breakthrough performance from overlooked options. We also wanted to make the signal path as pure as possible so in addition to Active Shielding we opted to go with an Air Dielectric as this significantly contributes to the amazing clarity of our Galileo System Cables.

The experiment was conducted as follows. We first made a dozen different interconnects. Each cable contained one geometry with either one Transition Metal –or- one Alkaline Earth metal -or- one Alkali Earth metal from the Periodic Table of Elements suspended in an Actively Shielded Air Dielectric. In addition each cable had a parallel Actively Shielded Tricon geometry to allow less conductive elements to reveal their hidden characteristics without hindering signal transfer. Each cable was marked with a random Alpha Numeric code so we could keep track of which cables we were listening to without knowing which elements were being evaluated during the 6 month long battery of listening tests.

After building 12 different Element Cables we first Quantum Tunneled each and then burned them in for one month on our cable cooker. We wanted to be absolutely certain the cables were fully broken in before beginning the subjective evaluation process and not just picking elements that break in faster then others. For the listening tests we used several different systems taking careful notes based on our listening tests as we progressed. Quickly we isolated elements that possessed less then satisfactory characteristics when cross referenced on our different systems and eliminated them without learning their element content until after our final candidates were chosen.

In the end three elements presented themselves as superior to all others with two elements being tried and true, copper and silver and one big surprise, tungsten.

Listening note highlights from our Lead Designer – Ted Denney

Copper- Code Name GE-F 33

Copper with Grey Bullets: “Very clear and high resolution. Strong powerful bass line, air and a sense of the hall makes this element a hands down winner”

“Detail freaks and dynamic junkies will love this element however not the largest sound stage nor does it possess the last degree of air or extension in the uppermost registers”

“Explosive bass”

Silver- Code Name GE-A 79

Silver with Grey Bullets: “Deep sound stage in a well rounded polite and non offensive presentation. Absolutely no glare or grain in the upper registers. Balance is the word that comes to mind”

Silver with Silver Bullets: “More forceful bass impact with only a slight glare on top  and only on certain recordings (which may be more accurate). Still smoother then GE-F 33 (copper) with Grey. The Silver Bullet definitely adds sparkle and slam to this cable”

“Extremely refined”

“This strikes me as a chameleon or a one system fits all element”

Tungsten- Code Name GE-B 35

Tungsten with Grey Bullets: “Amazing soundstage. By far the most holographic element”

“The difference between GE-A 79 (silver) and GE-B 35 (tungsten) is like the difference between a Ferrari 355 and a Acura NSX. The NSX is polite easy to drive and refined while the Ferrari is more spirited, less balanced overall yet posses magic and a connection to the road that leaves the Honda seeming somewhat boring by comparison”

“Huge sound field that may combine well with other elements”

“Spooky Huge Sound Field”

• A custom up-sampling 24 bit DAC capable of handling hi resolution files
• Hard wired Active Tricon USB cable
• Element Tungsten Active interconnects hand soldered direct to the custom 24 bit DAC board
• Built-in PowerCell line conditioner for pure power to the DAC and Active cables
• Galileo Universal Cable Cells to make Pandora sound as holographic as your best CD’s
• Compact design makes installation a snap, even in tight systems
• Dual Mono Outboard Power Supplies
• Separately these technologies would retail for over $7,000.00
• Introductory Price $ 3,599.00 (120 Volt US Version Only)

The Music Cable with Active USB cable, Element Tungsten Interconnects and Enigma Tuning Bullets

“The Music Cable” is a state-of-the-art plug and play computer audio solution, see your authorized Synergistic Research dealer to audition yours today.

Introducing The Music Cable. The world’s first plug and play solution for state-of-the-art computer audio. We’ve taken the guess work out of creating breathtaking holographic sound from your Mac or PC with advanced Synergistic Research technologies like PowerCell conditioning, Galileo Universal Cable Cell filtration, active Shielded Element Tungsten interconnects and Active Tricon USB cables built right in for pure effortless sound right out of the box. And to make matching The Music Cable to your system easy we’ve included our exclusive Enigma Tuning bullets so you can custom tailor the sound of The Music Cable to compliment your system; Simply experiment with the Silver, Grey and Black Enigma circuits to find your perfect match.

• A custom up-sampling 24 bit DAC capable of handling hi resolution files
• Hard wired Active Tricon USB cable
• Element Tungsten Active interconnects hand soldered direct to the custom 24 bit DAC board
• Built-in PowerCell line conditioner for pure power to the DAC and Active cables
• Galileo Universal Cable Cells to make Pandora sound as holographic as your best CD’s
• Compact design makes installation a snap, even in tight systems
• Dual Mono Outboard Power Supplies
• Separately these technologies would retail for over $7,000.00
• Introductory Price $ 3,599.00 (120 Volt US Version Only)

“The Music Cable” is a state-of-the-art plug and play computer audio solution, see your authorized Synergistic Research dealer to audition yours today.

New Breakthrough in AC Line Conditioning

The new PowerCell 4 SE is based on an evolution of our now patented  Electromagnetic Cell Technology. The PowerCell 4 SE is non current  limiting, is not fused or switched for maximum transparency, and sold  with a TESLA SE T3 power cord.  Sonically the PowerCell 4 SE is highly detailed  with a sweet treble and controlled low frequency presentation.

New Electromagnetic Cell Design

The PowerCell 4 SE is perfect for small systems, monoblock amps that are located far away from the source and preamps, or your source components. The PowerCell 4 SE also improves picture quality on any display, with darker black levels, better color saturation and a more 3 dimensional picture, simply amazing.  2 TeslaPlex SE receptacles provide 4 outlets in this fully differential designed PowerCell 4 SE. Fully differential means that the hot, neutral, and ground all have their own separate power paths to and from the magnetic cell. What does this mean? Even better performance, blacker backgrounds, improved dynamics and a more holographic soundstage.

The PowerCell 4 SE is now shipping , so order yours from your dealer today.

Synergistic Research PowerCell4 With Tesla SE T3 Active Power Cord. This combo is now sold as PowerCell 4 SE and offered at a special combo price.

“With perfect components in a perfect system it is possible to achieve outstanding reproduction without power conditioners. But most of us require a little help in dealing with the polluted grid, the ever thickening cloud of EMI/RFI and the noise generated by our components themselves. I was hoping the PowerCell4 would give me a taste of the very high end in power conditioning at a small fraction of the typical cost but I learned it requires their Tesla SE T3 Active Power Cord to achieve such greatness. The unexpected and atypical benefit is the flexibility offered by the Enigma circuits that plug into the active shielding on the power cord. These circuits allow you to fine tune your present system and make adjustments in the future when you acquire different components. Ted Denney takes an uncommon world view in approaching electromagnetic cell technology and it has paid off in an extraordinary way”. — Rick Becker

Click here to read the complete review.

Tesla LE REL SPEC Subwoofer Cable and Tesla SE T3 AC Power Cord

as reviewed by Robert S. Youman

Tesla REL SPEC LE Subwoofer Cable with Enigma Tuning Bullets

It has been well over ten years since my original purchase, but some of my favorite interconnects and speaker cables were the original Synergistic Research Looking Glass. At that time, my system consisted of several extremely expensive components including a massive solid-state amp and some very inefficient planer speakers. These products were all the rage and like many I was seduced by all the excitement and the strengths of planer speakers. I was pleased with the overall performance of this combination, but some would argue that the sound was slightly lean and cold. I will let your imagination paint the picture for you.

Rightly or wrongly, I had invested most of my available funds into these components and had very little left for cable. These days, I know that cable technology has evolved to such an extent that this investment strategy is not the most productive for best sound.

After a tremendous amount of research and audition time without success, I stumbled upon this upstart company and this very reasonably priced product. For this specific system, it was a no brainer compared to cable two and three times the price. Looking Glass provided a perfect combination of warmth and detail to complement these products.

Synergistic Research continued to evolve and move forward as a major player in the industry. It was with great curiosity and excitement that I learned that there would now be another opportunity to try two of their most interesting products.

I am a big believer in subwoofers. I was a skeptic and typical audiophile snob until I experienced a pair of properly set up REL Stentor III subwoofers (thank you Allen Hagger of Sumiko). My gosh, talk about revelations. You have read it all before, but my ears confirmed what many have stated. Not only did these subwoofers enhance the quality of bass output, they also clearly improved the sound at all frequencies including soundstage and imaging.

I currently own the REL Studio III. I hope to own two in the very near future. As stated above, I have also owned a pair of REL Stentor III and a pair of JL Audio F212 subwoofers. Each have their own strengths and weaknesses, but the REL Studio III is far and away the finest sub that I have used in my system. More weight. More slam. More texture. It also provides the cleanest integration and smoothest transition with my main speakers.

Sorry for all the rambling. Where am I going with all of this? Well, the preferred cable connection for all REL subwoofers is directly from the amplifier speaker terminals to the sub. A neutrik connector is utilized on the subwoofer end and three standard connections (bare wire, banana or spades) are typically used on the amp end for right, left and neutral. No crossover is required though phase, loudness and low pass filter controls are provided. This connection or cable is the key to this review. A serviceable cable is provided by REL when purchased, but several after market cables are now available including the Synergistic Research TESLA LE REL SPEC Reference.

Description

The Reference follows the design philosophies and implementation of the entire Tesla lineup. Please see the Synergistic Research website for a more detailed explanation. Unique geometry, active shielding and proprietary conditioning are all keys to this implementation. You can change the voicing of your system via three different active shielding circuits or modules called “Enigma Bullets”.

• Silver Module = Open and airy
• Black Module = Warm and rich
• Grey Module = A hybrid of both the Black and Silver

Enigma Tuning Bullets

Fit and Finish for the Reference is exceptional. Though substantial in diameter and weight, I found the cable easy to maneuver and dress around the extensive wire configuration in my system. List price for a 3 meter length is $1320. Custom lengths are available.

System

The XP-15 was evaluated with my current two-channel system:

• EMM Labs CDSA SACD/CD Player
• VPI Aries 2 Extended Turntable
• VPI JWM 12.6 Memorial Tone Arm
• Van den Hul Frog MC Cartridge
• Pass Labs INT-30A Integrated Amp
• Pass Labs XP-15 Phono Preamp
• Sonus Faber Amati Anniversario Speakers (primary)
• Vienna Acoustics Klimt The Music Speakers (secondary)
• REL Studio III Subwoofer

Kubala-Sosna Elation balanced interconnects; speaker cable and power cables are used throughout with one exception. The Transparent Audio MM Power Cord was used to drive the REL Studio III.

Caveat Emptor

System synergies and personal taste are critical when evaluating high-end audio products. This review is based on my subjective requirements, my subjective ears and my specific system. These combinations of components are only a few data points of many that exist out there. For further insight into my personal biases, check out the “Meet The Writers” section of Positive Feedback Online. Please consider my comments and analysis appropriately.

Sound – TESLA LE REL SPEC Subwoofer Reference Cable

After 600 hours of burn in, I was ready for some serious listening. This included 200 hours on each of the three Enigma Bullet options. After much experimentation, I found that the Silver Enigma Bullet sounded the best in my system. For my ears, it offered the cleanest and tightest sound throughout the frequency spectrum.

The change in performance from the stock cable was fairly dramatic. I was forced to recalibrate volume and low pass filter settings on the Studio III to find the sweet spot again. The sound stage was still huge and extended, but now everything was more focused and locked in. At first I thought that I had lost a little air and venue ambiance, but when inserting the stock cable back into the system, I quickly realized that this was not the case. With the Reference, there was less smearing or phasiness. On most recordings, you had additional transparency and more of a three dimensional effect.

Bass performance was more detailed with additional slam and speed. At this point, there was no increase in depth or weight over the stock cable. Despite this, everything seemed more dramatic and real. I found myself sitting upright and drawn into the music more often than past listening sessions.

Midrange output seemed sweeter with more realistic timbre and texture. Highs still had plenty of speed without losing any splash or sizzle. There was a very slight golden hue that seemed to envelope the over all sound. Again, some might find it quite amazing how a top-notch subwoofer and well-matched cable can impact all frequencies and performance criteria.

Sound – TESLA SE T3 Power Cord

After considerable time with the TESLA LE REL SPEC Subwoofer Reference Cable, I substituted the TESLA SE T3 power cord for my Transparent Audio MM power cord. Burn in time before serious listening was about 400 hours. Again, I selected the Silver Enigma Bullet for the best sound. The T3 lists for $900 at a length of 5 feet. Several off the shelf and custom-made lengths are available.

Up until now, the MM was my benchmark power cord for bass performance. Nothing had ever approached it in terms of transparency, weight and depth—especially for sub-woofer performance. The MM could bring down the house when playing acoustic bass, electric bass, organ and synthesizer music. It was a natural match for the Studio III, but the T3 brought even more to the table

TESLA T3SE Power Cord with Enigma Tuning Bullets

Most performance variables stayed the same. Maybe there was just a slight improvement in transparency, but it was difficult to really nail this down. The most obvious change was in slam and weight. I do not have the proper equipment to measure it appropriately, but it felt like bass output was reaching down another octave or even more. When I say weight, I am not talking about a more bloated and rounded shift in sound. Speed and detail were both tight and solid as ever. Bass output was just more dramatic and pronounced. It just sounded more real.

Music

One of my favorite recordings is the Classic Records 45 RPM four disc reissue of the Chicago Symphony playing Scheherazade and conducted by Fritz Reiner. This 1956 recording has been a staple for many years for many audiophiles, but the 45 RPM reissue brings the sound to another level. In my system, the addition of the REL Studio III in conjunction with the Reference and T3 cables made me feel like I was listening to this recording for the first time.

The depth and width of Orchestra Hall was now clearly defined and locked in. I became enveloped in a three dimensional sound that would whirl around in waves of excitement. When the violins, cellos and bass kick in during the first movement, you can feel it from head to toe. Again, we are not just talking bass performance here. All frequencies are impacted and improved. Soundstage is the best that I have experienced.

Stanley Clarke is considered by many as one of our most important American jazz artists. His abilities on electric and acoustic bass are legendary. I have not read much about his 1988 recording entitled If This Bass Could Only Talk, but it can provide a true system test—especially on bass performance. Well worth checking out.

Tracks 1 (“If This Bass Could Only Talk”) and 9 (“Basically Taps”) are closely miked so you can really dig deep into the performance and sound of Stanley’s electric bass. Both are performed with Gregory Hines while tap dancing. This might sound strange, but the effect is very dynamic and exciting. With the Reference and T3, I can clearly hear the difference between the CD and LP releases. Using his infamous Alembic “Brown Bass” axe, the texture and timbre of the instrument is much better delineated and defined. String tone is warm and detailed. You can hear the reverb of the bass and the echoes of the tap dancing bouncing off the walls of the recording venue in all directions. Rip roaring and intoxicating.

Final Thoughts

As stated earlier, I was never a big proponent of subwoofers. You have it heard it all before. The simpler your system is, the better it will sound. Straight wire with gain is the only way to go. The REL Studio III when partnered with the Synergistic TESLA LE REL SPEC Subwoofer Reference cable and TESLA SE T3 power cord has made me a convert. In this case, one more box and a few more cables can pay big dividends. Anyone with a REL subwoofer should strongly consider an audition with these two products. You don’t know what you are missing! Robert S. Youman

TESLA SE T3 Power Cord
Retail: $900 at a length of 5 feet

TESLA LE REL SPEC Subwoofer Reference Cable
Retail: $1320

Synergistic Research
web address: www.synergisticresearch.com

I confess I have no scientific knowledge or training in this area, yet I feel compelled to write about my experiences with room acoustics. Over the years I have tried egg cartons, hospital bed pads (both of these were in dorm rooms when I had no money), Sonex, ASC Tube Traps, homemade traps, diffusers, absorbers, rugs, tuning disc, and many more things I can’t remember right now.

The one thing I can say for sure is that everything you put in your room affects the sound of your system. Now I didn’t say everything makes a big change. I didn’t even say you could hear every change, but as the things you put in your room begin to add up they really do affect the sound you hear. Ted Denney, founder and chief engineer of Synergistic Research came to my home in 2009 to install his Acoustic ART Real-Time Analogue Room Treatment for review. The first thing he said when he looked around my room was, “they may not work as well with all the nicknacks you have in the room.”

Ted was saying what I’m trying to say, all the stuff in your room affects the sound. Some of the stuff deadens the sound, some of it reflects the sound, some diffuses the sound, and lots of things sing along with your system as it plays. Now listen! This means if you trust your own ears there are lots of things you can do to tune your room that cost very little if anything.I’ve been working on tuning my current room and getting the right equipment in that room for the last 10 years, though I have to admit that I ended up spending about $4500 on commercially-available acoustical products.

The two products I purchased were the Auralex Elite B24 Pro Panels for absorption, and the Synergistic Research Acoustic ART Real-Time Analogue Room Treatment for overall acoustical treatment. The ART may seem expensive, but I found it to be the best overall room treatment I have tried. While these two products are essential to the sound of my system there is much I have done in the room over the last ten years that has had equal or even bigger effects on my system’s sound. So the rest of this column is to share those with you.

Let’s start with the bass. I worked on the room when I had the Audio Note Es, and some other speakers that have bass below 30Hz, but my room works best with speakers that roll off above that. I have tried some pretty fast subs, but my room just doesn’t sound its best when trying to produce bass down into the low 20Hz area. One of the interesting things I have discovered about the quality of the bass in my room is that it is more affected by how far my listening chair is from the back wall than the placement of the speakers. I discovered this by accident, and it was a major breakthrough for the sound of my system.

The other things I have done that helps the bass is the use of an interesting version of Tube Traps in the back corners of the room. In the back left corner of the room I have a 1937 Philco radio that has a 15-inch field coil driver. It’s presence in the room tightens up the bass as well as allowing it to have more air and breath. In the right back corner of the room I have a large easel with a large painting on it. It sits in front of a big book shelf. Whether this combo acts anything like a tube trap I have no idea, but it seems to somehow break up the standing waves in the room. I don’t know why but removing either of these from that corner loosens up the bass and affects the specificity of the midrange.

Between the two back corners is a large brick fireplace. The bricks are not smooth and neither is the surface, so with a large painting hanging on it as well as some other knicknacks it hasn’t given me much trouble. I did find that placing the Synergistic Research Acoustic ART Gravatron in the middle of the fire place seemed to smooth out and quiet the spurious noise of my system.

Now, let’s talk about the first reflection points. They really do need to be dealt with, it’s not some myth to sell sound absorption products. Since one side wall of my room has sliding glass doors and a triple window I have chosen to use drapes, but this isn’t as simple as it seems. Heavy lined drapes deadened the midrange and just about did away with the top-end. It was so overwhelming that I actually preferred the sound with no window treatments at all. By playing around with hanging materials of different weights, I discovered that light weight pleated cotton drapes seemed to have the least effect on the sound of my system, yet still adsorbed and diffused any echo from the windows. The wonderful thing for me is I can open the drapes about half way and still get these benefits. The other good news is that this is one of the cheapest forms of window covering you can buy.

The other sidewall is very different in that it’s not a single wall but a staircase, a wall, an alcove, and a flat wall that faces the left speaker. This wall gave me a lot more trouble. I tried different thickness of foam, acoustical foam, and rugs. What I found worked best was two-inch ridged foam or two-inch thick acoustical panels. I used three of these on the flat, facing wall, but on the side wall at the first reflection point I tried several rugs. None of the Oriental or modern floor rugs worked at all, but I happened upon a modern looking alpaca rug that worked just as well as the foam. It also cost about the same but looked a whole lot better.

The back wall behind my speakers is the most unusual wall in my listening room. My house is a tri-level built in the mid sixties. My reference system is in the lowest level that was built to be a family room. The back wall has a staircase that comes down the left side of the room as viewed from the listening position. The back wall itself is only four feet tall with an iron railing that goes above it. This created an interesting acoustical problem.

I played with this a lot. I first tried doing nothing, but the music sounded like it was being played in an echo chamber. I then tried 4-inch foam; this really over deadened the sound. I settled on two-inch ridged foam and later changed the foam to the Auralex’s Elite B24 Pro Panels. Either the foam or the panels need a little help, so I tried a combo of absorbing foam and diffusing panels. This worked fairly well, but was expensive and looked terrible. So I came up with another idea; I had lots of books with no place to put them so I made erratic stacks of them along the back wall. None of the stacks are above two feet high, but they work great. They also give me somewhere to run speaker wire so that it’s not on the carpet.

I’ve shared all this to encourage you to play with your furniture, your rugs, and other stuff in your room and see if you can help the sound. I can tell you one thing though: nothing sounds worse than an empty room unless it’s an over damped room. You just can’t ignore the room, it makes too big a difference in the sound of your system. I’m not telling you what can get by for free, like I said, I’ve spent about $4500 on my room. If that’s too much for you try something to improve your room, but I bet most of you’ve spent more than $4500 on some of the components in your system.

Set up started on Thursday July 16^th at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Burlingame, CA

The Team of Manufacturer’s showing were:

Ayre Acoustics: Alex Brinkman.

Musical Surroundings: Garth Leerer & Joe Wessling.

Synergistic Research: Ted Denney & Peter Hansen.

Wilson Audio: Peter McGrath.

The “Redwood“, Room was a very small room, actually a small conference room by day,

See Picture below:

The size of the room was approx 9’x15’, made it quite a challenge, when using fairly large speakers, such as Wilson Audio’s Sophia 3’s, so what do you do?

Synergistic Research’s Acoustic ART to the rescue…..

Our lead Designer Ted Denney took on the tiny room and in less than an hour he had set up the ART system. Once in place the room sounded as though it had grown in size and dimension. Now the “closet” could handle the speakers and was ready for greatness.

All cables used were Synergistic Research. TESLA Apex interconnects with Galileo Universal Interconnect cells along with TESLA Apex speaker cables with Galileo Universal speaker cable cells provided a powerful synergy.

All the Power products in the system, power cable and power conditioning, were Synergistic Research as well.

The main rack was powered by the Synergistic Research PowerCell 10 SE MKII. The power amp and universal speaker cable cells were powered by the PowerCell 4. All the power cords were the Synergistic Research TESLA SE, with the interchangeable active “Enigma Bullets” circuits.

Electronics used in the system were Ayre Acoustics, Ayre V-5xe power amplifier, K-5xe MP preamplifier, Ayre DX-5 disc player, Clearaudio Innovation and Concept turntables, Fosgate and Ayre phono preamplifiers and as already mentioned the speakers were Wilson Audio Sophia 3’s

See photo below of the room after set up.

After a team effort the system sounded stunning, a great accomplishment, everything considered.

Please see the link below for a show report by Stephen Mejias of Stereophile.

“This is stunning,” said Wilson’s Peter McGrath. “Stunning!”

“And I agreed. This was one of my favorite rooms of the show.”

http://www.stereophile.com/content/stunning-sound-music-lovers-and-musical-surroundings

Below a show report from Fred Crowder of Dagogo

http://www.dagogo.com/View-Article.asp?hArticle=897

Next show will be RMAF 2011 in Denver, don’t miss it.

Our new Galileo PowerCell LE would find it’s debut to be an exciting one, sharing the spotlight with the Magico Q3 West Coast debut. Scott Walker from Scott Walker Audio provided all the components for this dream system, including the Galileo System interconnects and speaker cable.

We set up the Q3s approximately 17 feet apart, with no toe-in.  In an attempt to “take the room out of the equation,” far too often speakers are set-up with radical toe-in, losing size of soundstage and the ability to hear spatial queues beyond the boundaries of the speakers. Synergistic Research has always strived to set-up 2-channel audio systems that place the listener in the seat of the recording engineer, and this is precisely what we did at T.H.E. Show: Newport.

The challenge of a completely square room was met head-on by our Lead Designer Ted Denney, using new set-up guidelines for the the Acoustic ART System. For this composition of room and equipment, Ted installed 5 Bass Stations, 11 Satellites, and 1 Vibratron, for a total of 17 Acoustic ART pieces. After set-up and tuning, we had transformed this room into one of the best sounding “show” systems ever, with perhaps the largest soundstage we have ever recreated. Given the challenge we faced, this was quite an accomplishment.

For our demonstrations, we first queued a classical piece to acquaint the audience with the sound of the system and it’s ability to recreate a massive soundscape. We then de-constructed for the audience the Synergistic Research building blocks step-by-step to highlight how they contribute to the amazing sound we were getting. By playing a piece of music, then pausing and turning off the Active Shielding, we were able to demonstrate how it delivers holographic resolution without fatigue. Next, we removed the Acoustic ART System resonators from the walls (and from in front of the speakers), leaving the room acoustically untreated. The result: booming bass, and a confused and somewhat harsh sound, especially at higher frequencies. Likewise, low-level information was gone; micro dynamics and ambient detail, along with air and delicacy in the upper registers (so abundant with the Acoustic ART System in place), were also missing. We turned Active Shielding back on (but without the Acoustic ART System), and the sound immediately improved, taking on a more holographic and relaxed sound. Finally, we re-installed the Acoustic ART System resonators, and with Active Shielding powered up, the magic was back. Goose bumps & good sound; absolutely one of the very best systems we have ever had the pleasure to work with under trade show conditions.

Below you will find links and quotes from various forums and magazines covering the show.

“Keith, your report pretty well sums up my impressions also.
However, I didn’t see Magico Q5′s I did see the Magico Q3′s which were being demo’ed in the Synergistic room using the Esoteric gear as front end and an unknown Korean ss mono block as the amps. The cables were the Synergistic Gallileo’s with other Synergistic room treatments included.
Ted Denney did the honors and the sound was IMHO the best at the show. I even got to talk to Alon Wolf about his upcoming Q1′s.( he had sat in the demo while I was in attendance).”

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?3470-Show-Reports

“Magico Q3′s in the Synergistic Research room; on ground level; with the $40,000 Galileo speaker cell wires; sounded very good; but was amazed with the effect of the acoustic treatments; the little wooden sphere hanging above them in the center; and tiny base ‘cups’ and side wall cups; they played a track with these diffusers in place; then removed them; I didn’t believe the big difference in sonic improvement with them in; but it happened in front of me.”

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?cspkr&1307391005

“Synergistic Research cables and power cords, and the Synergistic Acoustic ART Room Treatment System ($3150). I noted “rock-solid” imaging and a crazy level of micro-detail. “If Dianna Krall had even the merest hint of a cold, you’d know it,” read my notes”

http://www.stereophile.com/content/scott-walker-audio151solos-audio151soniccraft151magico

“Around the room you’ll also notice the Synergistic Research Art devices inviting comment.
I noted a very strong center image, lots of body/weight, and a physical yet nimble presentation.”

http://www.stereophile.com/content/ayon-audio-usa

“All cables and room tuning were from Synergistic Research. Yes, another room using the ART acoustic treatments. Hmm.”

http://www.stereophile.com/content/home-theater-experience

“I’d never heard Lumenwhite loudspeakers until this show, and I was quite taken with the superb sound from the Artisan model ($35k per pair). Not only was the sound beautiful, but the cabinetry was stunning. The three-way, five-driver column features inverted-dome ceramic drivers and is reportedly time-and-phase-coherent. The Lumenwhite Artisan was driven by the Ayon Orthos 150W Class A triode monoblocks (280W in pentode), Ayon CD-5s tube CD player/preamp, Synergistic cables, PowerCell 10 SE Mk.II conditioner, and Synergistic Acoustic Art room treatments.”

http://www.avguide.com/blog/robert-harley-the-show-newport-beach-highlights

“Revisiting Norah Jones’ Come Away with Me revealed the system to have much improved resolution. This in turn yielded far more subtle nuance and tonal color that afforded me much higher cognitive recognition of the lyrics and much deeper emotional connection with the music. I was literally moved to tears“, Rick Becker, Enjoy The Music

Read the full review

New Breakthrough in AC Line Conditioning

The new PowerCell 4 is based on an evolution of our now patented  Electromagnetic Cell Technology. The PowerCell 4 is non current  limiting, is not fused or switched for maximum transparency, and sold  with a generic 14-gauge power cord that is Quantum Tunneled along with  the PowerCell 4 during the Quantum Tunneling process. Listening  impressions are based on either an Active TESLA SE T3 or TESLA SE Precision AC  powering the PowerCell 4. Sonically the PowerCell 4 is highly detailed  with a sweet treble and controlled low frequency presentation. Its sound  staging is more pinpoint to the PowerCell 10 SE MKII’s massive liquidity.  Where the PowerCell 10 SE MKII throws the larger and more liquid sound stage,  the PowerCell 4 is articulate and able to throw a large and highly  focused sound field. This difference is much like the difference between  a TESLA SE Precision AC power cord and a TESLA SE Hologram A or TESLA SE Hologram D power cord.

New Electromagnetic Cell Design

The PowerCell 4 is perfect for small systems, monoblock amps that are located far away from the source and preamps, or your source components. The PowerCell 4 also improves picture quality on any display, with darker black levels, better color saturation and a more 3 dimensional picture, simply amazing.  2 TeslaPlex SE receptacles provide 4 outlets in this fully differential designed PowerCell. Fully differential means that the hot, neutral, and ground all have their own separate power paths to and from the magnetic cell. What does this mean? Even better performance, blacker backgrounds, improved dynamics and a more holographic soundstage.  Pair with the TESLA SE T3 for outstanding performance.     

Enjoy The Music, Review

New Breakthrough in AC Line Conditioning

The new PowerCell 4 is based on an evolution of our now patented  Electromagnetic Cell Technology. The PowerCell 4 is non current  limiting, is not fused or switched for maximum transparency, and sold  with a generic 14-gauge power cord that is Quantum Tunneled along with  the PowerCell 4 during the Quantum Tunneling process. Listening  impressions are based on either an Active TESLA SE T3 or Precision SE AC  powering the PowerCell 4. Sonically the PowerCell 4 is highly detailed  with a sweet treble and controlled low frequency presentation. Its sound  staging is more pinpoint to the PowerCell 10 SE MKII’s massive liquidity.  Where the PowerCell 10 SE MKII throws the larger and more liquid sound stage,  the PowerCell 4 is articulate and able to throw a large and highly  focused sound field. This difference is much like the difference between  a TESLA SE Precision AC power cord and a TESLA SE Hologram A or Hologram D power cord.

New Electromagnetic Cell Design

The PowerCell 4 is perfect for small systems, monoblock amps that are located far away from the source and preamps, or your source components. The PowerCell 4 also improves picture quality on any display, with darker black levels, better color saturation and a more 3 dimensional picture, simply amazing.  2 TeslaPlex SE receptacles provide 4 outlets in this fully differential designed PowerCell. Fully differential means that the hot, neutral, and ground all have their own separate power paths to and from the magnetic cell. What does this mean? Even better performance, blacker backgrounds, improved dynamics and a more holographic soundstage.  Pair with the TESLA SE T3 for outstanding performance.

Enjoy The Music, Review

The new TESLA PowerCell 10 SE MkII and the Galileo PowerCell LE are direct trickle down technologies  from our cost no object Galileo Research Program. The TESLA PowerCell 10 SE Mk II differs from the original SE significantly.  The MK II’s  Electromagnetic Cell has ramped up performance with the addition of precious metals at critical points within the cell structure. With new TeslaPlex SE outlets and the use of an external”Active circuit” the new cell design yields a much  lower noise floor and better ambient retrieval. Top all of this off by adding the new TESLA SE Precision AC power cable terminated with our new G07 wall plugs and using interchangeable Active Shielding modules “Enigma Bullets”.

The New Active modules allow an end user to change the sonic balance of the TESLA PowerCell 10 SE MK II from rich and warm with the Black Active Module to open and airy with the Silver Active Module and a hybrid of both Black and Silver with the Grey Active Module. Overall the new TESLA PowerCell 10 SE Mk II is a significant upgrade over the original and a more versatile line conditioner due to the new TESLA SE Precision SE power cord that allows the conditioner to match a wider range of systems by simply changing out the Active Modules “Enigma Bullets” from Black to Grey to Silver.

The Galileo PowerCell LE differs from the TESLA PowerCell 10 SE Mk II in it’s use of pure gold in addition to sliver in it’s main EM Cell AND in its use of three additional EM Cells made from gold and silver for a total of 4 Active EM cells to the 10 SE Mk II’s use of only one Active EM Cell. The Galileo PowerCell LE embodies the cost no object performance of our $40,000 Galileo System Speaker Cables with only 20 chassis manufactured, we will only be able to build 20 units and half are already sold. Like the 10 SE Mk II, the Galileo LE comes standard with the new Precision AC power cord with user changeable Active Black, Grey, and Silver Modules. Both deliver world leading performance and have no competition in terms of what they deliver to a system.

The TESLA PowerCell10 SE Mk II’s performance is only bettered by the Galileo PowerCell LE and can directly compete with any line conditioner on the market from any manufacturer; it is a world class product. The Galileo PowerCell LE has no peer. Both of the new PowerCell’s are industry leading technologies and have no peer in terms of the performance enhancements they deliver when directly compared to any line conditioner on the market. Absent the Galileo LE, the new TESLA PowerCell 10 SE Mk II would have no competition, the Galileo version merely raises the bar even higher and was developed as a companion piece to the Galileo System interconnects and speaker cables.

PowerCell 10 SE MK II specs:

• Contsruction: SAR Acrylic
• Dimensions: Height 5.625″ x Width 17.75″ x Depth 14″
• Weight: 19 lbs.
• Connector Input:  1 each Neutrik 32 amp PowerCon
• US Connectors Output: 10 each Synergistic Research TeslaPlex SE
• Euro Connectors Output: 10 each Synergistic Research TeslaPlex Schuko

Voltage and current Rating

• Input Rating: 32 amp/250v
• US Version: This rating is predicated upon the US Outlet rating of 20amp/125v
• Euro Version: This rating is predicated upon the Schuko Outlet rating of 16amp/250v

REVIEW LINK to STEREO TIMES

The new Precision AC basik’s performance is exceptional for such an affordable and flexible power cord. This entry-level power cord is terminated with our new G 07 wall and IEC ends (see below), and Quantum Tunneled for detail and holographic performance. The Precision AC basik has a sonic balance similar to our Active Shielded TESLA SE Precision AC (the standard power cord on our PowerCell 10 SE) with an emphasis on precise image placement, strong dynamics, and PRAT.

Our new Quantum-Tunneled G 07 wall plugs and IEC’s utilize a 100% Gold signal-path, from signal contact blades to termination blocks for signal and ground conductors. This allows the G 07 to really push the envelope, with Gold delivering a light transparent warmth and Quantum Tunneling providing detail in a massive and liquid soundscape. The G 07′s balance is liquid, highly detailed, and musical. See image below.

It recently received some kind words in The Absolute Sound’s power cord shoot-out: “Tonally… its strengths were evidenced in the way it imparted depth to orchestral sections, its retrieval of ambience, and its lively and extended bass response—bigger in fact than that of the Wireworld and Kimber. In many ways Basik veered very close to the survey reference…”

The TESLA SE T1 is a flexible non-Active power cord comprised of one high current Tricon and one T2 cable geometry. This cable has a fast and open sound, with wonderful mid-range bloom and low frequency control.

As a power cord for plasma and LCD, as well as projectors, the TESLA SE T1 represents near state-of-the-art performance with noticeable improvements to black point levels and greater detail in shaded areas, as well as improved color saturation and sharper detail. The TESLA SE T1 noticeably lowers noise and motion artifacts that plague LCD and plasma screens, especially when viewing standard definition broadcasts.

Since the TESLA SE T1 is non-Active, you have maximum flexibility when powering video sources where additional wires may be unwanted, or when additional outlets for an MPC power supply may be unavailable. The TESLA SE T1 represents the state-of-the-art for non-Active power cords when used on video monitors and projectors.

Options: The TESLA SE T1 is a 15-amp cord using our own GO7 IEC and Wall plug.

Our new Quantum Tunneled G 07 wall plugs and IEC’s utilize a 100% gold signal and ground conductors; from signal contact blades to termination blocks. This allows the G 07 to really push the envelope, with gold delivering a light transparent warmth, and Quantum Tunneling providing detail in a massive and liquid soundscape. The G 07′s balance is liquid, highly detailed, and musical. Please see image below.

Built with a special slim line finish that makes routing the TESLA SE T1 Power Cords behind flat panel monitors and projectors as easily as stock power cords.

Geometry: 1 High Current Tricon / 1 High Current T2

Conductors: 3 x FPC Silver / 3 x OFC Copper

Wall Plug / IEC: Synergistic Research G 07

Available Finish: Stealth Black

Active Shielding / Zero Reactive Capacitance: The TESLA SE T2 is an Active version of our TESLA SE T1 Power Cord, and offers significant improvements in sound stage air, layering, detail, and low frequency control and extension. Active Shielding decreases the noise floor for a blacker background. Fine inner detail and micro transients are greatly improved, along with overall smoothness and musicality. The T2 is a personal favorite of our lead designer, Ted Denney, as a pre amp power cord, and is used in our reference system along with TESLA SE Hologram A and TESLA SE Hologram D Power Cords. As always, system synergy is the goal, not merely purchasing the most expensive cable you can afford. As a power cord for video, the Active Shielded TESLA SE T2 presents a lower noise floor for cleaner images, with lower artifact levels when compared to the non-Active TESLA SE T1.

The new TESLA SE AC Power Cords feature the ability to change their voicing via three different Active Shielding Modules “Enigma Bullets”. Each Module features a different sonic characteristic:

• Silver Module = Open and airy
• Black Module = Warm and rich
• Grey Module = A hybrid of both the Black and Silver

Now you can fine tune your system’s AC to perfectly match your components, and when or if you change components, you can change the voicing as well. It’s like having 3 power cords in 1.

“Enigma” Active Shielding Tuning Circuits.

Our new Quantum Tunneled G 07 wall plugs and IEC’s utilize a 100% gold signal and ground conductors; from signal contact blades to termination blocks. This allows the G 07 to really push the envelope, with gold delivering a light transparent warmth, and Quantum Tunneling providing detail in a massive and liquid soundscape. The G 07′s balance is liquid, highly detailed, and musical. Please see image below.

Composition: 1 high current Tricon geometry, 1 high current T2 geometry, Zero Reactive Capacitance Active Shielding with one 30 volt MPC, copper contact IEC and wall plug connectors. Each T2 power cord is Quantum Tunneled in our California factory. The T2 is available in 15-amp, with a special slim line finish that makes routing T2 Power Cords as easy as stock power cords.

Geometry: 1 High Current Tricon / 1 High Current T2

Conductors: 3 x FPC Silver / 3 x OFC Copper

Wall Plugs / IEC: Synergistic Research G 07

Available Finish: Stealth Black or Gold Standard

Reviews & Press for the T2 A/C Power Cord:
Dagogo (Jack Roberts) • Dagogo (Norm Luttbeg)

Active Shielding / Zero Reactive Capacitance: The TESLA SE T3 UHC Active Power Cord is an ultra high current variant of TESLA SE T2, with a special 4 conductor “T” Series geometry, and 2 ultra high current Tricon geometries. TESLA SE T3 UHC improves on our TESLA SE T2 as an ultra high current power amplifier cable, delivering an enhanced holographic presence, with more air, and a seductive mid-range with a relaxed and musical balance. As a high resolution pre-amp / amp power cord, TESLA SE T3 UHC has increased resolution and air due to its twin Tricon geometries when compared to TESLA SE T2. Thick yet flexible, the T3 UHC is easy to work with and delivers excellent performance on amplifiers, with rich harmonic texture, and enhanced air and resolution on pre amps and digital components.

The new TESLA SE AC Power Cords feature the ability to change their voicing via three different Active Shielding Modules “Enigma Bullets”. Each Module features a different sonic characteristic:

• Silver Module = Open and airy
• Black Module = Warm and rich
• Grey Module = A hybrid of both the Black and Silver

Now you can fine tune your system’s AC to perfectly match your components, and when or if you change components, you can change the voicing as well. It’s like having 3 power cords in 1.

“Enigma” Active Shielding Tuning Circuits.

Our new Quantum Tunneled G 07 wall plugs and IEC’s utilize a 100% gold signal and ground conductors; from signal contact blades to termination blocks. This allows the G 07 to really push the envelope, with gold delivering a light transparent warmth, and Quantum Tunneling providing detail in a massive and liquid soundscape. The G 07′s balance is liquid, highly detailed, and musical. Please see image below.

Composition: 2 x high current Tricon geometry, 1 x high current 4 conductor T3 geometry, Zero Reactive Capacitance Active Shielding with one 30 volt MPC, 4 micron 24K Gold IEC contacts for rich harmonic texture. Each T3 Power Cord is Quantum Tunneled in our California factory. The T3 is available in 15-amp and 20-amp versions.

Geometry: 2 x Ultra High Current Tricon / 1 x Ultra High Current T3

Conductors: 6 x FPC Silver / 4 x OFC Copper

Wall Plug / IEC: Synergistic Research G 07

Available Finish: Stealth Black or Gold Standard

Combine TESLA SE Power Cords In Your System: When voicing your system using Active TESLA SE Power Cords, start with stock power cords on your digital components. Then place a TESLA SE T3 UHC power cord on your amplifier(s), and compare TESLA SE T2 to TESLA SE T3 UHC on your pre-amplifier. Finally, replace the stock power cord on your digital source (CD or DVD) and compare TESLA SE T3 UHC to TESLA SE T2 powering your digital components. As you compare TESLA SE T2 to TESLA SE T3 UHC power cords, you will notice differences in high frequency presentation as well as mid range bloom and soundstaging. At each juncture select the cable that sounds most musical to you before moving to the next level.

Active Shielding / Zero Reactive Capacitance: The TESLA SE T3 Active Power Cord is a high current variant of TESLA SE T2, with a special 4 conductor “T” Series geometry, and 2 high current Tricon geometries. TESLA SE T3 improves on our TESLA SE T2 as a high current power amplifier cable, delivering an enhanced holographic presence, with more air, and a seductive mid-range with a relaxed and musical balance. As a high resolution pre-amp / digital power cord, TESLA SE T3 has increased resolution and air due to its twin Tricon geometries when compared to TESLA SE T2. Thick yet flexible, the T3 is easy to work with and delivers excellent performance on amplifiers, with rich harmonic texture, and enhanced air and resolution on pre amps and digital components.

The new TESLA SE AC Power Cords feature the ability to change their voicing via three different Active Shielding Modules “Enigma Bullets”. Each Module features a different sonic characteristic:

• Silver Module = Open and airy
• Black Module = Warm and rich
• Grey Module = A hybrid of both the Black and Silver

Now you can fine tune your system’s AC to perfectly match your components, and when or if you change components, you can change the voicing as well. It’s like having 3 power cords in 1.

“Enigma” Active Shielding Tuning Circuits.

Our new Quantum Tunneled G 07 wall plugs and IEC’s utilize a 100% gold signal and ground conductors; from signal contact blades to termination blocks. This allows the G 07 to really push the envelope, with gold delivering a light transparent warmth, and Quantum Tunneling providing detail in a massive and liquid soundscape. The G 07′s balance is liquid, highly detailed, and musical. Please see image below.

Composition: 2 x high current Tricon geometry, 1 x high current 4 conductor T3 geometry, Zero Reactive Capacitance Active Shielding with one 30 volt MPC, 4 micron 24K Gold IEC contacts for rich harmonic texture. Each T3 Power Cord is Quantum Tunneled in our California factory. The T3 is available in 15-amp and 20-amp versions.

Geometry: 2 x High Current Tricon / 1 x High Current T3

Conductors: 6 x FPC Silver / 4 x OFC Copper

Wall Plug / IEC: Synergistic Research G 07

Available Finish: Stealth Black or Gold Standard

Combine TESLA SE Power Cords In Your System: When voicing your system using Active TESLA SE Power Cords, start with stock power cords on your digital components. Then place a TESLA SE T3 power cord on your amplifier(s), and compare TESLA SE T2 to TESLA SE T3 on your pre-amplifier. Finally, replace the stock power cord on your digital source (CD or DVD) and compare TESLA SE T3 to TESLA SE T2 powering your digital components. As you compare TESLA SE T2 to TESLA SE T3 power cords, you will notice differences in high frequency presentation as well as mid range bloom and soundstaging. At each juncture select the cable that sounds most musical to you before moving to the next level.

The TESLA SE Precision AC is the TESLA SE Power Cord that excels in pinpoint imaging, presenting images with a startling “you are there” precision. Used as an ultra high current amplifier power cord, the TESLA SE Precision AC is ideal for large tube amplifiers where balance tends toward large and fluid sound fields, lending enhanced control of image placement and layering, or with solid state amplifiers where balance is warm and layered.

Compared to TESLA SE T3, TESLA SE Precision AC has greater high frequency extension and air, with enhanced layering and precise pinpoint imaging. Compared to TESLA SE Hologram A, TESLA SE Precision AC is more pinpoint, while TESLA SE Hologram A illuminates the boundaries of a sound stage with a warmer balance. As a rule, always compare TESLA SE Precision AC to TESLA SE T3 or TESLA SE Hologram A when powering pre amplifiers and power amplifiers. When powering digital components, compare to TESLA SE Hologram D or TESLA SE T3. As always, select the cable that best complements your system.

The new TESLA SE AC Power Cords feature the ability to change their voicing via three different Active Shielding Modules “Enigma Bullets”. Each Module features a different sonic characteristic:

• Silver Module = Open and airy
• Black Module = Warm and rich
• Grey Module = A hybrid of both the Black and Silver

Now you can fine tune your system’s AC to perfectly match your components, and when or if you change components, you can change the voicing as well. It’s like having 3 power cords in 1.

“Enigma” Active Shielding Tuning Circuits.

Our new Quantum Tunneled G 07 wall plugs and IEC’s utilize a 100% gold signal and ground conductors; from signal contact blades to termination blocks. This allows the G 07 to really push the envelope, with gold delivering a light transparent warmth, and Quantum Tunneling providing detail in a massive and liquid soundscape. The G 07′s balance is liquid, highly detailed, and musical. Please see image below.

Composition: 2 x high current Tricon geometry, 2 x ultra high current balanced geometry, with separate legs for positive and negative AC signals, each with its own Active Shield. Zero Reactive Capacitance Active Shielding with one 30 volt MPC. High performance Synergistic Research G 07 IEC contacts for greater warmth and mid range layering, Synergistic Research G 07 wall plug contacts for a balanced frequency presentation. Each TESLA SE Precision AC is Quantum Tunneled in our California factory.

TESLA SE Precision AC is available in 15 amp and 20 amp versions.

Available Finish: Stealth Black or Gold Standard

Active Shielding / Zero Reactive Capacitance: In transparent SOTA systems, the TESLA SE Hologram A reigns supreme as our reference power cord for amplifiers and pre-amplifiers. It blends an intoxicating combination of precise image placement with holographic illumination that expands the boundaries of your sound-stage. A cable of rich harmonic texture and layering, TESLA SE Hologram A delivers clean power to amplifiers and pre-amplifiers for amazing detail and air that is never fatiguing while low frequencies are tight and deeply extended with realistic attack and control.

The new TESLA SE AC Power Cords feature the ability to change their voicing via three different Active Shielding Modules “Enigma Bullets”. Each Module features a different sonic characteristic:

• Silver Module = Open and airy
• Black Module = Warm and rich
• Grey Module = A hybrid of both the Black and Silver

Now you can fine tune your system’s AC to perfectly match your components, and when or if you change components, you can change the voicing as well. It’s like having 3 power cords in 1.

“Enigma” Active Shielding Tuning Circuits.

Our new Quantum Tunneled G 07 wall plugs and IEC’s utilize a 100% gold signal and ground conductors; from signal contact blades to termination blocks. This allows the G 07 to really push the envelope, with gold delivering a light transparent warmth, and Quantum Tunneling providing detail in a massive and liquid soundscape. The G 07′s balance is liquid, highly detailed, and musical. Please see image below.

When cabling a system with TESLA SE Hologram power cords, start by placing TESLA SE Hologram D‘s on your digital components first. Next place TESLA SE Hologram A or TESLA SE T3 on your pre-amplifier (if comparing, place a stock power cord on your power amplifier and select between TESLA SE T3 and TESLA SE Hologram A). Finally, compare TESLA SE Hologram A to TESLA SE Precision AC on your amplifier. Always select the cable that best complements your system and personal tastes.

Composition: 4 x Hologram A, 2 x High Current Tricon, Zero Reactive Capacitance Active Shielding with one 30 volt MPC, Gold 24k 4 micron 15 amp  G 07 IEC contacts for greater warmth and mid range layering, G 07 wall plug for rich mid-range layering and effortless highs. Each TESLA SE Hologram A is Quantum Tunneled in our California factory.

Geometry: 2 x High Current Tricon / 4 x Hologram A

Conductors: 6 x FPC Silver / 8 x Silver Matrix Alloy

Connectors: IEC FPC Copper Pins Voiced With 4 Micron 24K Gold

Wall Plug / IEC: Synergistic Research G 07

Available Finish: Black Dragon or Stealth Black

Introducing the Synergistic Research TESLA SE AC Power Cords – the only Synergistic Research Cables that allow you to select the Active Shielding configuration that best suits your system.

The new TESLA SE AC Power Cords feature the ability to change their voicing via three different Active Shielding Modules “Enigma Bullets”. Each Module features a different sonic characteristic:

• Silver Module = Open and airy
• Black Module = Warm and rich
• Grey Module = A hybrid of both the Black and Silver

Now you can fine tune your system’s AC to perfectly match your components, and when or if you change components, you can change the voicing as well. It’s like having 3 power cords in 1.

“Enigma” Active Shielding Tuning Circuits.

Our new Quantum Tunneled G 07 wall plugs and IEC’s utilize a 100% gold signal and ground conductors; from signal contact blades to termination blocks. This allows the G 07 to really push the envelope, with gold delivering a light transparent warmth, and Quantum Tunneling providing detail in a massive and liquid soundscape. The G 07′s balance is liquid, highly detailed, and musical. Please see image below.

Never before has any AC power cord given you the performance and flexibility when voicing your system. The new TESLA SE AC Power Cords take the TESLA Series to a new level, representing a leap forward in almost every parameter. From the lowered noise floor to the increased low-level information retrieval, TESLA SE AC Power Cords are the most advanced – and most satisfying – AC power cords in the world.

The TESLA SE AC Power Cord History
In part, the TESLA SE AC Power Cords are an evolutionary leap beyond the original TESLA AC Power Cords. Comparatively, the G-07 connectors significantly improve overall performance through refinement and finesse. All the TESLA SE AC Power Cords have a more relaxed and organic sound with greater details, air, wider and deeper soundstage and with sharper image focus. The G-07′s also contribute a much lower noise floor and higher resolution.

The second evolution to TESLA SE  AC Power Cords is actually a direct trickle-down technology from our Galileo Research Program. In the past, when voicing Active Shielding, we built dozens of Active Shielding circuit variations to integrate into different cable models, listening for the option that would complement target applications. Even when considering the fact that these circuits exist outside of the signal path (they provide resistance for the DC on the Active Shield, which is not connected to either signal or ground), they have a significant impact on the overall sound and character of Synergistic Research geometries. At the two positive extremes (there are far more circuits with negative attributes that never make the cut), one circuit may sound transparent and thrilling with air and detail for days, while another circuit has a warm transparent glow reminiscent of exceptional vacuum tube electronics. And of course, there are hybrid Active Shielding circuits that embody both extremes. In the past, we often listened for hybrid circuits that would complement a variety of applications. Now you can make these changes in your home system.

During the voicing process for Galileo System Cables and Galileo Universal Cable Cells, we envisioned an idea of making the Active Shielding circuits external, to better facilitate a quick, plug-and-play change in circuits, without having to rebuild a Cell every time we needed to experiment.

To connect the Active Shielding Modules, we have integrated an additional Active Shielding interface (much like the interface you may have used in the past when connecting an MPC). The circuits themselves are housed in a machined aluminum chassis, with a blue LED to confirm a successful Activation.

Contact your Authorized Dealer to experience the new Synergistic Research TESLA SE AC Power Cords for yourself!

Synergistic Research- are you experienced?

The new TESLA SE AC Power Cords feature the ability to change their voicing via three different Active Shielding Modules “Enigma Bullets”. Each Module features a different sonic characteristic:

• Silver Module = Open and airy
• Black Module = Warm and rich
• Grey Module = A hybrid of both the Black and Silver

Now you can fine tune your system’s AC to perfectly match your components, and when or if you change components, you can change the voicing as well. It’s like having 3 power cords in 1.

“Enigma” Active Shielding Tuning Circuits.

The TESLA SE Hologram D is the only power cord in the TESLA SE line to require two Active Shielding Modules “Enigma Bullets”. The two Active Shielding Modules “Enigma Bullets” enable a significantly increased tuning flexibility with the AC of your high performance digital front-end equipment.

Our new Quantum Tunneled G 07 wall plugs and IEC’s utilize a 100% gold signal and ground conductors; from signal contact blades to termination blocks. This allows the G 07 to really push the envelope, with gold delivering a light transparent warmth, and Quantum Tunneling providing detail in a massive and liquid soundscape. The G 07′s balance is liquid, highly detailed, and musical. Please see image below.

Active Shielding / Zero Reactive Capacitance / 2 x AS Circuits:

Composition:

Geometry: 4 x Hologram D

Conductors: 8 x Silver Matrix Alloy / 4 x Silver Matrix Weave

Connectors: IEC FPC Copper Pins Voiced With 4 Micron 24K Gold

Wall Plug/ IEC: Synergistic Research G 07

Three is Better than One

What may be the best part of the New TESLA SE power cables is the ability to change the voicing through the three different Active Shielding Module “Enigma Bullets”. Each of the three modules has a different sonic balance. The Black Circuit sounds warm and rich. The Silver Circuit sounds open and airy and the Grey Circuit is a hybrid of both the Black and Silver. Now you can fine tune  your system’s AC to perfectly match your components, and if you change components you can change the voicing as well.

“Enigma” Active Shielding Tuning Circuits

More information

The Galileo System began as an exploration for radical new technologies to improve cable performance. We first wanted to learn what would happen when we combined the Electromagnetic Cell technology (from our award winning TESLA PowerCells) with interconnects and speaker cables. To optimize performance of the Galileo System’s Electromagnetic Cells, we experimented with a myriad of conductor options. In our TESLA PowerCell, we utilize highly conductive copper with trace amounts of silver. For Galileo System cables, we wanted to challenge assumptions made in the PowerCell’s conductor medium by exploring the effect of precious metals on EM Cell performance. We began experimenting with pure silver, which opened up resolution, but unfortunately it did so in an artificial way by over emphasizing high frequencies at the expense of natural harmonic overtones in the mid-range. We later experimented with strategic layers of both copper and pure silver (as found in our Galileo Universal Cable Cells). This increased high frequency resolution while preserving a natural mid-range. We later experimented with pure gold, pure silver, and pure copper in the Galileo System’s EM Cells. This allowed us to push the envelope with silver, while preserving an amazing level of harmonic richness and texture. Finally, we hit on a strategic combination of pure copper, pure silver, pure gold, and pure platinum. This precious metal matrix, as we now call it, yielded the highest level of resolution we have yet been able to transfer, while preserving a natural balance of low, mid, and high frequencies in the largest, most holographic sound field we have ever created; something Synergistic Research cables are already known for.

Click Here for the full review

Unusually Effective New Tweaks For Hi-Fi Systems

Jonathan Valin

Reprinted from: The Absolute Sound, February 2006

Over the last few months, I’ve come across a number of new devices for room treatment and vibration/resonance control that really work in the ways that I like such things to work—which is to say, all of them lower coloration, increase transparency to sources, and raise resolution without killing dynamics.

The first item—or items—is an unconventional room treatment from Synergistic Research, called the ART (Acoustic Room Treatment) system. I will be reviewing these temple-bell-like objects in The Absolute Sound in the near future, but for the time being know that all four parts of this system (the large Vibratron, which sits on a tall tongue-depressor-shaped stand, the smaller Bass Station, Gravitrons, and Magnatrons, which sit on wooden stands in front of your speakers or on little wedges of wood attached to your walls) work together to improve room acoustics by masking early-arrival reflections and comb-filtering, thereby clarifying and seemingly expanding the soundfield. In combination with Shakti Hallographs, which have much the same effects, they can do wonders for reducing brightness in an overly live-sounding room or for controlling midbass resonances in a smaller one. A starter set of ART products (including a Vibratron for the front wall, a Bass Station for the front wall, a Gravitron for the back wall, and two Magnatrons for the sidewalls) will set you back $2995. Granted this is a lot of money (especially if you combine the ART with Hallographs, as I do), but it is a WHOLE lot cheaper than custom-building a dedicated listening room and—from my experience of “scientifically designed” dedicated listening rooms—a whole lot better sounding.

Additional Acoustic ART Reviews:

Dagogo (Jack Roberts) • Dagogo (Norm Luttbeg) • Secrets of Home Theater & Hi-Fi
Enjoy The Music • Stereophile • AudioJunkies

The New Active modules “Enigma Bullets” allow an end user to change the sonic balance of the TESLA PowerCell 10 SE MK II from rich and warm with the Black Active Module to open and airy with the Silver Active Module and a hybrid of both Black and Silver with the Grey Active Module. Overall the new TESLA PowerCell 10 SE MK II is a significant upgrade over the original and a more versatile line conditioner due to the new TESLA SE Precision SE power cord that allows the conditioner to match a wider range of systems by simply changing out the Active Modules “Enigma Bullets” from Black to Grey to Silver.

The Galileo PowerCell LE differs from the TESLA PowerCell 10 SE MK II in it’s use of pure gold in addition to sliver in it’s main EM Cell AND in its use of three additional EM Cells made from gold and silver for a total of 4 Active EM cells to the 10 SE Mk II’s use of only one Active EM Cell. The Galileo PowerCell LE embodies the cost no object performance of our $40,000 Galileo System Speaker Cables with only 20 chassis manufactured, we will only be able to build 20 units and half are already sold. Like the 10 SE Mk II, the Galileo LE comes standard with the new TESLA SE Precision AC power cord with user changeable Active “Enigma Bullets” Black, Grey, and Silver Modules. Both deliver world leading performance and have no competition in terms of what they deliver to a system.

The TESLA PowerCell10 SE Mk II’s performance is only bettered by the Galileo PowerCell LE and can directly compete with any line conditioner on the market from any manufacturer; it is a world class product. The Galileo PowerCell LE has no peer. Both of the new PowerCell’s are industry leading technologies and have no peer in terms of the performance enhancements they deliver when directly compared to any line conditioner on the market. Absent the Galileo LE, the new TESLA PowerCell 10 SE MK II would have no competition, the Galileo version merely raises the bar even higher and was developed as a companion piece to the Galileo System interconnects and speaker cables.

PowerCell 10 SE MK II specs:

• Contsruction: SAR Acrylic
• Dimensions: Height 5.625″ x Width 17.75″ x Depth 14″
• Weight: 19 lbs.
• Connector Input:  1 each Neutrik 32 amp PowerCon
• US Connectors Output: 10 each Synergistic Research TeslaPlex SE
• Euro Connectors Output: 10 each Synergistic Research TeslaPlex Schuko

Voltage and current Rating

• Input Rating: 32 amp/250v
• US Version: This rating is predicated upon the US Outlet rating of 20amp/125v
• Euro Version: This rating is predicated upon the Schuko Outlet rating of 16amp/250v

REVIEW LINK to STEREO TIMES

Our new Quantum-Tunneled G 07 wall plugs and IEC’s utilize a 100% Gold signal-path, from signal contact blades to termination blocks for signal and ground conductors. This allows the G 07 to really push the envelope, with Gold delivering a light transparent warmth and Quantum Tunneling providing detail in a massive and liquid soundscape. The G 07′s balance is liquid, highly detailed, and musical.

It recently received some kind words in The Absolute Sound’s power cord shoot-out: “Tonally… its strengths were evidenced in the way it imparted depth to orchestral sections, its retrieval of ambience, and its lively and extended bass response—bigger in fact than that of the Wireworld and Kimber. In many ways Basik veered very close to the survey reference…”

New products launched at RMAF for 2011:

PowerCell 4, TeslaPlex SE, G07 US and Schuko wall and IEC connectors (3), Galileo Element- Silver ultra performance interconnect, TESLA SE power cords (7), BIG MiG’s, Precision AC basik- a new high performance, high value power cord.

Stereophile’s John Atkinson comments on our room in his RMAF show report- “The room was completely bare, other than the tiny devices that you can see on the wall above and to the side of each speaker, with other “bass” devices in front of the speakers and on the wall behind the CD player… they (Acoustic ART System) seem to improve the accuracy and stability of stereo imaging and even tighten up the sounds of bass instruments… All I can say is that in this bare, untreated room—untreated in the conventional manner, that is—the sound of the Carmels was way better than when I first heard them at the 2010 CES. The balance was mellow and musically involving and it was almost as if the acoustics of the room were being sidestepped.”

The Audio Beat’s Marc Mickelson notes some of our new products launched at RMAF- “…I visited Synergistic Research and did all manner of comparative listening to Ted’s products. The sonic differences varied in intensity, but they were always apparent. More important, Ted’s ability to set up and fine-tune an audio system is considerable,… Ted introduced fifteen new products, including a trickle-down version of his wildly expensive Galileo speaker cables. The new Galileo Universal speaker cells ($2500/pair) are meant to be used with any brand of speaker cable (Ted was alternating between those that come with the Cells and Nordost Valhalla), bringing the sonic effect of Synergistic’s Galileo technology down to a sane price.”

The new Precision AC basik terminated in our new G07 wall and IEC connectors. Amazing performance and value.

On-line blogs discuss rooms using Synergistic Research technologies at this years RMAF with rave reviews for holographic sound and musical realism.

Martin Logan forum- “They threw a HUGE soundstage”

AudioCircle forum “… the PMC room powered by Bryston gear with a whole lot of Synergistic Research cabling. The Fact 8′s sure put out a lot of sound for a small footprint speaker”

What’s Best Forum- “The YG Acoustics Carmel was playing in 2 different rooms (Synergistic and Veloce) where they were sounding quite spectacular in my opinion. Gobbs of information, soundstaging that went well beyond the room boundaries (in the Synergistic room) and in you are their excitement/realism that is few and far between in my experience”

Charlie of Ayon USA- a great guy and a great company

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A word of thanks to our very special partners at this year’s Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. First Ayon Audio of Austria (distributed in the US by USA Tube Audio) manufacturer of innovative tubed electronics utilizing traditional, as well as the most advanced modern tubes available today. And US speaker company YG Acoustics, builder of some of the finest loudspeakers on the planet. Featuring double walled aluminum cabinet construction for the closest thing to zero image smearing resonance our lead designer Ted has ever heard. Crossover components include  Mundorf capacitors from Germany which aside from being ridiculously expensive, enable YG’s crossovers to deliver pure effortless sound. Together the combination of Ayon, YG Acoustics, and Synergistic Research created one of the most effortless sounds at the show from a pair of small two way speakers, a one box CD player, and a tubed integrated amplifier. Cables were Synergistic Research Active TESLA Apex speaker cables, Galileo Element- Silver interconnects and Galileo Universal Cable Cells. Power was supplied via our new PowerCell 4 line conditioner, Galileo MPC’s, and TESLA SE Active power cords. Acoustics were tuned using our Acoustic ART System resonators.

Our lead designer Ted Denney takes a break from the action

“Welcome to our tenth annual audiophile equipment awards! Our Best Of 2010 Blue Note Award marks a decade of celebrating the very best products we have reviewed during the previous year. Recipients have been carefully chosen after much debate and consideration. It is a very rare occurrence that we bestow such accolades towards a products. While there are many great pieces of equipment now available in the marketplace, the below list is compiled from products we reviewed within the past 12 months of what we found to merit extra special attention. During the past year, Enjoy the Music.com has reviewed many products, including those covered within our Viewpoint articles and our sister publication Superior Audio. Items from Superior Audio are awarded here, so they do indeed count as items to be recognized as earning special recognition.”

Click here to read the complete announcement, and click here to read the original review from Wayne Donnelly (scroll down about 3/4 of the way down to find the Acoustic ART).

“There is no way I am going back to using traditional bass traps, room traps, triangular pillows and sculptured foam, that ended up destroying too much of the music. The cost of my Acoustic ART system was half of what outfitting my room with conventional traps cost me, and yet the ART system produces a degree of quality that I was never able to obtain from the traps I used to have. There is also no way I plan to continue listening in an untreated room. I consider good room treatment an essential component in a serious music system. The Acoustic ART was one of the best purchases I’ve made in audio.”

Click here for the full review!

REVIEW: Synergistic Research – Acoustic Art Room Treatment System

Eric Arjes

Reprinted From: Stereophile Forums, June 2010

WHAT IS THE ACOUSTIC ART?

The “Acoustic ART” system from Synergistic Research is an alternative approach to acoustic room treatment. It dispenses with the use of older traditional methods of absorption/diffusion, consisting of fiberglass stuffing or foam, which are known to have the side effect of damping fine harmonics in their heavy-handed approach to acoustics. The ART system adopts a more “synergistic” approach, based on principles of harmonics, and uses small, finely tuned metal resonators to treat acoustics at pressure points a room. The system I am reviewing includes the full compliment of 5 resonating devices. Although each of the devices in the Acoustic ART system can be purchased separately, for those who might not have the budget right away for the full 5-piece. (I hear there’s also a much cheaper 4-piece entry-level version of the Acoustic ART system called the “Basik”, but the resonators are not made to the same standards as the full system).

I read some of the enormous controversy surrounding the Acoustic ART last year on the Stereophile forum. It is that very controversy that convinced me that I needed to listen to a demonstration of this system myself, to see “who wins”. That is, to see if the efforts of all the detractors of the A.R.T., who were attacking everything about it relentlessly, had any validity behind it. Or if those who were defending it, were right to do so all along. It was imperative that I find out for myself, because no one amidst all of that controversy seemed to have actually heard the system themselves! That, and the fact that I knew I needed some kind of room treatment.

THE SET-UP

The full ART system consists of two satellites (Magnetron), placed around the first order reflection points. A third one (Gravatron) placed on the rear wall. The fourth (Bass Station) is a little larger than the other three, and normally situated a few inches from the wall behind the speakers, and below the fifth resonator module, (the Vibatron). Which I call “big daddy”. Vibatron consists of two very large bowl-shaped resonators, with a dispersion disc separating them, and the affair is connected by a rod of marine brass, permanently placed on a wood support. It is designed to radiate in a 360 degree pattern. The Vibratron also comes with a unique system of ball-shaped magnets, large and small, gold and silver. This can be placed atop the brass rod, and is designed to aid in contouring the effect of the resonator module.

THE SYSTEM

I was not able to do this test in my own system, as I am awaiting a part from France for my amp (I think they are still manufacturing it for me…). I set it up at my older brother’s place, but I know his system very well. ( I was the system consultant. Not only the one who chose all of the components and assembled it for him, but I spent many hours in that room, tweaking, listening and tweaking some more).

Hardware:

Digital: Shanling CD-S100
Analogue: Rega Planar 3
Amplification: Naim NAIT
Speakers: KEF 104/2
Speaker wire: NAIM
IC’s: Audioquest
Cassette: Nakamichi LX3, Nakamichi BX100

THE SOUND

This was not the first time I had heard the Acoustic ART, but it was the first time my brother had. He had no idea how these little “bowls” were supposed to work, nor did he even seem like he wanted to. Which is a good thing, because it avoided me having to try to explain it. I only installed the wooden supports at first, to set up the A/B trials to follow. So, without the ART resonators in the room, we started with the first track on A.J. Croce’s s/t CD, “He’s Got A Way With Women”. Which was pleasant enough, and quite a nice recording. Good tune, good soundstage, plenty of piano. I installed the resonators in their respective perches next, and we had another listen. My brother sat there, saying nothing, but looking rather shocked, as he was taking all the information in. I was just kind of grinning.

The biggest changes were that the sound now extended well beyond the boundaries of the speakers in all planes. The dimensions of the instruments and voices the soundstage were much larger, more realistic, and could clearly be located the soundfield. Even more significantly, the tonal definition and timbre of those sounds were improved dramatically, such that the music took on new meaning. Details came out that I hadn’t heard before, and they were musical details. Bass notes, for example, were much more controlled, and reached deeper than was possible without the acoustic resonator treatment. And unlike the traditional room traps I was used to, we did not have to turn the volume up in order to try to hear fine details, that are normally swamped by large surface absorptive-type damping.

With the ART resonators in place, you could now hear the full weight of AJ’s piano, and the full impact of the wonderful sharp crashing sound it made as he struck down on the keys. In contrast to this upgrade, the previous version had a rinky tink piano sound, a smaller soundstage (along with a confused image), and you could not get into the music as well. Afterward, my brother told me it barely seemed like the same recording. I understood. When I first evaluated the ARTs, I would occasionally find myself checking to be sure I had repeated the same track.

We really did choose a different recording for the next test; “The Anyway Song”, from the Lullabye Baxter Trio. It’s your typical carnival jazz married with nursery rhyme music, but done to perfection. Again, the Acoustic ART’s influence on the music was superb. Every nuance came out of the light, as Baxter’s vocals took on life-size proportions. The mood created by the static and bird sounds in the background being more palpable, while there were now bags of reverb emanating from the strike of the bass drum. The whole song became more dreamy, as you got swept up by the melody coming off the cello. I felt transfixed to my experience of listening to the song, whereas in the session without the ART resonators installed, I was easily distracted during play.

Chris Whitley’s “Blue Chicago Moon” turned out to be an excellent test track for the Acoustic ART. It was here where the differences were most amplified, thus far in the listening session. With the ART installed, you could now see the sound field extend way beyond the speakers themselves. You could hear a much greater range of contrast in the dynamics of Whitley’s vocal performance, which better communicated the emotional purpose behind it. You felt the drum kit, more than just hearing it, as without the ART installed. It was there, on one side of the room. We were also able to hear deeper into the music, as things got that much more transparent, and bass melodies that were difficult to follow before, came out of hiding.

On the Stereophile forum, Buddha had asked if there were ever differences observed from one recording to the next. I said I would listen for that, and I did try to. I would say that I don’t think the ARTs are having more of an effect on some recordings than others. But that some recordings can be perceived as having a greater change than others, due to quality of the recordings themselves. For example, the differences were more linear than dramatic, on Opal’s “Happy Nightmare, Baby”. The recording is ho-hum, compressed, and very much your typical pop recording with a lot of electronic effects. Once you got into a better recording, like some of the stuff from Songs:Ohia or the A.J. Croce, there was a much starker contrast between ART-in and ART-out.

My brother is by far, not the first person I’ve demonstrated the ART system to. And so far, nobody attending a demonstration had any difficulties hearing its effect. Which tells me that for most people, the effect of the full Acoustic ART system is not a subtle one.

CONCLUSIONS

There is no way I am going back to using traditional bass traps, room traps, triangular pillows and sculptured foam, that ended up destroying too much of the music. The cost of my Acoustic ART system was half of what outfitting my room with conventional traps cost me, and yet the ART system produces a degree of quality that I was never able to obtain from the traps I used to have. There is also no way I plan to continue listening in an untreated room. I consider good room treatment an essential component in a serious music system. The Acoustic ART was one of the best purchases I’ve made in audio.

THE LOCATION AND REMOVAL TESTS

A few people were curious about the effect at different locations; ie. near-field, far-field, etc. So I did some listening specific to this. Including both sitting nearfield/farfield, and walking around the room to get a sense of the change in acoustic effect. My overall sense is that the resonator system treats the whole room, and there is no particular localization effect, or pockets where the effect is not heard as well. Apart from the obvious effects of changing your ears relative to the speaker drivers, as you change your position in the room. I think the reason for this assessment is explained by my single resonator test, detailed below. Where, I discovered, that “the Acoustic ART effect” is still there, even with a single resonator in the room. It just isn’t there in the “power and the glory” of the full 5-piece system. Yet small changes in the placement of the resonators can affect various characteristics of the sound, depending on what you change or how. I also did very brief (incomplete) testing on each of the modules, to better relate their individual effect. Briefly, they are:

Magnetron: There are two in the set, and I found that removing one of these, made a great difference to the sound. I did not observe the stereo image shifting with the removal of a single Magnetron on either side. But the sound became more congested, and less well defined with its loss. From its removal, the midrange was harsher, and vocals there were less clear and distinct.

Gravatron: From a picture, the Gravatron could easily be mistaken for one of the Magnetrons. However, it is subtly different physically, and so is the perch it sits on (no magnet). Removing this resonator produced harsher midrange, a reduction in mid bass, weaker definition in the bass overall, and the imaging was less distinct as well.

Vibatron: This is the big daddy, the one that looks like a sculpture of a planet. It probably caused the greatest change from its removal. Upon which, all sounds lost their original quality of definition. Details were hidden behind each other. Bass went not nearly as deep as before, and the notes now bled into one another. Background vocals did not have their own space in the soundstage, as they once did, and were now blended with the instrumentation. Dynamics suffered as well. We played around just a bit with the magnet assembly that is fitted on top of the Vibatron. Normally, it points straight up so I steered it toward the wall. The sound was perceived as a bit darker, after that. So tone can be varied with it, and I have a feeling there is a lot that can be done with this option.

Bass Station: It seemed that many of the core elements remained with its removal. Yet… (as my notes say! ), I could not imagine living without it. Realizing upon its removal, that it brought “more” to everything. More “air” around the notes, better transients, tone, depth, body, weight, etc. It allowed me to hear individual melodies, that were no longer as apparent, in its absence. It provided character to bass notes, in keep with what its name seems to imply, but affected the rest of the range as well.

Single Resonator test (Magnetron Pt. 2): This is where I removed all other modules from the room, and just kept a single Magnetron. Switching it left and right occasionally, and removing it from the room, in order to compare it to the untreated room. As mentioned, the “Acoustic ART effect” was there with the one Magnetron, just nothing like the full system. I would still qualify the one Magnetron resonator as a night/day effect, for me, versus untreated. Though it does not seem to be specifically designed to affect bass frequencies, I noted that it appears to have no distinction about frequencies, having at least some perceptible effect across the range. Small as it may be, it took the edge off the harsher qualities of the sound, provided a richer bass experience, superior resolution in timbre, and I found myself more lost in the music with it in place. More headbanging, if you will. All of which made me realize, this would be very convenient to bring along while traveling. To improve my sound in nearly any location.

THE BLIND TEST

Even after hearing the effect with his own ears, my brother still seemed to have some doubts about whether something this small was really having an effect, or whether he was being influenced by the idea that it could. Then I remembered the challenge that Buddha, on the Stereophile forum, made to me about doing an SBT (single blind test). (He suggested I wasn’t “curious” enough, if I hadn’t done any. And I explained I didn’t need to, because the effect of the resonators in the room is not something I felt I was in doubt of). So I suggested doing an SBT, with me as the test subject. A natural choice, since I was very much more familiar with the sound of the ARTs.

Obviously, this would mean I would have to do the test blindfolded. So the entire time, I had a t-shirt wrapped around my head to use as a blindfold. The idea was that my brother would exit and come into the room, and either leave with the resonators and bring nothing in, or simply leave, and then come back, leaving them in place. Although I already couldn’t see, to ensure that I couldn’t hear any cues, we had loud music playing from tracks on the test CD, in between playing the test track. I got 9 correct out of 10, over the twenty trials. The one I got wrong was the last one, and I think my ears were just tuckered at that point.

THE HOME THEATER TEST

Before leaving, my brother was curious to know what effect the ARTs would have on his home theater system upstairs. Which was truly bare-bones, bottom-of-the-line stuff. It’s one of those “home theater in a box” systems (“Daytek” brand). I was game, because I was curious myself what effect would be heard on this, if any. Since it certainly had no pretensions to high end sound. We sat down and popped a CD into the 5.1 system, so I could hear what I was dealing with. The sound was annoyingly dreadful. Tinny and canned, lacking in spatiality, musicality, dimensionality, and whatever else ends in “ity”. I guess there’s only so much you can ask of five small plastic speakers, and a particle board boombox sub, that probably sold for $150 or less. With a free DVD player and amp thrown in. On the plus side, it had nowhere to go but up.

Once we set up the ARTs in the room and had a listen to the CD again, we both agreed that it sounded like it was no longer the same system. As though a major upgrade had been made. The tinniness was gone, replaced by rich, warm sound with body, depth and character. Only occasional traces of the canned quality remained overall. The sound was more open, involving, detailed, true-to-life and immense. The differences seemed greater still than with the hifi system. That’s ironic, because it’s not the sort of system you would marry with the full Acoustic ART! It made more sense to test it on movies though, because that’s what this set up was exclusively being used for.

I am a 2-channel guy solid, but in comparing movies with and without the resonators in the room, I quickly realized that having an Acoustic ART system in a home theater situation made a whole heck of a lot of sense. Even though this was just a test situation, where a few minutes were viewed at a time, I found the ART effect changed the whole relationship I was having with the movie. With it, I was more involved and immersed in every movie we put on, and realized right there, how much cinema sound is part of the story playing out on the screen. There was almost a hyper-real quality to detail, with the ART resonators installed. Sounds heard in the film were not localized, as they were in the untreated room. On “Paris, Je T’Aime”, just the ding of a truck startled you when struck, and the note hung in the air, decaying slowly. Whereas before, I never even noticed it!

On “X-Men: Wolverines”, my brother commented about the ART effect overall. Saying that it was as much fun listening to that movie on the Home Theater system with the acoustic ART, as it was listening to music earlier on the audio system. On “Extract”, I noticed the bass in the country tune playing at the beginning was very much tighter and better defined than in the session without the ART. Even the FOX Searchlight theme music opening “The Wrestler” showed grandiose differences. This was especially apparent in the bass area. Without the ART system, the soundstage collapsed, the bass drum lacked the fidelity it had before, and it was not even heard as a separate element from the rest of the orchestra. Following the intro, there is a montage shown (to convey the wrestler’s history), where a lot of different voices are talking at once. With the ART system removed, this became a dull, homogenized mishmash of chatter. Which you didn’t pay much attention to. In contrast, when we placed the ART system back in the room, not only was it clearer what was being said, but it stayed in the conscience.

On “Henry Poole Was Here”, the ART effect created a soundstage that was voluptuous, in comparison to the untreated sound. As a result, sonic elements that soundstage clearly stood apart from each other. Voices were sharply defined and clear as crystal. I could effortlessly hear the changes in the echo characteristic of the room that the real estate agent was in (near the start of the movie), as she moved around the room. I was more attuned to the nuances in the actors vocal performances as their vocal characteristics came out more, and without really thinking about it, more responsive emotionally to what they were saying. So the experience taught me there is a lot involved in home theater sound, that goes way beyond getting the channel levels or positioning right. And that having an ART system installed as part of the home theater experience can be addictive! Although I will still prefer to listen to music on 2 channel, where movies are concerned, I think I’ve become a fan of the home theater experience! For sure I’ll have to bring one of the resonators to the theater with me, next time, and see what comes of that. Maybe go with 4 other people, instructing them to sit in the prescribed locations! (“Okay… Gravatron… you go to the back of the theater…”)

——————–
Eric

A skeptical Synergistic Research owner in Argentina recently brought to our attention the existence of a counterfeit pair of TESLA Accelerator Speaker Cable being sold in his country. The suspected dealer who is selling this cable is not an Authorized Synergistic Research Dealer. We are withholding the name of the suspected dealer pending our further investigation. We strongly recommend that you contact the manufacturer of ANY products from this market before considering making a purchase. We also have reason to believe that this cable may have originated in Florida.

Note that ALL Synergistic Research products with Active Shielding are assigned a factory installed Serial Number. If a cable you intend to purchase does not have a Serial Number, it may be a counterfeit. We encourage you to contact us directly if you are not 100% certain of the authenticity of a product you are considering purchasing.

See below for a few photos of the counterfeit TESLA Accelerator Speaker Cable in question. To our trained eye, this counterfeit cable is almost comical in the number of discrepancies between it and an authentic, hand-crafted pair of Synergistic Research TESLA Accelerator Speaker Cable, and Synergistic Research products in general:

Negative Signal Shrink Label
Synergistic Research speaker cables use black negative signal shrink labels. The counterfeit cable uses blue.

Spade Lugs
Synergistic Research speaker cables use a silver, notched spade lug. The counterfeit cable uses a gold spade lug with no notch.

Active Shielding
Authentic TESLA Accelerator Speaker Cables are ALWAYS built with Active Shielding. The counterfeit cable does not have Active Shielding.

Heatshrink
All Synergistic Research cables are built with heatshrink imported from Japan, and it is not marked in any way. This counterfeit appears to use an “off the shelf”, low quality brand of heatshrink that can be purchased at any discount electronics store.

Geometry
The apparent gauge of the counterfeit cable is noticeably different than the gauge of an actual TESLA Accelerator Speaker Cable.

Build Quality
The counterfeit cable would NEVER pass a Synergistic Research Quality Control check. The outer jacketing is loose and ill-fitting, and the heatshrink applications are very sloppy.

Info coming soon. Thank you for your patience!

Info coming soon. Thank you for your patience.

Synergistic Research Design Studio

At Synergistic Research, we’re all about creating synergy. We focus on you, your goals, your desire to hear beautiful music at home. We know the importance music plays in your life, and we strive to make your musical experiences as fulfilling as possible. We know because we are passionate about music, just like you are. We’re driven to take music to the next level and just like you, we love nothing more then to retreat to our home systems and get lost in music, if only for an hour or two per day. In these difficult times, we find music brings peace and the energy to soldier on in the face of adversity. In short, music is more important than ever, and we will never lose site of our commitment to bringing you innovative solutions and a sincere desire to help you realize your audio dreams.

Over the years, we’ve isolated four key aspects of system setup, and developed products based on these findings. When properly matched, Synergistic Research creates balance in your system.

1. Audio Cables- TESLA LE cables designed to match your system, Galileo Universal Cable Cells

2. AC Power-  TESLA SE power cords, TESLA PowerCell power conditioners, TESLA Plex SE

3. Room Acoustics- Acoustic ART analogue room treatment resonators

4. Mechanical Resonance- MiG component resonators

When creating magic in your system, not one of these four aspects of system set up should be overlooked. Fortunately it is not important, or even necessary, to purchase the most expensive cables, electronics, or speakers when seeking satisfying results. It is far more important to focus on your system as a whole, and to address and budget for each of these four areas accordingly. At Synergistic Research, we have developed unique products that work together on each of these four principals. We work with you in developing a strategy to bring your system in balance. With Synergistic Research, you get off the audio merry-go-round and get down to what matters most: music.

Of course, it’s only human nature to assume the biggest, or the most expensive, equals the best. It can, but not until you possess the knowledge and sufficient resources to address the four foundational aspects of system set-up. Often a “bigger = better” mindset leads people to over purchase in areas they deem most necessary (ie. an extremely expensive power amplifier or pair of speakers), at the expense of other areas of equal (if not greater) importance. In fact, if you do not address each of these four foundational areas with a strategy to create synergy, you will never realize your system’s full potential. Failure to focus on synergy leads to an imbalance that leaves your system sounding flat, bright (or dark), compressed, and ultimately unsatisfying.

Sadly, many audiophiles (and music lovers) are not aware that the most common aspect of the world’s truly great systems lies in a foundation of careful system set-up, with an emphasis on each of these four principals, in balance with a system’s electronics and speakers. Instead, people tend to get myopic when designing their audio systems, focusing on only a handful of personal priorities like electronics and speakers, or perhaps a special turntable and cartridge. They assume if they can just buy the “best they can afford”, they will get wonderful sound. Later, when they assemble their dream system, sprinkle in high end cables and power cords without thought for creating synergy, a line conditioner, and perhaps a dedicated AC line or two, they are still left feeling unsatisfied. This often leads to a frantic search for “what went wrong,” and because they do not grasp the entire picture, they return to the same process that brought them failure in the first place. Fortunately, when you do pay attention to what matters most in your system, you not only get vastly more satisfying results, you also end up saving a lot of money.

Take the Synergistic Research Challenge!

At Synergistic Research, our authorized dealers have the right solutions and knowledge to help you realize your audio dreams. When you’re ready, we can help isolate key areas of concern in your system, and then prescribe just the right cables and accessories to take control of your system and acoustics through our no risk Synergistic Research Challenge.

Synergistic Research- are you experienced?

Galileo System Interconnect Cells with Actively Shielded Gold and Silver Air Strings

The Galileo System began as an exploration for radical new technologies to improve cable performance. We first wanted to learn what would happen when we combined the Electromagnetic Cell technology (from our award winning TESLA PowerCells) with interconnects and speaker cables. To optimize performance of the Galileo System’s Electromagnetic Cells, we experimented with a myriad of conductor options. In our TESLA PowerCell, we utilize highly conductive copper with trace amounts of silver. For Galileo System cables, we wanted to challenge assumptions made in the PowerCell’s conductor medium by exploring the effect of precious metals on EM Cell performance. We began experimenting with pure silver, which opened up resolution, but unfortunately it did so in an artificial way by over emphasizing high frequencies at the expense of natural harmonic overtones in the mid-range. We later experimented with strategic layers of both copper and pure silver (as found in our Galileo Universal Cable Cells). This increased high frequency resolution while preserving a natural mid-range. We later experimented with pure gold, pure silver, and pure copper in the Galileo System’s EM Cells. This allowed us to push the envelope with silver, while preserving an amazing level of harmonic richness and texture. Finally, we hit on a strategic combination of pure copper, pure silver, pure gold, and pure platinum. This precious metal matrix, as we now call it, yielded the highest level of resolution we have yet been able to transfer, while preserving a natural balance of low, mid, and high frequencies in the largest, most holographic sound field we have ever created; something Synergistic Research cables are already known for.

Galileo System Speaker Cells. Each Galileo System SC has two cells- one at the beginning and end of each cable run

We began engineering cables to connect to our new electromagnetic cells, located at the beginning and end of each Galileo System interconnect and speaker cable. We wanted the cables (Strings) between Galileo cells to be interchangeable; you can actually mix-and-match Strings of different conductor materials to better compliment your system now, with flexibility to match any components you are likely to acquire in the future.

For Galileo interconnects, we developed the world’s first Actively Shielded cables with an air dielectric, and experimented with dozens of precious metals for its signal conductors. Since Ted predetermined each EM Cell should be connected by four separate Strings, there was a need to keep these cables as small and manageable as possible. This presented yet another engineering challenge, given that each cable would carry both balanced and single-ended signals, ground conductors, DC biased shields not connected to ground, and a return line for DC. In the end, a five-channel geometry in a sealed air dielectric was created in a cable smaller then a No. 2 pencil!

Galileo System Speaker Cell Connection Ports: 2 x High Current Strings, 1 x Silver Air String, 1 x Silver Tricon

In addition to being able to custom tune the sound of your Galileo System Interconnects by swapping pure Gold and Silver Strings between Active Cells, you are also able to switch between XLR and RCA terminations by simply plugging in either RCA or XLR leads, as supplied with each pair of Galileo System Interconnects.

Galileo System Speaker Cable Elevators suspending four Strings

Galileo System Speaker Cables are no less innovative, with two high current Galileo EM Cells decoupled from ground by razor sharp stilettos, and connected by four cable strings. Each string is suspended by a unique system of cable elevators that maintain uniform distance between strings, for effortless sound. As with a fine instrument, each string has a specific role to play in transferring music from your amplifiers to your speakers. We developed the following geometries: two high current Galileo Strings with Silver Matrix conductors, one Pure Silver Air String, and one Silver Tricon String; all Actively Shielded, of course. The two high current Galileo cables lend weight and authority to the music, while the pure silver Air String preserves delicate air and inner detail. Lastly, one Pure Silver Tricon lends bloom and overall soundstage scale & dimension to the transfer. The net result is a sound so finely detailed, yet so effortless and rich, it defies common assumptions of what is and is not possible from a premium set of speaker cables. To lend functionality, the Galileo speaker cable system can handle full range, bi-wire, and tri-wire speakers. Now as you change speakers over the years, you won’t have to look for new speaker cables.

Synergistic Research- are you experienced?

The all new TESLA LE Series cables combine three revolutionary technologies based on the work of Nikola Tesla – the Tesla Tricon cable geometry, Zero Capacitance Active Shielding, and a proprietary Patent Pending conditioning process in a new line of cables that are smaller and more flexible than our previous models with significantly higher performance and value.

The new TESLA LE speaker cables and interconnects feature the ability to change the voicing of your system via three different Active Shielding circuits, called “Enigma Bullets”. Each circuit features a different sonic characteristic:

• Silver Module = Open and airy
• Black Module = Warm and rich
• Grey Module = A hybrid of both the Black and Silver

The “Enigma Bullets” enables you to fine tune any component for a perfect system match.

“Enigma” Active Shielding Tuning Circuits.

TESLA Cables allow you to hear deeper into recordings with detail that’s transparent and non-fatiguing. In fact starting at the TESLA LE Accelerator interconnect and TESLA LE Accelerator speaker cable level, TESLA LE Cables outperform every cable we have ever pitted them against regardless of price.

The TESLA Breakthrough • TESLA Series Technologies • TESLA The Man

Synergistic Research- are you experienced?

Galileo Universal Cable Cells are a direct trickle down technology from our cost-no-object Galileo Research Program. As such they offer unprecedented levels of performance and value. Benefits include a significant lowering of your system’s noise floor, for blacker backgrounds and increased inner detail. Bass impact and control are also improved. High frequencies take on a delicate transparent nature, with increased resolution, air, and musicality. Mid-range bloom is enhanced, with a more convincing sense of presence. Soundstaging (already a strong point of the Synergistic Research TESLA cable line) is dramatically improved. Cables from other manufacturers with presentations that may not be as holographic as our TESLA cables take on new levels of soundstage realism. In short, Galileo Universal Cable Cells represent a paradigm shift in their ability to transform your system.

With Galileo Universal Cable Cells, it’s as if your entire music library has been remastered.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Galileo lies in it’s ability to transform your recordings (even harsh dimensionless recordings) to near audiophile status. With Galileo, you’ll enjoy your music collection as never before; especially with recordings from artists you love but whose recordings fail to live up to their performances. It’s as if Galileo Universal Cable Cells remaster your entire music collection!

Galileo Universal Speaker Cell’s connect full range, bi-wire and tri-wire speakers

Galileo Universal Cable Cells work by filtering RFI and EMI noise, which may be leaking from your components, or penetrating the various cables in your system. With Galileo, even modest systems take on new levels of refinement usually reserved for the highest level of electronics and cables, while state-of-the-art systems set new standards for music playback, allowing you to hear for the first time their full potential. In fact, no matter how good you may think your current system is, within 30 seconds of hooking up a fully broken in pair of Galileo Speaker Cells, your system will be dramatically transformed; we guarantee it our your money back!

Galileo Speaker Cell running in a bi-wire configuration

Nordost Valhalla

Galileo Universal Interconnect Cells are available in RCA and XLR configurations- learn more

Galileo Universal Speaker Cells connect full range, bi-wire, and tri-wirespeakers- learn more

Info coming soon. Thank you for your patience!

The hand crafted Active Subwoofer cable is another weapon in the Synergistic Research arsenal. After the accolades and rave reviews received for Synergistic Research cables, from one generation to the next, we were urged to develop a subwoofer link. We developed specialized low frequency geometries, and of course installed Zero Capacitance Active Shielding technology to the inherent signal transfer aspect that low frequencies require. The results were nothing short of amazing.

We have always been aware of just how important phase coherency is in signal transfer. Now through our research we have discovered that lower frequencies are extremely sensitive to very small changes in phase coherency. For example: A 20 hertz low frequency wave requires at least 40 feet to propagate. If the phase is out, by just a little, it provides an unstable platform for the frequencies that are directly above. Higher frequencies have shorter wave lengths, and these are adversely affected by phase shift anomalies at the lower frequency range.

The new Active TESLA LE subwoofer cables feature the ability to change the voicing of your system via three different Active Shielding circuits, called “Enigma Bullets”. Each circuit features a different sonic characteristic:

• Silver Module = Open and airy
• Black Module = Warm and rich
• Grey Module = A hybrid of both the Black and Silver

The “Enigma Bullets” enables you to fine tune any component for a perfect system match.

“Enigma” Active Shielding Tuning Circuits.

Info coming soon. Thank you for your patience!

Synergistic Research- are you experienced?

Info coming soon. Thank you for your patience!

Synergistic Research- are you experienced?

Synergistic Research speaker cables provide a critical link between power amplifier and transducer. Carrying signal and current accurately, allowing the amp’s rise time and decay to effectively control the parameters of your speakers. Synergistic Research uses proprietary alloy technology, combined with Zero Capacitance Active Shielding, and the revolutionary new Tricon cable geometry in selected cable models. Perhaps the most surprising of the new TESLA LE Series, these new speaker cables are flexible and manageable, while being significantly more dynamic and transparent than any cables we or any other manufacturer have ever built. For speakers with bi-wire terminations, all Active TESLA LE Series speaker cables, TESLA LE Vortex through TESLA LE Apex, employ our new Integrated Frequency Termination (IFT), for a significant improvement in bi-wire performance. Lastly, TESLA LE speaker cable models, TESLA LE Accelerator through TESLA LE Apex, are treated with the ground breaking new Quantum Tunneling conditioning process for never before heard layering, transparency, and low frequency impact and control.

The new Active TESLA LE speaker cables feature the ability to change the voicing of your system via three different Active Shielding circuits, called “Enigma Bullets”. Each circuit features a different sonic characteristic:

• Silver Module = Open and airy
• Black Module = Warm and rich
• Grey Module = A hybrid of both the Black and Silver

The “Enigma Bullets” enables you to fine tune any component for a perfect system match.

“Enigma” Active Shielding Tuning Circuits.

Click Here for more information about Cable Geometries.
Click Here for more information about our unique method of Bi-Wire termination (IFT).

Synergistic Research- are you experienced?

In the past, Synergistic Research (and other cable manufacturers) have “split” a speaker cable’s geometry in half to provide separate leads for high and low frequency terminations. On the surface, this seems the most logical choice, and was our preferred method of bi-wiring for nearly 20 years. Theoretically, this method for bi-wiring connects the amplifier to the filter halves (crossover) separately to prevent inter-modulation, generated by one driver, from influencing the other driver.

However, If you look at the damping factor that reduces the unwanted signals, you will find that they differ very little, with or without cables (with 5 or 10 meter long cables for example). When using a tube amplifier, the cables (in practice) have no influence at all when dampening the signals from one side of the filter to the other, because the damping factor is too low already in the power amp. The signal will slip through to the other driver, despite the cables. Apart from that, a well designed crossover filter will provide a certain protection against “leaking” inter-modulation, since each half of the filter (the crossover in a two-way system) will damp each half of the frequency range.

Another method of bi-wiring is to run two different cables in parallel, thus giving the amplifier the ability to choose separate cables that are especially suitable for each half of the frequency range. This has been a hallmark of Synergistic Research cable design, going back to our fist Signature speaker wire: The Signature No. 2. If you assume that the signal always takes the path of least resistance, the right path will be chosen automatically.

Disadvantages of The Traditional Bi-Wire Termination
When you bi-wire your loudspeakers, the input of the high and the low pass filters are fed with different input signals. This difference is a result of the high and low frequencies being forced to travel different paths, perhaps through different types of cables, but under all circumstances through cables that have seen different loads. A tweeter with a high pass filter has a completely different impedance response compared to a woofer with a low pass filter!

The drivers do not integrate when their filter halves (crossovers) are fed with unequal signals. The result is the generation of phase error that effects the sound and transfer of phase information to the different drivers in a speaker. This phase error occurs because there will be non-linearity in the low and high frequency paths.

What does this sound like? Well, usually, just as you would expect from physics, it appears as a change in the reproduction of space and sound staging. The impression after a week or month is that all recordings sound very much alike.

Integrated Frequency Termination (IFT) Bi-Wire
All Tesla speaker wires, from Vortex through Apex, function as a “lens” to control electromagnetic inter-modulation. Accelerator through Apex contain at least one Tricon lens geometry, to precisely control electromagnetic fluctuations, for perfect phase time transfer. IFT Bi-Wire ensures that your amplifier “sees” consistent loading, from low to high frequencies, for sound staging that is as expansive as it is precise. Low frequencies are further tuned, in series, with high frequencies, through a transmission line precisely tuned to low frequency transfer, that exactly match the speaker wire geometry.

Shotgun Bi-Wire vs. TESLA IFT Bi-Wire
One option that does not take advantage of IFT Bi-Wire is a “shotgun” termination of two parallel speaker wires, terminated to a common set of spades or bananas at the amplifier end. Obviously this option would double the cost of bi-wiring your system (when compared to IFT Bi-Wire). but would it carry higher performance? The simple answer is NO. First, by separating the high(er) frequencies from low frequencies, the amplifier sees very different loads, and transfers your music as a mismatched signal, with significant phase distortion to your speakers. It is as if you are “focusing” on the upper frequencies with a wide-angle lens, and focusing on the low frequencies with a telephoto lens. This presents high frequencies and low frequencies in different aspect ratios, for a sound stage that sounds “bigger” in the upper registers than it does in the lower registers, and this then introduces sound staging problems. A far better option would be to spend the extra money on a higher end speaker wire (with IFT Bi-Wire), thereby elevating your systems presentation in an equal and balanced way.

If the manufacturer of your speakers insists on running separate speaker wires to the high and low frequency of your speakers binding posts, we can arrange for you to audition two speaker cables in “shotgun” vs. the equivalent higher end IFT Bi-Wired speaker wire (of approximately the same value). You can make the final call as to which bi-wire option delivers higher performance.

IFT Bi-Wire vs. Jumper Cables
So how is IFT Bi-Wire termination different from standard jumper cables or binding straps? Simple: Jumper cables are rarely tuned to the frequency range that they are intended to transfer, and are often times of a much lower quality then the speaker cables they are used with. Furthermore, jumper cables introduce additional hardware, in the form of spade lugs or banana plugs, that further degrade the sound. Bi-wire binding straps are almost always worse then jumper cables, as they are little more then plated metal of a quality and build that introduces considerable distortion in the form of harsh highs or muddy lows.

For the purpose of auditioning TESLA Speaker Wire, many dealers opt for non-IFT Bi-Wired speaker wire models, and will instead provide you with IFT Bi-Wire Jumpers; identical to the “hardwired” IFT Bi-Wire speaker cables. Aside from the addition of an extra set of connector hardware (spade or banana), the performance will be similar to that of our IFT Speaker Cables.

Figure 1: From this graph you can see the damping factor, and the real damping effect, that are the result of different cable lengths and different cables, as well as different amplifiers. With a good transistor amp, the damping will be decreased about 4 dB with a 5 meter cable. With a good tube amp, the damping will lose about 2 dB (the original damping with the tube amp was about 14 dB less, however).

Figure 2: These two curves show the crosstalk from the woofer to the tweeter. Crosstalk from a bi-wire configuration is represented with the lower curve.

Figure 3: This is a simulation diagram. The two components at the far left simulate the woofer resistance and inductance. The next two components are the low pass filter for the woofer. Of the next six components, the horizontal graphic represents two cables, and the vertical graphic represents the output impedance of the amplifier. The broken line converts from bi-wire to single wire. After the conversion, the first two components represent the high pass filter to the tweeter, and the five remaining components represent the tweeter.

Figure 4: This simulation is based on the diagram in figure 3. Here you can see that a phase difference arises when bi-wiring is used. The phase difference is largest just above the crossover frequency, due to the inductance of the cable, combined with the capacitance of the high pass filter. The inductance of the low pass filter is represented in this range when a single wire is used. The most probable reason for the capricious sound of bi-wiring is that in addition to a steady state error, another, transient induced phase error between the cables will appear when playing music. This changes the dispersion pattern of the speaker output. The human ear is very sensitive to such phenomena.

Click here for more information about bi-wiring.

TESLA LE Apex Interconnect in Black Dragon

Interconnects are the arteries of any audio/video system. Music and digital data travel from one component to the next, and the accurate phase coherent transfer of this signal is critical to the performance of your system. Whether analog, video, or digital, Synergistic Research TESLA LE Series interconnects maintain the signal’s integrity from beginning to end, providing the most accurate and musical performance possible in every price level. Additionally, new TESLA LE interconnects employ our cutting edge Zero Capacitance Active Shielding, from TESLA LE Accelerator through TESLA LE Apex. Magnetic Tricon through TESLA LE Apex are also manufactured with Tricon lens geometry in several configurations, and then treated with our patent-pending Quantum Tunneling conditioning process, for the utmost in system transparency and layered holographic sound staging.

The new Active TESLA LE interconnects feature the ability to change the voicing of your system via three different Active Shielding circuits, called “Enigma Bullets”. Each circuit features a different sonic characteristic:

• Silver Module = Open and airy
• Black Module = Warm and rich
• Grey Module = A hybrid of both the Black and Silver

The “Enigma Bullets” enables you to fine tune any component for a perfect system match.

“Enigma” Active Shielding Tuning Circuits

Click Here for more information about Cable Geometries.

MiG’s are sold three to a set

Our new MiG component footers deliver vast improvements to all systems. Based on our Acoustic ART System resonators, MiG’s (Mechanical Interface Grounding) re-tune a component’s mechanical resonance, while providing a lightning fast drain of mechanical energy to ground. The result is a much larger soundstage with a lower noise floor for blacker backgrounds. Other benefits include sweeter highs with extended air, a more layered and relaxed mid-range, and deeper, tighter bass. MiG’s are especially beneficial when improving the performance of digital components such as transports, D to A converters, CD players, and even digital clocks. MiG’s are a must audition for anyone seeking organic natural sound.

MiG’s are versatile and can be placed in different ways to fine tune your systems performance:

When two MiG’s are placed “round side up” and one MiG is placed “round side down” under a component, as illustrated in the above diagram, you hear a more ambient soundscape that is especially pleasing when room acoustics are somewhat “live” or undamped. You may also prefer this combination if you like a slightly more liquid presentation, or if you often listen to large orchestral works.

When two MiG’s are placed “round side down” and one MiG is placed “round side up” under a component, as illustrated in this diagram, you hear an immediate pin-point presentation of images. This combination is especially pleasing in rooms that are very damped, or for people who prefer intimate recordings, such as small scale Jazz.

Follow These Guidelines When Placing MiG’s in Your System:

When placing MiG’s in a digital system (CD player or two-box digital front end) follow these guidelines: First place three MiG’s under your TRANSPORT or CD PLAYER in the Pin-Point Configuration. Next listen in the Ambient Configuration. You should immediately notice a preference. If your system has a multi-box digital front end (D to A converter and transport), place a second set of MiG’s under your D to A converter in the same configuration you chose for your transport. Now place a set of MiG’s under your pre-amplifier, first in the combination you preferred under your digital component(s). If this does not immediately improve your system, try the opposite placement configuration. Lastly, place MiG’s under your amplifier(s) in the Pin-Point Configuration. Now call your spouse into the room- enjoy!

When placing MiG’s in an analogue system follow these guidelines: First place MiG’s in the Pin-Point Configuration under your phono pre-amplifier, or pre-amplifier if you have an integrated phono/line level pre-amplifier. Next, reverse placement to the Ambient position. You should experience an immediate preference. Next, if your turntable has a separate power supply (one that is not connected to your turntable) place a set MiG’s in the configuration you preferred under your phono-pre / integrated pre-amplifier. Now place a set of MiG’s under your line level pre-amplifier again in your preferred placement configuration. If you do not hear the same level of improvement you have experienced thus far, try the reverse placement option. Lastly, place MiG’s under your power amplifier(s) in the Pin-Point Configuration. Now call your spouse into the room- enjoy!

Synergistic Research Alpha Sterling AS Subwoofer Cable

Brett Rudolph

Reprinted from: DVD ETC, September/October 2004

If you’re looking to make a subtle difference in your audio system, this is not the cable you want. In fact, I’m convinced that once you connect this cable to your existing system you won’t believe it’s the same system.

This subwoofer cable features active shielding, which means you need to connect the cable from your receiver or pre-amp to your subwoofer, as well as to a power supply.

I first connected the Alpha Sterling cable without using the active shielding. The results on both movies and music was impressive, although in this mode it was subtle. The music and movies had a bit more definition and character, especially where the subwoofer works best in the low frequency area. Honestly, even the improvement with the cable set up this way gives me reason to recommend it.

Like other Synergistic products I have reviewed, plug the cable in and WOW! It’s like a light bulb going on in a dark room. The smooth sounds you rarely hear made me wonder if I had changed something else in my system.

Ultimately, you need to decide for yourself how much you’re willing to spend. And I won’t tell you that this cable is going to make a bad subwoofer sound great. However, if you had to choose between upgrading your subwoofer or buying this cable, buy the cable!

Gavin Isaacs

This review never started as a review. In fact I would prefer if it were interpreted as an experience rather than a ‘review’. I called up Henk Botha, of Tweak Music & Film Systems, and asked, ‘What speaker cable are you using with your Wilsons?’, Henk replied, ‘I’m going to send you something, no questions, listen for a few days, and we will talk.’

The next day a Synergistic Research box arrived on my office desk. I took a look. A 3m stereo pair of speaker cables, the diameter of a traditional hosepipe, quietly sat in the box. A white mesh-type material encased the precious intertwined cable, with its active shielding connection tails on the ends.

The cables were installed, with relative ease, as I found them quite easy to work with. The active shields were connected to their power supplies. When powered up via separate power supplies, the cables’ blue LEDs situated at the amplifier end of the cable shine bright. Then I left the cables to settle.

The Active Shielding cable program began in 1996. Synergistic’s first step in designing a cable to complement a target system was to develop a geometry that complements that system at an engineering level. For seven years Synergistic worked with hundreds of passive cable geometries and over a thousand different material variations. During this time Synergistic realized that passive geometry and material selection could take them only so far, as they were limited by signal and cable interaction.

So following lots of experimentation with active cables, Synergistic found that by using closed circuits (where the shield carried a DC current with a buffer circuit between shield and ground with separate conductors carrying the ground signal) in the design, this not only improved subjective performance, but also made the cables measurably quieter, thus improving detail with greater frequency extension. An AC to DC power supply is used to provide current for the active shielding. Synergistic is now in its third generation of active shielding cables.

I have been aware of the inherent weakness in my system, the five year old speaker cable that I had been using on and off was never optimal. Acceptable yes, but it had its restrictions, and I knew it had to go. I have been lucky in that I have been exposed to many cables at all price points. Giving me the opportunity to hear what many different brands and models sound like on my beloved Wilson WATT/PUPPY Vs.

I am always cautious when I write about cable. It can be a very system dependent component. Bear that in mind, listen to various options and listen to your dealer; he will know what combinations work best. Then listen some more.

As this cable had been run in, I began listening for several hours after I installed it. I sat down, pushed play and began listening to whatever was in the CD transport. It was Jamie Cullum, I listened and listened. Then I put in Mary Black, I listened and listened. I listened to Verdi’s La Traviata, Vivaldi Cello Concerto and John Meyer. Then I went to sleep.

I called Henk the next day, ‘It’s got silver in it hey! It’s remarkable. I’ve never heard anything quite like it.’

The FX does have silver in it. It also does not sound like any silver cable I have ever heard. Its conductor is a silver matrix – Synergistic says no more about what this means. All their active shielded cables are formed by hand, allowing the extra steps to insure state-of-the-art performance. This also allows for all conductor spools to be listened to, allowing for correct signal direction to be determined as well as being able to reject batches that fail to meet production standards. If these cables were made on mass production, this quality control would not be possible.

The music my system reproduced through the Wilsons was unlike anything I can remember ever hearing before. Not that I was listening for anything in particular. It was that it sounded so fresh, so alive. As if only the finest ingredients had been used in the masterpiece of sound. There was no noise (or a huge amount less), more transparency, and a bigger soundstage.

But that was not what made the experience so incredible; it was that the sound was simply so real. Not forward, nor over detailed. Frequency extremes were far more graceful; the bass tightened, and got fuller, but did not compromise the midrange.

I kept listening, and had to go back just to be sure that the impression the music was making was not a once off. With each listening I was able to confirm the consistency of performance. I also tried the cable on a pair of Revel M22s. Same result.

This cable is remarkable. It gave me so much enjoyment and pleasure, musicality and palpability. Its presentation of detail is delicate, focused, and live. It completely balances the soundstage. The midrange timbres are honest, dynamic and buoyant. The bass as I mentioned is tighter and fuller, but not warm and bloated. It is amazing how commercial recordings I always thought had an abundance of bass dialed into the recording process, now sound pretty good. Who knew?

This is an extremely honest and real cable. I found it neutral. Very little if any coloration. No attenuation of the frequency spectrums. But best of all it is so rewarding to listen to music. It provided hours of joy and pleasure.

This is a cable that everyone interested in audio has a duty to listen to. Not to do so, is depriving yourself of a truly outstanding experience. I have been blown away by this cable, and thank it for giving me so much more musical enjoyment.

Verdict: Absolutely incredible. This is definitely a benchmark in cable design. A must have!

Subjectively the Master AC Line Coupler proved to be absolutely outstanding!

Reprinted from: HiFi Choice, December 14, 2004

Comfortably the most expensive of the group. Also the thickest, heaviest, and least flexible! Indeed, it’s something of a minor miracle the makers were able to shoe-horn such a fat cable into the connectors at both ends. The cables is said to eliminate RF interference through balanced cable geometry that shunts noise on the AC line to ground. Because of its size, the cable looks as though it’s primarily intended for heavy-duty power amps and other high-current devices, but the makers recommend using it everywhere, with particular emphasis on the front end. On a purely practical level, because the cable is so thick and inflexible, it may be difficult to use with components placed fairly close to rear walls – I had to pull the RCD-991 so far forward on its stand, it almost ended up on the floor!

So much for the width; what about the quality? Subjectively the Master AC Line Coupler proved to be absolutely outstanding. The sound was very sharp and open, with clean overtones and crispy transients. At the same time the presentation is clean and free from smearing. Musical incidents – like when the drummer plays off the beat on Luka from Solitude Standing – stand out clearly, making the music more interesting and eventful. Imaging was very precise; everything sharply delineated without seeming over-bright or etched. But oh, the price! What does one do? Spend £238 on four or five cheaper cables, or just buy this one? Actually, there’s only one answer; buy four or five Couplers and have done with it!

Brian Damkroger

Reprinted from: The Absolute Sound, Volume 21, Issue 111

In the case of Synergistic’s original A/C Master Coupler, the answer is yes — unequivocally, resoundingly, and oh my, yes. The original A/C Master Coupler was a breakthrough product, a true High End classic that defined what an AC cord could do for a system. Suffice it to say that when Ted Denney said that his Reference model was “as much better than the original couplers than they were compared to a stock power cord,” I was more than a bit intrigued. I’d heard rumor of cord that bettered the original Master Coupler — the insanely expensive NBS for example — but never actually encountered one. Cords that sounded different, yes — better, no.

The Reference Coupler is similar in design and construction to the original — two stranded conductors, one for each AC leg, with the shields combined and used as the ground. Unllike the original, the Reference coupler uses a double shield of gold and silver instead of a single copper layer, silver- matrix conductors instead of copper, standard rather than foamed polyethylene as a dielectric. Cosmetically, the Reference is distinguished by its use of a silver, rather than black, mesh sleeve. The IEC and AC plug are the same as those used in the original.

Though my experience with the Reference Coupler has been for the most part positive, I found it to be the least satisfying of the Synergistic products I’ve tried. Partly, I think, this is because it has a tough act to follow. In most ways, and in most of the systems I’ve used it in, it did improve on the original’s performance. When I replaced the original Master Coupler feeding the VAC CPAI Mk II preamp with a Reference, I actually wondered if the original had lost some of its magic over time. A comparison with the stock cord confirmed that no, the original Master Coupler was working just fine. It was just that the things that it did so well — removal of inter-image grunge, sharpening the leading edge of transients, tightening the bass and cleaning the highs, better elucidation of image edges — the Reference did even better. So what’s the problem? One is that the original A/C Master Coupler was truly revolutionary, capable of changing a system in a very fundamental way. Starting from the originals, the Reference Coupler is just somewhat better. Like I said, a tough act to follow. For $250, you absolutely cannot do any better than adding one of the original A/C Master Couplers to your system. For an additional $350, I’m not certain that upgrading to the Reference Coupler is as good an investment.

A second niggling difficulty I have with the Reference Couplers is that they aren’t as universally applicable as the originals. I have yet to find a piece of equipment that didn’t benefit greatly from the use of a Master Coupler. I even joke about taking one to work and using it on my girlfriend’s scanning electron microscope to see if the resolution can be improved. If you think High End audio gear is overpriced, imagine what a two-times improvement in the resolution of such a device might be worth. The Reference Coupler seems to be more narrowly applicable. I’ve found that it has a tendency to make inexpensive solid state and digital gear sound worse, accentuation any upper midrange edginess and drying out any semblance of warmth in the upper bass and lower midrange. It has worked beautifully with a wide range of tube gear and with Audire’s Class A solid state gear, and the Accuphase DP55 CD player was a good match as well. On the other hand, I’m concerned that the Reference Coupler proved to be a bad match for the Spectron Model 10 preamp, which is a super-fast, super-detailed, ultra-wide bandwidth design. I’d suggest particular caution with equipment which tends toward the yang side of neutral. With a Reference Coupler, everything is cleaner, faster and sharper, but the tonal balance often seems to be shifted too, tipped slightly upward with a bit of lightness and whiteness in the lower midrange. With the bulk of the gear I’ve had, it hasn’t often been a problem, but try before you buy. In summary, the Reference Master Coupler is a mostly successful attempt to improve on a High End classic. Like many sequels, however, it breaks no new ground but rather attempts to distill and further accentuate the qualities that made the original a benchmark. In doing so, the Reference Coupler has become more narrowly focused and moved closer to adding a sonic thumbprint of its own — a set of characteristics that may mesh well with some systems but not in others. When it works, it works very well indeed, but too often I found myself thinking of it as a means of altering the sound of a component as much as improving it.

SUMMARY
Beyond any doubt, Synergistic Research has become one of the serious players in the High End cable industry. Regardless of how you judge the validity of their design goals and philosophy, their top models are unquestionably reference-quality products. Taken individually, the Resolution Reference speaker cable and Designers’ Reference interconnects are very close to neutral, and do an excellent job at hiding their slight characters and deviations within the fabric of the music. They do everything well and are particularly adept at recreating a seamless soundstage populated with beautifully sketched images, admittedly a key components among my listening biases. Their slight deviations from neutrality offset and balance each other well, fortuitously or by design, resulting in a cabling package that has worked spectacularly well in every system I’ve tried. TAS

Synergistic Research REL Spec Subwoofer Cables

Neil Gader

Reprinted from: The Absolute Sound, Issue 163, August 2006

As I was nearing the completion of the REL B3 review, Synergistic Research supplied me with its Phase II and Resolution Reference high-level subwoofer cables with REL compatible Neutrik terminations. They also included an A/C Master Coupler power cord. At this point I thought that I had comprehensively plumbed the limits of the B3′s performance envelope. Boy, was I wrong. What’s in a cable? Turns out , a lot.

Both cables and the power cord use Synergistic X2 Active Shielding. In its third generation, X2 is designed to suppress signal/cable interactions and reduce RFI and EMI. Synergistic describes it as a closed circuit system where the shield carries DC “with a buffer circuit between shielded and ground with separate conductors carrying ground signal”. beyond the outward differences in jacketing the Resolution Reference uses four parallel geometries ( two Active Silver Matrix conductors, two passive OFHC copper conductors); the Phase II reduces the conductors to one Active and one passive.

Bottom line? Each of them easily trumps the stock REL Neutrik—-which in comparison acts like a lease on a greyhound. The differences had all the subtly of being hit on the head with a crowbar. First there was a lowering of the noise floor that enhanced the sense of acoustic space. Images grew more finely focused as if shadowy doppelgangers had been purged from the soundstage. With either cable the B3 had been handed a new sharper tool to further excavate the lower reaches of a recording. The B3 began to uncover minute musical details that I didn’t know existed. Pipe organ cues became more distinctive. Resonance patterns of string bass more complex. The decay characteristics that define unique acoustic spaces were more easily followed. orchestral crescendos were clarified and focused. Sub/sat integration also improved—-not an easy trick to carry off with a performer as exceptional as the “stock” B3.

The AC Master Coupler Active power cord is more subtle in its contribution but significant in that, by providing an even quieter noise floor at the outset, it allows the Phase II or Reference cable to achieve greater gains in both dynamics and immediacy. On the crescendo of “Air” from The Thin Red Line the performance seemed to begin from a quieter place and build more gradually to a louder and more terrifying conclusion.

While the Phase II wire generates the most bang for the buck, I’d still opt for the Resolution Reference. I preferred the lengthier reverberation times, extended harmonics, and vise -like control. Depending on your tax return, the power cord would be icing on the cake.

I should point out the cold hard fact that the combined price of the power cord and cable costs about the same as the B3. On the other hand until I heard the Synergistic cable/cord combo never would have thought the B3 was holding anything back. My advice—-don’t audition the Synergistic wires unless you’re prepared to keep them. Because you will. TAS

Brian Damkroger

Reprinted from: The Absolute Sound, Volume 20, Issue 104

“I’ll come over this weekend,” my friend Jim said. “I’ve got something that will really mess with your mind.” He had a sort of embarrassed smile and even seemed a bit red-faced. “Power cords,” he said and headed back to his office. You’ve got to understand — Jim and I are engineers, scientists, seekers of truth and purveyors of logic. Metallurgists by training, we work in a research group that focuses primarily on advanced diagnostics, computer simulation, and process controls. Known to be audiophiles by our fellow co- workers, we are constantly either derided for claiming we hear things that can’t possibly be real, or, once co-workers listen for themselves, besieged with requests to explain the underlying physical reason for the differences. Turntables, speaker stands, tip toes, cables — the list goes on and on. Up until now, we’ve done pretty well. But power cords? They can’t possibly make a difference, can they? And they cost how much? I wonder if thoughts like this once went through HP’s head when he first contemplated the “built in a Bronx garage” Linn LP-12? “So this is what the lunatic fringe looks like,” I thought as I contemplated the power cords — excuse me: Synergistic Research A/ C Master Couplers. The couplers are black, with the cable sheathed in a black plastic mesh and terminated on one end with a three-prong plug and on the other by a standard IEC jack. Both connectors are extremely heavy duty and the cable/connector intersections are encased in black heat shrink. Judging by feel, the cable configuration inside the sheath is two parallel conductors, each slightly over 1/4″ in diameter. The literature provided with the couplers confirms this, representing the cable cross-section as two parallel multi-strand conductors, each individually shielded. The cable is said to eliminate “RF Interference . . . through a balanced cable geometry [that] shunts noise in the A/C line to ground.” The literature also notes that the specific dielectric components used were selected on the basis of listening tests, as were the gold-plated standard connectors. Other lengths, and 90 degree connectors (on either end), are also available. The 90 degree connectors may prove useful in many applications because the cable is quite stiff, requiring several inches to make the turn toward a component. The cable appeared to be well-made and the packaging and literature, while not extravagant, were well presented. The literature suggested several possible sequences for determining the best place to locate a limited number of couplers in systems of various configurations. None of their example system configurations matched mine, but it doesn’t really matter — the instructions boil down to “Try them everywhere, but start with the front end.” In my system [see sidebar], this meant the couplers fed my VTL Ultimate preamp and Threshold PCX crossover. (Neither my turntable nor my CD player has a removable power cord.) Prior to any listening, both the preamp and crossover were powered up continuously for 96 hours, and had been playing music or the XLO break-in CD for 12 hours. The literature suggests that the couplers could continue to break in for as long as a month (of occasional listening), but experience with other systems suggested that the 96/12 break-in procedure above would be adequate. Broken in, warmed up, and ready to go, I sat down for what was sure to be a night of careful critical listening and agonizing over subtleties. Power cords. They can’t possibly make a difference, can they?

The answer is Yes. Unequivocally, resoundingly, and oh my, Yes. How big a difference? Remember the difference you heard the first time you replaced your zip coed with real speaker cables? This is bigger. How about the day you cleaned all your contacts and oriented all of your AC plugs? This is bigger, much bigger. To put it in perspective, the difference is akin to replacing an undistinguished MOSFET stereo amp with a pair of absolutely top-flight mono tube amps — or replacing a midfi direct-drive turntable with a well set up Linn, Sota, or VPI. To say I was unprepared for the difference these power cords made would be a big, big understatement. The most telling assessment was made by my girlfriend, Bonnie, who loves music but certainly doesn’t consider herself an audiophile. Unfailingly, she could tell within the first five seconds of a record, any record I put on, which power cords were in the system — from the kitchen, which is down the hall and around the corner. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. The differences wrought in my system by the additions of these power cords were positive, dramatic, and immediately apparent. However, unlike some immediate, drastic changes, the differences brought about by the cords didn’t wear on me with time. In fact, the more I listened to my system with the Master Couplers in place, the more difficult I found it to believe I had tolerated my system without them. Whenever I removed the couplers from my systems, I found myself shaking my head and wondering, “Have I been listening to this?” To say that the Master Couplers moved my system toward the absolute sound is true, but doesn’t really capture the magnitude or sense of that movement. Suppose, for example, that you went from having one penny to having two. One way to describe this is to say that you went from 99 cents short of a dollar to 98 cents short, not a big change with respect to the dollar. However, another way to describe the change is to say that you doubled your wealth — a big change from where you were. The absolute sound is a long way out there, couplers or no couplers. But oh what those things do for a system! The only way to capture the impact of the AC Master Couplers is to concentrate on the doubling of wealth, to describe the differences themselves. These differences, in decreasing order of apparent magnitude, were an increase in the dimensionally of individual instruments in the soundstage; an opening up of the soundstage, or increase in air between individual instruments; replacement of the smog between images in the soundstage with crystal clear air; an increase in the sharpness of the leading edge of transients, both spatially and temporally; and increase in bass extension and precision; and a decrease in high-frequency garbage. Although all of these changes are inter-related, first I’ll try to describe each individually and give examples I noted during my listening sessions. The most immediate and noticeable effect of the Master Couplers was an increase in the dimensionally and body of individual images. This was most apparent with vocals, solo instruments, or small groups. Examples of the first include John Mellencamp on Uh-huh [Riva RVL 7504] or Joe Jackson on Night and Day [A&M SP-4906]. With the Master Couplers, the vocals took on palpable dimensionally and body, whereas with the standard cords in place, they were somewhat twodimensional, layered on the front edge of the soundfield. A mental picture of this two-dimensional image might be a plate, or saucer, hanging in space, with somewhat diffuse edges. With the Master Couplers, the voices became three-dimensional, surrounded by a cushion of air. Here the mental picture was one of, say, a basketball, with sharply defined edges. On Neil Young’s Unplugged [Reprise 9362-45310-1], the effect is clearly evident on both the lead and background vocals. Additional insight is afforded by John Klemmer’s Straight from the Heart [Nautilus NR4]. In this case, the added dimensionally seems to result from an increase in inner detail — intricacies of the sound of the air moving through the horn give it size and presence. The same is true of the Sheffield Michael Newman disk [Lab 10]. Here, the relative locations of different sounds — the fingers against the strings, the initial snap of the string, and the resonance of the guitar’s body — give the instrument its dimensionally. With the Master Couplers in place, subtle shifts in the instruments’ position are clearly evident as such. With the standard cords in place, the shifts are barely perceptible, and then only as changes in tonal character. With record after record, the added dimensionally and detail were nothing short of dramatic.

The Master Couplers also opened up the soundstage. I don’t mean to say that the outer boundaries of the soundstage moved outward — they did, particularly in terms of depth — but that’s not what I’m getting at here. The difference was more an increased perception of separation between, or distinction of, individual images in the soundstage. With the Master Couplers, the image centers weren’t significantly farther apart, but the edges, of the images and spaces between them were now real, distinct, and three-dimensional. In recordings with a natural acoustic — for example, the spotlighted solos in the Chesky Scheherazade reissue [Chesky RC4] — this resulted in the instruments having more body, and the space between becoming more obvious as a separate entity, filled with the mixed resonance and decay of not only the solo instrument, but also the surrounding instruments and hall. Another example is Danse Macabre on Witches’ Brew [LSC-2225]. Here, the combination of dimensionally, detail, and the soundstage opening made some of the denser passages seem more like individual instruments combined, rather than simply a canned, congealed sound. The heightened awareness of the space added a bit of the charged excitement of a live performance. On multi-miked rock, the empty space between images was just that — – empty, really empty. Further, the emptiness had a clarity and sharpness that made it apparent that, with the standard cords, the space had actually been filled with a cloudy film. This is the third wonder wrought by the Master Couplers, the removal of not a veil or film over the soundstage, but rather the greasy, cloudy, grungy matrix that the images were suspended in. I know, I know — your system doesn’t suspend images in a grungy matrix. Well, neither did mine, until that Master Couplers showed me what the soundstage could be like without the grungy matrix! Remember the saucer and basketball images? With the standard cords, the mental picture is of saucers suspended in a three- dimensional rectangle made out of, say, paraffin, or plastic that had been clouded by age. With the Master Couplers, imagine instead basketballs suspended in crystal clear air, like a window you have to touch to make sure it’s there, or for we westerners, a crisp, clear morning at about 8,500 feet when you’d swear you could see someone in Kansas if they stood on their roof. This clarity is further augmented, or more likely supported, by the fourth difference I attributed to the Master Couplers — an increase in the sharpness of the leading edge of transients. This increase had two aspects. The first is temporal, meaning that the transients sound faster. The second is spatial, in that transients seem to arise from a more specific, and rigidly fixed, point in space. One of the major shortfalls of recorded music is an incorrect handling of transients. It’s easy to identify a live band down the hall, around the corner, and at the other end of a bar. One rim shot is all it takes. Why? I think a big part of it has to do with transient performance. Maybe it’s micro-dynamics, maybe absolute rise time, or maybe phase coherence at the leading edge of the transient. One of the things single-ended/horn speakers systems do is capture this sense of transients. This is the sort of improvement the Master Couplers bring about. Rim shots still don’t push the buttons that say “real,” but they’re sure closer. I expected this sort of almost tactile improvement on the Sheffield Drum Record [Lab 14]. However, it caught me by surprise on Melissa Etheridge’s Brave and Crazy [Island ILPS 9939]. Another good example is the added snap on the bass guitar in The Sky is Crying by Stevie Ray Vaughn [Epic E47390].

Finally, the last two effects illustrate that changes, while consistent, can be perceived differently in different systems, or by different listeners. I live in, and am slowly (glacially, according to Bonnie) rebuilding an old adobe farmhouse. An additional electrical service and dedicated power lines have yet to be added to my listening room. At present, the whole system is being fed by two circuits that are shared with major appliances and include stretches of “historically correct” fabric covered wire. Similarly, the power supplies in my VTL electronics appear to be of reasonable strength and sophistication, but aren’t as massive as some. I would expect my system to be a fertile environment for anything that cleans, filter, conditions, or otherwise help with power. At the other extreme, however, the Master Couplers were inserted into another system, featuring Krell Reference Series electronics in a custom-built listening room with individual, dedicated 20 amp lines and hospital-grade outlets. A system with measurable clean, stable power and Hoover Dam caliber power supplies.

In this system, all of the changes described above were again readily apparent, and of a similar magnitude as in my system. Additionally present, however, was a significant increase in bass extension, definition, and power. As I mentioned, I had heard the increased bass definition in my system, as an increased snap in the initial pluck of the bass guitar strings on the Stevie Ray Vaughn disk, for example. The increased extension was also apparent in my system, but not nearly to the degree as with the Krells. With the Krells, the improved low bass was so startling, it first sounded as id perhaps the actual effect was an increase in bass definition and a learning out of the upper bass, the 90- 10 Hz region. (The sort of hole that can arise from an unfortunate match of a speaker cable and crossover network.) After several records, though, this didn’t seem to be the case. This illustrates how, in different systems, the same basic changes in the sound can be perceived as different effects. In both systems, the immediate listener response to the Master Couplers was usually “dramatically increased dimensionally and body, cleaner and clearer.” In the Krell system, it was “much better bass, cleaner and clearer.”

The listener response, of course, depends on the listener, which brings me to the last effect of the Master Couplers, a reduction in high frequency garbage. I mentioned earlier that Bonnie could tell immediately from the kitchen, which cords were in the system. To her, the difference was a decrease in what she described as “harshness” or “brightness.” She listens primarily to CDs, heard, over the years, on a variety of different (inexpensive) players incorporating different filtering techniques. With these players, a decrease in harshness is often accompanied by a decrease in level of inner detail or actual high frequency extension and air. She finds herself returning to simpler players, unwilling to throw out the baby with the bath water, so to speak. In this case, however, she commented that the “hardness is gone, but it isn’t like a filter. There is actually more detail and better high frequency definition.” In fact, she found some of her favorite CDs unlistenable with the standard cords. Once she pointed it out to me, it was obvious. On Chain Gang by the Pretenders [SIRE 25664-2], or Pulling Teeth by Green Day [Reprise 45529-2], the sound with the Master Couplers was not exactly relaxed, but the ragged edges on the vocals and/or guitars were part of their inherent sound, not layer on top. It wasn’t just CDs that were cleaned up and more relaxed, however. The John Klemmer album was an example of where a noticeable hash was cleaned off an LP. To Bonnie, the record sounded “brighter” and “dirtier” with the standard cords. To me, the sax sounded squeezed, which I’ve learned is a sure sign of high frequency garbage. This just points out how different listeners respond differently to the same changes. To me, the decrease in grunge was most apparent in the increased clarity, dimensionally, and body. To Bonnie, it was a dramatic reduction in high-frequency hash.

Clearly, all of these effects are different manifestations of the same change, so how do they all fit together? For whatever reason, the AC Master Couplers allow a system to better preserve the fine detail and phase integrity of a signal, simultaneously reducing spurious noise that results from either external sources or internal interactions. The result is a huge — I repeat, huge — leap forward in the realism of the sound coming out of a system. The difference between, say, the sharper ring and decay of an Ovation guitar and the deeper body and resonance of a Martin take on a new level of prominence. With the Master Couplers, you get a much better sense of hearing the body of the guitar, rather than just a sound emanating from an area in space. Similarly, the spatial dimensionally and layering of multiple images within a soundfield are more apparent. With a densely orchestrated work, the effect is an increase in both the body and overall acoustic envelope and the ability to distinguish individual voices or edges of the soundfield. I’ve already mentioned Danse Macabre. In the case of rock records, where the individual instruments don’t interact in an acoustic space, the effect is sort of a “virtual reality” spatial and temporal interplay of the voices. For example, listen to “In a Lonely Room” on the Smithereens’ Especially for You [Enigma ST-73208]. The dance between the instruments, particularly the vocals, is enchanting. Another example is the Etheridge Brave and Crazy, and the song of the same name. Part of the fun on rock records is listening to the effects superimposed onto individual images, and how the producer or engineer used these effects, in the construction of the soundfield, as part of the voice itself. For example, listen to the feeding in and out of the echo on Jennifer Warnes’ voice on We Take Manhattan [Cypress 661 111-1]. Intended or not, the effect is to move the vocal into and out of the soundfielld, not so much in terms of absolute position but rather in apparent interaction with the surrounding instruments. Another example is “Raise the Morning Star,” the opening cut on Bruce Cockburn’s Stealing Fire [Gold Mountain GM 80012]. Here, an echo gives the background vocals an otherworldly presence. Record after record, I found myself grinning as I discovered new wonders and pulled out new records to try. Fun!

So we come full circle. Power cords. Can they possibly make a difference? In the case of the AC Master Couplers, the answer is an unequivocal and emphatic Yes! So what do I tell the crew at work when they demand and explanation? This is where it gets sticky. It seems like there are three possible explanations. The first is the “power cord as antenna” theory. That is, the power cords function as an antenna, happily picking up RF and other garbage and feeding it into the 60 Hz — less so in the case of the Master Couplers. The second theory is the “power cord as filter” idea. In this case, rather than adding garbage to the 60 Hz, the Master Couplers might actually be removing grunge from the line. Third, there is the “power cord as shunt” theory, where the power cord is somehow adsorbing all of the high frequency components caused by the AC/DC rectifications and ringing back through the power transformer. Finally, there is the “power cord as transmission line” theory. In this case, the power cord is designed, or terminated, to add resonance gain to a 60 Hz signal (or exact harmonic), thereby diminishing the relative effect of any other spectral components. Suffice to say, all are theoretically possible but . . . In each case, it’s not that simple. I’ve made numerous measurements and calculations of not just power cords, but speaker cables and interconnects as well. At work, we routinely design, build, and tune cables for data transmission (analog and digital) in hostile environments. All of the above components — shielding, filtering, shunting, and resonance — are considered, and it’s still a bit of an art. In our cables, however, we have the luxury of not having a ruthless quality control measure — a listener’s ear — to answer to . If the oscilloscope and spectral analysis say it’s right, that’s good enough. In audio cables, that’s just a starting point, maybe not even that. We’ve made a bunch of measurements, performed numerous calculations, and constructed several computer models. Editor willing, I’ll discuss cable design from this aspect in a future piece. “But for now, the short answer is “I don’t know how they work.”

To summarize, I can’t possibly recommend the Synergistic Research A/C Master Couplers more highly. At over $200 for a power cord, they’re insanely expensive for what they are. However, for what they do, they represent the biggest bang for the audio buck I have seen. The only things I can recall as being even close in terms of value were the first time I Fluxbusted a cartridge (after many, many hours), and replacing a set of 30-year-old tubes in a Dyna ST-70 with a new set of Sovteks. Both were small investments, but for striking differences. However, in the case of the Fluxbuster or the tubes, the change was to make an audio system sound like a much better audio system. The Master Couplers do something a little different, and to me, far more significant. They make an audio system sound more real. They take a system from one plane to a slightly different one, one that is genuinely closer to the absolute sound. My system is still a long way away from that sound, but with the insertion of the A/C Master Couplers, it has taken a big step in the right direction. TAS

Synergistic Research Alpha Quad Active

Neil Gader

Reprinted From: The Absolute Sound, Issue 146, February/March 2004

The Alpha Quad Active was the rock ‘n’ roller of this bunch. Described as “Active Shielding,” it uses a plug-in module whereby DC voltage bias is applied to the shielding (outside the signal path), effectively buffering out EMI and RF before they can enter the ground circuit. The result is a splashy, high-energy cable that’s fast and unreservedly dynamic and detailed. On Green Day’s “Basket Case” [Dookie, Reprise] the vocals had a presence that sliced right through the mix like an X-Acto. It didn’t have the darker woodiness of the Siltech or the dense bass response of the Harmonic Technology, rather with its smidgen added brilliance in the treble the Synergistic suggested a blonder hardwood that was quick to respond to the percussionist’s touch. The Alpha consistently felt like it was driving the beat forward, as if it fed on the excitement and tempo. Imaging was uncanny. Transient information possessed surgically-clean edge detail although on some recordings this impression came off as being a bit dry or clinical – violins sounded as if there were a little more rosin on the bow. This led to crescendos during ‘Appalachian Spring’ [NY Philharmonic / Bernstein, Sony Classical] that felt a little tonally constricted in the upper harmonic region. Male singers like Tom Waits or Mark Knopfler were a little less chesty than with the reference Nordost but the low-level resolving power on percussion minutia was addicting. And soundstagin was palpably dimensional with superior depth. Generally I found the Active Shielding feature a subtle but indisputable enhancement in my listening room. It was in the area of detail and three-dimensionality that the active component seemed to shine the most – especially from the better orchestral recordings, which have a good balance of direct and reverberant sound to begin with. The blue LED power light near the terminations looks really cool back-lighting your speakers, too.

Brian Damkroger

Reprinted from: The Absolute Sound, Volume 21 Issue 111

How would you like a perfect cable? Theoretically, technically, measurably perfect — transmission of the electrical signal with no modification whatsoever. Wait a minute. Before you reach for your checkbook, think about it. Do you really want a perfect cable, or do you want one that makes your system — your speakers, your electronics, and your room — sound perfect? Or, dare I say it . . . in our less-than-perfect world, isn’t what you really want a cable that optimizes your system with respect to your listening preferences? Synergistic Research is betting on the latter. Rather than a quest for the best, Ted Denney designs cables to organize target systems or component groups. Synergistic began with the concept of system dependent cabling and a three-year beta testing program, which served both to develop their designs and to establish a database relating performance attributes, design and material parameters, and different types of equipment. In fact, their first product, the Mk I interconnect (originally marketed in 1992) actually incorporated two different shield / grounding schemes, allowing customers to decide how each sounded with their equipment — and feed the information back to Synergistic. Synergistic recommends cables for a particular system, so I began with a VPI/Clearaudio analogue front end, VAC CPAI Mk II preamp and Renaissance 70/70 amp, and Magnepan 3.5/R speakers. The cables supplied included A/C Master Coupler line cords, shielded and unshielded Resolution Reference interconnects, and Resolution Reference speaker cables. Over the course of the review, a variety of other speakers and electronics were thrown into the mix, the interconnects were upgraded to Designers’ Reference, and just before deadline, a pair of the Reference A/C Master Couplers arrived at my door. All cables were burned in in situ for 150-200 hours prior to any listening, using a combination of music and the XLO/Sheffield Test and Burn-in CD. [Sheffield Labs 10041-2-T], both when new and following any extended removal from the system. Where cables crossed, they were separated and oriented orthogonally, but no other heroic measures were used. And the bottom line? Overall, the Synergistic Research cables are the best I’ve ever . . . OOPS . . . I mean, they’re the best match for my system, setup, and . . . Aw, to hell with it. Synergism, schmynergism, the real bottom line is that these are damn good cables.

The Resolution Reference series of interconnects, Synergistic’s top of the line, evolved from one model to three during the course of this review. The original Resolution Reference interconnect, now called the Resolution Reference Mk 1, is constructed by single geometry — that is, uses one conductor each for signal and ground. The conductors are woven with two polymer shafts for resonance control, enclosed in black mesh of 3/8-inch diameter, and tipped with heavy, gold-plated RCA plugs. Surprisingly, materials aren’t the customary top-of-the-line silver and Teflon. Instead, Synergistic uses copper matrix alloy that they call “Type 2″ and since I’m sworn to secrecy, I’ll just say it’s not what you’d expect. For a dielectric, the Resolution References use multiple extruded layers of polyethylene. Midway through the review period, a balanced version, the Designers’ Reference, was introduced, which is essentially a double run of the originals sheathed in a stylish green, reptilian mesh. The balanced construction was found to provide better noise rejection — and it begat a lower-priced spin- off, the Resolution Reference Mk 2, which combines the doubled-up, balanced construction of the Designers’ Reference with the material from Synergistic’s lower-priced S.C. No. 1. Okay, everybody clear? Over the last year, I have used the Resolution Reference Mk 1 and Designers’ Reference in a number of different systems. Not surprisingly, the two are very similar in sound and share a family resemblance with the Resolution Reference speaker cables, including the cable’s superb resolution of inner detail and image dimensionality. Before dissecting the differences, let me first note that these products are very much alike. Even within the narrow confines of top High End cables, they are much more like one another than they are like the competition. That said, there are differences that bear noting, both between the interconnects and speaker cables and also between the two interconnects themselves.

Focusing first on a comparison of the interconnects and speaker cables and starting from my description of the latter, the interconnects have a bit more character than the speaker cables. It’s still slight and ephemeral, sufficiently so that it can only be triangulated using a wide range of system contexts or a relative few that are known very, very well. It is fascinating to note, however, that by design or accident, the interconnects’ overall character is nearly the opposite of the speaker cables’. Where the speaker cable might — and I stress might — contribute to a perspective that is slightly recessed, the interconnects might be a bit forward, with a touch more midrange projection making the perspective seem slightly closer. Similarly, where the speaker cables might shrink dynamic gradients slightly, the interconnects most definitely do not. The speaker cables seem ever so slightly rolled at the very top, but the interconnects, if anything, combine the slightly forward midrange and upper midrange with a bit of overshoot in the treble. Finally, the interconnects’ texture is less delectably liquid and in the Designers’ Reference configuration, nearly impossible to pin down. Exaggerating for the sake of the argument: the interconnects are airier, quicker, a little more dynamic, more revealing of low-level if not necessarily inner detail, and slightly more forward in the midrange. Comparing the interconnects and speaker cables, I can’t help but note the subtle but complementary distortions. No doubt ;the cables are designed and voiced together, so — dare I say it? — the synergy isn’t unexpected, but it’s important to note that both products are sufficiently close to neutral to stand on their own.

There are differences between the interconnects themselves as well. The bulk of the preceding paragraph applies to both models, but in the Mk 1 configuration, the colorations are more pronounced. Compared to the Resolution References, the Mk 1s are a little more forward and the dynamic gradients seem a little larger than life, particularly in the upper midrange. Their inner detail resolution, dimensionality and ambience recovery are superb, but their edge definition lacks the ultimate sophistication of the speaker cables. Image edges are highlighted by a faint, slightly ragged boundary, like a video image with the contrast set slightly too high. In Mephisto Waltz, listen as each orchestral section contributes its trill: not a magic marker by any stretch, but a fuzzy discontinuity.

To a great extent, the minor colorations of the Mk 1s have been ameliorated in the Designers’ References. Try Mephisto Waltz again. The faint edges are gone and you can hear the spaces between instrumental sections and individual instruments. Listen to Shelly Manne’s cymbals on “Manha Do Carnaval” from the album The Three[Inner City IC 6007]. With some cables, all you really get is a big, diffuse shimmer, or a hiss that stands out spectacularly from the surrounding space. With others, you’ll hear the initial ring, the body of the cymbal, but the shimmer never really blooms. The Designers’ References nail it, getting the balance of the ring and expanding shimmer just right. The transitions between the two, and between the shimmer and surrounding space, are continuous, just one set of inherent characteristics ending and another beginning. Other aspects of the Mk 1′s character — the slightly forward perspective, the occasional aggressiveness in the upper mids and lower treble, the slightly magnified dynamic shifts — are essentially gone in the Designers’ References. That the Mk 1s come out second in this comparison isn’t to say that they aren’t a very good cable in today’s market; they are. They just have more obvious character than do the Designers’ References and as a result, need to be more carefully integrated into a system. In addition to the sonic thumbprint, and perhaps contributing to it, I found them to be unacceptably noisy in some systems. For example, I had RFI and/or hum problems while I used the Mk 1s with Audio Research and VAC preamps, but not with preamps from VTL or Melos. Similarly, I couldn’t use the Mk 1s between the crossover and woofer towers on the Infinity RS1s. For the Designers’ Reference, I’ll repeat my assessment of the Resolution Reference speaker cables. Over a year, in a wide range of systems, I’ve found little to argue with. This is a reference product, both for reviewing and listening. It’s character is slight, and differs from that of its companion speaker cable in a way that moves the combination closer to neutral than either on its own. Synergy? Maybe, maybe not, but like the Resolution Reference speaker cables, the Designers’ Reference interconnects are the best I’ve heard to date. TAS

Adam Smith

Reprinted From: HiFi Choice, Vol. 19 No. 6, August 2009

Moving into the high end bracket of this test, the Tesla Accelerators are Synergistic Research’s new cables named after Nikola Tesla, the scientist who made huge progress in the fields of electricity and magnetism, and gave his name to the unit of Magnetic Flux Density. Appropriately, the cables incorporate some very unusual technologies, including the Tesla Tricon cable geometry that Synergistic Research claim “focuses the signal in the same way that a lens focuses light.”. The other notable feature is Zero Capacitance Active Shielding, which claims to, “significantly improve cable bandwidth especially in the areas of low frequency extension and control” by applying a DC Voltage to the cable’s shield through miniature DC sockets woven into the cables. A plug-in ‘wall wart’ power supply is provided to aspirate this, and blue LEDs in the cable show when it is active.

Starting with the shielding unpowered, the Tesla Accelerators proved highly impressive from the off. They have a focused sense of feisty musicality combined with a lightness of touch about them that seems to not impede the music’s passage from source to loudspeaker in any way at all. In essence, I was struck by their neutrality across the entire frequency range and the way in which they simply allow the music to flow. And then I plugged the power supplies in, and things really took a leap forward…

Now the upper mid and treble gained more air and detail. In the tradition of so many subtle upgrades, everything just seemed that little better etched within the soundstage. Most notable was at the low end, when bass detail took a huge leap forward, and my loudspeakers seemed to have been given a clip round the ear and told to really perform – or else! The Tesla Accelerators made light work of whatever I threw at them, seemingly loving it all.

Excerpt from the conclusion: The Synergistic Research Tesla Accelerator proved exceptional value. Oh, yes, they have the power supplies and the flash shielding and the blue LEDs but one listen will make you realise that these are not simple showroom gimmicks – they really work. With confidence and detail the like of which I’ve seldom heard before – plus a brilliant bass with those unusual power supplies running – these should be at the top of your audition list if you have the system and the budget to do them just.

Jacob Heilbrunn

Reprinted From: The Absolute Sound, Issue 192, April/May 2009

A few years ago at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, Synergistic’s Ted Denney III ushered Neil Gader and me into a small, dark hotel room that featured his latest Tesla cables, which used active shielding via a complement of different tubes. Different tubes shouldn’t have affected the sound, but, of course, they did. After that experience, I went on to try some of Synergistic’s REL subwoofer cables, which added to the potency of the RELs, and not by a small margin.

So when the chance came up to try Synergistic’s latest power conditioner, I bit. Having tried a fair number of conditioners over the year, I’ve become less enamored of them the more I’ve used them. The pluses and minuses almost always seem to balance out in the end. Sure, there’s the initial excitement of hearing a few notes that weren’t there before or a blacker background. But then reality begins to intrude. Weren’t the highs a little more extended before I put conditioner X into my system? And so on. If it was just a matter of tradeoffs, it really didn’t seem to be worth the outlay. Recent exposure to the latest conditioners from Audience and PS Audio suggested, however, that matters have begun to change for the better.

The $5000 Tesla PowerCell thus offered another chance to see if the conditioning field has continued to advance. Unlike many conditioners, it doesn’t feature chokes or transformers. The chassis, Synergistic says, is electromagnetically inert, but on the inside it conditions the electricity by subjecting it to various electromagnetic fields. The power cord for the unit also allows for active shielding. The unit is said to be non-current-limiting—which many conditioner manufacturers say, but which often turns out not to be the case—and is lightweight, making it easy to move around. Nor does it have an on-off switch. You simply use its locking power cord and plug it into the wall. It’s best to have any equipment you intend to use with it turned off before you plug it in. After letting it burn in for two weeks, I inserted it into my system, adding one component at a time.

“The Synergistic PowerCell immediately offered a warmer and more relaxed presentation.”

The difference was surprisingly dramatic. The Einstein preamplifier I’ve been using recently is quite dynamic, but can be a little astringent at times. The Synergistic PowerCell immediately offered a warmer and more relaxed presentation. It also made the Wilson MAXX 3 loudspeakers sound more elegant, particularly in the highs. By comparison, the sound before I added the PowerCell seemed somewhat disjointed. In addition, the conditioner endowed intricate passages with greater resolution, helping to delineate musical lines more clearly. Overall, the PowerCell had a holistic effect, drawing me further into the music.

One of the Tesla’s most palpable improvements was its ability to open up the soundstage. On Simone Dinnerstein’s intriguing recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations [Telarc], which features a reconditioned Steinway model D concert grand, hailing from the town council of Hull, in Northeast England, it was easier to hear both the reverberations of the piano within the concert hall as well as its rich, telluric sound, closer almost to a Bösendorfer than a Steinway. The sound of the felt hammer hitting the string was also more articulate. As always, this may be something of a double-edged sword—recordings provide a lens into music-making that a concert hall simply will not offer, further proof, I think, that it’s very tricky to compare CDs with live music. But honest to gosh, I almost swear you can hear the aged quality of the wood (whose aging process can’t be speeded up like metals that can be treated cryogenically).

The ability of the PowerCell to help disentangle complicated passages was underscored by a wonderful piece, W.L. Thompson’s “There’s A Great Day Coming” [Gala], which is played by six trumpeters led by the New York Philharmonic’s Philip Smith. There was no suppression of dynamics, if anything the PowerCell conveyed a greater sense of authority and body. The burnished sound of six trumpets popping up seemingly out of nowhere was quite striking. In fact, I would say that it was the closest reproduction of the actual sound of a trumpet that I’ve heard.

But the most striking improvement rendered by the PowerCell was the confidence with which the music unfolded. The presentation simply seemed more relaxed and self-assured. On Angela Hewitt’s recording of Bach’s English Suites [Hyperion SACD], for example, the piano simply sounded less constricted and compressed than it had previously. The graceful, composed nature of her playing emerged more fully.

Was the PowerCell, however, blurring transients? Not to my mind. I can see that not everyone will gravitate to the PowerCell. If your system tends to the warm, lush, rich side, you might not welcome the extra dollop of plushness that the PowerCell provides. But I wouldn’t consider my overall system, given the number of tubes in it, on the dry side, even when using solid-state amplification. To my mind, the fuller presentation of the PowerCell was more authentic. What’s more, the PowerCell really does seem to be non-current-limiting—it does not choke amplifiers, which, for the most part, are best run directly into the wall.

“Overall, the PowerCell had a holistic effect, drawing me further into the music.”

Perhaps the performance of the PowerCell shouldn’t be surprising. My experience with power cords has been that they can quite drastically alter the sound of a system. A whole submarket has emerged around trying to deal with electrical anomalies, some of it snake oil, some of it quite helpful.

The blunt fact is that the electricity flowing into most homes is pretty wretched, and it’s not going to get any better in coming years, as more and more electric devices pollute the atmosphere. If you’re living anywhere near a city, you know what I’m talking about.

I have gone to some lengths to try and improve it by, among other things, installing a dedicated, active grounding rod, which is used by government installations, as well as a separate Isoclean breaker box and a number of dedicated lines running from it. Even special wall outlets can make an improvement. But there’s always more to be had. Conditioning makes a lot of sense, but the rub has always been that it often seems to subtract as much as it adds. It’s becoming increasingly difficult for audiophiles to audition equipment as the number of dealers shrinks due to the Internet trade. But with anything as tricky as power conditioning, it would be wise to make an effort to try the PowerCell or any other conditioner before making a commitment to buy one.

Still, my sense is that it’s hard to go too wrong with the PowerCell. It ably improved the performance of a number of components and is simplicity itself to use. No doubt conditioners will continue to improve in coming years, and they seem to represent something of a black art, or, if you’re a skeptic, sheer voodoo. A number of very gifted manufacturers of preamplifiers and amplifiers that I’ve encountered over the years regard them with great suspicion. But the PowerCell represents a startling and welcome advance, suggesting that the inventive mind of Ted Denney continues to seek new ways to enrich musical reproduction. It would be too much to say that the PowerCell provides a romantic presentation, but it may well win your heart. TAS

Synergistic Research cables are developed through objective measurements, advanced active technologies, and proprietary cable geometries. We voice each of our cables through a series of subjective listening tests to select material combinations that will enable each cable design to reproduce music that is as close to live as possible.

First, we engineer specific cable geometries to match your system. For example, Accelerator interconnects are engineered for long runs, balanced terminations and as warmer sounding cables for solid state electronics, while Acoustic Reference interconnects are engineered for vacuum tube electronics, and to gain higher resolution from solid state electronics.

After arriving at a geometry for a given set of components, the second and equally important phase of our cable development process is voicing each cable to complement its target components. This is by far the most time consuming process, as it involves the hand fabrication of dozens of variations of each geometry. Countless hours are spent listening for just the right combination of materials that will recreate the magic of live music.

During the voicing process, we submit our cables for beta testing to an independent panel of careful listeners. Since our beta testers are not internally involved with our development process, we keep our observations objective. Finally, all those involved in voicing our cables regularly attend live orchestral performances in order to provide a reference point from which to gauge the ultimate success of our cables.

Warranties: Synergistic Research product is only covered by warranty if it has been purchased from an authorized dealer.  

Upgrades: Synergistic Research product cannot be physically upgraded by our factory if it has not been purchased from an authorized dealer.  

Discounts: We assume that the last thing you want when putting together a high-end audio/video system is to purchase and install an inferior product. Unauthorized Synergistic Research dealers may try to sell you products with incredible, too-good-to-be-true discounts.

Service: Authorized Synergistic Research dealers are, without a doubt, the most knowledgeable and up-to-date when it comes to current and future Synergistic Research technology. You will not find a higher level of service than that provided by an authorized Synergistic Research dealer.

There are several ways to determine if your investment in our product can be made with confidence. The easiest way is to contact us.

Please keep the following points in mind before making your purchase:

1. Online auctions: Authorized Synergistic Research dealers do not sell current, or current used, Synergistic Research products on auction websites such as eBay, Yahoo, Audiogon, etc.

2. Serial Numbers: Many Synergistic Research products and all Active cables are assigned serial numbers. Be wary of any product that appears to be missing its serial number, or if the number appears to be altered in anyway. In most cases, we can determine the validity of a serial number before you commit to purchase. Complete and submit our Serial Number Trace form, and we will be happy to investigate.

WARNING: DO NOT PURCHASE SYNERGISTIC RESEARCH PRODUCTS WITHOUT FIRST GETTING A PICTURE OF THE SERIAL NUMBER FROM THE SELLER. ANY CABLES MISSING SERIAL NUMBERS ARE PRESUMED TO BE COUNTERFIET AND WILL NOT BE REPAIRED BY OUR FACTORY. When purchasing cables used or from a NON-AUTHORIZED SYNERGISTIC RESEARCH DEALER it is your responsibility to first verify the validity of Synergistic Research products BEFORE you purchase. Contact us if you doubt the status of a Synergistic Research dealer or Synergistic Research product.  Synergistic Research assumes ALL products whose serial numbers are missing to be counterfeit and will decline all requests for service.

If you have questions or concerns about the information above, please contact us; we are happy to assist you in any way possible.

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The limited warranty set forth below is given by Synergistic Research, Inc. (“Synergistic Research”) with respect to the Synergistic Research brand audio/video system cabling (the “product”) that you have purchased. The product that you have purchased is the only product to which the limited warranty provided by Synergistic Research as stated apply.

Your product, when delivered to you, the original owner of this product, in new condition in it’s original container, is warranted against defects in materials or workmanship as follows: for a period of five (5) years from the date of original purchase*. Defective parts or a defective product returned to the Synergistic Research repair facility, and proven to be defective upon inspection, will be exchanged for new or comparable rebuilt parts, or refurbished product, as determined by the Synergistic Research repair facility. Warranty repair or replacement shall not extend the original warranty period of the defective product. This limited warranty cannot be resold or otherwise distributed and is non-transferable.

This limited warranty shall only apply if the product is used in conjunction with compatible audio/video equipment, as to which items Synergistic Research shall have no responsibility.

*VERY IMPORTANT: Your original, dated proof of purchase (bill of sale) is your proof of ownership. All warranty repairs and refurbishments require proof of ownership. Please keep your sales receipt for the duration of the five (5) year warranty period. You will be required to present the original sales receipt, or an acceptable copy, before any warranty repairs or refurbishments can be performed.

This limited warranty covers all defects encountered in normal use of the product, and does not apply in the following cases:

1. Loss or damage to product due to abuse, mishandling, improper packaging by you, alteration, accident, electrical current fluctuations, failure to follow operating or maintenance instructions, or service performed by other than the Synergistic Research repair facility or an authorized repair technician.

2. Use of parts or supplies (other than those sold by Synergistic Research) that cause damage to the product or cause abnormally frequent service calls or service problems.

3. If the product has had its serial number or model name altered or removed.

NO IMPLIED WARRANTY, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, APPLIES TO THE PRODUCT AFTER THE APPLICABLE PERIOD OF THE EXPRESS LIMITED WARRANTY STATED ABOVE, AND NO OTHER EXPRESS WARRANTY OR GUARANTY, EXCEPT AS MENTIONED ABOVE, GIVEN BY ANY PERSON OR ENTITY WITH RESPECT TO THE PRODUCT SHALL BIND SYNERGISTIC RESEARCH. (SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG AN IMPLIED WARRANTY LASTS, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.) SYNERGISTIC RESEARCH SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR LOSS OF REVENUES OR PROFITS, INCONVENIENCE, EXPENSE FOR SUBSTITUTE EQUIPMENT OR SERVICE, STORAGE CHARGES, LOSS OR CORRUPTION OF DATA, OR ANY OTHER SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES CAUSED BY THE USE OR MISUSE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE THE PRODUCT, REGARDLESS OF THE LEGAL THEORY ON WHICH THE CLAIM IS BASED, AND EVEN IF SYNERGISTIC RESEARCH HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. IN NO EVENT SHALL RECOVERY OF ANY KIND AGAINST SYNERGISTIC RESEARCH BE GREATER IN AMOUNT THAN THE PURCHASE PRICE OF THE PRODUCT SOLD BY SYNERGISTIC RESEARCH WHICH CAUSED THE ALLEGED DAMAGE. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, YOU ASSUME ALL RISK AND LIABILITY FOR LOSS, DAMAGE OR INJURY TO YOU AND YOUR PROPERTY AND OTHERS AND THEIR PROPERTY ARISING OUT OF USE OR MISUSES OF, OR INABILITY TO USE THE PRODUCT NOT CAUSED DIRECTLY BY THE NEGLIGENCE OF SYNERGISTIC RESEARCH. (SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.) THIS LIMITED WARRANTY SHALL NOT EXTEND TO ANYONE OTHER THAN THE ORIGINAL PURCHASER OF THE PRODUCT, OR THE PERSON FOR WHOM IT WAS PURCHASED AS A GIFT, AND STATES YOUR EXCLUSIVE REMEDY.

Today’s high end systems are evolving faster than ever. With new and existing technologies like DVD, SACD, DVD-audio, analog, HDTV, multichannel, and distributed audio systems, you need a cable system that not only matches your current components, but also has the technology and flexibility to grow and adapt as technology and your system evolve.

With our Lifetime Passport Protection Program, your new Synergistic Research products are warrantied against all defects in materials and manufacturing for five years. Simply register your Synergistic Research product to gain access to our Passport Protection Program benefits.

When you purchase Synergistic Research products with Lifetime Passport Protection, you are purchasing products that perfectly match your current system and that adapt as technology and your system evolve. Your new Synergistic Research cables carry a lifetime upgrade value toward future Synergistic Research cables. When upgrading simply contact us for details. Upgrades are unavailable for products purchased used or from non-authorized Synergistic Research dealers, and may not be available for every Synergistic Research product. Contact us to find out if your Synergistic Research product qualifies for upgrades or trade-in.

Usage: Our SynTos Toslink optical interconnect incorporates a high-speed transmission optical fiber, capable of handling over 150 Mbps. SynTos is a performance-oriented, no-frills, state-of-the-art cable, with a Precision-Focus cladding, special flexible PVC protective jacket, and a precision molded opto connector. A 24K gold-plated Exact-Fit center ferrule keeps the optical fiber perfectly centered within the connector housing, and the convex, precision polished tip assures maximum data transfer to the receiving diode. Ultimate optical performance at a reasonable price is now available!

Conductors: Optical Fiber

HDAV 16/4 Speaker Wire cable geometries and design philosophy are trickle-down technologies from Synergistic Research premium high end cable products. This entry level 16 AWG cable is made up of mult-strand Copper Matrix, providing superior performance to that of typical copper wire.

Just like it’s high end cousins, HDAV Speaker Wire was developed through a balance of objective measurements, subjective material selection, and critical listening tests that compare reproduced music to that of the live musical event.

The dielectric material used in ALL Synergistic Research speaker cable is a multi-extruded Polyethylene. It is clear in color, with a single color-coded strip. This is accomplished to enhance the dielectric properties. All cables that are solid in color have in them a much higher degree of conductivity, due to the dyes that are used. These dyes affect the electrons traveling the signal path, and translate as a smearing or coloration in the end result. We developed this exceptional dielectric free of these added distortions to provide a clear, clean, natural presentation.

Due to the higher degree of resolution in HDAV, longer runs are possible, and the smaller diameter of the cable translates into quicker and easier pulls.

Ultimate RCA compression fit connector
Available in RG-59 and RG-6, field terminating for audio, video, and digital. ID rings determines application.

Universal BNC compression fit connector
Available in RG-59 and RG-6, field terminating for audio, video, and digital applications.

Universal F Connectors compression fit connector
Available in RG-59 and RG-6, field terminating for audio and video.

ID ring
These butyl rings are color coded for application and are available in: red, green, blue, white, yellow, black.

Spade Terminations
Chosen to produce the best conductive synergy with Synergistic Research cables, and put through the same stringent subjective listening tests that all final products acquire. Availabe in: 6 AWG Gold, 8 AWG Silver and Gold, and 10 AWG Silver.

BFA Banana Terminations
The highest amount of surface contact in the industry. Sonically, they provide one of the best sounding connectors we’ve experienced. Soldering is receommended.

Screw-type Banana terminations
Flat head set screws for fast secure connections. Available in red and black.

Speaker Cable Termination Kit
A complete set of terminations, heatshrink, and polarity ‘shrinks, for fast and convenient terminations in the field. Available in spade, banana, and bi-wire configurations.

TESLA Quad Termination Kit
The ultimate field upgrade! Turn your TESLA Quad speaker wire, installed in-wall or not, into a fully Active system in just minutes. Requires no soldering! Mini Power Couplers sold separately.

HDAV RG-59 Interconnect is our entry-level field terminated bulk audio and video/digital cable. HDAV is a direct result of the economic, aesthetic, and performance requirements that our dealers and customers around the world have come to expect from us and our depth of products.

HDAV RG-59 Interconnect has a 20 AWG Copper Matrix center conductor. This material is a proprietary alloy consisting of primarily single crystal copper, combined with several other precious metals, to form a consistent platform for voltage transmission. The benefit from a Copper Matrix center conductor is higher resolution in both audio and video signals. It easily outperforms standard copper in the correct ratios of capacitance, inductance, and resistance. It’s characteristic impedance is 75-Ohm +/-1 and it’s Capacitance PF/meter is 17.3+/-1.7.

The dielectric is a Modified PolyEthylene has an average thickness of 1.45mm and a diameter of 3.71+/-0.1mm. With excellent dielectric properties, the Modified PolyEthylene was developed for flexibility and cost effectiveness. HDAV utilizes an aluminum Mylar shield, combined with a 16×6 Copper Matrix shield, providing extreme RF and EMI rejection while maintaining superb flexibility.

The jacket material is an opaque blue Polyvinyl chloride with an average thickness of 0.97mm; tough, durable and attractive.