Resolution Reference Speaker Wire Review

The Synergistic Research Resoulition Reference Speaker Cables
In Which Our Author Contemplates the Idea of "Perfect"

by Brian Damkroger
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 systemdependent 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.

RESOLUTION REFERENCE SPEAKER CABLE

The Resolution Reference speaker cable consists of four different conductor/dielectric/shield combinations running in parallel, described in Synergistic's "Explorer's Guide" as "four variations of hyper-pure, slow drawn long-grain copper in solid core, litz and basket weave configurations." The concept is to control the cable's response across the frequency spectrum by layering the specific, frequency-dependent responses of the individual constructions, creating a network of four parallel circuits. The whole package ends up about one inch in diameter, nicely finished in black mesh with one-into-two shrink caps on each end, and is extremely --- and I do mean extremely --- stiff. You could do chinups on the two-foot lengths that connected the Magnepan 3.5/R's external crossover and panels. It is so unwieldy, in fact, that thin, flimsy connectors are used because as the cable's designer succinctly puts it, "Something's got to be able to bend." Although the Resolution Reference cables were originally supplied to a tube amp with the Magnepan 3.5/Rs, I tried several other speaker systems and amps both tube and solid state, as well. Was there any magical synergy with the original system? No, not really. The cables' performance in that system was pretty much the same as in every other setup I tried, which is to say absolutely superb. The usual qualifiers apply --- no, I haven't heard all of the competition, and yes, there are specific things that this or that cable will do better. Overall however, they're the best speaker cables I've heard, consistently so and across a wide range of equipment. It's ironic that Synergistic, a company that maintains that there's no such thing as a perfect cable, had built the one that in my experience comes closest.

The Resolution Reference speaker cables are reference caliber in the strictest sense of the word: they are a marvelous reviewer's tool. They reveal the characteristics of other components so clearly; it's as if they are mimicking and accentuating the characteristics of the system around them. This chameleon-like behavior becomes apparent once you've heard the Resolution Reference in several systems, but on first listen, they might well seem unimpressive, so little do they contribute to the sound. To describe them all, I find myself noting what they wouldn't do in my systems, and from that, trying to deduce what they might do in others. For example, they will never add zing or extra air to the top end of a system. Nor will they ever exaggerate dynamic gradients or move images forward during crescendos. No sharpening of image edges or heightened viewfinder-style front-to-back relief with these cables, no rolled off or muddied bottom end. They'll never contribute to a yang coloration, nor to a system sounding dry or having a grainy texture. Inverting the matrix, so to speak, any sonic thumbprint the Resolution References may contribute will likely be of the yin sort. Any shadings in tonal balance or the handling of dynamics will probably favor the midrange and below. Dynamics may be slightly softened and the perspective more akin to mid-hall in a warmer acoustic than to the front table at a jazz club. What texture they have is on the liquid side, but liquid only in the faintest sense, like those rare, cool New Mexico mornings when you can actually detect a touch of humidity in the air. The Resolution Reference are also "reference cable" when it come simply to listening to music. Like the Maggie 3.5/Rs with which they were originally paired, they somehow intrude less between the listener and the music, and they emphasize musical content rather than the electromechanics behind it all. The whole of their performance, also like that of the 3.5/Rs, is greater than the sum of their dissected parts. One factor that does stand out though, at least within my set of listening biases, is how they allow a system to weave edge definition, reproduction of inner detail, image dimensionality, and ambience recovery together realistically to portray tangible instruments in an ambient space. Phrases like "wonderful layering," "beautiful instrumental colors and textures," and "a new standard in naturalness" are scribbled all over my listening notes.

Let's tackle these one at a time. Edge definitions, as defined by the exchanges between HP and JV, is superb. Edges are bounded not by sharp discontinuities, as is often the case with lesser gear, but as they are in the concert hall, by the differences between the characteristics of the image and those of the adjacent image, or the surrounding space. Listen to the Michael Newman album on Sheffield [Lab-10] for a good example. With otherwise excellent cables, the guitar's image seems to be bounded by a distinct, somewhat ragged surface, a black magic marker outline. As notes propagate outward, the impression is one of an image that is too large, and discontinuous with the surrounding space. With the Resolution Reference, the discontinuous surface, the magic marker line, is gone. There is simply a guitar, its sound radiating outward into the surrounding space.

If images are bounded only by their inherent character, resolution of inner detail must be exceptional, and it is with the Resolution References. On "First, We Take Manhattan" from Jennifer Warnes' Famous Blue Raincoat [Cypress 661 111-1], a good test for inner detail resolution is how obviously and precisely her vocals are moved within the surreal soundstage via the superimposed echo. The Resolution References pass this test with flying colors, but take it a step further, pointing out that virtually all the instruments are subject to similar, if less obvious, manipulations. Another test is how well and how naturally individual instruments within an orchestral section are distinguished. Listen to the delicately plucked stings at the end of "Navarra," on the Albeniz side of the sensational Classic reissue of Reiner/Chicago's Spain [LSC-2230]. With the Resolution References, it's not counting heads outlined by artificial boundaries, but hearing a group of instruments each defined by its own characteristics. Image dimensionality is another crucial area where the Resolution References shine. Listen again to the plucked strings in "Navarra," in particular for the dimensionality of the instruments within the section and how it helps define their placement. With the Resolution References, you can hear further down into the spaces between individual players --- imagine the difference between a row of circles drawn on a page and a row of ping pong balls sitting on a table. The Resolution References' resolution and dimensionality apply to the entire soundstage and surrounding ambient environment as well. Listz's Mephisto Waltz on the Reiner/Chicago RCA [Classic LSC-224] is a good example, where a series of trills and interchanges midway through lay out the soundstage particularly well, more so whenever the Resolution References were in the system.

In summary, the Synergistic Research Resolution References are among today's top speaker cables. They add very little to a system's sound and more importantly, excel in a range of characteristics that combine in a musical, natural manner. What sonic thumbprint they impart is slight and perfectly in sync with both my listening biases and my reference points --- the churches, concert halls, and jazz clubs around Albuquerque. As for synergy, I will admit that their combination with the VAC Renaissance 70/70 and Magnepan 3.5/Rs was a very good one, unfailingly musical and truly exceptional in its portrayal of an open, three-dimensional soundstage and near-holographic images. Even with multi-driver speakers and lesser recordings, however, the Resolution Reference cables will help allow good components to coalesce into a great system, to move to a distinctly higher plane of musical involvement.

Last weekend, I picked up a mint, original copy of Van Morrison's T.B. Sheets [Bang BLP 400] at my neighbor's garage sale. At the time, another (also excellent) speaker cable was in my system and "Ro Ro Rosey" and "Brown Eyed Girl" sounded pretty much the way I'd always remembered --- thin and nasal, with the images onedimensional and congested enough to sound nearly mono. I switched to the Resolution References and . . . Eureka! The images had body, weight and dimensionality, and were spread nicely across the stage center and layered front-to-back. Wow! A wonderful audiophile album for a buck! Well, not really, but a good illustration of what the Resolution References do best, which is to let a bit more information, a bit more magic, through a system. Synergistic might not think they're a good choice for every system, but they're certainly an excellent choice for mine.