Synergestic Research: SCAM


Well, I just sat down to a demo of several Synergistic Research products including the Black Box room bass resonators, their new line conditioner, their active Tranquility Base, little treble resonators and the Atmosphere room acoustics tuner.


Total scam. Never once did they just play a track while moving things around. It was always a few seconds of a track followed by a 30 seconds of so of moving stuff, etc, then another maybe 30 seconds of sound. They'd start a track and then stop it right as some instruments came in, do the change, and then continue playing where it left off. The guy doing the demo was asked twice if he could do a live a/b and he'd give an excuse about how it takes a little time for system to charge or some bs like that and the transition process would mask the differences. Absolute con BS they are DEAD to me.


Also? I could hear JACK SQUAT changes in the demo. A few people around me would comment on the changes but I could hear nothing -- at least as best I could manage with the small clips and pauses in between changes. I really tried, but I could hear nothing.


Here, I took a video of a part of the demo. I'll post it when I have a chance.

madavid0
@fleschler 
Despite the video lack of quality, I clearly heard the differences in the Tranquility base on and then off. So much better with it on.
Can you describe what you heard in detail?

To all of the Synergistic Research naysayers & haters out there, after much defense of Synergistic Research products, and truly enjoying their performance in our audio system, I finally have several of their products that I would not recommend; and that do not work well for us in our system. Their router & switch combination. Both are deceptively attractively priced but after the required cables and antenna, are quite expensive (the router with cables & antenna cost us $6,900; and the switch another $3000). After receiving these, I saw little value in their performance and intended to return them to Scott Walker Audio but Josh Doyle insisted that we give them more time. Well, it's now six months and they add virtually nothing; in fact, the music sounds better with them removed.

The other issue we had with these was that we had frequent dropouts from Roon with them in place. Roon would not respond to our prompts for a desired tune and would require a re-boot of our Antipodes streamer to reconnect. I tried different locations of the Synergistic router and its antenna; tried angling them to other positions, to no avail. These frustrating interruptions to our service occurred every time we had our system playing. Now that we have removed them from our system, the problems are gone. We'd mistakenly thought the problem was with Roon but the problems were obviously due to the Synergistic Research router & switch. BTW, Josh & Scott Walker now refuse to take them back, in any way, even as used items at a reduced price. If they suspect there is a defect with these, they are right down the road from Synergistic Research and can easily have them checked out. But... they say they have too many in stock. Before anyone else gets stung with these items, you've been warned.

db2sub1

I tried different locations of the Synergistic router and its antenna; tried angling them to other positions, to no avail . . .

 

SR’s router doesn’t have antennae. It doesn’t have WiFi.

- - - -

A technical note excepted from SR’s router page.

Important Note: The Synergistic Research Network Router UEF does not include internal WiFi functionality. This deliberate omission ensures optimal performance by keeping the WiFi signal isolated from the Network Router. If your system requires a wireless connection (phone, tablet, etc.), it is necessary to connect a separate access point to the SR Network Router UEF.

A WiFi router is not the same as an access point. A WiFi router will not work. We have extensively tested various access points and found that different models seem to have minimal impact on overall performance. Two easy to set up recommendations are the TP-Link EAP245 and NETGEAR WiFi 6 Access Point (WAX214). When setting up your Access Point, set a different SSID than your existing home network.

 

Perhaps, the problem was with the component providing the access point. Or the SSID wasn’t configured correctly. Or a WiFi router was used, not an access point.

Over the years, I've purchased several SR products from Scott Walker,  He and his sales team are usually very thorough with their customer support for equipment set-up and usage.   Ever since I've converted over to SR cabling, the SQ of my system has improved signficantly. 

@steakster: I purchased the SR router & switch from the largest SR dealer in the world; Scott Walker Audio. Included in the shipment was a round antenna to be ceiling or wall mounted along with a SR ethernet cable for connection to the router. I was guided for installation by Josh Doyle at Scott's Texas store. There was immediately a SR channel on our laptop's wifi settings that had to be activated for connectivity. If anyone knows how it works it surely should be them. All I know is that our Roon connectivity problems, with them removed, are now gone. I'm glad yours is working well for you. I am a fervent advocate of SR products & cables (have over $100,000 in their power cables & interconnects; plus another $70-80,000 in their components); but the router & switch didn't do it for us. 

Over the years, I've purchased several SR products from Scott Walker,  He and his sales team are usually very thorough with their customer support for equipment set-up and usage.   Ever since I've converted over to SR cabling, the SQ of my system has improved significantly.

                                                        +1

       I my case: SR interconnects, between tonearm and Phono stage, then: Pre and Main monoblock amps,      Their power cords from wall to Stealth XXX Purifier and wall to Subwoofer amp.     All the MPCs: upgraded by Michael Spallone.

                                                NONE for sale!

       The rest of my interconnects (sources') are Kimber Selects (1030 and 1130), which play very nicely with the SRs.

        All other power cables are Zu Mothers.

        Fuses are from SR and Hi-Fi Tuning.

        Big Silver Oval speaker cable. 

                                          Nothing very expensive!

        I DO appreciate companies that allow a person 30 days to decide whether they like their products or not.    Synergistic has been offering that trial period, for some forty years now (since the Eighties).

                                                     A rewind:

     No one can tell you whether/how your system, room and/or ears will respond to some new addition.   There are simply too many variables.

     LIKEWISE: no one can possibly know whether a new addition (ie: some kind of disc, crystal, fuse, interconnect, speaker cable, etc)  will make a difference, in their system and room, with their media and to their ears, without trying them for themselves.   

     Some companies offer a 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee, so- those that are actually interested, have absolutely nothing to lose by trying (experimenting with) such.     

     Anyone that knows anything about the sciences, realizes that something like 96% of what makes up this universe, remains a mystery.       

     For centuries; humanity’s seen, heard, felt and otherwise witnessed phenomena, that none of the best minds could explain, UNTIL they developed a science or measurement, that could explain it.     

     The Naysayer Church wants you to trust their antiquated science (1800’s electrical theory) and faith-based, religious doctrine, BLINDLY (their credo: "Trust ME!"). 

     Theories have never proven or disproven anything.  It’s INVARIABLY testing and experimentation that proves or disproves theories/hypotheses.   

     IF you’re interested in the possibility of improving your system’s presentation, have a shred of confidence in your capacity for perceiving reality and trust your own senses: actually TRY whatever whets your aural appetite, FOR YOURSELF.         

                      The Naysayer Church HATES it, when THAT happens!  

                                              Happy Listening!