Synergistic New Tesla Line...Any comments?

"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? ... 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 ... for what they do, they represent the biggest bang for the audio buck I have seen."

What are we talking about here? The Apex or the Element Tungsten? No. This is from the The Absolute Sound 2004 review of the SR Master Coupler power cord reprinted on the Synergistic Research site here:

http://www.synergisticresearch.com/reviews/ac-master-coupler/

This is what I mean by being careful how you spend your hard-earned audio dollars. Don't believe everything you read. You might be reading the same thing tomorrow about the next latest and greatest.

I don't know anyone on Audiogon who does not "want to deal with" selling an item that will fetch them a reasonable price. The uptrade policy of SR is for those who have virtually no alternative. This is obvious. Who would take up the "offer" to purchase an item twice as expensive as the one they bought earlier if they were not already in the market for that product -- unless they had no other choice -- or had very deep pockets?

Market sets the price via supply and demand. Some auto companies try reconditioning/recertifying their used vehicles to increase the value but basically it's set by supply and demand.

Trade In is essentially paying the company selling for you so they will charge a fee. No alternative is only obvious if Ted has some inappropriate videos of you and Bacardi

Of course, your analogy is totally false. Computers are not high end audio equipment. They are not upgradeable in the way that many audio companies upgrade their equipment ...

The point is with innovation, competition, productivity ... price will drop in new releases with improve performances and functionality. This applies to most commodities whether it's audio, upgradeable, computers ...

DAC is an audio product It's basically a computer that convert a file of 1's and 0's to an analog signal. I replaced a DAC bought 4 years ago. It's 40% less expensive with improved sound and features thanks to innovation. Until this area of technology matures, we should get this type of improvement periodically.

Regarding your comment about taking "MORE effort, sacrifice", I work 365 days a year. I do not need to be lectured on working harder. Thank you.

You are very Welcome. I'm sorry and my only comment is, work smarter and NOT harder.

This is about giving audiophiles who can afford to enter the ballpark more choices. The companies that do so are to be highly commended ...

Whether a product is over priced or good value is up to the individual purchasing the product to decide and not you.

Perfect example is Joeyboynj, SR upgrade policy works for him, enjoys the new products and probably finds them good value. Since it's his money and system, why should anyone care? It's a win win for both he and SR.

It should be the goal but a company can never satisfied 100% of their customers. As long as the majority of their TARGETED customers are satisfied, they will succeed. Like I said, SR has been in business for many years so I can assume they are doing most things right. Have you ever considered SR is NOT TARGETING for your business?

Knghifi,
I'm one step ahead of you. I'm already working smarter.

When you stated, "Market sets the price via supply and demand" this does not address the matter that was on the table which was people not wanting "to deal with" selling their audio items. I reiterate -- most people will take the better deal. If they can get a better deal by selling the item themselves they will normally do so. If they feel their chances of selling the item at a good price are slim they will opt for up-trade or The Cable Co. We are not talking about markets setting the price here, we are talking about selling options.

I don't understand this sentence of yours. What do you mean when you say, "No alternative is only obvious if Ted has some inappropriate videos of you and Bacardi".

It is a moot point that innovation brings better quality at lower prices. Again, this is not the point. The point is that when you spend $5,000 on an audio product that 2 years later requires you to spend a further $6,500 to get value out of it this is not the same as a computer that sells for $1,000 this year and 2 years later sells for $500 with twice the memory.

This is pure mathematics. With the latter you can pass your old computer to a friend or relation and you are only out of pocket another $1,000. With the former you pass your power conditioner to the company you bought it from and pay them an extra $6,500. So it's $1,500 for the computers and $11,500 for the audio products. That's an extra $10,000 for the audio products. And that's only one small part of an audio system we're talking about.

You stated, "DAC is ... basically a computer". I disagree. There is far more to a good DAC than simply converting 1's and 0's to analog. If DACs were merely computers they would all sound the same. I think it is obvious that they do not all sound the same. So it is far more than 1's and 0's we're talking about here.

You stated, "Whether a product is over priced or good value is up to the individual purchasing the product to decide and not you." If I am one of the individuals purchasing the product then it is also up to me. Companies set the price and impute value to their products. Whether the value they claim is there actually is there remains to be seen once customers evaluate those audio products in their systems.

The fact that customers are willing to pay the price is only an indication that the company is charging what they feel is the maximum that the market will bear. It is not an indication that value is there commensurate with the price customers are willing to pay. The words "over priced" and "good value" come into the picture after the fact once there has been customer evaluation.

If Joeyboynj wants to up trade it is an indication that he either was not able to get a good price for his product in the marketplace or he wanted to purchase another SR product twice as expensive and was willing to settle for 70% of the value. In this case it is a win-win situation. But in many cases it turns into a win-lose situation for the customer.

You stated, "Have you ever considered SR is NOT TARGETING for your business?" This is precisely my point. SR chooses not to offer an upgrade program. They are successful enough not to have to worry about unhappy customers. But I contend, if they were working smarter, as you suggest customers should do to be able to afford their expensive products, they could choose to make a win-lose situation into a win-win situation and thereby increase profits. Admittedly, this would probably mean a reduced profit margin in this area of their business, but it would be more than made up by goodwill and a larger retained customer base which would end up benefiting them far more, in the end. IMO.

Of course, I realize SR is not going to create an upgrade option for their customers. This is just to indicate that creating an upgrade policy is a decision that is built into a company's fundamental way of looking at how they want to serve their customers. This is done from the ground up. The decision not to offer an upgrade police is not dictated by the marketplace. It is dictated by corporate philosophy -- and business plan then follows through.

The review for the AC Master Coupler was first published in The Absolute Sound in December 1995 not 2004 as was incorrectly stated in this thread. At the time the reviewer, Brian Damkroger, was writing for TAS and later moved to Stereophile in the late 90’s where he still writes to this day.

For the record the AC Master Coupler was in production from late 1994 through late 2007. In all over 10,000 AC Master Couplers were sold during its 13-year production run. To celebrate our 20th Anniversary, we released a 20th Anniversary AC Master Coupler incorporating significant performance upgrades and improved power cord flexibility while maintaining the originals hallmark signature of powerful bass, detail and warmth.

Yours in music,
Ted Denney III
Lead Designer, Synergistic Research Inc.

Link to 1994 TAS review of the original AC Master Coupler

Ted_d,
My apologies for the publication date error. But my point was the superlatives used to describe the Master Coupler sound more like they would belong to the Apex or Element series, not to the very modest non-active-shielding Master Coupler.