Synergistic Research Galileo SX Power cord. (Opinions on sound quality appreciated).

ozzy

I am looking forward to your report on the SR PC.

Happy Listening!

thyname,
I know, are people getting dumber? Or am I just getting old? It just seems like these shipping companies hire people that have no clue how to speak to customers and no ability to research and resolve problems.

ozzy

jafant,
Thanks.
First few minutes impression was that it seemed to make the music louder. If that is possible.

ozzy

Well after reading the manual/instructions/booklet it appears 100-200 hours of break in required to breakin the dialectic.

So far at this point I am not using the silver or gold bullet, and also I do not have the grounding plug connected. I did try the bullets and the silver heightened the image and the gold sort of softened it. I'll try them again after I put more hours on the cable.
I will say thus far that the cable has a more forward presentation than my previous one.

ozzy

You should definitely have the ground plug connected. That’s the whole point of SR stuff.

The “bullet” stuff is just a gimmick IMO. They never did anything for me. Perhaps I am deaf, but that’s my honest experience 

24 hours later and the music is starting to resolve. The forwardness is receding and I can hear a grittiness in the music that wasn't there with my former cables.
Don't believe the hype that cables don't need time to break in...

ozzy

Thanks for the updates - I am trying out a slew of cables right now - no AC cables at this time - it is a process...break in - settling for sure, but also I think it also can take some time to fully "appreciate" (or not) what a cable may or may not be doing...thanks for doing this. 

ozzy

Thank You for an initial report. I would give the cable(s) at least 200 hours.  Looking forward to the next impression at this mark.

Happy Listening!

Ozzy how are you grounding the Galileo’s external shield ground connection? It is very important that you 1st ground the pigtail, and 2nd ground it directly to the wall and definitely not into a power conditioner. Also which UEF tuning bullet are you using? Typically I don’t connect the tuning bullet for the first week, but if it sounds bright, use the Gold bullet and then experiment with the Silver bullet after one week. And whatever you do, make certain you ground that ground pigtail directly to the wall, not into a line conditioner.

Ted Denney,
Lead Designer Synergistic Research Inc. 

Jafant,
Thanks, the cable seem to be getting better with more hours.

ozzy

Given that the synergistic guy mocked and laughed at people suffering from COVID I wouldn’t try his stuff if it was free. 

Never heard that one, but remember its all about the music.

ozzy

ted_denney,
Ted,
I first did use the grounding pig tail, and I thought the soundstage shrunk a bit. Is that normal? So, I thought I would give it more hours and then try again. Does the plug need to go on the same dedicated line?

Initially I tried the silver bullet and thought the image was too forward, the gold sounded too soft. Sounds like goldilocks?

But, after reading the pamphlet included it said to wait after 100-200 hours before trying them. So they are set aside for future experimenting.

Update: I have reconnected the ground pigtail.

ozzy

Now with some hours (125+) on the power cable it has really improved. This weekend I will begin to experiment with the silver/ gold tuning bullets.

ozzy

So I take it better than Shunyata Sigma v2 NR?

thyname,
Oh yes by far. The Shunyata Sigma was more closed in and darker, at least with my equipment. I think it is more geared towards the Shunyata equipment i.e. the Everest conditioner etc.
I do however like the Shunyata Sigma V2 interconnects.

ozzy

Well I just inserted the silver bullet into the SX power cord. I did not unplug the power cord. I hope that’s ok.

What I thought would be a a sharpening of the image actually turned out to push the image further back in the soundstage. This is within a few minutes so perhaps this perception will change with time.

ozzy

Update:
Today, now I am very glad I stuck it out with SR Galileo SX during the burn in cycle. I have perhaps 200 hours on it and it has transformed daily from the beginning when it sounded so very forward. There were no ups and downs just a continuing daily improvement. Not sure how much better with additional hours it can become, but at this point it is a keeper.

The funny thing about break in, Synergistic Research said they burned in the cables for 5 days before shipping to me and claimed very little change would occur after additional hours. 

BTW, I have recently compared the SR cable to a very expensive power cord.

ozzy

Who at my factory claimed there would be very little change? Conditioning and burn in are two different things. Conditioning is a strategic use of frequencies and current to forever shape the sound of a cable. Burn in is what happens when the cable settles into the system. This process is never permanent, when you change a cable from your system, it must settle in again. Before a trade show the cables we take have over 1000 hours on them, and we do everything we can to get sound in our show system within hours of the first day of set up, because it will be at least two days before the system really comes to life. This despite the cables already having over 1000 hours on them.

Ted Denney
Lead Designer, Synergistic Research Inc.

Ozzy yes, the ground does need to go to the same dedicated line. It must not however get plugged into the conditioner. Direct to the wall. The soundstage will improve as it remains grounded, this too must settle in.

Ted Denney
Lead Designer, Synergistic Research Inc.

ted_denney,
Whomever answered the phone when I called checking on when the cables would be shipped reminded me that they were being burned in for 5 days so that they sound ready to go when I receive them.
Sounds like a disconnect between you and your employees. No big deal though, my past experience has always been cables needs some settling in time. Approx. 200 hours+. I'm just happy they have come around, quite a bit I must add from first listen.

Thank you for adding your response.

ozzy

That’s a misunderstanding. It always takes at least 200 hours for a cable to settle into a system. In the past, with our old conditioning process, the break in process was like a roller coaster, and the cables would sound much worse in the beginning. Relatively speaking they sound better now younger or sooner in the system. The five day burn in does not eliminate break in. There is absolutely no such thing as a cable that is broken in once and for all. A cable must settle into the system it will live in so to speak. The conditioning process is like aging wine, the break in process is like allowing a newly opened bottle of wine to breathe.

Ted Denney
Lead designer, Synergistic Research Inc.

ted_denney,
At this point I can honestly say that connecting up the little grounding pig tail to the wall outlet does constrict the soundstage.

In my system, I am using an Entreq Silver Tellus grounding station. My Lumin X1 is grounded to it via an RCA. I think the additional grounding wire from the SX power cord in this case is not needed.

ozzy

I am curious, this is a $6000 power cord. Ozzy you have tried many cords before and build your own. What does this cord provide extra to justify the cost over a up to $2k cord? 

tom2015,

I understand your question and this is what I can answer.

When I bought my Lumin X1, to help pay for it I sold off a separate Dac, Music server, Digital Clock, Preamp and several other associated pieces of equipment.

With the elimination of that equipment, I was able to then sell the many power cords and interconnects, footers etc. that was no longer needed.

Now the only cables needed was the one set of interconnects to my amps and the power cords for the Lumin and the amps. So, to me, it was important that these cables were of high quality.

With very good negotiating I was able to purchase the better power cords and interconnects.

P. S. Power cords don’t wear out, but may be surpassed by other future "better" versions. Its an ongoing never ending hobby, isn’t it?

ozzy

Oh and by the way, my DIY pure silver power cords were relegated now to power the Audioquest Niagara 1200 power supply, JL Audio subs and the Oppo 205.

ozzy

Ozzy, that could be because the other power cords in your system are not Synergistic Research with shields attached to a star ground point. I’ve never tried a single or a few SR cables in a mix with other non-SR cables to ascertain the ground shields performance under a mix and match circumstance. But in a full Synergistic Research loom, where interconnect shields and power cord shields are all tied to a central ground point, the effect is dramatic, and positive.

Ted Denney
Lead Designer, Synergistic Research Inc.

Misunderstanding, question is not how you card afford it. Price is relative in this hobby, it's a personal decision how much someone can and wants to spend on an item. Question is how is the cable besting what has come before? Soundstage, timber, balance, impact...? Essentially how does it compare? 

This indeed is the question. None of this stuff can really be compared any other way than by, uh, comparison. Because "the ultimate comparison" with live acoustic music, does not apply because then you have to consider the entire recording chain. The only thing that makes sense to me is to try and compare the differences when changing from one to another. In doing this it comes down to just what you said, soundstage, timbre, balance, impact....

I guess the simplest answer is when you change a piece of equipment and the sound is more enjoyable you know its a keeper.

ozzy

@ozzy 

I don’t know what your “amps” are, but given the simplicity of your system, and the number of power cords needed, it only makes sense to switch to Galileo SX for your amps. That’s what I would do. Cheers

thyname,
Well the problem is, to my amps I would need a 3 meter and a 2 meter length.
And that would require some big $$$!
I wonder if Biden could give me some stimulus money???

ozzy

I wonder how you can afford those cables and yet, at the same time, hope on stimulus checks. Logically one that buys a $6,000 power cord should in theory be in a tax bracket that disqualifies them for stimulus checks. Just in theory.

Not trying to start a class warfare here, just a simple logic.

I meant it to be a joke (sorta sarcastic). I guess it didn’t come out that way.
Sorry.

ozzy

No worries. In today’s highly polarized political environment, hard to take anything as a joke. Unfortunate.

Anyways, I think it’s a matter of time until your second Galileo SX power cord. Inevitable. 😉😂🤭

Ozzy thanks for your doing this - giving feedback along the way is really helpful - this is what makes the hobby fun and audiogon valuable. fwiw I upgraded my SR basic ground to the SE Ground and it made a nice difference (I couldn't tell a whole lot on the Basic -  I may try the new SX ground - will let you know). I am trying the SX powercell with SX cord. When I attach the pigtail from the SX cord to the SE ground, it tightens the stage, enhances focus and transparency, a little more separation. I prefer it, but I wouldn't call it "ground breaking" -HAHA. The tightening of the images may seem to slightly reduce soundstage width, not really sure...but I prefer the little pig tail grounded. I do have other items in my system grounded. But I am using at the moment different speaker cables that don't have the grounding pigtails as they are not SR - I may try SR speaker cables at some point. Interesting side note if you go to the Stealth Cables site and click on technical notes, he posits that the AC power cords' “sound” mostly depend not on the AC carrying wires, but on the ground wire, which NEEDS to be shielded since it's included into the sound SIGNAL PATH (ground path, to be more precise) - that's mostly why different AC power cords sound differently. When you "listen" to a new cable, you are listening in effect to "all" your cables...I think the grounding "scheme" may have more effect than I previously realized....so, that is why I am interested in trying the SR SX ground...perhaps Ted will chime in. 

wisper,
I do think cables especially power cords are so component dependent. I have on my Audioquest Niagara 7000 power conditioner a Audioquest Dragon power cord. I have tried many different PC’s there and the Dragon is the best. Perhaps if I owned the Synergistic power cell power conditioner the SR power cord would prevail there.

The Synergistic SX has beaten all other PC’s that I have tried with my Lumin X1. What it provides is even more depth and soundstage, hard to believe that it could get any better with my current equipment.

P.S. I’m still not sold on the SR ground pig tail, but I will revisit it in the future.

ozzy

Please let us know your impressions when you switch the power cords to your Amps to Galileo SX HC. Thanks 

thyname,
Thanks for the encouragement. But probably will never happen.

ozzy

Please let us know your impressions when you switch the power cords to your Amps to Galileo SX HC. Thanks Report thisozzy OP4,898 posts05-12-2021 4:37amthyname,
Thanks for the encouragement. But probably will never happen.

"But probably will never happen."
Good call.

These links will explain everything

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/U6pf8xkoNo4dPZXAJyzuoG-970-80.jpg.webp
or
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hlEwyrRYSss/hqdefault.jpg

Cheers George

ted_denney,
Ok, I can finally agree connecting the ground pig tail is an improvement.
Though the soundstage does shrink the center image tightens and supports the overall soundstage image.

ozzy

Dear Georgie: what Synergistic Research power cords did you try, and what did you compare them with? Very intriguing post. Thanks 

thyname,
Aside from nonstop dump posting whilst hiding behind a fake moniker, do we even know if Georgie Porgie owns a high-end two-channel system? Because anyone who owns a high-end high-performance stereo, knows full well power cords and cables make a world of difference.

Ted Denney
Lead Designer, Synergistic Research Inc.

Ozzy, my experience too - it does shrink the center stage, but it tightens the images...you nailed it...I notice it on the powercell sx that I am demoing. It does the same thing...without the pigtail it acutally kind of sounds like it "opens" up the soundstage (maybe even a little more liquid), but you lose some focus...but with the pigtail, you gain focus but the image and soundstage kind of pulls towards the center....almost a tradeoff, yin-yang kind of thing, but for most listening I prefer the pigtail...interesting...

When you guys change these things, pigtail or whatever, how long do you leave everything undisturbed before drawing these impressions? Because I find everything up in this level takes some good amount of time to really settle in. Even moving a wire to plug/unplug, even if you try hard not to move any more than necessary, it still disturbs things enough to be at least a little while settling back in. 

This will no doubt make the PC deniers heads explode, but I figured this out quite by accident many years ago. It is, as they say, "a thing".

wisper,
I'm glad great minds think alike!

millercarbon,
This is something that is immediately noticeable.
But, I do think having the pigtail installed is the correct path. Even now after many hours.

ozzy

I had Atmosphere Level III Euphoria and when using the pigtail to my ground there was only a very small improvement. A little less grain and grunge, not much. What I mean, I hear more improvement in the first 5 minutes playing a record. 

This was grounding it to my star ground. My system is kind of unusual with 240V stepped down to 120V and the whole system being on a ground rod driven into the ground under the house just below the system. Ted is real adamant there should be a huge improvement with the pigtail, but equally insistent it must be grounded to a regular house outlet and not a power conditioner. Sounds like that is what you did, and even so the pigtail is not that big an improvement? Grounded to what? Are you using one of his Grounding Blocks?

millercarbon,
It is odd but there is a big change with or without the pigtail.
Without, the soundstage widens but is not as focused as with the pigtail connected. Images sound very focused and 3D like. It also seemed to improve with more hours, but that could be due to the Power cord getting more hours of AC.

I am grounding the pigtail directly to an outlet on the same wall duplex plug circuit that my Niagara 7000 is plugged into.

I also have my Lumin X1 connected up to my Entreq grounding box. This is not a AC ground, but a signal ground from one of the unused Lumin rca’s

ozzy

off topic. Guys is there diffrence in sound between these Galileo UEF and newer  SX? I can get good price on UEF