The Problem with Synergistic Research

Wow Sabby D nailed you to the wall LOL yet you manage to write back with your messy answers/thoughts.

D,

That was some great come backs in defense to Sabby's beef. You are a very smart man and you have stood up in an intelligent way. The best response from anyone who would have started such a thread would be an apology for being a hypocrite.

I have written a bunch of trash on these threads myself about your ways D and I do turn from my foolish writings in light of your rebuttal.

Keep up the research D and have a good one.

Facten,
I have a modest one-product business. I am rather conservative. I have made 3 revisions to my product in going-on 20 years. I obviously do not believe in making revisions unless they are important. My customers are pretty happy the way things are.

The issue at hand is not about differentiating one's product from others, nor is it about attracting customers. It is about the pace of changes in the modern world. I was brought up with ink wells and a penny bought you 3 black balls. There are many things about the break-neck rush toward technological perfection in our modern world that are very troublesome to me. High end audio has been infected with this compulsion for new products at nearly break-neck speed.

I am happy when I discover a new product, component, cable or tweak that brings improved sound to my system. But most of the products I have put money into were not worth the price. I have not been afraid to spend $5000 on a product. The only thing is that, in the end, after closer assessment, there have been few products that have been worth it. The rest have been sold off.

If I started to tell the stories of some high end audio names -- 3 in fact -- some of the most touted names in the business with world-class designers behind them -- and how they blew up and nearly took down my system I would cause more forum problems for myself than I have the time to reply to.

With regards to components, not only are manufacturing standards and testing standards often poor, the quality of parts is often a pathetic joke. I opened one unit that suddenly had a "major malfunction" and I instantly knew why I had never seen a photo of the inside anywhere on the internet including on the manufacturer's site. The quality of the parts was pathetic. A piece of junk. We're talking about a product in the $10,000 to $15,000 range from one of the top makers in the world. Shocking. I had it repaired and sold it off.

With regards to cables, I took apart a multi-thousand dollar cable from a very high end company and was shocked to see a cheap plastic dialectric, substandard plug and IEC and the cheapest manufacturing quality one could imagine. Shocking. I sold off the other cables I had from the same company.

Beyond the issue of product quality, I feel that most of what is brought to market in high-end audio could well have remained a glint in the eye of whoever came up with the brilliant new idea -- and the audio world would not have been one iota worse off. In high end audio you need to tread very carefully if you have budget constraints, which most of us do.

Someone asked me about Apple in an earlier post. The only apple I have is the one I eat. I do have a cell phone -- very convenient. It is 11 years old -- still going strong. I am looking for a used one so I can keep going with the same model. In many ways I am an anachronism in today's world. My mother passed away recently at nearly 100. I was brought up very old-fashioned. I am still very old-fashioned in many ways.

Need I say -- all the above is IMHO.

Hey Gloria,
Long time no hear. I have no idea what you are talking about. Frankly, anyone who is trying to nail anyone to the wall on these forums needs to get that old blood pressure cuff on to check if things are within the normal range -- especially the diastolic. Too many people take things too darn seriously here. After all, this is just an audio forum, is it not?

Sabai,
I used to own lots of Synergistic wire. I owned the Resolution Reference cables. They sounded great at the time. I got tired of all the Active Shielding mess. It really became a pain to plug all that stuff in. When SR replaced it with the new line I looked into trading up. Much to expensive. Also it took months to get a Quattro fixed. So guess what, I took a chance on the Signal Cable line. I found it did everything the SR stuff did for far less money and without Active Shielding!! So what do you know, I found that cables are very hyped. They all do sound different but it is hard to out do high quantities of good old pure copper for the speaker and power cords. I do use the partially Silver Resolution interconnects. Throw in high quality connectors and one has a wire that will stand head to toe with anything I've had in my system. Frank at Signal Cable is to be commended.

Besides I really believe one would achieve better results by spending $20,000.00 on a new DAC or preamp than wire. If I had tens of thousands of bucks to spend I might get interested in new wire again. I'll keep my Signal Cable.

We found that there are a few audio companies now offering thirty day trial periods for their products. This offering would solve most issues of paying more money for the latest or upgraded product versus the value realized from the performance (knowing that perceptions by each person will be as different as each other’s listening room).

Trade in programs are great incentives for maintaining a client base but Sabai does make a financial point on having to pay additional import tax, duty and freight fees thus governing ones decision to make the trade and without knowing if said trade is worth the money. If SR provided a return guarantee then Sabai is only out the return freight costs and could possibly remain a satisfied customer.

Granted in that cable manufactures may fear too many returns based on client listening objections or having to pay for the added administrative costs in providing such a program but would not a long time well spoken loyal customer be worth that risk and expense?

You may also find that the companies offering return policies are extremely confident in that their products are on a one way trip and truthfully I love to see that attitude of certainty in a company. Some of these companies have products still being sold today that have not changed for ten to twenty years so what does that say about their company?

My opinion is if you are involved in this controversial high end audio business and truly believe that your products are some of the best offered a thirty day return policy will strengthen your bottom line and customer base over time. If not then it is back to the old drawing boards.