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Synergistic Research Atmosphere Power Cords.

For those who have been following the SR Red and Black fuse thread in the Amp & Preamp forum, it goes without saying that I loved the way they transitioned my audio system. What I thought was a highly resolving system has been transformed into a system that has been improved in every way ... drastically.  For many of us, me included, our music collection and the playback system is a labor of love. I've been working on mine for over 40 years now.  

 

After I got into the SR fuses, I started watching SR's youtube video demos. In watching the videos and reading  their literature, I discovered that their new power cords used the same technology as their fuses. That got me to thinking ... if a one and a quarter inch fuse could make such an improvement in the system, what could a five-foot power cord do? I decided to find out.

 

Four of the new Synergistic Atmosphere Series level 3 AC cords arrived at the house.

 

http://www.synergisticresearch.com/new-atmosphere-series-ac-power-cords/

 

When they arrived, I unpacked them right away and was totally impressed with the build quality and materials used. More beautiful than the pictures depict. A shame no one is going to see them because they are behind my equipment rack out of sight. But it sure is an indication of the builder/designer's pride of workmanship.  My first thought was ... Wow, if they sound half as good as they look, they should be great. With most things in this hobby, I've acquired a wait and see attitude.

 

I removed my old PCs and installed the SR's right away (of course). They were replacing two different brands of custom PCs.  I had found through the years that this combination of PCs to beat anything else I tried, especially in terms of musicality and digging down into the organic sound of real instruments.  Two were built by the Music Advancement Company (MAC) in Oregon. The other two were custom built by David Magnan, a very respectable cable builder and a fine gentleman. Those who know Dave's cables know what I mean. Throughout the years, I've had the privilege of using most of Magnan's work from his speaker cables, ICs and PC's. They are exceptional. So, this gives you an idea of what I'm comparing these new SR cables to.

 

After installation, I warmed the system up, adjusted the bias on the amp and sat down for an initial evaluation.  What I heard right off the bat was an overall improvement in the areas we really like ... bigger , wider, deeper soundstage. More transparency. Far less grain .. in what I thought was a grain-less system. I thought the SR fuses had finally bought me to a grain free audio Utopia. Ha ... silly me. That's the good part.

 

Now, for the rub: The SR PC's, right out of the box, were doing exactly what the SR Black fuses did and that was to introduce a hard edge, especially on strings. There was an overall degradation in musicality and emotional connection to the music as a result. The reason? The PCs , like the fuses, need at least 100 hours of break-in before they really come to life. Like the fuses, I could hear the promise of these PCs right off, but man, new out of the box, again like the fuses, things  just weren't "right."  It reminded me of when I first fired up the new ARC REF-75se. It took 500 hours for the caps in that amp to finally come around full tilt.

 

So, as these new SR PCs break in, I'm going to chronicle the experience in this thread all the way from new to tatal break-in. From what I've heard so far, they offer great promise, trouncing my old PCs in so many ways. Now let's see what they can do musically as they break in.

 

Stay tuned ...

 
128x128oregonpapa
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa OP
4,867 posts
 
^^^

5ft ... level 3 ... 3k. 

Not feeling so well today. Been down with that chest thingie that's been going around. 

I did have a listening session early this morning. I really didn't feel like an extended listening session though, so I decided to pull out some classic audiophile recordings that I knew to have excellent presence. 

I'm not a big fan of most audiophile recordings as most don't sound natural to me ... plus the music is usually so-so. Its just my opinion, but I prefer a more master tape sound instead of the added reverb that infects a lot of the audiophile recordings. With that said, here's two CDs that I played:

1. "New York Reunion" with McCoy Tyner, Joe Henderson, Ron Carter and Al Foster. CheskyJD51.

I have to say, Joe Henderson's big tenor sax was so present in the room it was uncanny. I have never gotten that kind of mid-range saxophone realism from my system ... ever. Not even when I had the big Acoustat IV's. It was shocking.  

2,.  Mari Nakamoto III (vocal), Isao Suzuki (bass), Kuzumi Watanabe (guitar). Three Blind Mice TBM CD 2556. 

Again, simply stunning. So real that it drew my roommate into the room with the comment that ... "you know, from my bedroom, I could swear someone was in the listening room singing live. Frank, this is amazing!" Now, this guy isn't an audiophile. He knows nothing about the hobby. He's been with me for only a few months now and this is the first high-end system he's been exposed to. He was amazed by what he heard this morning. Me too. 

If this is any indication of what these SR PCs will be doing when broken in, then I am in for a very long ride with these cords. Zowie!

Now then, to bed early tonight. 

Take care guyz ... 
lak's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
lak
4,545 posts
 
This thread should also be interesting and I mean that in a totally positive way.
I hope you shake the bug and feel well soon!

jafant
18,958 posts
 
excellent over-view oregonpapa,

what other gear is in your system?
I look in reading more as you break-in these PCs.

Happy Listening!
jafant
18,958 posts
 
Second,
New York Reunion disc.
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa OP
4,867 posts
 
Jafant ...

 Taters asked the same question in the SR Fuse thread. Here's a cut & paste:  

To answer your previous questions ... 

Yes, I have aftermarket wall sockets, custom power cords built by Dave Magnan, a power conditioner that's been upgraded with high-end sockets. There are filters in the power conditioner built by Dave Magnan. I'm using Nexus ICs between the phono and the preamp.

There are Shatki Holograms (two pair) ... one pair in the front corners and one pair in the back corners of the room (huge improvement).

I bi wire my speakers. The two 12 foot pairs of speaker wire was built by a company in Oregon called Music Advancement Company, or more commonly known as MAC. The stock speaker terminals have been replaced with Cardas Copper terminals. The bi wire location at the amp uses Cardas copper banana plug adapters (another nice improvement).  The speakers sit on thick Mapleshade maple platforms that are spiked to the floor with those beautiful German solid brass spikes that were so popular in the hobby 20 years ago. Finally, the speakers are spiked to the platforms.

I also have two heavy 12"x12"  marble platforms sitting on top of each speaker. They fit the tops of the speakers perfectly.  I've found that on some floorstanding speakers, adding weight to the top of the speakers is like adding mass to the speakers and removes some grain (more removal of vibrations). The platforms that sit on top of the speakers are made up from two heavy slabs of marble with that same dampening material that's used so successfully elsewhere in the system. The dampening material is cemented between the layers of marble.  

The Well Tempered Turntable has been modified as well. The arm has been rewired with Cardas copper wire. There's a custom TT belt that I purchased from originlive.com (highly recommended). I have heavy solid brass tweeks on the turntable that dampens the table by clamping the fluid-well and the paddle within it, the tonearm itself has a layer of shrink-wrap material for more dampening, and even a heavy brass bolt and screw that attaches the arm to the plinth. The brass items for the turntable had to be custom machined. These brass items made a significant improvement in the turntable ... especially the clamp around the fluid-well.  The turntable and detached motor sit on ultra hard titanium ball bearings that sit in the middle of a hole cut out of thick dampening material. The stock feet have been removed to facilitate the ball bearings.  

I have a custom equipment rack that has constrained layers of dampening material between the layers of wood used to construct it. My equipment all rests on custom made, very heavy, fine grade granite platforms that have the same dampening material between their layers that the equipment rack has.  

I've spent an inordinate amount of time, effort and $$$ to reduce micro vibrations in the system as much as possible. As you may, or may not know, ARC has paid a lot of attention over the past number of years on dampening their boards and chassis ... and even their vacuum tubes with the black tube rings that come with their equipment. Believe it or not, the positioning of those tube rings on the tubes is critical to attain the best sound from your ARC gear.

I've found that the newer ARC gear sounds best (at least in my system) sitting on their stock feet. Everytime I try aftermarket footers under the equipment, it detracts from the sound. 

Oh, and I run my CD player, preamp and amp in balanced mode, using ARC IC's. These are excellent IC's, but unfortunately, ARC no longer sells them.

 When you come right down to it, the only thing we want vibrating is that stylus between the grooves. All other vibrations smear the sound to some degree ... even if those vibrations are on a micro level.

With the reduction in micro vibrations, and everything else listed above, the system was already a high resolution system. With the addition of the three SR RED fuses, the system definitely has been brought to a whole different level ... far beyond where I thought it would ever be. Next purchase will be two 1.5 amp SR RED fuses to be put into the ARC CD7-se CD player, and then I'm done with the fuses.
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