Synergistic Research Comes Down to Earth


I just read some of the RMAF reviews. Since I live overseas I don't get to shows and am envious of those who have the opportunity to do so. I noticed a big difference in the Synergistic Research room this year versus last year.

In 2011 Synergistic Research chalked up a grand total of nearly $150,000 for their system with about $40,000 of that dedicated to their own equipment and cables. It must have been a pretty impressive sound. This year their room chalked up only about $25,000 with about $13,000 dedicated to their own equipment and cables.

Synergistic Research has really come down to Earth. I wonder how the 2012 system sounded compared to the 2011 system. One thing that I am pondering is the $1,500 Nola speaker in a $25,000 system. The Nola is supposed to be an impressive speaker but I wonder about the sonic attributes of a $1,500 in a $25,000 system. Can anyone report on the Synergistic Research room and the Nolas?
sabai
I just talked to Robert at Worldwide and have 2 of the Power 3 pcs on their way to me. I'll be trying them in my soon to be completed office system, and then who knows? Definitely more reasonable than SR's cords. Thanks for the heads up guys.
Actually, I just changed my mind on all of this... Plus the Down to Earth system at RMAF won BEST IN SHOW. That says A LOT of CREDIT to Synergitic Research. I'm not going to write them off just yet.

With my Synergistic Research Powercell 10 SE Mk.III that I got recently, it came with a 32-amp Element Copper/Tungsten Power cord instead of the Tesla Precision AC power cord. Let me tell you, this newer Element power cord is incredible and out performs the Tesla power cables in everyway. The same way that the Element speaker cable and interconnect line beats the previous Tesla line. I have my doubts now that the HiDiamond can beat this NEW cord from Synergistic.

I have a feeling like I did with the Tesla line years ago that the NEW Element line is going to be a huge success.

I'm going to order one HiDiamond Power 3 power cord and test it against the whole line of new Element power cords from Synergistic. I'm being sent to DEMO in my system Element Hologram A and Element Hologram D and also Element Copper (T2 Equivalent) and Element Tungsten (T3 equivalent). I'm using The Cable Company as my lender.

A full review will follow soon. Thanks ;-)
Joeyboynj,
I have not tried the Element line so I don't know how it stacks up. I run cables and my front end in series so my system is different from many others. All I know is that, from my experience, you cannot beat having an isolation transformer in series with a power regenerator. Then you add the power conditioner of your choice. In that order. No matter what any power conditioner manufacturer says about their product it cannot come close. They are selling a one-box solution but, unfortunately, the solution does not come in one box. So they always have to market their latest line heavily to make the new imagine of "new and improved" take the place of the old image of "new and improved". It takes time to make the new one stick. There will be another "new and improved" line after the Element. Please be assured. And it will also be accompanied by superlatives. I remember when the SR Master Coupler was the latest and greatest.

Synergistic Research is not alone, of course. All manufacturers play the same game -- with variations on the theme. I remember when the Gillette blue double-edged razor was the cat's meow. I now shave with a 5-blade vibrating razor blade with a special gel strip. The Gillette Double Blue does not cut it anymore -- pun intended. As customers, it is our job to sort the wheat from the chaff, which is not an easy task when there are so many superlatives to choose from in the market place. For me, living abroad and not being able to audition products at home before purchase, this means that a lot of gear gets sold off.

Some Synergistic Research products work well in my series approach to cabling, but others do not. So far, the SR products that are staying are the Tesla 3 power cord, the Hologram D power cord and the Acoustic Reference ICs. That may change, but for now they are staying. The cables that are the mainstay of my system are the HiDiamonds. Without them the sound falls apart.

I am concentrating on room treatment at the moment. The SR ART is definitely staying. So are the Shakti Hallographs. I am waiting to add the Steinmusic Harmonizer System. My system is so resolving that, at this point, room treatment is the most logical place to put my audio dollars.
The point here is VALUE. I think you are missing it. What do the element Hologram A and D retail for? And then don't forget to add Galileo MPC's. I've still got my old SYnergistic Holograms, Apex bi-wire speaker cables, etc. I'm just getting tired of being offered pennies on trade-ins for SR products that are still being sold by Cable Company and Synergistic. The Synergistic trade-up policy is an even bigger joke.

There are 3 other companies, Hi Diamond being one of them, and High Fidelity being another, that I am currently demoing and am getting comparable, if not better performance for considerably less money. These will continue for several months, in both my home and office systems. I will no longer knowingly support blatant audio cable greed. Pretty simple, and just my opinion. I've had ENOUGH.
@joeyboynj. Don't turn your head on HiDiamond just yet. You do know that HD has had the same line for 10-12 years now and just might come out with something new that, other than the Power3 at its price point may just eat the whole new S.R line altogether. S.R has changed the line of cords 3 times in the last 3+ years. To me thats crazy. Have they got it correct yet? - LOL, don't know. But when HD at say 90% correct, definitely will get it to 100% this next round and at a fraction of S.R's prices. You'll know when that happens.......