Synergy

i to believe in the like brand synergy thing. there is something to it. i think mostly what happens , using myself
as an example. i had a matching pre, amp , and cd player. wanting to upgrade i believed the amp was my week link , bought an ayre, am thrilled to death with it and am now broke. so i now have a two brand system better than my one brand, and so it goes. good luck

OK... So, lets see...

From the above posts it sounds like we can summarize Synergy to represent the following:

1) "Electrical Engineering Synergy" or the compatibility of loads and impedances and so forth...

2) "Sonic Synergy" which complements the sonic signatures of mixing different components; this can either reenforce positive sonic attributes, or lessen negative attributes in a system.

3) I do believe that "Brand Synergy" can be very difficult to beat, especially if you're happy with the sonic signature of the brand in question. I do not believe that all of the equipment has to be from the same manufacturer in order to obtain some sort of "Brand Synergy" within a system. It can be as simple as having an AMP/Preamp from the same manufacturer as stated above.

4) The last one..., I'm going to refer as "Debt Synergy" which refers to; the mixing and matching, and buying and selling, of different components in order to better adjust your financial debt.

Rich

"Debt Synergy" I like that!!!

place 11 audiophiles in a room and you will get 12 opinions. synergy is somewhat ephemeral in that what is ysnergistic for one may not be for another.

the question is production or reproduction ? a hobbyist will make a choice as to pleasing him/herself or trying to minimize inaccuracy.

if one likes the sound of a stereo system than one says synergy is present. since there maybe subjective disagreement as to the presence or absence of synergy, it may be more useful to use preference in lieu of synergy.

Here's a definition:

"The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects."

That pretty much sums up what you are shooting for in a good sounding system to me.

Of course, with audio gear,the only thing objective are the specifications and any actual performance measurements you might have at your disposal. These provide the only metrics available for objectively determining synergy or no.

That's fine but we know that no set of measurements can tell the whole story behind what our ears are actually capable of hearing, right?