Synergistic Research Cables?

[antonkk]

Anyone here has any experience with them? :wave: Also I read that their active speaker cables are "active" and must be plugged in - what the hell is that?:help:

[Rick58]

The shielding (and a separate return wire) is connected to a wall wart (or battery in the Audioquest DBS cables). The DC voltage supposedly sets up an electromagnetic field that repels noise (or something like that ...).

The Synergistic ICs also have a bright blue LED as a 'load' for the shielding circuit, and reinforce the 'weirdness factor' for the rest of the family!

I have a pair of SR's "Looking Glass Phase II" ICs (bought thru UsedCable.com), and now with a higher-res system, I think they sound better 'unplugged' !!! There was a little 'smearing' of vocal sounds with them plugged in. Weird, but I tried it several times (a ~year ago when I got them) and definitely heard a difference!

They do sound good, but I haven't really compared them to a lot of other ICs. I thought they sounded better than Radio Shack golds, generic silver ICs, and some copper Ribbon Foil ICs I had on hand.

When I get my McIntosh C220 preamp in November :edthumbs: I'm gonna go thru some comparisons again ...

[Larpy]

I also have a pair of the Synergistic active IC and I agree that it sounds better "unplugged." Plugged in I get some smearing of detail and a bit of low level hum.

As for how they sound, the model I have (forget the name, but they weren't too pricey--$250 or so new) are very smooth and a little on the dark side of neutrality. In the right application, they might be just the thing, but all in all I prefer the Grover ICs I'm using now.

[Maxxwire]

http://www.audiophilia.com/hardware/rh7.jpg

Is this something like the type of Synergistic Research active IC you fellows are talking about?
~Maxx~

[nelamvr6]

I have a pair of SR speaker cables, mine sound better plugged in, but the difference is fairly subtle.

I guess I would describe it mostly as enhance soundstage more that anything else, instruments seem more focused, more firmly placed in the soundstage.

These cables were supposedly designed with my speakers in mind, or at least B&W speakers in ind anyways. I like them quite a lot!

[cantona7]

I like the SR cables. The new ones from the Tesla series are really good and less pricey than their predecessors. More than most cables I've tried, they are really system dependent and will not be a magic bullet for every system. Example: I'm currently using an X2 power cord on my modified CD player which I quite like. Before I modified the player, the X2 didn't really sound that good for my player. I'm holding off on purchasing this cord until I have a chance to try the new Tesla series cords.

[reb]

Like and use Res Ref X2 speaker cables. Do not care for any of the SR ICs.