[Jon L]

Naturally, a review of Synergistic active cables has been released. Adjust your seatbelts, place your grain of salt by the table, and enjoy the fun read

6moons audio reviews: Synergistic Research Tesla Series vs. Ensemble, Furutech, Skywire & Townshend

 

[milkpowder]

Check out those Singlepowers!

 

[dvw]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon L /img/forum/go_quote.gif Frankly, for that kind of money, I'd rather use a true "active" cable like Harmonic Tech Cyberlights that uses photon transmitter/receiver for signal transfer. In a direct A-B comparison of Cyberlights vs. something like Audioquest Sky "active shield" cable, I prefer the sound of Cyberlights, which while not perfect, do sound quite special compared to metal-conductor cables.

As I recalled, Cyberlight has caused some controversy when it first came out. While some reviews praised it, it actually measured very poorly. Lots of noise, limited bandwidth, intermodulation etc. Stereophile (I think John Atkinson) actually called it a broken product.

I don't remember all the detail. I think it has a cutoff of something like 16 KHz because of the electrical to optical conversion.

 

[blubliss]

My Enigma is coming this week and then we'll see if the magic is real. I'll be plugging in the Synergisitcs. I know Jay who did that Synergistic review and he is a great guy.

 

[dvw]

Well, my memory failed me. A search of Stereophile I found the article.

Stereophile: Harmonic Technology CyberLight Wave & P2A interconnects

It just have a very large distortion starting at about 16 KHz and a large bump at the low frequency. The average THD is about 1%. And John Atkinson did call it broken, but he also said it is acceptable to the casual users.

 

[Jon L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blubliss /img/forum/go_quote.gif My Enigma is coming this week and then we'll see if the magic is real. I'll be plugging in the Synergisitcs. I know Jay who did that Synergistic review and he is a great guy.

You have the Teslas already? The Enigma sure *looks* great, but I would hate to pay for those Mercury Vapor rectifier replacements

Do let us know how it goes, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dvw /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, my memory failed me. A search of Stereophile I found the article. Stereophile: Harmonic Technology CyberLight Wave & P2A interconnects It just have a very large distortion starting at about 16 KHz and a large bump at the low frequency. The average THD is about 1%. And John Atkinson did call it broken, but he also said it is acceptable to the casual users.

Yeah, I know about the measurements. Luckily, I don't listen to measurements. What I hear is very similar to what Mikey Fremer actually said about their sound:

"The most fabulous sound
...

If you hear what I heard, for the first time in your life you'll hear no cables whatsoever. When you switch back to any brand of metal conductors, you'll know you're hearing cables—because what's transmitted via CyberLight will be the most gloriously open, coherent, delicate, extended, transparent, pristine sound you've ever heard from your system—at least if you hear what I heard.

There was a delicacy and purity to high-frequency transients that was immediate and unmistakable. By comparison, going back to regular cables made everything sound bright or dull or spotlit or hard, depending. The CyberLights produced an effortlessness and a pulse-like coherence that was more "musical" than anything else I've experienced while listening to recorded music. The bass was ultratight and round and "right," and the harmonic balance and overall musical decay were more natural and believable than I'd ever heard from any stereo system."

 

[alleyezon_d]

skullguise could you please tell me more about your impressions on the wal wart powered palladium AT cables? Those seem quite intriguing to me and should be some what affordable.

 

[tom hankins]

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkpowder /img/forum/go_quote.gif Check out those Singlepowers!

Mikhail is the one who designed and is building the Enigma box for the SR cables. I am having the same tubes (WE323A rectifier, and the Noble and Mercury gas tubes for the voltage) built as an outboard PS for my maxed Maestro XLR preamp. Pretty much same design as the Enigma. You can adjust the voltage between the two tubes to your liking. I would like to hear the SR cables with that box. But $$$$ are out of my league.
I use the Skys in my system now and have been very happy with them and the Mont Blanc speaker cables.

 

[blubliss]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon L /img/forum/go_quote.gif You have the Teslas already? The Enigma sure *looks* great, but I would hate to pay for those Mercury Vapor rectifier replacements Do let us know how it goes, though.

Yes, I already have some Teslas (see profile). But, no SDS yet. Coming this week

.

 

[skullguise]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alleyezon_d /img/forum/go_quote.gif skullguise could you please tell me more about your impressions on the wal wart powered palladium AT cables? Those seem quite intriguing to me and should be some what affordable.

Hi (and thanks for the PM, wasn't paying attention to this thread

)

It's been a little while, but here's some thoughts. I had gone from the Active Gold to the Active Palladium, biught for a (geat deal) $125 here on head-Fi.

The Palladium had a very good topto bottom balance, with smooth, fine detail, and a spacious soundstage. Where the gold had a smooth "sheen" in the uppermids and lower highs, the Palladiums lessened that. The sheen I mention was not a sibilant sheen like one might hear with some silver cables, it was definitely smooth and easy to listen to.

Where the new cables still beat out the Active palladium is in the dynamics and lessening or elimination of that smoothness Jon L mentioned in his early post. By no means was the Palladium bad, but based on memory, it would be noticable if you had them side by side with the new.

The strengths you sometimes read about Palladium wire were there: nice level of detail without any harshness, less of that copper or gold warmth that is pleasing but still less accurate.

Adding the Active Biasing likely enhanced the soundstage and blackness/quietness, but I didn't have their regular Palladium wire toc ompare.

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkpoweder I've never had a problem with "noise" in my system so naturally, I don't quite grasp the concept of a blacker background. While all cables aren't created equal, shouldn't most high quality/boutique cables with some form of noise rejection (eg Litz or other braiding technique, balanced, metal foil/mesh shielding, etc) have a "black background" already?

This is a very good question. I know that I have some EMI/RFI issues, and maybe that's part of it - I've used ERS paper with some good apparent results. Some cables probably aren't as well shielded as others, too.
Not sure overall, but it seemed to make an audible difference to me.....

 

[trinhsman]

I have a set of Aural Thrills that I recently got.  I replaced Morrow MA 5's with the Aural Thrills cable.  First impressions:  Larger soundstage, better placement of instruments, (bongo drums you can actually hear the slight left to right of the drums), bass about the same, mid range much more detail.  highs also about the same, but seem just a bit better.  I have had them in the system for about 25 hours.  I am now burning them in for the next 4 days on a repeat cycle on my cd player.  If what Tom says is true, I am only going to get more and more happy.  All in all, I like them very much.  Morrow's are great, but based on what these are doing so far, I may end up selling a couple of my Morrows.

 

[pataburd]

Bumping this old thread.
Auditioned a pair of AT BCS Active ICs with Teflon Silver upgrade over the last few months.
 
Pluses:
Quiet
Large 3-D soundstage
Excellent spatial separation
 
Minuses:
Inadequate dynamic texture/contrast
Missing tonal body, warmth and color
 
In short, and after a brief period of my being enamored with the BCS' novelty, they sounded ultimately just a touch cold, flat and unmusical compared to my Neotech UPOCC copper ICs and SoundSilver Trilogy ICs.  They simply did not deliver the subtle tonal and dynamic details that make listening to music--for me--ultimately worthwhile.
 
Perhaps if I had gone further up the product line [to the tube-powered cable] I may have hit paydirt, but the price [$699] made me think better of it. 

 

[THAY BRAN]

Yes currently using Synergistic Research Designer Reference (x2)
Blacker background , more low level detail and control with Huge soundstage

 

[pataburd]

A heads-up to anyone who might be doing business with Aural Thrills.  I am having a very difficult time getting my refund back, given AT's stated policy:
 
"I am so sure that you will love this cable that I am offering a 60 day, no questions asked return policy on this item. I am that sure."
 
No questions are being asked, but then again--after three polite requests from me for a $222 refund after returning the cable--no money has been sent, either.  
 
I was considering possibly trying the tube driven AT interconnects in the future.  But after this I may not be doing any further business with AT.
 
CAVEAT EMPTOR