New Synergistic Research Carbon Tuning Discs

tommylion

Member
Feb 14, 2022
36
47
23
55
I think one misconception is that the more you spend on a component, the more the designer/manufacturer has found, and implemented solutions to, everything that can negatively impact sound quality, so you don’t have to. While there is some truth to this, the reality is that there are so many issues, both known and currently unknown, that no one person/company can address them all. Thus we have numerous specialists in various areas offering aftermarket solutions.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kennyb123

kennyb123

Well-Known Member
Nov 30, 2012
856
796
1,155
Kirkland, WA
I tried an experiment last night with the Gold discs. My Aerial 10T speakers are comprised of two pieces per side. A tweeter/midrange section sits on top of a woofer cabinet. What if I were to place the gold discs on the cables leading into the tweeter and midrange?

What you see in the photo is the bottom of the tweeter/midrange cabinet, with one Gold disc on each cable that enters the cabinet.

D5801360-095F-41D9-BBBC-DD7227E42828.jpeg

This by far the biggest change in sound that I’ve heard from applying the cones. Depth of the soundstage has increased considerably. Images are even more holographic, but…

I am eager to pull these the heck out. The leading edge of transients seem off - almost like rise time is being slowed just a bit. My ears seem most sensitive to what happens in the time domain so this placement won’t work for me. The sound was more favorable when I placed these in front of the crossover instead of after it as I’ve done here. I would have expected the opposite, but as most of us have learned, expectation bias is way oversold.

As I am listening more with these in place, it seems that the decay has been boosted at the expense of the rise. I hear more of the cymbals exploding outward than the impact that caused the explosion. Shifting the balance toward the decay could be what’s contributing to what sounds like an expanded soundstage. Begs the question about what Purples might do in this location. Maybe a flip is in order.
 

Cellcbern

VIP/Donor
Jul 30, 2015
1,222
726
585
70
Washington, DC
One thing that would be helpful to know is whether the posters who are finding these discs to make a significant improvement have other noise reducing cable tweaks in place. It is one thing for these carbon discs to improve the sound when placed on cables with no other tweaks acting on them, and another thing entirely if they make an incremental improvement above and beyond existing tweaks. For example, I already have Akiko Tuning Sticks on speakers cables and power cords, Furutech NCF Booster Braces on my Modwright Umbilical, Akiko Cable Chips on my interconnects, etc. Should I expect a similar improvement as has been reported with these tweaks in place or only without them?
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Willgolf

highstream

VIP/Donor
Nov 16, 2013
1,094
433
488
Well, one thing that site's black discus nano discussion reminds me of is that they've had some unexpected effects on the volume setting, such that I've seemingly been able to turn the volume louder with the SR discs and maintain clarity than before. In another case, with two gold's in use, placing one purple on the USB connector to an SSD required bringing the volume down two clicks on the dac's remote to get back to the same level. Which was pretty strange, considering that the Purple eliminated a goid part of the lower midrange and upper bass.
 
Last edited:

kennyb123

Well-Known Member
Nov 30, 2012
856
796
1,155
Kirkland, WA
One thing that would be helpful to know is whether the posters who are finding these discs to make a significant improvement have other noise reducing cable tweaks in place.
That’s a great recommendation. One quibble though: I wouldn’t say that the improvement is “significant”. I’ve been say that they represent a really good bang for the buck.

And for the record, my analog cables have been untreated except for using Shunyata’s original Dark Field Elevators under my speaker cables. I have some ECTs but they’ve been mostly serving time on my digital cables.
 

tommylion

Member
Feb 14, 2022
36
47
23
55
Although I have numerous tweaks in my system, the only thing similar to the tuning discs I’ve used on the cables themselves are SR ECTs. The tuning discs replaced ECTs in most cases, and were a clear improvement. In my general experience, some similar tweaks from different companies work well together, while others are less compatible.
 

highstream

VIP/Donor
Nov 16, 2013
1,094
433
488
I use EVP and Gaia’s for isolation, currently have SR Orange and Audio Magic Ultimate Premier fuses through out, and a couple of High Fidelity magnetic connectors and contact enhancement fluid on all connections. In each case, the relationship between the product and what it is supposed to do or its purported sonic characteristics is relatively straight forward. One either likes the result or doesn’t. With these discs, it’s like a buffet where some choices will make you feel satisfied or energized to some degree, while others will make you feel ill, and some combinations may do both at the same time — and there is no road map to which are which. Not even the chef knows, but is just dropping speculative hints. And all for full fare.
 
Last edited:

kennyb123

Well-Known Member
Nov 30, 2012
856
796
1,155
Kirkland, WA
High Fidelity magnetic connectors and contact enhancement fluid on all connections. In each case, what the relationship between the product and what it is supposed to do or its purported sonic characteristics is relatively straight forward.
Their magnetic connectors are the real deal. I sold mine though as the fit was loose and I could no longer hear as much of a benefit when I switched to a Shunyata Alpha interconnect.

HFC makes some bold claims about their contact enhancement fluid. They have seemed even more excited about it than anything else they sell. Did you find that it lives up to the hype?

I use a bunch of the HFC doohickeys that plug into AC outlets. On the left is the dedicated circuit that feeds my Shunyata Denali v1. The outlet is an SR Orange and the original HFC MC-0.5 shares that outlet. The right is the second dedicated circuit that feeds just my amp. The outlet is an SR Black and a HFC MC-0.5 Helix+ Signature shares that outlet. The outlet cover is from SR as well. The improvements from this surprised me. I am not sure I’d say it provided the same bang for the buck as the Carbon discs, but after hearing what it did, it was immediately a keeper.

7AC9F952-3744-4A72-8611-7A1E511E0106.jpeg
 

highstream

VIP/Donor
Nov 16, 2013
1,094
433
488
Well, it’s off topic, but briefly the Contact Enhancement goop is the real deal and does exactly what Rick the developer claims (btw, he’s been shut down due to covid for the past few weeks). There’s a thread about it on Audiogon and a best tweak review by Rick Becker on Enjoy the Music. Don’t know how it compares to the much cheaper Mad Scientist’s formula. The magnetic connectors are helping the quality of an spdif run from a modified digital-only Oppo 203 to Lampi TRP dac.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kennyb123

kennyb123

Well-Known Member
Nov 30, 2012
856
796
1,155
Kirkland, WA
Well, it’s off topic, but briefly the Contact Enhancement goop is the real deal and does exactly what Rick the developer claims (btw, he’s been shut down due to covid for the past few weeks). There’s a thread about it on Audiogon and a best tweak review by Rick Becker on Enjoy the Music.
I appreciate you going a bit off topic. It can be difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff on forums. Your comments on these discs provide me a reference against which I can assess your thoughts on the HFC elixir.
 

highstream

VIP/Donor
Nov 16, 2013
1,094
433
488
The HFC contact enhancer (NPS Q45) works very well, extremely well, for me. I got it right before the company went under a few weeks ago
Do you know that HF is out of business? I’ve assumed a diabling case of covid and maybe worse, given Rick’s age.
 

thyname

Well-Known Member
Apr 22, 2019
131
108
130
N. Virginia
Do you know that HF is out of business? I’ve assumed a diabling case of covid and maybe worse, given Rick’s age.
I don’t personally know for sure. This is from a long thread running on Audiogon Forums. It sounds like the company went under. There is apparently a former worker named Jessica, who confirmed the company is out of business.

Don‘t take my word for a sure thing please. I am conveying what I read. I have no pending orders with HFC, so really does not impact me.

 

kennyb123

Well-Known Member
Nov 30, 2012
856
796
1,155
Kirkland, WA
I don’t personally know for sure. This is from a long thread running on Audiogon Forums. It sounds like the company went under. There is apparently a former worker named Jessica, who confirmed the company is out of business.

Don‘t take my word for a sure thing please. I am conveying what I read. I have no pending orders with HFC, so really does not impact me.
One one hand, it seems odd to shutdown the website for covid. It wasn’t a one man operation. My last few orders were prepared and shipped by others. But if a few employees came down with it, then it’s certainly plausible they sent everyone home.

The other thing is that new version of their elixir was announced not too long ago. But then again, around Christmas I think everything was 60% off.

Their business model was awfully odd. Retail price had no real meaning for their products.

I’ll have a look ar that thread. Thanks for sharing.
 

kennyb123

Well-Known Member
Nov 30, 2012
856
796
1,155
Kirkland, WA
E0549F9A-74B1-476B-9465-E693A93BF1C1.jpeg
 

highstream

VIP/Donor
Nov 16, 2013
1,094
433
488
WyWires has been doing that for years. If HFC hasreally gone under, I wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t a lot more to it.
 

kennyb123

Well-Known Member
Nov 30, 2012
856
796
1,155
Kirkland, WA
WyWires has been doing that for years. If HFC has really gone under, I wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t a lot more to it.
Wywires sells direct only, don't they? The problem with so often selling below retail is that it impacts dealers who have to buy in and keep some inventory.

My guess though is that HFC's business model got crushed by the supply chain issues. There as some comments in that Audiogon thread that point to that.

I got the sense that they might have had their products manufactured by third parties in batches. The price cuts seemed aimed to sell off what's left of a batch to bring in a surge of cash to pay for the next batch. If I'm correct, that model is equivalent to living paycheck by paycheck. A sudden increase in the price they would have to pay would hurt them more than a company who purchased stock to keep them going for a while.
 

highstream

VIP/Donor
Nov 16, 2013
1,094
433
488
I've noticed with smaller developers that dealer inventory is often kept to a minimum and they serve more as a conduit for orders that are drop shipped.
 

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing