New Synergistic Research Carbon Tuning Discs

[tommylion]

Okay, I’m ready to post my impressions, but first, I want to thank ozzy for his suggestion to place the discs on the body of cables, rather than on the connectors. Makes a noticeable difference.

First point, the difference I am hearing with these discs is not subtle. It is not a “I think I hear a difference?” kind of thing, but clear and distinct.

Second, they make it easy to experiment with placement, and you should definitely do so, to achieve the balance that is most pleasing to your ears, in your system.

Both the purple and gold bring a pleasant increase in natural musical detail & sense of space, but with different emphasis. The purple could be said to be more forward and bold, and the gold more laid back. I am finding that alternating them in the flow of my system gives good results. For example, if you find a purple disc (or a pair of them) sound goods in one place, then place a gold one ahead of, or behind it.

This is the current placement that is working well for me: A gold on the cable from the wall to my CPT Equi=Core 300 power conditioner. A purple on the cable from the CPT to the power strip my components are plugged into. A gold inside my CD transport. A purple on the digital cable leading to my DAC.

 

[ozzzy]

I haven't tried them internally inside equipment, yet.

ozzy

 

[ozzzy]

For those who think these are tweaks that are changing the way your system sounds, it does sort of, but not in the way some are implying.

To me, it makes your system sound more naturally like it should, without restrictions, distortions etc. Nothing phony or artificial about it.

ozzy

 

[tommylion]

“To me, it makes your system sound more naturally like it should, without restrictions, distortions etc. Nothing phony or artificial about it.”

That is a really good description of what I am hearing!

 

[Mossback]

Any change to a system can alter how it sounds. No one says you're stupid.

However - what would be good to see from the people who find improvement from this tweak is to post your systems so we have some context for your findings!

My modest gear includes Modwright Oppo spinner, Garrard 301 Schick 10 inch Lyra Delos, Aurender N10, and VAC 160i, Harbeth SHL5+ and one REL sub. Cables a mix of MIT, Purist, Synergetic Research.

 

[Ted Denney III]

Good question.

We’re changing the photographs. The tuning discs are better when placed directly on the cable, sending end on interconnects, speaker end on speaker cables.

Ted Denney III
Lead Designer/CEO Synergistic Research Inc.

 

[Mossback]

Update.
I've two boxes so have four Purple and four Gold.
At the Modwright Oppo I moved the two Purples from RCA barrels to the cables this provided an improvement.
Also added two Gold to my VAC RCA inputs cables and one gold near to the VAC's power IEC and one between the Oppo Modwright power supply input and its IEC. This was good stuff pleased with it.
Today I added two Purple to the Harbeth speaker cables just before the box thingie. Not a good sound! The soundstage shrunk and the sound overall became small and less realistic it sucked much of the joy out from what I heard. It's hard to describe but was immediately clear it sounded worse.
I'm going to stay with what I have until this weekend. I'll try the Purple on my Aurender N10 and the Garrard.
Enjoying the disks very much..... Dan

 

[thyname]

These work very well. Exactly what the others have experienced. As shared here. And for the price IMO, they are a no brainer. Of course, don’t expect earth shattering, dramatic improvement. Let’s be real. But even a slight improvement in “airness” and natural tonality, is very well worth the money outlay for me.

As for this:

3. If you do sense an improvement and decide to keep these things don't you feel awkward, foolish or perhaps silly as you explain what they are to someone who notices them and asks what they are.

I am sorry to say this is very silly. I for one give no s*&^ts about this stuff. Who cares. I own them, and use them. That’s all I care

 

[Devg]

For those who think these are tweaks that are changing the way your system sounds, it does sort of, but not in the way some are implying.

To me, it makes your system sound more naturally like it should, without restrictions, distortions etc. Nothing phony or artificial about it.

ozzy

Nicely described Ozzy.

Anything you place or change in your system will change the sound, however small it is. The only difference here is that these disc are changing things in a natural way but not at all places. For example, I tried experimenting placing the purple at several places - power cords, between tubes in Lampi dac, on the DIY music server i9 CPU heatsink, on the heatsink of the JCAT XE USB card usb chip and on the IEC inlet (thanks to Ozzy for this suggestion). In some places, I did not hear anything changes (ex, power cords), in some places the sound became too garish/detailed (ex, JCAT card, Lamp dac) but finally on the power conditioner IEC inlet, the change was so +ive that it startled me. I was just not expecting this. I now have the gold on the interconnect and purple of the IEC inlet.

 

[J007B]

We’re changing the photographs. The tuning discs are better when placed directly on the cable, sending end on interconnects, speaker end on speaker cables.

Ted Denney III
Lead Designer/CEO Synergistic Research Inc.

Welcome Ted and thank you for your input. I for one am a fan of your products.

 

[SeagoatLeo]

I have been using SR products for about 7 years. First it was A/C duplexes, red to black to blue. Full loom of HFTs and speaker HFTs (except that any HFTs on tweeter was negative), total 34 HFTs with side bass speaker HFT and front wall HFT VERY important. Black and then blue fuses in my monoblock tube amps. MIG SX footers under my EAR 890 backup amp. ECTs and GCTs (one pack each for amps and pre-amp). All good.

Tried the black box everywhere in room-cut off 8Khz plus sound (said to be unusual but happened to me). Atmosphere XL4 - worked but huge hassle to get right for every recording, already have a great sounding higher end system-sold it. Foundation digital coax-really weird sounding (no air, forward sounding, missing other sounds) after even a three week break-in, 3 other cheaper manufacturer cables were better, one GroverHuffman cable very superior at half the cost.

I respect SR for their innovations but despite their products sounding different, not necessarily better or good for my system. I keep the one's that work. It is surprising how SR improves on prior products I've purchased quite consistently.

 

[facten]

A balanced overall assessment SeagoatLeo, how/where things work depends from system to system

 

[Republicoftexas69]

I respect SR for their innovations but despite their products sounding different, not necessarily better or good for my system. I keep the one's that work. It is surprising how SR improves on prior products I've purchased quite consistently.

EXACTLY my thoughts and approach too!

 

[Ted Denney III]

EXACTLY my thoughts and approach too!

Synergistic Research product development cycle:

1.Cable looms– 3-4 years
2. Tranquility Bases– 11-years (only one major evolution, this year)
3. HFT’s– No changes since launch 9-years ago.
4. Ground Blocks– only additional models, none have been replaced
5. PowerCell line conditioners (non-Galileo)– 5-6 years depending on model.
6. PowerCell Galileo– limited 50 unit annual production run. Each run improvements are added.
7. MiG isolation footers- no changes over entire 10 year production run, only new varietients added.
8. Fuses– 2-years.
9. ECT/GCT– replaced by superior performance Carbon Tuning Discs after a 6-year and 5-year production run respectively
10. Duplex outlets– implement new fuse technologies (Red, Black, Blue, Orange and now Purple) 2-years.

Ted Denney III
Lead Designer/CEO Synergistic Research Inc.

 

[tommylion]

I did a little more experimentation with placement on power cables this morning. Like others, I get better results placing the discs on the cable (not the connector) at the receiving/IEC end.

Hard to describe this, but it seems like you know you’ve found good placement when your system sounds like itself (same tonal balance), only better.

 

[Cellcbern]

I have been using SR products for about 7 years. First it was A/C duplexes, red to black to blue. Full loom of HFTs and speaker HFTs (except that any HFTs on tweeter was negative), total 34 HFTs with side bass speaker HFT and front wall HFT VERY important. Black and then blue fuses in my monoblock tube amps. MIG SX footers under my EAR 890 backup amp. ECTs and GCTs (one pack each for amps and pre-amp). All good.

Tried the black box everywhere in room-cut off 8Khz plus sound (said to be unusual but happened to me). Atmosphere XL4 - worked but huge hassle to get right for every recording, already have a great sounding higher end system-sold it. Foundation digital coax-really weird sounding (no air, forward sounding, missing other sounds) after even a three week break-in, 3 other cheaper manufacturer cables were better, one GroverHuffman cable very superior at half the cost.

I respect SR for their innovations but despite their products sounding different, not necessarily better or good for my system. I keep the one's that work. It is surprising how SR improves on prior products I've purchased quite consistently.

I did a little more experimentation with placement on power cables this morning. Like others, I get better results placing the discs on the cable (not the connector) at the receiving/IEC end.

Hard to describe this, but it seems like you know you’ve found good placement when your system sounds like itself (same tonal balance), only better.

Anyone compared them with the Akiko Tuning Chips? Or the Telos? WA Quantum?

FYI:

Akiko Audio - Tuning Chips

Akiko Audio; producent van High end Hifi Tuning Accessoires, inclusief hoogwaardige audio en video kabels.

www.akikoaudio.com

How about with putting Acoustics Revive or Harmonix tuning dots or fo.Q damping material on cable connectors?

 

[ozzzy]

tommylion,
You might want to try the purple as close to the AC breaker as possible. Perhaps like me on the breaker itself.
Then try a gold one on the IEC cable IEC end before the power conditioner.
ozzy

 

[ozzzy]

I also can report that adding the discs on the coax cable to at the Dish Satellite box and on the HDMI cables also improve video quality as well.

ozzy

 

[Ron Resnick]

Synergistic Research product development cycle:

1.Cable looms– 3-4 years
2. Tranquility Bases– 11-years (only one major evolution, this year)
3. HFT’s– No changes since launch 9-years ago.
4. Ground Blocks– only additional models, none have been replaced
5. PowerCell line conditioners (non-Galileo)– 5-6 years depending on model.
6. PowerCell Galileo– limited 50 unit annual production run. Each run improvements are added.
7. MiG isolation footers- no changes over entire 10 year production run, only new varietients added.
8. Fuses– 2-years.
9. ECT/GCT– replaced by superior performance Carbon Tuning Discs after a 6-year and 5-year production run respectively
10. Duplex outlets– implement new fuse technologies (Red, Black, Blue, Orange and now Purple) 2-years.

Ted Denney III
Lead Designer/CEO Synergistic Research Inc.

Welcome to WBF, Ted! Thank you for joining us here!

 

[ozzzy]

For those who care here is my audio system: It is a mismatch of various manufacturers but sounds together to me.

1. First off 3 dedicated 20A lines each with a Furutech NCF outlets.
2. (3) Power conditioners: AudioQuest Niagara 7000, 1200 and 1000.
3. Power cords: Synergistic Galileo, AudioQuest Dragon, Zavfino Dart.
4. Speaker cables: Townshend Fractal F-1
5. Interconnects: Shunyata Sigma V2, WireWorld Platinum 8, Nordost Valhalla Digital
6. Fuses SR purple and QSA red
7. Uptone Ether Regen, After Dark Clock and Linear power supply.
8. Acoustic Revive 888,777, 77

Equipment:
1. Lumin X1
2. JL Audio CR-1 Crossover
3. Bob Carver M350 tube mono blocks
4. Focal Sopra 2's
5. JL Audio F-113- (4 of them)
6. Entreq Silver Tellus with Atlantis cabling.
7. Sorcer X4 and I/O
8. Townshend Speaker stands
9. Critical Mass footer.
10. Synergistic FEQ X4 (2).


Video:
1. Oppo 205 with Linear power supply.
2. 85" Samsung.
3. Home Theater equipment.