Purist Audio vs. Synergistic Research ICs

I have listened to many different brands of cables over the years and most do have a house sound. I have not listened to the model purist you are asking about but compared to the Synergistic Reference I would say that darker is a pretty good description. The SR cables are very neutral with great detail without any extra colorations.

Something to consider when thinking about cables is that it is impossible for a cable to add anything to the signal.

Hasse, Depends were you are going to use these cables. The Accelerator/Precision Reference interconnects work best between Preamp and amp. They are both different and system dependent. You must try both and decide.
Accelerator compared to the Precision Reference is that its a tad warmer. Has a slightly smaller soundstage and its more forgiving. They are both dynamic and fast. The Precision is even more dynamic, revealing and more extended in the frequency extremes.

Hasse,
The SR combo for warmth while maintaining the classic Tesla traits of a holographic sound stage with detail would be the Acoustic Reference from your CD player to your pre amp and Accelerator from your pre amp to your power amp.

When I compared PAD to SR I found the SR to be more holographic and had more detail. However I did not find the PAD to be warmer then the Acoustic Reference / Accelerator combo and no cable is blacker then SR. The Active Shielding makes these cables the quietest I have ever heard in my system.

The Cable Company is a great way to compare any cable you could ever want to try so you can make up your own mind.

Agree with all above. SR cables provide a live sound and an enormous soundstage that no other cable I have heard can match. PAD is probably a little smoother and laid back than the Accelerator/Precision Reference, so it really a matter of what you want to change/improve in your system.

Joeyboynj is exactly right about the Precision Reference - make sure there are no nasties upstream (CDP, CDP IC, preamp) or you are going to REALLY hear them. Accelerator would be a good bet to start with and go from there.

Thanks. Yes, they will be used between pre and amp. The Accelerator seems like the best bang for the buck in the Synergistic line. What is the bass like?

Tight and powerfull.

I you can only afford Aqueous, the similarly priced SR will give you more bang for the buck. However, if you can afford a little more (for the Venustas) you will have the best cable value in audio IMO.

I was considering SR, Transparent, and Straightwire Virtuoso, when I wandered into the Purist room one year at CES. I'd never heard of Purist and thought they were demoing a terrific sounding speaker (Eben) until informed they made cable ;-) Back home, I'd been trying to make a decision on a new expensive tonearm cable, when I spied the fattest TA cable I'd ever seen (a Venustas) on Jim Aud's (Purist's owner) TT at the show, and wound up buying it ("it's already broken in" he said!) I paid $650 (less than half of retail) and when I got it home, I totally freaked out! Subsequently I recabled my whole system with Venustas.

The one thing Purist does better than anybody (and everyone who uses them will agree) is low noise floor. No cable has a blacker background (and that includes Siltech and Stereovox) As far as tonal balance goes, it is of course system dependent. But I have a neutral and articulate system (electostats, driven by tubes, of course ;-) and the Purist cabling (including power cords) has maintained that system neutrality for me, while revealing more detail and stable image. Their speaker cables have very low capacitance, which is important for driving most speakers but particularly for electrostats.

Synergistic, and even more so, Transparent, have a bit more, oh, I guess you'd call it "sparkle" (and with my system, I don't need any more of that! but you might ;-) however you will pay for it with some background hash (which you'll never notice, unless you A-B them against Purist cables.) I'm quite sure this is due to Purist's outstanding (if somewhat bulky) mechanical shielding (Ferox).

Whatever you decide, at this level of 'sophisticated cable design' I'd recommend you stick with the same make and model of cable throughout your system.
.

I listened to Venustas in my system before purchasing Synergistic. To my ears, in my system, the Purist gives a more "middle of the hall" presentation, whereas the SR line yields more of a 1st or 2nd row presentation. I didn't find the Purist noise floor to be any better than that of the SR cabling.

No "hash", just well-balanced musical presentation.

Nsgarch,
I agree the Purist Audio cables are very quite however I have never heard my system sound so quite as when it is entirely wired with SR Tesla cables (ic's, sc's and pc's). In fact this is how I would address Tesla's amazing detail. It comes from pitch-black backgrounds. In other words in the total absence of noise you hear inner detail and micro dynamics that you were not previously aware of.

In regard to sound staging and image placement I do not find any consistent perspective (front row, middle hall or in the nose bleed seats). Instead I hear my system change (sometimes dramatically) from CD to CD where some tracks sound small and intimate as if I am sitting in front of a performer. On some CD's I hear huge sound fields that extend past the walls of my room.

I seem to remember a review that explained this pretty well. If I can find it I will provide a link.

Anyway the best way to hear all of this is to audition different cables in your system and then decide.

Here is the link for the review(s) I was thinking about. The original review and its follow up. I've read quite a few reviews on the Tesla cables but this one really hits the nail on the head in terms of the cables lack of noise, overall balance and 3-D holography.

http://www.soundstage.com/equipment/synergistic_research_tesla_apex.htm

http://www.soundstage.com/equipment/synergistic_research_tesla_apex_followup.htm