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Reterminate Syn. Research cable, shocking find

The factory banana connectors on my Resolution Reference FX speaker cables were getting weak, near the breaking point.

I bought some nicely machined bananas from Madisound, and set about my task. When the factory connectors were removed, I was shocked to find how flimsily made the bananas were, and how poor the soldered connections were. They were barely soldered on!

I put the new connectors on, both screwing them down tight, and using a good amount of silver solder, for a very good connection.

After they were all done, and put back in the system, they sounded better, and not just a little bit, but a lot better. I've used mostly SR cables for most of my cabling needs, and always thought highly of SR products, but not so much, now.

I bought these cables new, for $1400. You would think with the markup on cables, they could use high quality connectors, and actually use a sufficient amount of solder for a quality connection. Disappointing!
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12 responses Add your response
daveyf's avatar
daveyf
2,874 posts
 
Interesting post Islandman. Remember, the more quality that goes into a product, the less profit for a set price. SR's has never been a cable that I felt gave any value for money whatsoever. In the high end biz, that's what it's all about in most of the cable biz plans... MAX MAX profit.....
So, keeping that in mind explains a lot! IMHO.
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drubin
3,274 posts
 
I read a lot of comments suggesting, as Daveyf and Elizabeth have, that the cable business has attracted some rip-off artists. I don't know if that's true or not, but I'd like to know if people think ANY of the premium cable manufacturers are not in it "solely for the money." Which are the clearly, truly legit players among the upper echelon of cable brands?
maplegrovemusic's avatar
maplegrovemusic
1,113 posts
 
Funny , I opened up a pair of Shunyata Aries ic's to reterminate . What I found was shocking . The tubing they come in is about 3/4 inch thick . Make them look big with the tubing . Inside were two 16 or so gage plastic coated wires . All smoke and mirrors . I was told by the owner of Shunyata to reterminate a 4 meter into 4 one meter pairs would cost around 2k . Very hard to reterminate I was told. Well with no experience I was able to do so without any problems . All or most cables are basically copper ,so you are paying for fancy dress !
Post removed 
schipo
1,268 posts
 
The same goes for power cords?
daveyf's avatar
daveyf
2,874 posts
 
To answer Drubin's question...and I'm sure that most will be shocked by this...
I believe Nordost has legit technology and are first rate cables. OTOH, I think they do subscribe to the biz plan that I stated above. Same can be said for Cardas, Kimber and Audioquest...
sabai
2,027 posts
 
I find it interesting that Synergistic Research is often quick to jump into forums to defend themselves when their products are brought into question but they are conspicuously silent here.
audiolabyrinth's avatar
audiolabyrinth
4,555 posts
 
I can honestly say Taralabs are of extreme high quality!, all the cables are soldered correctly and have the best terminations in the biz!, They have a real science behind what they sell that works to give sonic bliss!, Its a shame that so many brands give the cable industry a bad name!, cheers!
knghifi
1,668 posts
 
Frankly I just BUY what sounds the best and don't care about REAL SCIENCE, LEGIT TECHNOLOGY ... not smart enough or have time to investigate all the sales pitch BUZZ words and marketing.

06-04-13: Schipo
The same goes for power cords?
Schipo (Threads | Answers | This Thread)
Years ago I upgraded a board in a very expensive and highly regarded speaker. I was surprised with the poor workmanship in poor solders, wiring ... so the problem is not isolated to cables.

06-05-13: Audiolabyrinth
I can honestly say Taralabs are of extreme high quality!, all the cables are soldered correctly and have the best terminations in the biz!
Is this from personal experience re-terminating connectors or just speculation?
wolf_garcia
6,708 posts
 
All my solid core AQ cables, including balanced, RCA, and speaker are built like tanks and sound fabulous...and they make some very high quality spades and bananas that are very easy to use.
sabai
2,027 posts
 
I also find it interesting that questions about the build quality of the Synergistic Research Power Cell are ignored. There are a lot of very good things about SR but there are also questions that remain unanswered.
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