Oregonpapa, I have taken you’re advice, as you already know from the fuse thread and will be the Guinea pig for the black cords. They will ship on Monday hopefully. I’m daydreaming of the improvements. I listened to chucho valdeaź and It was bonkers as it stands right now. So much more to be had!!!
Synergistic Research Atmosphere Power Cords.
For those who have been following the SR Red and Black fuse thread in the Amp & Preamp forum, it goes without saying that I loved the way they transitioned my audio system. What I thought was a highly resolving system has been transformed into a system that has been improved in every way ... drastically. For many of us, me included, our music collection and the playback system is a labor of love. I've been working on mine for over 40 years now.
After I got into the SR fuses, I started watching SR's youtube video demos. In watching the videos and reading their literature, I discovered that their new power cords used the same technology as their fuses. That got me to thinking ... if a one and a quarter inch fuse could make such an improvement in the system, what could a five-foot power cord do? I decided to find out.
Four of the new Synergistic Atmosphere Series level 3 AC cords arrived at the house.
http://www.synergisticresearch.com/new-atmosphere-series-ac-power-cords/
When they arrived, I unpacked them right away and was totally impressed with the build quality and materials used. More beautiful than the pictures depict. A shame no one is going to see them because they are behind my equipment rack out of sight. But it sure is an indication of the builder/designer's pride of workmanship. My first thought was ... Wow, if they sound half as good as they look, they should be great. With most things in this hobby, I've acquired a wait and see attitude.
I removed my old PCs and installed the SR's right away (of course). They were replacing two different brands of custom PCs. I had found through the years that this combination of PCs to beat anything else I tried, especially in terms of musicality and digging down into the organic sound of real instruments. Two were built by the Music Advancement Company (MAC) in Oregon. The other two were custom built by David Magnan, a very respectable cable builder and a fine gentleman. Those who know Dave's cables know what I mean. Throughout the years, I've had the privilege of using most of Magnan's work from his speaker cables, ICs and PC's. They are exceptional. So, this gives you an idea of what I'm comparing these new SR cables to.
After installation, I warmed the system up, adjusted the bias on the amp and sat down for an initial evaluation. What I heard right off the bat was an overall improvement in the areas we really like ... bigger , wider, deeper soundstage. More transparency. Far less grain .. in what I thought was a grain-less system. I thought the SR fuses had finally bought me to a grain free audio Utopia. Ha ... silly me. That's the good part.
Now, for the rub: The SR PC's, right out of the box, were doing exactly what the SR Black fuses did and that was to introduce a hard edge, especially on strings. There was an overall degradation in musicality and emotional connection to the music as a result. The reason? The PCs , like the fuses, need at least 100 hours of break-in before they really come to life. Like the fuses, I could hear the promise of these PCs right off, but man, new out of the box, again like the fuses, things just weren't "right." It reminded me of when I first fired up the new ARC REF-75se. It took 500 hours for the caps in that amp to finally come around full tilt.
So, as these new SR PCs break in, I'm going to chronicle the experience in this thread all the way from new to tatal break-in. From what I've heard so far, they offer great promise, trouncing my old PCs in so many ways. Now let's see what they can do musically as they break in.
Stay tuned ...
Showing 14 responses by audiolover718
"Alright alright alriiiiiiight!" I received my 2 factory fresh black power cords (literally just built on March 7th) and 2 black fuses for my CD player. They are busy cooking with all of 30 minutes on them. Now, I wanted to be patient and go systematically and do a cord at a time and then fuses, but- I did the whole kaboodle at once. Yeah yeah- I know. Do do I have a "new system"? Yes. It is a "better" system? Not yet. I will echo oregonpapas experiences with the atmosphere cables. Right now, I can definitely tell increased resolution, lower noise floor and slightly better focus. All at the expense of intimacy and warmth. There is no sense of "reAch out and touch it" anymore. (Yes I have the correct direction for the fuses) The system sounds like a very high end analytical receiver. But we all know that these cables and fuses need break in, and changing two power cords and 2 fuses in the system I’m sure have " shocked " it. No pun intended. PRAT has taken a hit too. It sounds light and open without true weight. I also had had been using mad scientist audio black discus on my pre and cd’s pc’s. I’ve taken them off in thinking maybe they were incompatible like quantum chips with the UEF technologies. I will try them again after about 400 hours of break in. |
Davidpritchard: i think I may take all the black discus out of th system. I had a pair on my positive amp posts and removed them and listed critically. It seems the sound is warmer or should I say creamier with them, but there seems to be a slight loss of micro detail. However, the system does sound more organic with them on. Imaging is also more holographic with them in place, but that last ounce of detail just isn't there. It's a catch 22. Do you hear the same? |
I have really enjoyed what the black fuses and cords have done for my system over the last month. Tonight I ordered the finishing touches for my system. I ordered a high current version black cord for my arc power amp, and a black fuse which will upgrade the red that's in my preamp. Once these are installed, the system will be completed synergized, lol. Can't wait. I have a feeling upgrading the stock cord on the power amp is going to be quite dramatic. The amp is plugged directly to the wall as well. |
Got my UEF black high current 10 gauge power cable this afternoon, along with my black fuse to upgrade the red in the preamp. By far, of all the improvements, the biggest is the power amp power cord upgrade. It’s a massacre even from the first note, factory fresh. The factory cable from arc is a weak link in getting the resolution out of the amp. These noise floor reduction is eerie. It’s like my whole library has been remastered in higher resolution. Im glad I got the cable for the power amp because I was so happy with the way the system already sounded with the black fuses and just the pre and cd re-cabled and really thought I was good to go. Glad I didn’t cheap out. This upgrade is just silly on the power amp. This cable allows the poweramp to really have an iron grip on the speakers and highlight the real outer edges of each note that were originally shaved off. Also, I never knew my little LS 17 had so much information to pass on! This system has had a blanket on it for so long and I never knew. In listening right now and have the volume low and images keep startling me in the recording because the dynamics have gone through the roof. But seriously-the power amp took he biggest leap in performance of all the components. The amp has gone from Clark Kent to superman. I can’t even wrap my head around what this will sound like with break in time. Could I finally be peering at the gates of my own budget audio nirvana? I could see a lot of jealous ears after hearing this system, especially those who have spent considerably more than what I have. I'm sure there is better to be had, but I really think I'm finally reaching the law of diminishing returns here. |
Folk freak, while my UEF black cables are not the atmosphere, I can tell you what I have noticed during break in. I I have not noticed a decrease in dynamics, quite the contrary. But I do notice the cables and fuses sound thin and lack body. Stand up bass at first seems over damped and basically lacks the tubiness to sound full. It eventually fills out. I also do not hear any muting of the highs. Don’t fret though. I notice that break in is not linear, some nights don’t sound as good as others. In fact with ALL my cables, not just SR, the first night is good, shows a glimpse of what the cable is about. Then the next couple of nights it can be a Roller coaster, some nights really sounding weird. With one particular attribute standing out one night, and another, a different night. Sounds ludacris, I know. One night large soundstage, the next smaller etc. etc. they won’t calm down and open up for a while. Tonight my new High current black sounds "thin" but i would also say that these have a much tighter and non bloated bass. I think that lends to the better image that these produce.....But I notice that many cables while breaking in, don’t have the bass bloom (not bloat) that they will eventually have once they have a couple hundred of hours of signal through them. I never would have thought i would have ever made such a seemingly looney statement like that a couple of years ago. But I’ve learned to just trust my ears. |
Wow. I had no idea. If you look at any pics of arc gear, you will see them roughly all in the same spot j referenced to. I will have to try moving them up the tube and see what results I get. If warren suggests it, I wonder why I always see the tunes with the rings at the getter. More experiments!!!! 😁 |
I will experient when I have a chance to pop the top and let you know. Here is a pic from the net giving an approximation of where mine are. Although mine aren’t lopsided. Haha. http://www.highfidelity.pl/foto_testy/1210/audio_research/21.jpg Btw- I REALLY hate "auto correct". I think it creates more typos than it corrects. |