The Problem with Synergistic Research


The problem is one that a number of cable makers suffer from. I preface my remarks by noting this not a problem that is exclusive to Synergistic Research. I use SR as an example because I am more familiar with their cables than with the cables of other companies that have the same problem.

The problem is the cost of incremental improvements. SR makes some great products. But, in spite of their copy writing, not all SR products are great, IMO. Some SR products have made great improvements in my system -- like the Tesla SE Hologram D power cord. That having been said, in retrospect, despite the bally-hoo that surrounds SR product launches, most of their products have brought no more than incremental improvements to my system. Products from other cable companies have brought equal or greater improvements for me -- often at much lower cost.

The problem is that SR has such fast-paced marketing with products coming out at a gallop supplanting recently released products -- such as the SR line of PowerCell conditioners -- that I sometimes feel I have been left in the dust.

We cannot stop the relentless march of technology. But at the high price of most of SR's offerings one is often left with sense of being left out instead of left in when new products come on the heels of products one has just purchased. The SR trade-up program does not remedy this problem at all, IMO.

There are many other cable companies without fast-paced marketing that provide equal or better value for the money, IMO. Companies like Bybee, HiDiamond and Cardas. I am probably not the only one who feels as I do about SR and other companies with fast-paced marketing.
sabai

Showing 2 responses by mcondon

Sabai is entitled to change his opinion. I have bought audio products that I thought were good, said nice things about them here or in other audio forums, and then realized later, after some experimentation, that I could get better sound for less money, often much less money. Strange that the high priced but underperforming products employed the same business strategy as SR, while the less expensive but superior products were from companies that have a more "stable" product line (Pass, BPT, Crimson, Clear Day.)
Ted Denney did not get his PhD in audio cable physics to fix his masterworks for free. Time is money, and when not in the "lab", Ted needs spare time to dig up old posts written by naysayers like Sabai. If you don't like him or SR or snake oil, you must be a Democrat. (I gather that is what Knghifi and Glory are trying to say in their barely literate political commentary.)

When is Audiogon going to kill this thread? All this bad press is going to hinder SR's ability to separate fools from their money.