Your experience with Synergistic Research Foundation SX speaker cables?

I own them, and purchased them a little over a year ago. I’ve been a big fan of their products, and I finally just became a dealer for them about a month ago. 

@tommylion The Galileo SX speaker cable is a very interesting cable. Compared to others that I’ve owned, it is very full sounding (slam and size come into play here) and is incredibly smooth… revealing without overemphasizing detail. It is not the most “exciting” cable I’ve tried, but it is perhaps the most natural.

The tuning bullets are useful for finding the right impedance matching and tonal balance with your system. I personally prefer the gold bullets over the silver regardless of the speaker I switch in. That said, be sure to also experiment with no bullet attached. I have liked some SR cables that way.

Do you own other SR products? Their cables get even better when paired with the Active Ground Box and other tweaks like HFT and Atmosphere. 

And what amp and speakers are you connecting them to?

blisshifi,

The Galileo SX cables do sound interesting, but the Foundation SX are where I’m at right now budget wise. What are your impressions of the Foundation SX? Are they a good value for the money? Do they give a taste of what the Galileos do, for considerably less? I’ve read some opinions that they are a sweet spot in the Synergistic line.

I have SR Master & purple fuses, MiG 3.0s, and Carbon Tuning Dots. Amp is an Antique Sound Lab Tulip 2A3 SET. Speakers are Klipsch KG 4.2s. 

I'm a fan of SR's stuff. I use their Element series speaker cables, which also use the tuning bullets.  I haven't heard their Foundation series, but have heard good things about them. If you like them, go for it. SR is pretty receptive to questions, so I'd reach out to them directly if you have any. They want you to be happy, not necessarily to up-sell you a product you don't need. JM2CW.

I tried the SR Foundation XLRs and power cable as loaners from The Cable Co. lending library. At the time I had Acoustic Zen Matrix Ref II and Absolute Copper interconnects and Acoustic Zen Gargantua power cords. The SR power cord was an improvement in detail and speed but it wasn’t as refined overall. The XLRs didn’t match up to AZ they were slightly grainy and less natural sounding. I never tried the SR Foundation speaker cables. 
Now whatever I heard in my system with my ears doesn’t at all translate into what you will observe with these cables in your set up. Give it a try. But I think going up to next level SR Atmosphere may be a better choice. 

The cables I have been using are old TARA Labs Prism Nexa. The Foundations are quite a step up from those, as they should be. I really like what I’m hearing from them so far, and the price seems reasonable for what I’m getting. However, I haven’t explored speaker cables for years, so have no experience with current, similarly priced, competitors to the Foundations as a reference. Is there anything out there at the same price that will significantly better them?

@tommylion $749 per 8ft pair retail? Not sure. 
But on a used market, may be. Acoustic Zen Satori or Hologram II, Kimber, Nordost, Cardas, Shunyata? If the performance of Acoustic Zen interconnects in comparison to Foundation is an indicator, I’d not pass up on a opportunity to try AZ speaker cables. 

I have been using the SR30 speaker cables for a while. I just spent some time with the Atmosphere SX Excite cables I demoed from Scott Walker Audio. I was very impressed with the improvements. I’m considering the Foundation as the price point is half, but I’m not sure I can move downstream from the Atmosphere’s. The separation of instruments and the air around them really surprised me compared to the SR30’s. 

if you want something that's even better check out the rectangular OCC single crystal wire made by Neotech, The silver wire is called the Amazon and the copper wire is called the Sahara not cheap though but it'll beat anything on the market OFC at any price, OCC single crystal has been proven to be the best wire for audio for over 50 years now.

I have the Foundation speaker cable (not interconnects) and used them as the prime for well over a year. Still have them, put away. Try the QED Supremus. They cost a bit more but are roughly in the same price ballpark.

I have a SR atmosphère SX euphoria spdif between my streamer and my dac .It’s very good and better than my Kimber D60 (very good for the Price)and a Kimber Orchid aes. Neutral and Musical. 
 

my 2 cents

Philippe

@tommylion Thanks for correcting me. I completely misread that you were seeking opinions on the Foundation SX. It is a pretty good cable that has some of the sonic signature of the Galileo series, but it is not as gripping and transparent or refined. It is a great introduction to the Synergistic Research sound, but if your system is revealing enough, the Atmosphere SX line is where the magic starts to happen. I would not consider the Foundation SX to give you much of what the Galileo SX provides for much less… that’s what I would say about the Atmosphere SX Excite and Euphoria lines. 

Jonathan Valin has likely heard more cables (and certainly dozens of more expensive cables) than anyone so if you didn't see his review of the original Foundation it is worth checking out. There is also a youtube video where a dealer substitutes the Foundation loom for cables 10 to 20 times more expensive and it is also worth checking out. I have Acoustic Zen Adagio speakers and could get a great deal on their top cables (used) but decided to try the Foundation SX. They replaced some Goertz solid silver ribbons that were $2.1K 20 years ago. I had 2 pairs for Klipsch cornerhorns and sold one pair when I sold the cornerhorns and forgot the other pair was still on Ebay for a year and a half and they sold before I could try both at the same time. I would be careful with silver and Klipsch unless the rest of the gear is analog or warm sounding. Ted Denney says you can't mix and match cables. I know a lot of people do mix and match. You can demo the full loom for 30 days from any authorized dealer. The gentleman Alfred on this site is authorized and a pleasure to deal with. I am not associated with him.  I'm working my way towards adding more of the Foundation but as I may switch out some components soon I like to do things one at a time. Having the PS Audio Stellar power regenerator has changed things from the Audioquest 1000 power conditioner in the last 6 months. Not a huge jump but I got a new one for less than half price so had to try. It would have been much more noticeable at my last place but the a/c power here is better.  I have not tried the tuning dots that come with the cables but it is on the list. I 'm really thinking my next best upgrade path is an REL sub having heard the additional fullness (not just or necessarily bass)  they provide.