Syn, Research Designer ref.

Yes it is a good deal if you have equipment that can handle it. SOS knows from whence he speaks & I must completely agree. Case in point: I bought a list $10K preamp on its looks, features & reputation alone (meaning that there was no chance to hear it in my system unless I first purchased it). The stock AC cord gave me such a lame sound that I was seriously into buyers remorse initially. Several of my upgrade AC cords were helpful to a degree, but none really delivered what I knew this piece had to be capable of. Then a change of a different component freed up my Designer Reference Squared so I put it on the new preamp & that's when things finally came alive. Tonality, control, & PRaT all fell into place & I was finally smiling bigtime. Liked it so much that I bought another one for another component, with such great results that I am now seeking a third DRS-AC for my Master Control Center.
HiFi: I tried the whole line of Synergistic's AC cords. The Reference AC works very nicely on my CD, but the preamp, power amp, & M.C.C. all get the best cords, because sonically they're far superior to anything else that I've tried.

$2000 for a power cord is a heck of a deal??? I certainly respect your expertise and the thought you put into your post, but $2k? C'mon. I own several Synergistic Research AC Reference power cords, bought used here on Audiogon for less than $200. I also own MIT Z-Cord II, YBA Diamond and Harmonic Technology Pro AC11 cords. Add up what I paid for ALL my after market cords, and I can't get to $2k!! The power cord and interconnect hype HAS to come to a reasonable (and logical) conclusion sooner rather than later. Spend a reasonable amount to get decent quality wires, invest the rest on music.

The Square is essentially 2 designer reference powercords terminated together. This cord came about from a discussion that Ted Denney and I had several years ago because you can only use the Designer Reference on front end gear.

I wanted a "state of the art" powercord for amps and line conditioners. At that time the Electraglides, Shunyata's, Audio Magic, Fim, etc. were either not out or just getting started. So there was a need for this cord. The only really super high end powercord was the NBS and it was even more expensive.

At the time that the Square came out it retailed for $3000 and the Designer reference for $2000. Then Synergistic Research decided to eliminate the Designer reference and just have the Square at $2000 one heck of a deal.

We all assumed that the DR square would be best in all applications. We were wrong for I found that I personally still liked the Designer Reference more on front end gear and asked Ted to bring it back which he did at $1400.

The Designer reference powercords are in my opinion the most transparent of the high end powercords on the market.
If you are seeking more information these cords will give you that. If your system is already very transparent and you are seeking more fullness and body then these are not the cords for you. They are nothing like the Master Coupler that softens the top end.

Hope this helps!