Synergistic Research Cable Risers?


  Recenty Synergistic  research  brought out some cable risers.  https://www.synergisticresearch.com/accessories/cable-risers/

  The audio press said they made one of the biggest differences when taken out of the system, then re installed back in. Does anyone have first hand experience with these ?

  That being said, they seem like quite a bit of money for what you get, however if they  work at improving the sound it would be worth it. I do use Synergistic products  which have made a definite improvement in sound but am quite skeptical on this product.
simguy

Showing 8 responses by millercarbon

From my System Page comments
https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367

"During the middle of one song (I had my eyes closed) ,Chuck took the cables off the Cable Elevators; I immediately heard the sound become distorted and muddy."


Heard it with her eyes closed. Her own words. This stuff works. Deal with it.
Ted is no comedian. Ted is right up there with Tim and Keith and Eric and Peter. Some I know for damn sure because I got em- or had em. Others I have no doubt because I know the reviews and feedback.https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367 Ted is right up there with the very best of them. Their work is all over my system, which would drop your jaw if you heard it. A lot of which is due to Ted. And that's no joke.
I’m sure there is a big difference. But that’s comparing risers to floor. Ozzy is comparing risers to risers. Cable Elevators are already really good.

Also, and I know this is gonna cause even more eye-rolling, but moving cables around does indeed create a situation where they sound worse for a while. How much worse and for how long depends on how much they’re moved and how good you hear. Usually you can count on a few minutes even with careful handling. This complicates matters only to the extent you’re not aware and able to hear. Obviously the listener who became aware of this himself is able to hear it, while one who has to be told still has some skills development waiting out there to be explored. So the sooner you start....

Hopefully ozzy what you are doing is swapping them out one at a time, carefully removing with one hand and replacing with another keeping the cable hardly moving the whole time. This should take no more than 30 seconds to a minute. Using music you’re familiar with late at night when the system is really warmed up it should be easy to hear the difference.

Oh and while you're at it, if you're one of these guys who plays the same little bit over and over again now would be a good time to stop. Just play music you like. Don't even pause. Listen the whole time. You do this a few times, don't be surprised if you notice you start hearing the difference even bent over the wrong way with your back to the speaker.

Btw I think you’re right about the ECT, or HFT, whatever he calls it. My bet is you could stick either one ECT or HFT on the Cable Elevators and, uh, elevate their performance to the same level for less. Since you already have the Cable Elevators I mean. You should try it and if I’m right you could get the same or better performance while saving a few bucks at the same time, the Holy Grail of audio.


goose-
Ok so I heard them at 2019 RMAF. I'm a big skeptic in all the audio voodoo. They had them in the system and then removed them on the same audio cut. Yes they made a difference. So here is the caveat. I'm not sure if it was the riser or the HFT they had attached to the riser. I stuck around when they just removed a couple of HFT's from the wall. The sound stage collapsed with them removed. I skipped the elevators and bought the HFT's. Yes the HFT's make a positive improvement. Bigger sound stage, better instrument placement and tighter bass. It's hard to imagine that a little piece of metal the size of a small button can do what they do. Like I said I'm a big skeptic but I bought them and glad I did.  


Informative? Check.  
Relevant? Check.  
Intelligent? Check.
Thoughtful? Check.
Factual? Check.
So goose I just have one question for you: are you sure you're on the right site?
tomic601:
what might be more helpful is a discussion of how and why it might work and some possible reasons.

Good point which is why it has been discussed several times including several times by me. One good reason you might want to follow the lead of a growing segment of the community and start following my posts. Incredibly thorough and informative you would know all about this by now.

None of this is rocket science, its all perfectly self-evident to any experienced informed and aware audiophile, the plausible reasons it could work break down as follows: 

1) It could be dielectric effect. All insulators are imperfect. They all absorb some small amount of the passing signal and then radiate this energy back into the wire with a small delay resulting in a smearing of micro transients. This isn't new this is established science and it isn't new I've said it before but I get better and better, more succinct and informative, each time. Read past posts and see. 

2) It could be vibration control. Alternating electric current and fields always result in vibrations, which is why vibration control like cones and shelves improves even components with no moving parts like amplifiers. Don't take my word for it. Go feel your cables while playing music. You'll be surprised how much they vibrate, especially with bass. So it could be the sound is improved by allowing the cable to vibrate freely in air rather than being damped by the floor.

3) It could be electric charges. Static electricity is a problem particularly with speaker cables. Don't take my word for it, use anti-static spray and see for yourself.

That's three solid reasons. All of which are bolstered by the specific design approach SR uses here. Because notice they use HFT, which are used to great effect on speakers, walls, and components.

I think IF you are using a highly ( a relative term ) capacitive cable with poor dialectric, risers might be a waste. Of course the Uber or BDP suggestions are low cost. IF your room floor is carpet then insulating risers may help.

I highlight this part because it illustrates a common problem- assuming to know enough to be able to eliminate possibilities. Because what you mean to say by "IF" is this is the only way. Can't be anything else.

Let me show why this is wrong. I tested different materials a long time ago. Everything helped but Cable Elevators were by far the best. One thing I tested was BDR Those Things, squares of carbon fiber. Those Things are terrific vibration control and carbon fiber is somewhat conductive. The fact that a lousy vibration control material like ceramic worked better seemed to indicate the mechanism is electrical. Not sure but seemed likely. 

Well then recently in trying TC different places I put some on the insulators. Seems counterintuitive, putting a conductor over an insulator. But this was a tremendous improvement. Now scroll up and read oregonpapa, who had the same experience, only with Mats, which are very similar. 

If there's one thing that ought to be abundantly clear its that we are pretty good with getting bulk crude power from A to B, but when it comes to the extreme subtleties of the micro-level signals that make all the difference between high end products we know next to nothing.

A stream of golden light, when all around is darkness. That’s our Georgie.
So much sniping and not one substantive comment on the item itself. Did anyone even bother to try and learn anything about it? Anyone? Beuller? 

Like all SR it says right on there they did extensive double-blind testing to select aluminum from among several different candidate materials. Same thing Ted did with metals when developing his Element series. Discovered tungsten that way. Which I know for a fact is awesome, since I have a set.

Anyone? Beuller? Dude comes on here asking for help, gets a little, then in no time flat it devolves into the usual blather. Pathetic.

What I see is after using double-blind testing to select the material they used more double-blind testing to develop a new HFT tuned for these risers. Anyone who has used HFT or ECT knows just how effective they are. 

My reviews of HFT, ECT and PHT have been up for months, and there are others. This isn't random dudes blathering away while working on a beer at the bar, this is serious audiophiles with substantial systems and reams of posts as evidence of their ability to hear and evaluate. Ted Denney has a solid 30 years history of developing products that provide good value for money. My personal experience has been they are always among the top values in their category. 

This is not the kind of record you can even dent with bar room banter. All that does is drive your own credibility even further into the toilet. Which most of you ought to be so ashamed of by now, but you're here, therefore no sense of shame. Which is why I say, pathetic. 

All that remains now is for the golden stream of light in the darkness to emerge and call me a shill. Even though I have said nothing one way or the other about how good this stuff is. But that's what passes the time for you guys. Pathetic.


Haven't tried these from SR, but I do use cable elevators and they do make a difference. https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367 

Look closely at the pictures you will see more than just Cable Elevators. There are other ceramic insulators bought on eBay after I discovered Cable Elevators are really just ceramic insulators and they all work the same. Shop around on eBay you can find ones you like at a good price, usually about $20 each. 

Just so you know, unlike the people who knock things they don't understand without even trying, I actually tried a bunch of different things and went for what worked best based on how it actually sounds. So rest assured this stuff works. The only question is how well it works for the money. 

Synergistic has such an awesome track record, as you seem to agree, that my advice would be to get a few of the inexpensive ceramic insulators first. Maybe you are so happy with them you stop right there. But if not then the next step would be to buy the SR and compare. Most SR comes with a 30 day guarantee so worst case you keep them because they are better, and have a few ceramic insulators to put under less critical stuff like power cords. Again, see my system for reference. 

Notice the stark contrast between my deliberate, moderate, reasonable, thorough, incremental results-based approach and the others? Choose wisely.