About synergy?

I have to say that to me synergy may be rather hard to quantify. For example, I have a Deja Vu Audio amp that I love. A while back I managed to pick up a used Deja Vu audio preamp at a great price and when I added it to my system the sound improved. But was it greater synergy? Or just a better preamp? Or perhaps a bit of both? So my advice is to experiment, and when you arrive at a sound you really like stay there. I have for about five years now and I find I am as happy as ever with my sound, especially after a recent retubing and cap upgrade, and I have I'm sure saved much money and stress getting off the upgrade train. Of course that train was much fun for many years, so ymmv. Good luck and happy listening though!

I'm really starting to hate that term, "synergy" as applied to audio. Misused subjectively. Prefer compatible and/or complimentary.

as has been said, it seems serious hobbyists have one goal:

achieving an optimal sound?

however, what is optimal for one may not be optimal for another.

there are constraints of budget and room, for example. there are many ways to achieve a desired result.

the important thing is to be aware of what you want. too many have no clue what they want, so the result is continual replacement of components.

decide what it is that pleases you and then figure out how to get there.

there is no road map. you're on your own. just listen, listen , listen, and learn.

10-23-11: Ngjockey
I'm really starting to hate that term, "synergy" as applied to audio. Misused subjectively. Prefer compatible and/or complimentary.

Amen!

None of the approaches you list are sufficient alone to assure good results.

Its all about the synergy and how each piece interacts as part of the whole to deliver the final results. Infinite ways to accomplish this. Never simple, unless you happen to get lucky. That's just the way it is if you are one that must achieve a particular sound.

Being smart about it and doing the homework needed to understand what you are doing is the one required element regardless of what final mix of stuff you end up with.

There are some design best practices that can be applied to help deliver optimal results faster, but that is a topic for another thread perhaps.