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Audioquest Angel vs Synergisitic Research Atmosphere Alive

I am currently running Synergistic Research's Foundation cable and want to upgrade the cable for more clarity. I had previously upgraded from Audioquest's Yosemite, which was a fantastic cable, but lacked high frequency detail. I wanted to move into using silver cables over copper. I saw the Synergistic Foundation line to be an affordable entry way into silver cables. It was an improvement in high frequency detail, but a loss in mid bass body.

This was not a big issue at the time, because I was running Audioengine's A2+ speaker system.  It had a 3 inch woofer which physically couldn't produce a robust mid bass sound. Now I have upgraded to Audioengine's HD6.  Now I have a 5.5 inch woofer and the Foundation is a bit too anorexic.  The HD6 is really revealing in high frequency details and it turns out that the details provided in the Foundation line are no longer enough.

After much research and discussion with some sales reps and the Synergistic tech, I discovered that what they say is an "air dielectric" is actually silver conductors inside a hollow tube.  That tube is Polyethylene.  This is the same setup that Audioquest uses in its lower end cables.  The Sydney and the Victoria both use a hollow Polyethylene tube as its dielectric. Polyethylene absorbs high frequency signals, including those that would be audible. That means the silver cable in Synergistic Research's Foundation line is being slightly rolled off.

In Audioquest's Yosemite, they changed the hollow dielectric to FEP, a fluorocarbon Teflon-like material. The Angel also uses the same FEP. The Synergistic Research Alive Level 1 is the same cable as the Foundation, but uses Teflon as a dielectric, as well as uses better connectors.

So the question is, which is better?  Does the Synergistic Research cable punch above its weight class with no active shielding but with graphene? Or do I get the Audioquest, which has no graphene but does have active shielding?

I do have other Synergistic Research in this system and feel like it would benefit from staying within the same product....but...if I am being honest, I can get the Audioquest Angel anywhere and quickly, but pay a bit more.  However, I can't get the rep I work with at The Cable Co to answer my request for purchase, and I would have to wait two weeks while the cable is being created and burned in. I am not exactly a patient consumer once I have made up my mind to make a purchase. ;)

In the end, I could save more money going with Synergistic and The Cable Co and wait, but I would be willing to spend the extra money and not wait to get Audioquest if that cable simply sounds better and resolves better than Synergistic's.

128x128guakus
ted_denney's avatar
ted_denney
286 posts
 

@guakus I would clean up my power cord loom first. And you can go as high as Atmosphere, but you’ll get better performance by replacing multiple power cords at once with Foundation instead of over spending on a single higher end power cord. Also keep in mind, all Synergistic Research products except fuses have a lifetime upgrade path with 70% of retail going towards new SR products at twice the old cables value. And you don’t have to trade cables for cables, you could’ve purchased cables from Synergistic in 1993 and get 70% of their old retail value towards anything in our current catalog. If it were my system, I’d first close the loom with Foundation, and then look at power conditioning and ground filtering next. MiG SX footers are also an option as one of the single most transformative products we make.

guakus's avatar
guakus OP
351 posts
 

@ted_denney

I am a little confused. :( Replacing my main power cables with Foundation seems like a step backward, no offense intended.

From the wall I am using Audioquest’s NRG Edison socket. Then I am coming out of the wall with Shunyata’s Reference Delta v2 XC high current cord. That’s a $900 cord to start the power train with. It uses both Copper and Silver and uses Teflon as a dielectric. This cable powers the Shunyata Venom V16 power conditioner, a $2000 investment. The cable I am looking to replace is the Kimber Palladian, a $1500 cable. It uses a special filter that dampens the Standing Wave Ratio of the cable. I liken this tech to your Atmosphere SX Level 2 Excite, except yours has active shielding and Kimber does not. Also, the metallurgy in your cable would surpass the Kimber.

This is why I am looking at the single high end cable, the system that precedes where I want to connect your cable is also high end and expensive. :) With that said, would it be better to replace the Kimber, which requires the C7 connector, or should I replace the Shunyata Delta which would require a C19 high current connector? Maybe that’s a better choice since the power chain would start with Synergistic?

ted_denney's avatar
ted_denney
286 posts
 

I am a little confused. :( Replacing my main power cables with Foundation seems like a step backward, no offense intended.

No offense taken. You have cable stew. Talk to your dealer about auditioning a full loom of Foundation power cords to replace your stew. Get back to me after a week, you’ll likely be very surprised. But if you don’t want to hear the loom in your system which is one of the most powerful things you can do to improve your stereo, replace the Kimber.

guakus's avatar
guakus OP
351 posts
 

Just an update.

I received the SR Atmosphere Lv 1 Alive custom Phono cable. It has exceeded my expectations and it hasn't even remotely finished breaking in.

The addition of the Teflon Dielectric with copper mix has brought back the deep, rich mid-range and mid-bass tones while at the same time keeping the detailed, airy treble. I cannot wait to see just how far it expands as it breaks in. 

It was well worth the upgrade. :)

chazm007
3 posts
 

Wow, quite the post. I am considering swapping my Shunyata  Venom-HC cables to Synergistic  as well. I currently own a Atmosphere X level 1 and Atmosphere SX level 1 PCs (as well as interconnect and speaker wires).  Based on what I read in the post I should replace all the other PC's with Foundation PCs, right?

I plan to use the ATM SXLV1 PC at the amp, and the ATM XLv1 PC as the feed to the power conditioner (or should I consider a FD high current here), then FD at the DAC, Preamp, and phono stage?

What are your thoughts ?

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