Part 2: Capital Audiofest 2024 Rooms 833 To 861
Enjoying great gear and music on floor 8.
Capital Audiofest 2024 Show Report By Rick Becker

852 Synergistic Research
In the Synergistic Research 'quiet display' room I found Scott Walker talking with serious customers about Synergistic products. He is their largest dealer with brick-and-mortar stores in Anaheim, CA, and Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX.

Before long Andy Weiderspahn of Synergistic Research appeared, eager to tell me about their massive new SRX Power Conditioner. I had recently written a rave review of their slightly less new PowerCell 8 SX power conditioner ($4k) which was twice the price of the original PowerCell 8 SE I reviewed back in July 2017. Given seven years of normal inflation plus the economic rescue during Covid, the new PowerCell 8 SX, with the very significant improvement in sound quality it brings, is still a bargain.

Since the 8 SX came out they have released the new PowerCell 14 (14 outlets, $14k) and now the long-rumored flagship SRX ($65k) has become available. Andy explained the basic differences between them. The PowerCell 14 has a very large portion of the technology in the SRX. The same circuit board is seen in the front window of each conditioner. Whereas the 14 uses silver-plated copper wiring, the SRX uses high-purity solid silver wire. The SRX has two separate power conditioners within it, each with its own separate SRX XL flagship power cable ($13k msrp each) included – one for digital components and one for analog.

Also supplied are two new Pink Duplex outlets ($295 each) and a Carbon Fiber UEF Duplex Quad Cover ($199) to install on your wall. I've reviewed several brands of audiophile-grade duplex outlets and a couple of brands of carbon fiber covers and found them to be very worthwhile – even with much less expensive power conditioners and power cords.

Note the green and red buttons in the upper right corner of the two power conditioners. There is also a blue light option. Each color represents a different sonic signature you can select for the type of music you are listening to. This is similar to what they do with their Atmosphere device but limited to three primary environments.

Inside, the SRX has 16 new 1st Gen, SRX XL Folded EM Cells encased in carbon fiber cylinders that act like a 'Super Capacitor' to increase peak current on demand. These "SRX" EM cells are the biggest redesign and largest improvement since the cells were patented almost 20 years ago, according to Andy. As you can see above, the large diameter EM Cells are stacked four-high. The new SRX EM Cell technology is also used in PowerCell 8 SX and in the PowerCell 14 where seven smaller diameter EM cells are laid out in a single row. There are some smaller differences that you can read about on their website. I'm aiming to have a full review of the PowerCell 14 completed for the February issue.

On the business side of the SRX, you can see the three separate banks of outlets: 8 on top, 8 directly below them, and off to the left are 4 outlets on a separate circuit for high-current power amplifiers. Each bank has its own carbon fiber 'deck' to support large, heavy power cords. Only one AC inlet was being used here to illuminate the unit for display purposes. There are nine lighting options for the interior or you may leave it dark. And yes, those are their Pink duplex outlets.

852 Scott Walker Audio
The active listening room next door featured a variety of Synergistic products that were actively demonstrated by an assistant at this show, rather than Ted Denney (who was there), at least during the two visits I made to the room. It was very much like what I saw earlier at the Toronto show except for the new SRX power conditioner and the new Von Schweikert VR thirty speaker seen earlier in the Hear This room (819). Shown here in Porsche Guards Red(?), it visually energized the room in much the same way the Synergistic Research products did acoustically.

 In the racks, which were also from Synergistic, were a Galileo SX Active Ground unit on the left. Below it was an assortment of linear power supplies and digital switches. On the shelf below that was a JMF Audio PRS 1.5 preamp with an SR Tranquility Pod on top. And down one more, the JMF HQS power amp, also with a Tranquility Pod.

On the right rack, on top, and the shelf below were a pair of SR Voodoo streamers. Ted told me by separating the streamed signal to two units, each of which then handles different computations, the Voodoo operates more efficiently and delivers slightly better sound quality overall. At $15k each, this is not an option many people will pursue – and Ted only uses one in his system at home, but for someone seeking the ultimate, he claims this is the way to go. Below the Voodoos was a Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC Reference and an Alpha USB unit further below that.

Bridging the two racks was a mystery unit with an SR Atmosphere FEQ Carbon, a third-generation, two-channel acoustic field generator for tuning your room to sound like the scale of the music you are playing whether it be an intimate quartet, a large venue, or something vast enough for Hearts of Space music. The 'space needle' Vibratron just in front of the racks extends the presence of the musicians out in front of the plane of the speakers. And then there was the new SRX PowerCell with one of three SR Black Boxes ($2k ea).

The other two were in the front corners. They are passive low-frequency resonators that improve bass response. Also visible in the left front corner was the flagship SRX speaker cable ($30k/8'pr). Standing in the front corners was a wood post with a pair of what were likely bass traps which I hadn't seen in a Synergistic room before.

This rig could easily have played in a much larger room. With all the A/B comparisons going on in this room, it was hard to get a definitive listen to the speaker itself. The same speaker in the larger Hear This room permitted a better opportunity to experience the pleasurable soundscape. But the point here was to demonstrate the effects of the various room tuning devices with A/B comparisons and that was "mission accomplished." I noticed even the speaker was decked out in their HFT Speaker Kits ($399/speaker). If you haven't spent the time to experience the Synergistic Research room, you may never know what is possible in your own home.

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