AXPONA 2017: Synergistic Research, Magico S5 MK II Speakers, Berkeley Alpha Reference DAC,

[amirm]

I always visit Synergistic Research suite not for their tweaks which i consider ineffective, but for the great sound system and music they usually have. Today it was start of the show and they had technical problems with JRiver program hanging on them. But still was a good experience. The Magico S5 MK II speakers sounded really good.

Had to wait to get in. Meanwhile they had this "powercell" which ostensibly cleanses the power. Those carbon fibers do the blessing to power as one line goes in them, and three come out.

He has these gold or silver thingies that plug into a headphone jack, connecting to something else. He said you could buy both and experiment. I have a dozen on order.

 

[amirm]

In fairness, in the past I was suspicious of him hiding the ipad during switchovers thinking he was messing with volumes and EQ. This time he put it next to me and I could see it was a standard music server remote. He also kept the volume the same. All differences then are due to people attempting to hear more in the music and indeed they do.

 

[amirm]

Down In The Hole by John Campbell. https://shz.am/t46925298

Superb sound. This is a great demo track.

He took these bass trap boxes (which connect to nothing) out and brought them back one of them. I heard nothing different. Audience heard a lot.

 

[amirm]

Japanese Roots by TakéDaké Feat. John Kaizan Neptune. https://shz.am/t56325677

Just heard first few seconds but was an excellent track. Lossy compression butchers it in the above youtube video.

 

[amirm]

Riders In The Sky (Ghost) by Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson. https://shz.am/t3115743

Very nice. He told us the second row right by the back wall had the best sound. I went there and it was boomy and front row blocked the highs. Sat back in the front row.

 

[Speedskater]

Did they show the ridiculous 6 AWG power cords?
Georg Simon Ohm and Gustav Kirchhoff need to explain to S.R. just how a serious circuit works.

 

[amirm]

It may have been in the gear but as I mentioned, they had difficulties so we got a truncated demonstration.

 

[CAP]

Not being a drinker of the SR Kool Aid , I did think it sounded better than other Magico's.. Now 2k for a black box ?? or $500 for aluminum arrow nocks and putty .. Either he is the best sales man ever or the PT Barnum of the industry , and that's coming from someone who is open minded and will try bubble gum tweaks if its gonna work.. but at what cost !