Brutus Awards for 2019 - Page 3 of 3

Ted Denney visiting PF Central in October of 2019 with a bevy of his new creations

Synergistic Research's design guru Ted Denney was able to make it up to Portland in 2019…not once, but twice.

Synergistic Research is one of the most innovative…and perhaps the most innovative…cable company that I know. Under Ted's leadership, SR has been developing and producing some of the most interesting and remarkable cables for the past 25+ years now. And Ted is one of the most controversial and combative personalities in the world of fine audio, without a doubt.

Ted Denney at PF Central in 2017 with his remarkable PowerCell 12 UEF SE, a Brutus Award winner that year, in our reference listening room

In 2019, Ted shipped products from his new Galileo SX product line. I had heard the earlier Galileo UEF line at shows and in our reference listening room here at PF Central, and had been really impressed by them. Ted told me that the SX line were definitely better than the older designs; past experience with SR told me that they would be.

Ted Denney in the midst of installing SR upgrades at PF Central, January, 2019. Dig the trademark TD smile!

Between an initial shipment in January, 2019, and the follow-ups in October, we got a very substantial stereo-system-wide upgrade to the SX line, apart from the PowerCell 12 UEF SE, which remained as it was. We also received a set of the new Orange Fuses, an Atmosphere Infinity (the earlier Atmosphere XL went downstairs into our reference surround listening room), and updated grounding cables for the Active Ground SE unit.

Ted and I visited Music Millennium in January of 2019, whereupon both he and I spent a stack of bucks on some very nice LPs. Here's Ted in their upstairs area…much more is downstairs. Portland is a great place for vinyl.

The upshot of two trips, and a number of days doing upgrades and listening sessions, was that our stereo listening room went to a whole new level of audio delight. All key listening parameters were improved: from dynamics and transparency, to detail, organic harmonic structures and musical flow.

Galileo SX Power Cords (image courtesy of Synergistic Research)

I can tell you that the SX line of cables are simply dynamite. I was frankly amazed at how much they improved the already excellent levels of playback in our listening room. Ted listened when he first arrived in October, and said, "It's going to get a lot better!"

The Synergistic Research Tranquility Base UEF: multilayered, with active shielding and grounding (image courtesy of Synergistic Research)

And you know, he was right. Whether speaking of the RCAs, the XLRs, the Phono Cable, all with their active grounding, the Galileo SX series is, at this time, simply the best that I've heard. Fantastic clarity, incredible nuance, vertigo-inducing soundstaging and imaging, and a noise floor sunken somewhere deep in the Earth...unbelievable. If you can go all SR, you'll be knocked out by the results. Based on my experience, I think that I can guarantee that.

I should also mention the remarkable isolating effects of the SR Tranquility Base UEF, with its active shielding and grounding. I have the Playback Designs MPT-8 Reference Transport and MPD-8 Reference DAC resting two of these units, while the PASS Labs Xs Reference Preamp is on a third Tranquility Base UEF. These are very sensitive, very resolving units, all three. The results with the fully powered and grounded Tranquility Bases was notable for an enhanced sense of spaciousness, precision of detail, and transparency. You may well find that an already good audio component can be upgraded simply by placing it on a Tranquility Base.

The new Synergistic Research Orange Fuse (image courtesy of Synergistic Research)

By the way, I know that fuses are a hot topic (pun alert) among audiophiles. Some love them and extol their virtues; others hate the idea, and spend hours pouring bile upon those who enthuse about them. Don't confuse them with the facts; they know that fuse upgrades cannot make a difference. Well, amigos, having gone through the SR Black, then Blue, and now the new reference Orange Fuse, I can tell you that the improvements wrought by the SR Fuses…especially the Orange…are simply great! Lower noise floors, greater clarity, and improved detail are all among the gains that I'm hearing in our reference system here. And the more revealing your audio system is, the more you'll hear the difference.

Frankly, until and unless you try them, you really don't know what's possible with your current (another pun alert) components.

Don't want to try it? Fine…but it's definitely your loss. you'll never know what you're missing, amigos.

Meanwhile, a record-setting pile of my 2019 Brutus Awards for Synergistic Research…with the very greatest enthusiasm!

And if that weren't enough, Synergistic Research also won my 2019 Positive Feedback Circuitus Maximus Award. This I give only occasionally, to companies who have demonstrated superior system linkage and audio synergy in their designs. SR and Ted Denney have done that in spades with their SX line and their 2019 products. All support all, to the advancement of the audio arts!

Finally, Ted Denney has personally been awarded my 2019 Positive Feedback Gizmo Award for being such an audiomaniac and a Master of the Gizmonic Arts at Synergistic Research! This is a unique award, only given in those years when merited. And it is quite personal; this is for Ted Denney III himself.

We do this in honor of the original "Gizmo," Harvey Rosenberg, Audio Shaman and Exalted Audiomaniac of the audio arts! Gizmo was a longtime supporter of, and contributor to Positive Feedback. We still miss him....