skipper320

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $139.00 from usedcable.com

Summary:
I have been using the X2 version of the Alpha speaker wire for some time now.
I can honstly say that this is truly a great cable at a bargain price. I run a 10' pair single wired between my Bedini BA-801 amplifier and a pair of Audio Physic Sparks speakers. The soundstaging in both width and depth is amazing. Instruments and vocals are pinpoint in space. They have very good bass, silky smooth mids and great highs, never grainy or edgy. I have tried other cables costing much more in my system and always seem to come back to the Alpha's.
If you are into thick as your arm cables to impress your friends, look elsewhere.
If you want a great sounding cable that just conveys the music without adding any of its own sonic attributes, all at a bargain price, these are your cables.
They just get out of the way and let the music flow.

Strengths:
Deep, tight bass
Silky smooth mids
Excellent highs.
Never fatiguing. Never edgy or grainy
No sonic signature of its own. Adds nor subtracts anything from the music
Factory spades are excellent quality

Weaknesses:
Asolutely none at this price

Similar Products Used:
Harmonic Technology pro-11+
Kimber 8tc
Wireworld Equinox 3+
XLO Ultra 6
Siltech MXT New York

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Recently upgraded my aging stereo system with an AV receiver and 5.1 surround sound. As part of the upgrade I upgraded the interconnects with shielded cables. I connected the subwoofer with a Transparent Cable Link 200. Finally, I upgraded the front speaker pair with Synergistic Research speaker cables. These cables brought out bass notes that were not previously there (did the listening test with sub switched off). Monster cables are no comparison to these cables. I''m now a believer; cables do matter!! Synergistic Research speaker cables are a great value for the improvement they made in my home theater system.

Strengths:
Excellent bass transmission and precise sounding audio.

Weaknesses:
None noted.

Similar Products Used:
Transparent Cable

Price Paid:  $190.00 from Fatwyre

Summary:
I tested the Synergistic Research Quad Alpha wire along with the above mentioned wires over a 3 week period in my home. Here is my system:

Jolida 502b integrated amp
Sony CD player (Dont know model but it is a low-fi player)
B&W Nautilus 804 speakers
True Colors Cobra interconnect

First let me state, that this was my first foray into listening to "high end" speaker wire. I have never purchased any other wire except from Radio Shack. Since I recently bought a "high end" system I thought I would investigate more expensive speaker cable and see if the these cables "really" made a difference from the typical $20 radio shack wires that I had been using all of my life.

The results? Well ALL of the "higher end" cables were superior to the Radio Shack...the sound difference was noticeable to both me and my wife. Although I suspect the difference is not as dramatic to justify the 20x greater expense for some listeners. For an "audiophile" the Radio Shack would be unacceptable, but for "casual listeners" and perhaps for even some "audio enthusiasts" the Radio Shack will represent the best "value" for the money.


Anyway, here are my thoughts for the Quad Alpha wire. This wire took the longest to "break in" with my system. At first it sounded quite flat and lacked dimension...but after about 30 hours it really started to sound great! Dimension was oustanding...and the sound became much cleaner (although not as clean and clear as the MITs or Nordost) This was not the best sounding wire of the group I tested (I would actually rate it in 3rd place behind the MIT and Audioquest Bedrock) but the price is substantially lower than those I mentioned. The synergistics are $190 for a 10ft pair vs. $330 for the MITs and $360 for the Bedrock. The improvement in sound for the MITS and Bedrock is not worth the extra $$$s in my opinion. Thats why I purchsed the Synergistic Research cables.

Strengths:
Excellent soundstage. Outstanding bass, midrange and highs.

Weaknesses:
Separation of voicing not as clean as others I auditioned

Similar Products Used:
MIT Terminator 4 (Bi-Wired), Audioquest Slate, Audioquest Bedrock (Bi-Wired), Nordost Super Flatline (Bi-Wired), Radio Shack flat cable

Summary:
I think I can finally put "Audiophile" near my name instead of just "Audio Enthusiast." These cables are part of what pushed me over that line. Moving from Monster and Vampyre cables to Synergistic Research has been a dream come true. All of the reviewers that say "cables make a difference" are RIGHT. Spend a little extra money on good cables. You won't regret it.
I've been so pleased with these cables, and the improvements I can hear versus what I had before, I've already decided to upgrade again. I have SR Mark IIS speaker wires on order and expect to hear another leap in sonic quality.

I have to give these calbes 5 stars. The price-point is a very affordable one, and the quality is all there.

Associated components:
B&K Ref 20 pre
B&K AV5000 amp
Magnepan MGLR, MGCC, and MGRR speakers
Energy subwoofer
SR Alpha interconnects and speaker wire

Summary:
I recently purchased these speaker cables and am extremely happy with my
purchase. I bought them, in fact, accidentally: I was shopping
in the
Cable company (fatwyre.com) for an interconnect and just
mentioned that I
am not satisfied with my current speaker wire. In response,
Glenn told me
that I should try the Alpha series. I was truly impressed by his
expertise,
because I, actually, did not tell him what I did not like about
my system and
he identified it judt right all the same. I was recently
experimenting with the speaker cables, and my latest (3rd)
attempt with 10 ga famous
brand wire was not successful, to say the least. Accordingly,
I was rather skeptical,
but, luckily, I gave it a try, anyway. To my greatest surprise,
my system with this Synergistic
Alpha series speaker wire suddenly came to life: the sound
became three
dimensional, clean, and very very detailed and articulate. It
was, in fact, restructured
all the way from the deep bass to treble. I was reading
different reviews that if the cable
is thick enough than they are all the same - WRONG, at least
for my system. Great product.