Tek what power source are you using for your active shielding power supply? If it's the little wallwart power pack then you're not realizing all the potential of your Designers Reference. If it's the Master Control Center then that's an improvement, but again that depends upon which AC cord you have supplying power into the MCC.
I tried all of Synergistic's AC cords with my MCC (I did not expect to hear any difference no matter what AC cord was used) & came to the same conclusion as the manufacturer, that their best AC cord makes their active shileding system sound the best, dramatically better in fact. Econmically speaking, this combo adds another $2400 already (it can be had for considerably less if you look around) for the MCC with a Designers Reference Squared AC. For just one pair of interconnects this makes no economic sense. But if you have all active-shielded interconnects like mine, then the cost of the MCC divides by the # pairs of interconnects it is supplying. Additionally the MCC has two different bias levels available, 30VDC & 15VDC. You can experiment with the different DC voltages to different cables & pick the better per each application. These differences aren't dramatic, but they are still worthwhile optimizing.
"Synergy" of cables with your components is of course another issue, & what works best for me won't necessarily work best for you, vice-versa, etc.
The results of your experiments are interesting & please do post your further learnings here. I am particularly interested in the Van den hul. However unless I misunderstand you, I don't believe you've yet heard the full capabilities of the Synergistic system.
I tried all of Synergistic's AC cords with my MCC (I did not expect to hear any difference no matter what AC cord was used) & came to the same conclusion as the manufacturer, that their best AC cord makes their active shileding system sound the best, dramatically better in fact. Econmically speaking, this combo adds another $2400 already (it can be had for considerably less if you look around) for the MCC with a Designers Reference Squared AC. For just one pair of interconnects this makes no economic sense. But if you have all active-shielded interconnects like mine, then the cost of the MCC divides by the # pairs of interconnects it is supplying. Additionally the MCC has two different bias levels available, 30VDC & 15VDC. You can experiment with the different DC voltages to different cables & pick the better per each application. These differences aren't dramatic, but they are still worthwhile optimizing.
"Synergy" of cables with your components is of course another issue, & what works best for me won't necessarily work best for you, vice-versa, etc.
The results of your experiments are interesting & please do post your further learnings here. I am particularly interested in the Van den hul. However unless I misunderstand you, I don't believe you've yet heard the full capabilities of the Synergistic system.