Talking about reviews, here are excerpts of Brian Damkroger's The Absolute Sound review that appears on the Synergistic Research site. Here is the link:
http://www.synergisticresearch.com/reviews/ac-master-coupler/
"How big a difference [do these power cords make]?... To put it in perspective, the difference is akin to replacing an undistinguished MOSFET stereo amp with a pair of absolutely top-flight mono tube amps or replacing a midfi direct-drive turntable with a well set up Linn, Sota, or VPI. To say I was unprepared for the difference these power cords made would be a big, big understatement ... The differences wrought in my system by the additions of these power cords were positive, dramatic, and immediately apparent. However, unlike some immediate, drastic changes, the differences brought about by the cords didn't wear on me with time. In fact, the more I listened to my system with [these power cords] in place, the more difficult I found it to believe I had tolerated my system without them. Whenever I removed [them] from my systems, I found myself shaking my head and wondering, "Have I been listening to this?"
To say that [they] moved my system toward the absolute sound is true, but doesn't really capture the magnitude or sense of that movement. Suppose, for example, that you went from having one penny to having two. One way to describe this is to say that you went from 99 cents short of a dollar to 98 cents short, not a big change with respect to the dollar. However, another way to describe the change is to say that you doubled your wealth a big change from where you were. The absolute sound is a long way out there ... But oh what those things do for a system! The only way to capture [their] impact is to concentrate on the doubling of wealth, to describe the differences themselves.
These differences, in decreasing order of apparent magnitude, were an increase in the dimensionally of individual instruments in the soundstage; an opening up of the soundstage, or increase in air between individual instruments; replacement of the smog between images in the soundstage with crystal clear air; an increase in the sharpness of the leading edge of transients, both spatially and temporally; and increase in bass extension and precision; and a decrease in high-frequency garbage.
Although all of these changes are inter-related, first I'll try to describe each individually and give examples I noted during my listening sessions. The most immediate and noticeable effect of [these power cords] was an increase in the dimensionally [sic] and body of individual images. This was most apparent with vocals, solo instruments, or small groups ... the vocals took on palpable dimensionally [sic] and body, whereas with the standard cords in place, they were somewhat twodimensional [sic], layered on the front edge of the soundfield [sic] ... With [these power cords], the voices became three-dimensional, surrounded by a cushion of air ...
... In this case, the added dimensionally [sic]seems to result from an increase in inner detail intricacies of the sound of the air moving through the horn give it size and presence ... With [these power cords] in place, subtle shifts in the instruments position are clearly evident as such. With the standard cords in place, the shifts are barely perceptible, and then only as changes in tonal character. With record after record, the added dimensionally [sic] and detail were nothing short of dramatic.
[These power cords] also opened up the soundstage. I dont mean to say that the outer boundaries of the soundstage moved outward they did, particularly in terms of depth but thats not what Im getting at here. The difference was more an increased perception of separation between, or distinction of, individual images in the soundstage. With [these power cords], the image centers weren't significantly farther apart, but the edges, of the images and spaces between them were now real, distinct, and three-dimensional ... this resulted in the instruments having more body, and the space between becoming more obvious as a separate entity, filled with the mixed resonance and decay of not only the solo instrument, but also the surrounding instruments and hall ... Here, the combination of dimensionally [sic], detail, and the soundstage opening made some of the denser passages seem more like individual instruments combined, rather than simply a canned, congealed sound.
The heightened awareness of the space added a bit of the charged excitement of a live performance. On multi-miked rock, the empty space between images was just that empty, really empty. Further, the emptiness had a clarity and sharpness that made it apparent that, with the standard cords, the space had actually been filled with a cloudy film. This is the third wonder wrought by [these power cords], the removal of not a veil or film over the soundstage, but rather the greasy, cloudy, grungy matrix that the images were suspended in. I know, I know your system doesnt suspend images in a grungy matrix. Well, neither did mine, until [these power cords] showed me what the soundstage could be like without the grungy matrix! ... imagine ... crystal clear air, like a window you have to touch to make sure its there, or for we westerners, a crisp, clear morning at about 8,500 feet when youd swear you could see someone in Kansas if they stood on their roof.
This clarity is further augmented, or more likely supported, by the fourth difference I attributed to [these power cords] an increase in the sharpness of the leading edge of transients. This increase had two aspects. The first is temporal, meaning that the transients sound faster. The second is spatial, in that transients seem to arise from a more specific, and rigidly fixed, point in space. One of the major shortfalls of recorded music is an incorrect handling of transients. It's easy to identify a live band down the hall, around the corner, and at the other end of a bar. One rim shot is all it takes. Why? I think a big part of it has to do with transient performance. Maybe it's micro-dynamics, maybe absolute rise time, or maybe phase coherence at the leading edge of the transient ...
Additionally present, however, was a significant increase in bass extension, definition, and power ... which brings me to the last effect of [these popwer cords], a reduction in high frequency garbage ... To me, the decrease in grunge was most apparent in the increased clarity, dimensionally [sic], and body ... For whatever reason, [these power cords] allow a system to better preserve the fine detail and phase integrity of a signal, simultaneously reducing spurious noise that results from either external sources or internal interactions.
The result is a huge I repeat, huge leap forward in the realism of the sound coming out of a system. The difference between, say, the sharper ring and decay of an Ovation guitar and the deeper body and resonance of a Martin take on a new level of prominence. With the Master Couplers, you get a much better sense of hearing the body of the guitar, rather than just a sound emanating from an area in space. Similarly, the spatial dimensionally [sic] and layering of multiple images within a soundfield are more apparent. With a densely orchestrated work, the effect is an increase in both the body and overall acoustic envelope and the ability to distinguish individual voices or edges of the soundfield. The effect is sort of a "virtual reality" spatial and temporal interplay of the voices ... To summarize, I can't possibly recommend [these] Synergistic Research [power cords] more highly ... for what they do, they represent the biggest bang for the audio buck I have seen ..."
WOW! I'm glad I found this review. These power cords sound absolutely amazing. I can't wait to audition them in my system. Brian Damkroger must be talking about the game-changing Element series. No? Then he must be talking about the game-changing Tesla series? No? Then what?
This is a review of the game-changing Master Coupler. The moral of the story is not to be enticed by reviews -- or by manufacturers who publish these reviews on their sites and who mirror what reviewers say in their own sales promotional material. Trust your own ears -- unless you need someone else to tell you what you are supposed to hear.
http://www.synergisticresearch.com/reviews/ac-master-coupler/
"How big a difference [do these power cords make]?... To put it in perspective, the difference is akin to replacing an undistinguished MOSFET stereo amp with a pair of absolutely top-flight mono tube amps or replacing a midfi direct-drive turntable with a well set up Linn, Sota, or VPI. To say I was unprepared for the difference these power cords made would be a big, big understatement ... The differences wrought in my system by the additions of these power cords were positive, dramatic, and immediately apparent. However, unlike some immediate, drastic changes, the differences brought about by the cords didn't wear on me with time. In fact, the more I listened to my system with [these power cords] in place, the more difficult I found it to believe I had tolerated my system without them. Whenever I removed [them] from my systems, I found myself shaking my head and wondering, "Have I been listening to this?"
To say that [they] moved my system toward the absolute sound is true, but doesn't really capture the magnitude or sense of that movement. Suppose, for example, that you went from having one penny to having two. One way to describe this is to say that you went from 99 cents short of a dollar to 98 cents short, not a big change with respect to the dollar. However, another way to describe the change is to say that you doubled your wealth a big change from where you were. The absolute sound is a long way out there ... But oh what those things do for a system! The only way to capture [their] impact is to concentrate on the doubling of wealth, to describe the differences themselves.
These differences, in decreasing order of apparent magnitude, were an increase in the dimensionally of individual instruments in the soundstage; an opening up of the soundstage, or increase in air between individual instruments; replacement of the smog between images in the soundstage with crystal clear air; an increase in the sharpness of the leading edge of transients, both spatially and temporally; and increase in bass extension and precision; and a decrease in high-frequency garbage.
Although all of these changes are inter-related, first I'll try to describe each individually and give examples I noted during my listening sessions. The most immediate and noticeable effect of [these power cords] was an increase in the dimensionally [sic] and body of individual images. This was most apparent with vocals, solo instruments, or small groups ... the vocals took on palpable dimensionally [sic] and body, whereas with the standard cords in place, they were somewhat twodimensional [sic], layered on the front edge of the soundfield [sic] ... With [these power cords], the voices became three-dimensional, surrounded by a cushion of air ...
... In this case, the added dimensionally [sic]seems to result from an increase in inner detail intricacies of the sound of the air moving through the horn give it size and presence ... With [these power cords] in place, subtle shifts in the instruments position are clearly evident as such. With the standard cords in place, the shifts are barely perceptible, and then only as changes in tonal character. With record after record, the added dimensionally [sic] and detail were nothing short of dramatic.
[These power cords] also opened up the soundstage. I dont mean to say that the outer boundaries of the soundstage moved outward they did, particularly in terms of depth but thats not what Im getting at here. The difference was more an increased perception of separation between, or distinction of, individual images in the soundstage. With [these power cords], the image centers weren't significantly farther apart, but the edges, of the images and spaces between them were now real, distinct, and three-dimensional ... this resulted in the instruments having more body, and the space between becoming more obvious as a separate entity, filled with the mixed resonance and decay of not only the solo instrument, but also the surrounding instruments and hall ... Here, the combination of dimensionally [sic], detail, and the soundstage opening made some of the denser passages seem more like individual instruments combined, rather than simply a canned, congealed sound.
The heightened awareness of the space added a bit of the charged excitement of a live performance. On multi-miked rock, the empty space between images was just that empty, really empty. Further, the emptiness had a clarity and sharpness that made it apparent that, with the standard cords, the space had actually been filled with a cloudy film. This is the third wonder wrought by [these power cords], the removal of not a veil or film over the soundstage, but rather the greasy, cloudy, grungy matrix that the images were suspended in. I know, I know your system doesnt suspend images in a grungy matrix. Well, neither did mine, until [these power cords] showed me what the soundstage could be like without the grungy matrix! ... imagine ... crystal clear air, like a window you have to touch to make sure its there, or for we westerners, a crisp, clear morning at about 8,500 feet when youd swear you could see someone in Kansas if they stood on their roof.
This clarity is further augmented, or more likely supported, by the fourth difference I attributed to [these power cords] an increase in the sharpness of the leading edge of transients. This increase had two aspects. The first is temporal, meaning that the transients sound faster. The second is spatial, in that transients seem to arise from a more specific, and rigidly fixed, point in space. One of the major shortfalls of recorded music is an incorrect handling of transients. It's easy to identify a live band down the hall, around the corner, and at the other end of a bar. One rim shot is all it takes. Why? I think a big part of it has to do with transient performance. Maybe it's micro-dynamics, maybe absolute rise time, or maybe phase coherence at the leading edge of the transient ...
Additionally present, however, was a significant increase in bass extension, definition, and power ... which brings me to the last effect of [these popwer cords], a reduction in high frequency garbage ... To me, the decrease in grunge was most apparent in the increased clarity, dimensionally [sic], and body ... For whatever reason, [these power cords] allow a system to better preserve the fine detail and phase integrity of a signal, simultaneously reducing spurious noise that results from either external sources or internal interactions.
The result is a huge I repeat, huge leap forward in the realism of the sound coming out of a system. The difference between, say, the sharper ring and decay of an Ovation guitar and the deeper body and resonance of a Martin take on a new level of prominence. With the Master Couplers, you get a much better sense of hearing the body of the guitar, rather than just a sound emanating from an area in space. Similarly, the spatial dimensionally [sic] and layering of multiple images within a soundfield are more apparent. With a densely orchestrated work, the effect is an increase in both the body and overall acoustic envelope and the ability to distinguish individual voices or edges of the soundfield. The effect is sort of a "virtual reality" spatial and temporal interplay of the voices ... To summarize, I can't possibly recommend [these] Synergistic Research [power cords] more highly ... for what they do, they represent the biggest bang for the audio buck I have seen ..."
WOW! I'm glad I found this review. These power cords sound absolutely amazing. I can't wait to audition them in my system. Brian Damkroger must be talking about the game-changing Element series. No? Then he must be talking about the game-changing Tesla series? No? Then what?
This is a review of the game-changing Master Coupler. The moral of the story is not to be enticed by reviews -- or by manufacturers who publish these reviews on their sites and who mirror what reviewers say in their own sales promotional material. Trust your own ears -- unless you need someone else to tell you what you are supposed to hear.