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Synergistics speakers?

RayW

RayW

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Hey guys,

I just happened into a pair of Synergistics S-53 speakers and I've never heard of them. Web research hasn't yielded much as a search on "synergistics" and "speakers" or any variants gives a million hits about how someone's speakers match up with their amp and/or room. Using S-53 gives very little useful info other than they were made in '79-80.

They're floorstanders with an 8" woofer, a 10" PR, and a couple of 2" cone tweeters on the front. There are also 2" cone tweeters on both sides. I haven't opened them up to see what's going on inside. Dimensions are ~30x15x13 with wood top/bottom and grill cloth all the way around front and sides. The foam is completely gone on the woofers and PRs. The PR is just a cardboard disk.

I'm just wondering if they're worth salvaging. Anybody know these things?

Thanks,
Ray
 
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Drivers are almost certainly CTS OEM. Some tweeters may be Motorola (ironically, later CTS) piezos. They actually sounded not too bad. Stereo Discounters in MD sold 'em.
Yours probably came after the model line for which I have a brochure (example follows):
synergisticsS52and62.jpg


There've been threads here and at AA on these.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=56183&highlight=synergistics
http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/vintage/messages/14/145652.html
 
All the Synergistics I've seen were OEM'd by RtR - if you've got a gold foil crossover plate with red reset button, they were.
Check those tweeters - the cone tweets I've scavenged from a couple pair of those were the peerless cones with the yolk magnet assembly. Very very sweet tweeter, and I've only seen the 16 ohm version in them. (Thank god, because its what I needed to fix up the RtRs I was working on).
 
I have a small pair of two ways. I bought them for $10 about 20 years ago at the flea market. Real wood cabinets, and I like how they sound. I have them hooked up to a Fisher RS-250. Mostly used for the play station now, but sometimes when the wife kicks me out of the family room, I listen to music with the set up.

Rob
 

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RayW,
They were made by Synergistics Maybern Company in Cleveland, Ohio. There were ten models offered in 1981, yours being the the fourth from the top of the line.

response: 40Hz to 18kHz +/-4 dB
crossover: 50 Hz, 2.5 Hz
8 ohms

In 1981, they moved manufacturing to the RTR complex in Canoga Park California.
They dropped 3 models in 1981, the S-53 being one of them.

Vito
 
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My Orion Blue Book,which is often innaccurate,says these were made in 1979 and 1980,and that the cost was $650 a pair new.Im curious what they sound like.
Jimmy
 
This is a real speaker company? It seems to me I have a pair in the basement. The sounded OK but I took them for white vans. Woogers need to be racooned.
 
They were "value leaders" for companies like Stereo Discounters (i.e., big markups, low "package" prices for the consumer).
 
We called them store brands.... I'd been thinking about reconing them just to try my hand at reconing.
 
Thanks for all the info! Looks like I'll be ordering up some surrounds and playing with these critters. Having tweeters pointing in 3 different directions will be a new experience for me. I've heard setups similar in store listening rooms but never in my house.

I know, :worthless
but I'll get some pics up as soon as the wife brings the camera back home.

Ray
 
One More to Watch For...

I picked up one other Synergistics pair I haven't seen described here. It had dual 8-inch woofers front mounted with a screened tweeter above it and one to either side, left and right and stood at least 36" x 12" x 14", maybe 50 pounds. The grill wrapped around three-quarters of the cabinet leaving the back exposed. I had seen a few ads posted in the classifieds in Audio Magazine and judging from the weight of the cabinet and the look of the drivers, I thought they might be good speakers. Got them at the bi-weekly Goodwill auction for maybe $15. The woofers used cloth surrounds and with a touch of glue to the cone of one, they were good to go. There was a tweeter level adjustment in back. Fired 'em up and wow...they sounded great, with a wide soundstage. I think they needed a good 50 watt per channel amp to let them open up, but place them right and fine tune the tweets and they were good sounding speakers. I replaced them for some other speakers that I got a bit later for $54, fairly good themselves....Infinity Kappa 8's:D
 
Finally got the camera back from the wife. The foams are totally rotted. The PR is just a piece of cardboard. I've never seen one so light. The wood (veneer) is in decent shape but there are a few chips. And of course they need a good cleaning.

Ray
 

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Soundtrak in Okla. City sold these in the mid to late 70's. None of the other audio shops in town had them so I thought at the time that they were a Soundtrak house brand. Friend of mine had a pair of floorstanders w/8" woofers if I remember correctly. They sounded OK - I wasn't too impressed. Use 'em in the garage!
 
I have a pair of S-73's (big floor standing janks) I bought in the summer of 1979 from The Stereo Post in Lancaster, PA. The foam is gone around the woofers but the mid-range is good and the tweeter is a "screen looking" contraption. Being almost thirty years old with the variety of audio abuse I've sent their way (first with a Sherwood 80 Watt amp and now with a Onkyo 100 Watt amp), they've held up very well. I'm going to have the foams repaired to provide, hopefully, another thirty years of aural entertainment.
 
I have a pair of Synergistics S-46's, I have tried learning about them on the internet, but so far, this site seems to be the only one with info on the synergistics brand... I would just like to know more about my speakers. Although right now I have a problem, the surround is made of foam and has fallen apart on the largest speaker on one, and is starting to on the other. I do not really have very much money, but would like to fix this problem, what should I do?
 
If you are handy, you could replace the foam yourself. I have done a few pairs now and have not messed up any.

I think some places charge about $40 a speaker to do it for you.

Rob
 
Refoaming is pretty straightforward.
Steve Deckert provides illustrated, step-by-step (and pretty fastidious) instructions at his website www.decware.com (he sells surrounds and repairs speakers, as well).

MAT Electronics is a good, inexpensive source for generic foam surrounds (which should be fine for the drivers in question). www.matelectronics.com
 
Synergistics S 72

I bought a good condition pair of S 72's last year for $100. I have them hooked up to a Intergra DTR 9.1 reciever, along with a Bic center and Bic 12" powered sub , audiovox side speakers, and altec model 96's for the rear. Their all hooked with OMC 12ga. speaker wire and Monster Interlink reference interconnects.

The S 72's sound fantastic , full and have amazing clarity for a realativly older speaker. the surrounds and cones are perfect as well as the cabinets which are very heavy.

I would like to find some newer timber matched speakers for the center, sides and rears that would be comparable to the S 72's !

Any Suggestions ?

100_0854.jpg


Thanks for your help !
 
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