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Your experience with finding "Synergy"

madmonda

madmonda

Active Member
I've read that speakers need the right amp to sound their best. I'm a firm believer of this. Whenever I get a new pair of speakers, receiver, or amp, I go threw a circus of swapping components. Today I pulled a pair of speakers out of my abyss of things that get stashed away to never return. The speakers are a pair of fisher xp-55b's. I got them from the Goodwill over 2yrs ago for $3 a piece. When I first auditioned them, I really liked the midrange with female voices. But the speakers never made the final cut and were retired to the closet after about a week or so. Today I hooked them up to a sansui 890db and...they still sucked. Then i looked over to a couple spare amps I've been contemplating of selling. I hooked the xp's to a sansui au-505 and...BAM!!! the xp's ROCK...and they are rocking hard right now!!! I've found the alluring synergy! I've been listening all day.

They don't sound as muffled as I remember. I haven't really played around with positioning, but they are giving a good attempt with soundstage. The bass is ear-defying for the 8" woofer in them. Not boomy, not thin. They're getting the lows very good. The highs are not as crispy as my RTR HPM12's, but I'm not complaining at all. They just sound right with the au-505. Right now they are sitting atop the HPM's. My wife and son couldn't tell which speakers were playing (right next to the HPM's are Bozak 302's). These little xp's sound like speakers 5x their size.....amazing.

I know fisher speakers aren't highly regarded, but these are staying! And the au-505 has finally found a solid mate (it's held it's own with everything I've put on it...good little amp it is).

Now...if I can only find the right amp for the loved/hated pioneer hpm-100's...beautiful cabs...but they just don't quite sound right to me.

What's your surprising combo? Accident or premeditated?
 
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I do the same thing, run new speakers with every amp I have. One of my favorite combs is in my son's room, Sansui 881 pushing a pair of DCM Time Window 1s. It's a sweet sounding system that is very hard to fault. I really need to give him another system and move the Sansui/DCM system to my garage system.
 
My first system that hit the magic was a Marantz 2215b (still have it)and some 2way sansui speakers. This was back in 1976. I've been chasing the trail again. Now my set tube amp and diy mltl fullrange did it again. When you hit the sweet spot it sure is nice.:music:

Mark
 
Yeah, that's a special moment when one finds the "perfect" match!

The two that immediately come to mind for me are "Stacked" double Original Large Advents matched with a Nikko NR-815 (or 1015) receiver, and Dynaco A-25's with a Sansui Model Six. Honorable mention would be DCM Timeframe TF-600's and a Sanusi AU-317.
 
I am in the minority. I think system "synergy" is kind of a bogus idea. A good amp shouldn't care what kind of speaker it's driving unless it is a flea watt SET in which case you know you need efficiency. If you seek the same qualities you prefer, throughout the chain, you will end up with sound you like. If you have something you don't like, change it. Don't seek something else you don't like in the hopes that somehow those negative attributes will cancel each other out. My jaded side says this term was invented so the not quite fully engineered esoterica with the huge price tags have something do hide behind when the stuff doesn't work as advertised.
 
rwortman said:
I am in the minority. I think system "synergy" is kind of a bogus idea. A good amp shouldn't care what kind of speaker it's driving unless it is a flea watt SET in which case you know you need efficiency. If you seek the same qualities you prefer, throughout the chain, you will end up with sound you like. If you have something you don't like, change it. Don't seek something else you don't like in the hopes that somehow those negative attributes will cancel each other out. My jaded side says this term was invented so the not quite fully engineered esoterica with the huge price tags have something do hide behind when the stuff doesn't work as advertised.
Click to expand...

No, you're not alone. I've never experienced it. All my speakers have pretty much sounded the same on all amps I've used, assuming no tone controls are involved.

I like some speakers, and think others suck. It's never because of lack of "synergy".
 
I think my systems all sound fantastic in their own way however this synergistic idea fails when different music I play sounds so much better than others. Just when I think I am "dialed in" I am harshly reminded of this. I wish my system would perform better across all platforms. I use different pairs of speakers like one would use an EQ. It's getting old..
 
Between me and my many audio pals, both amatuer and pro, I have heard a lot of systems and a lot of very nice gear in many combinations. Synergy happens and it can be quite startling.

There are a lot of factors. It is a fact that speakers present different loads to amplifiers and that different amplifiers perform best with different loads. There are other factors, such as room acoustics, phono cartridge tonal characteristics, turntable drive type, quality of power supply, output stage, digital stage, and transport. Each componant contributes strengths and weaknesses that can be offset or accentuated by the strengths and weakness of other componants.

Finding synergy is fun.
 
I did more listening today. I'm still in awe at how a pair of rectangular turds came out smelling so fresh. Even my wife commented on how they sound. And that's saying something! She said I should sell them for one hundred bucks. She usually tells me to sell my speakers at a discount. She even volunteered to sit in the sweet spot and enjoyed the tunes for more than a split second, like she usually does! Now I'm on to something...Gonna find another pair and try stacking these bad boys. I've spent too much money on audio goodies to be floored by a 23WPC amp and a pair of $6 Goodwill specials. And if I'm sounding too much like a pitchman; I assure you that I have no affiliation with sansui or fisher :)
 
We know Amps can be voiced differently, so it stands to reason changing them, even if otherwise they are similiar will produce a different sound. Most decent Amps however should have no Problem driving most speakers, unless either or both are way off neutral in voicing.
 
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It's not that they have trouble driving the speakers, it's that there are nuances in how the circuit reacts that effect sonics. It can effect both frequency and dynamic response. A circuit can be a hammer or it can be a knife, but it can't be both.
 
I'm working on a theory based on amp damping factor and speaker efficiency.

I have experienced the "synergy". Others have reported the same thing.

What you need is a few rooms full of components and speakers of different levels. TOTL to BOTL and mix and match.

One example.
Most folks hold that Dahlquist DQ-10s like a LOT of power.
They do.
BUT, they can also SHINE with small units, Akai AA-1135, Marantz Model 22.

Some speaker need power to really shine, or at least I haven't found any low power units to make them sound good.
Examples
Infinity Monitor Jrs.
Advent Maestros.

Some speakers don't like a lot of power.
Dahlquist DQ-20s shine best around 50wpc
 
IME, synergy is more than just amp/speaker matching, as Isotonic relates above, and includes more than just the system but also, as usual, the room which contains it; I agree with him that synergy happens and can be quite startling when it does, but it has also been my experience that you can move that very same system into a different room and lose that synergistic combination. Also, ime, once you hear it you realize that it is uncommon.
 
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I'm working on a theory based on amp damping factor and speaker efficiency.
Click to expand...
Amplifier output impedance and actual load impedance at the amplifier's terminals play a serious role. Much more than the rainbow and unicorn magic of "synergy".
 
My Pioneer SX-838 and Realistic Nova 8b's seem to be made for each other
I have driven the Nova's with different amps and hooked up different speakers to the 838 and none of the other combinations seem to hit that sweet spot.
 
I've never experienced any effect that could be related to synergy between an amp and a speaker. Or any other properly built and interfaced components.

I have experienced Unicorn magic though, which is totally awesome.
 
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