Synergistic Research HOTs - Headphone Optimized Transducer

[GaryProtein]

Has anybody tried these:

http://www.synergisticresearch.com/featured/hot-headphone-optimized-transducer/

Someone on another forum bought one and opened it up:

Here are their findings on what you get for your $300:

Inside there are two jacks. One male and one female. They are connected directly together by three wires. There are three strips of tin foil connected to the three wires, not in the line of current. Glued to the outside of the female plug is some quartz sand. It is basically a placebo device.

In their website, SR said they were ONE YEAR in development. ". . . you hear sound that gets out of your head as well as smoother more articulate highs with improved bass. If you’ve been looking for more holographic sound with smoother highs and increased resolution. . . ."

With each new product they released, I said it was a scam and a fraud. Their products are a complete waste of money. They play on the insecurities and frailties of audiophiles as they laugh all the way to the bank.

Synergistic Research is the most despicable company in audio.

 

[GaryProtein]

---at best, it is a three inch extension cord for your headphone!

 

[spiritofmusic]

I must admit, this stuff does look v.bad. Reminds me a little of The Upgrade Company. I believe someone took apart a top cdp that had their mods done for a fair few $thousand, and found a mass of mastic, wires, tin foil etc. It certainly didn't look the business. And Lexicon, that just dropped a whole Oppo dvd/blu ray direct in a shiny chassis, w/out even removing the Oppo casewk. And charged a small fortune.
I have real mixed feelings about many tweaks out there, and in my case the only ones that seem to be the real deal in terms of significant impvts are my Westwick 8kVA balanced power transformer, Entreq Silver Tellus/Apollo grounding, Sablon Audio PC's and Symposium Acoustics Isis/Rollerblocks isolation. Various Lessloss Blackbodies, Steinmusic Harmonisers, Pete Belt tin foil etc leave me unmoved.
I don't know where this puts me on the spectrum, but I suspect SR stuff fits into the latter group which would leave me skeptical. Might be opening a Pandora's Box if we opened up even more tweaks.

 

[es347]

At least Machina Dynamica is tongue in cheek. SR is a bold faced scam...every single product is a placebo. I'm sure I'll be criticized for dissing products that I've never heard...such is life..

 

[spiritofmusic]

I feel I sit on the objective/subjective divide. There is no doubt that I am biased anti if I can't see the principle behind a product, or the tech sounds outlandish. SR would fit into this. But I remain open minded on a lot of power/electrical related products, since I can see the physics of what is trying to be achieved e.g. Entreq grounding providing a drain/common impedance path for nasties. Shunyata Research etc. Nevertheless, arch objectivists like Purite Keith still rap me over the knuckles for being a sap, and open to any charlatan out there.

 

[Geardaddy]

Hmmm. I have used their fuses to good effect. A "change" for the better was evdident. I have also heard their Galileo line of cabling and it is very good. A friend purchased their Galileo USB cable and said it was a system changer, so who knows. Gary or someone here should at least give it a listen and see what happens. Anyone have any technical, material science explanation for their choices here? I know other manufacturers (Pranawire, linebacker) use Quartz for EMI, RFI shielding.

 

[bonzo75]

Hmmm. I have used their fuses to good effect. A "change" for the better was evdident. I have also heard their Galileo line of cabling and it is very good. A friend purchased their Galileo USB cable and said it was a system changer, so who knows. Gary or someone here should at least give it a listen and see what happens. Anyone have any technical, material science explanation for their choices here? I know other manufacturers (Pranawire, linebacker) use Quartz for EMI, RFI shielding.

Quartz is a common thing. Apparently keeping quartz crystals around helps, and quartz and different crystals have different properties. Some just keep them near their power supply. I know of one cable manufacturer who uses it in his cable. The Shun Mook mpingo discs also contain a crystal, so the sound changing when you turn the mooks is not magic, it is simply the crystal changing direction

It will be interesting to try out SR cables, problem is they keep upgrading all the time, and there are so many in the used market not sure which is which

 

[mtseymour]

If you start a thread based on another source, the least you can do is to give a proper citation. I found the photo and the thread from Head Fi at:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/744295/synergistic-research-hot-device/30

If you actually read the thread, it's not clear who ripped the HOTs apart, and or if they actually analyzed the material composition. I didn't see any mention about quartz sand (but maybe I missed it). It's quite a hatchet job (literally and figuratively) and I wonder how your favorite part (transistor, resistor, capacitor, etc) or component would look after this treatment. Did this person even hear it before he tore it apart?

Anyway, most Head Fi member who bothered to hear the HOTs liked it. Of course, the harshest critics didn't bother to hear it. I haven't heard the HOTs so I won't say if it's the best or worst thing ever. As usual, YMMV. Why get so worked up when Synergistic Research offers a 30-day guarantee? You simply get a full refund if you don't like it. I wish more companies would make the same offer.

BTW, it would be great if GaryProtein spend 1% of his time talking about something he likes or What's Best. It's quite a challenge because you actually have to listen to music and be fair-minded, and I know he's busy posting about stuff that he doesn't own or heard.

 

[Geardaddy]

Well said...

 

[Occam]

mtseymour -

+1
Its far easier to dismiss something with a thought experiment or as ascribe results to expectation bias, than to empirically investigate.

 

[GaryProtein]

. . . .BTW, it would be great if GaryProtein spend 1% of his time talking about something he likes or What's Best. It's quite a challenge because you actually have to listen to music and be fair-minded, and I know he's busy posting about stuff that he doesn't own or heard.

mtseymour, why don't you post something that shows these ersatz products OBJECTIVELY do something (that means measurements, because something so wonderful must be measurable) instead of picking on me. (Not that I give a damn.)

I'll tell you what mtsyemour, when people like Rockitman and Mike Lavigne put their reputations on the line and post that they have purchased these ersatz Synergistic Research products and believe they have noticeably enhanced their systems, I will CONSIDER eating my words.

Until then, SYNERGISTIC RESEARCH TWEAKS ARE STILL CRAP and a waste of money that could be better spent on room treatment.