CanJam SoCal 2019 – The Highlights

Synergistic Research

Synergistic Research makes their first appearance at a CanJam this year. They’ve made headphone products for years but are debuting their new affordable Foundation Series line of headphone cables.

Let’s face it. Without comparisons – you can’t really determine how much better (or worse) a product is. Well, instead of just telling you “our cables improve your listening experience” – Synergistic Research demonstrates it. They did so, on a much larger scale, at T.H.E. Show this past month.

Here we have identical systems with a Bluesound streamer, two pairs of Sennheiser HD800 headphones and Monolith (Monoprice) Tube headphone DAC/amplifiers. The only difference is the use of Synergistic Research cabling, isolation, and grounding products on one of them.

If you aren’t a believer in the merits of the aforementioned peripherals, this demo would’ve changed your mind – immediately. The “generic” stack was unbearably sharp and grainy. I couldn’t listen to it for more than a few seconds. Switching over to the Synergistic Research rig and we get a crystal clear, warmer, and smoother sound. There was just more meat on the bones, more apparent decay in the resonances, and far better coherence.

Moving onto the ~$15,000 rig tucked to the side, and you start to realize what “You get what you pay for” really means. The combination of the Mr. Speakers ETHER 2, Headamp GS-X mini amplifier, and Synergistic Research stack (including the Foundation Series headphone cable) was one of my favorite combinations at CanJam. All of the components complemented each other beautifully – striking the perfect balance of body, tone, and resolution.