Syneergistic Research T2 Power Cord

Active Shielding / Zero Reactive Capacitance
The T2 is an Active version of our T1 power cord and offers significant improvements in sound stage air and layering, detail, and low frequency control and extension. Active Shielding decreases the noise floor for a blacker background so fine inner detail and micro transients are greatly improved along with overall smoothness and musicality. The T2 is a personal favorite of our lead designer Ted Denney as a pre-amp power cord and is used in our reference system along with Hologram A and Hologram D power cords. As always system synergy is the goal, not merely purchasing the most expensive cable you can afford. As a power cord for video, the Active Shielded T2 presents a lower noise floor for cleaner images with lower artifact levels when compared to the non-active T1.

Composition 1 high current Tricon geometry, 1 high current T2 geometry, Zero Reactive Capacitance Active Shielding with one 30 volt MPC, copper contact IEC and wall plug connectors. Each T2 power cord is Quantum Tunneled in our California factory. The T2 is available in 15-amp and 20-amp version and in a special slim line finish that makes routing T2 power cords as easy as stock power cords.

Geometry: 1 High Current Tricon / 1 High Current T2

Conductors: 3 x FPC Silver / 3 x OFC Copper IEC: Phosphor Bronze IEC Pins

Available Finish: Stealth Black, Décor White (slim-line only), Gold Standard

How to combine T Series power cords in your system
When voicing your system using Active T Series power cords, start with stock power cords on your digital components. Then place a T3 power cord on your amplifier(s) and compare T2 to T3 on your pre-amplifier. Finally, replace the stock power cord on your digital source (CD or DVD) and compare T3 to T2 powering your digital components. As you compare T2 to T3 power cords, you will notice differences in high frequency presentation as well as mid range bloom and sound staging. At each juncture select the cable that sounds most musical to you before moving to the next level.

The History of Synergistic Research Active Shielding

To understand Active Shielding, it is necessary to first understand the principles of Synergistic Research cable design. Our first step in designing a cable to complement a target system is to develop a geometry that complements that system at an engineering level by precisely controlling capacitance, inductance, and resistance in the cable geometry. Next, we 'voice' every cable in its target system by building each design out of literally dozens of different material combinations, seeking specific materials to yield natural sound.

For seven years, we worked with hundreds of passive cable geometries and over one thousand different material variations. During this process we realized passive differences in geometry and material selection could only take us so far and that ultimately we were limited by reactive capacitance (signal and cable interaction) and shield performance (RFI - Radio Frequency Interference and EMI - Electro-Magnetic Interference). During this process, we had an idea to actively suppress reactive capacitance and RFI and EMI to dramatically improve cable performance. So began our Active Shielding cable program.

Our first experiments with Active Shielding began early in 1996 and involved the placement of batteries in a static circuit, with the positive annode of the battery tied to a conductor running the length of a cable and the negative annode of the battery tied to the shield. These initial prototypes subjectively improved performance in the high frequencies. However, they also increased the noise floor (especially on long-runs), with its positive conductor running the length of the cable and not being terminated to signal or ground, thus acting like an antenna picking up RFI and EMI.

We then experimented with closed circuits where the shield carried a DC current with a buffer circuit between shield and ground with seperate conductors carrying the ground signal. This closed circuit design not only improved subjective performance, but also made our cables measureably quieter thus improving detail with greater frequency extension from top to bottom. Since a closed circuit draws current, we could no longer use batteries as this would drain a battery in a matter of hours.

Mini Power Coupler (MPC)

A more powerful solution was needed so we developed an AC to DC power supply (Mini Power Coupler or MPC). With the advent of our new TESLA series cables, we are in our third generation of Active cable technology.

Each Synergistic Research Active cable comes with an MPC to provide power for the active shielding.

Quattro (Full System) Active Power Supply

The Quattro Full System Power Supply was developed for 2 reasons:

1. Performance - Synergistic Research has opened a door into a whole new world of cable performance with Active Shielding technologies. Mini Power Couplers are the first step into that world, but it does not end there. Through research we have discovered that using our A/C Power Cable technology applied to our Active Shielding technology multiplies the effect so that the level of cable performance dramatically improves. This is done by using a Quattro Full System Power Supply in conjunction with a Synergistic A/C power cable. As you move up from an entry level A/C Master Coupler all the way to an Absolute Reference A/C Master Coupler the effect of Active Shielding increases.

2. Convenience - Using more than two or three Active cables in any given audio or audio/video system will improve overall performance, but can lead to a dilemma in where to plug in multiple MPCs. The Quattro Full System Power Supply has been designed to power up to 12 Active cables. Multiple Quattros can be daisy-chained together to accommodate any number of Active cables.

The Tricon geometry is engineered to function as an electromagnetic "lens" to concentrate fluctuating alternating current and its subsequent electromagnetic fields for perfect transfer without distortion or loss of signal. Just as a lens focuses light by concentrating or dispersing rays of light, this new geometry concentrates and focuses the sonic signal not by separating conductors, but by strategically aligning conductors in a symmetrical geometry that manages electromagnetic fields just as a lens precisely focuses light across a broad spectrum. Rather then increasing the distance between conductors, the Tesla Tricon Lens geometry places its conductors in close symmetrical proximity that can only work when a precise relationship is maintained between it's separate conductors when all materials are held to ultra high tolerances for exact levels of resistance, capacitance and inductance in a symmetrical conductor array. This is the most complex and difficult cable we have ever built.

Subjectively the Tricon exhibits never before obtained signal speed, clarity and detail. Combining two Tricon geometries in parallel as we do with our Precision Reference interconnect creates a cable that is detailed fast and dynamic without being thin or analytical. That it delivers this kind of benchmark performance while remaining musical and richly layered in the mid-range is most unusual. Further combinations of Tricon and either Vortex or Acoustic geometries create a wide range of sonic characteristics that can be perfectly matched to target systems and components without losing neutrality in the subjective context of cable system matching.