As a charter member of the bygone NE Wisconsin Audio Society (NEWAS), I’ve had the pleasure of attending many listening sessions with Roozer and the rest of the club. I’m a long-time audiophile and have refined my system over the intervening years, now focused on analog playback. Being retired and now wintering near Clearwater, it gave me an opportunity to attend the Florida Audio Expo in Tampa, a half-hour’s drive.

This show report is about a demonstration conducted by Synergistic Research’s owner highlighting their upscale power-line filter, grounding device, and ‘magic dots’ (that’s what I call them, not catching the official name as they are not yet on the manufacturer’s website). The demo was conducted in a manner that allowed the audience to clearly discern the impact that ‘clean’ power can have on overall sound quality, even if your system has been tweaked to the hilt.

First up was the ‘Galileo Power Cell’ line filter. This unit had a bypass installed so it could easily switched in and out and avoided unplugging/replugging all those power cords. Also in use was their new grounding device that filters separately, but it appears you need special SR power cords to work properly.

The demo began playing an audiophile approved cut from a digital source. It sounded sumptuously good with the audience fully engaged. He stopped the song and then shut down the ‘Galileo’ and replayed the passage. All of a sudden, it sounded thinner with a collapse of the originally wide soundstage and juicy ambiance cues. Everybody noticed it and heads where turned, including my own. He turned the unit back on, started the song and “BAM,” the sumptuous sound immediately returned. This was a night and day difference even an objectivist could not refute or ignore.

The ‘Galileo’ also incorporates a built-in Schumann resonator with selectable frequencies. He demonstrated this feature on the fly, tweaking the sound-field with each option! I heard it and asked myself, “What is this technological voodoo I am witness to?” He then performed the same routine just with the grounding unit with the same startling results. All were amazed! The audience roared with anticipation, “More, more! We want more!” (not really, but then…)

He said, “That was a digital source and I like reel-to-reel better!” So he played a Norah Jones cut at 15 ips and the sound quality ratcheted up two notches (of course leaving a notch for vinyl). He then removed the cover on the front of the tape deck to expose the tape mechanism. “See that little disk on the playback head? That’s one of my ‘magic dots.’ I’m going to remove it from the head and replay the passage.” He peeled it off and then rewound the tape and played the cut again. It lost half of the advantage that tape provided during the first listen compared to the digital source. Then…

He placed the ‘dot’ back onto the tape head (it is adhesively applied to the side of the head) rewound the tape and replayed the song for a third time….everything positive was again instantly restored. I thought this was astounding and believed everyone in the audience had to have the same impression. He commented, “These ‘dots’ work everywhere.” He then recommended the application of two per interconnect, positioned directly on the cord about an inch inward from each RCA plug, although there are many possible other locations were they might be tried.

This was perhaps the most persuasive demo I’ve ever attended in my decades involved in audio. After the demo was finished, attendees quietly left the demo literally shaking their heads – we were all taken to church that morning. Based on this demo alone, I give my highest recommendation, but note that a hotel-based audio show is perhaps the best (noisiest) environment to demonstrate these filtering/noise reduction devices.

SR exhibit with the power filter circled and location where the ‘dot’ was applied to the tape head. The speakers are Magico A5s.

Above, the ‘Galileo’ power filter with a MSRP of $27,995 – limited to 50 units worldwide (with included 6ft SRX Power Cable – a $10,000 value) so you better get yourself on the wait list. I bet he easily sold a couple units and a bunch of cords at the show, just from the demos conducted during the expo. No prices for the grounding device or ‘magic dots’ were given. In spite of the astronomical asking prices, color me impressed!

Galileo filter details: https://www.synergisticresearch.com/pc/galileo-powercell-sx/

Demo room video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cXXSbdcNQQ

GUEST POST BY: Forch February 2022