Synergistic Research Tesla PowerCell & Active Power Cords Review

The Tesla Powercell and Active Power Cord System

As good as I thought the PowerCell was with my power cords, you really need to hear what the complete PowerCell and Active power cord system sounds like. When you add Synergistic’s active power cords to the PowerCell, it’s a whole new ball game. I need to take a moment and explain a couple of things. Yes, it will help your system to add one or two of the Tesla active power cords, but the real magic comes when you put in the last one.

I have played around with taking different cords in and out, if the last cable to go in is the turntable’s power cord, then it seems to be the one that makes the biggest difference by far, but if it’s the amp’s or preamp’s power cord then it seems that’s the one that makes the biggest difference. Maybe it’s because the PowerCell not only treats the current going out to each piece of equipment, but also the current that flows back the other way. Whatever the reason, when you get a complete Active Tesla PowerCell System, it is something very special, so let’s get busy talking about it.

Setup

One of the interesting things about Ted is that he doesn’t recommend that you put the most expensive power cord everywhere. He feels that some of his power cords work best with different pieces of equipment. My system is pretty simple, it only needs three power cords in addition to the one that goes to the PowerCell. Ted suggested for me to use the Tesla T2 power cords on both my Shindo Masseto preamp and my Clearaudio Synchro Speed Controller. We tried both of Synergistic Research’s T2 and Hologram A power cords on the Wavac EC-300B integrated amplifier, this review was done with the T2 on the amp. Remember when planning your setup, that each of the power cords has a pig tale with a wall-wart that also has to be plugged in also.

What Are Tesla Active Power Cords

I realize I have talked a lot about these power cords without explaining what they are. Nearly all Tesla products have been through what Synergistic calls Quantum Tunneling.

According to Ted, while Quantum tunneling is perhaps their most startling discovery and it came at great cost in terms of trial and error, he says they fried a mountain of cable before the exact formula could be worked out. This process has led to several patents that are pending. Their website has a video so you can watch. The website also says, “Quantum Tunneling is a process that changes the way a cable conducts signal at the sub atomic level affecting the entire cable assembly, connectors, solder joints, dielectric and ground conductors are all transformed and integrated as a single unit.” This is done by applying a two-million-volt, extreme high frequency signal to a cable at a specific pulse modulation and frequency for an exact duration of time. Synergistic says this alters the entire cable at molecular level. Even though Synergistic did not finalize the formula until February 2007, most TESLA cables purchased before February 2007 can be returned to the factory for a free treatment.

Not only are the Tesla power cords Quantum Tunneled, but the T2s and up are also active cables. In fact, they use a Zero Capacitance Active Shielding circuitry. Another thing actively loading the dielectric does is saturating the dielectric so that the signal cannot bounce back and forth between the dielectric and the current- or signal-carrying wire. There are other active cables, but as far as I know, no one else has taken it as far as Synergistic has. By the way, the active shielding is the reason the power cords have the pig tales and wall-warts.

Bottom Line: How Did The “Tesla PowerCell and Active Power Cord System” Affect My Sound?

A whole lot and for the better is the simple answer, but you want to know more, don’t you?

I can hear more layering and more tonal nuances than before. The bass goes deeper while it is much quicker and has more impact. The PaceRhythmAndTiming are rather dramatically increased. Dynamics are startling and micro-dynamics are more lifelike than I have ever heard. The soundstage is much more three-dimensional and expansive. With it in my system, I get the clearest and biggest window on the performance I have ever heard in my room, and I find the musical experience more emotionally engaging than I have felt before. Simply put, the Tesla PowerCell and Active power cord system let my system have a soundstage you would have to hear to believe.

Compared to No Power Conditioning

My descriptions so far of the differences I heard with the Tesla PowerCell and Active power cords was in comparison to the sound I had before I installed them, which included the use of the Audience aR1p conditioners. During the review, I decided to take PowerCell and all the Tesla Active power cords out of the system. I plugged everything into the wall using my Shindo power cords.

The difference was dramatic. The top-end was kind of hazy-sounding and even a little ragged, voices had more grain, dynamics decreased, and the soundstage was not as lifelike. I could go on, but it just wasn’t nearly as good. I dare say it was a bigger difference than there would be between the Wavac MD-300B amp ($8500 with WE tubes) and the Wavac EC-300B ($28,500 with WE tubes). In fact, I’m pretty sure I would rather have the little Wavac amp and the Shindo Aurieges MM preamp with the Tesla PowerCell and Active power cord than my current reference system plugged straight into the wall, but then I would never have it plugged straight into the wall to start with. Still, I think this says something important about how important a really first-class power conditioner is to the sound you get from your system.

In Conclusion

I find the PowerCell not only doesn’t limit dynamics, it improves them as well as flow, and PRaT. It removes haze and blurring, as well as brings magic to your system’s soundstage. The last thing I would like to address is the question of price. As I mentioned in the review, to me it’s a lot more fun to buy most anything but power cords and conditioners. Still in the end, I concluded that the addition of the PowerCell made a bigger difference than a $20,000 upgrade in amplification had in my system. So, if you have a system that you feel has reached some definition of “high-end,” then it seems that to me that the Tesla PowerCell and Active cables are a very good investment in better sound.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that, compared to what it would cost to get this kind of sound upgrade through other equipment, the Tesla system is even a bargain. I’ll tell you I don’t plan to go back to my old power conditioners.