Synergy?

FelineGuitars

All I can say is that these things are flipping awesome and anyone who has played through my Egnater M4 rack in the workshop will attest to.
Actually the power amp side of things isn't quite as critical as you'd expect unless you are playing at levels where serious power amp distortion becomes a thing.
As it happens @digitalscream I'm using your old Marshall 20/20 and th whole system sounds great

Egnater M4 (4 channel preamp chassis with up to 8 channels using dual modules) > BBE sonic maximiser > rack mixer (so FX can go on a side chain - using TC Electronic G Force)> Marshall 20/20> Riveria 2x12 cab

I do also have the Randall power amp where it has a pair of EL34s and a Pair of 6L6s that you can switch between

The big bonus is space - I can have multiple classic amps  with real circuitry in a limited amount of space 

I know you can easily have something space conscious with a Helix or a Kemper/ AxFX but this system is blooming marvellous.

The whole idea of the 2 module rack is that you can take your rack with you to a gig or tour where you are using a rented head and cab , and use your preferred sounds via the power section of that amp - bonus is that you can have the channels of the rental amp too.

It's not meant to be the be all and end all, but it's a great workable system and sounds fabulous.

digitalscream

Oh, I don't doubt that it's a great system - it's the price that I'm not convinced about. Let's face it, in the real world most people are going to be looking at a choice between this and Helix/Kemper/Fractal.

I do wonder why the two-module rack preamp shell is so expensive, though. All that's really in there is a power supply, audio I/O and the MIDI switching gubbins - those things are ridiculously cheap to implement at high quality these days, so it doesn't make sense to me that the rack shell is nearly £700. If they brought that down to a more reasonable £300-£400, it'd suddenly be a very different proposition. Hell, I'd even consider selling them as a loss-leader to facilitate the sale of the modules - that's where the money is, almost by definition.

webrthomson

digitalscream said:

Oh, I don't doubt that it's a great system - it's the price that I'm not convinced about. Let's face it, in the real world most people are going to be looking at a choice between this and Helix/Kemper/Fractal.

I do wonder why the two-module rack preamp shell is so expensive, though. All that's really in there is a power supply, audio I/O and the MIDI switching gubbins - those things are ridiculously cheap to implement at high quality these days, so it doesn't make sense to me that the rack shell is nearly £700. If they brought that down to a more reasonable £300-£400, it'd suddenly be a very different proposition. Hell, I'd even consider selling them as a loss-leader to facilitate the sale of the modules - that's where the money is, almost by definition.

TBH I'm with you on that and I've got lots of Egnater modular stuff - when Bruce was doing this stuff the rack mount pre-amps were about $400, I'm assuming as a loss leader, and the modules were $400 - so a filled one was about $2,000 - which is awesome for an 8 channel proper tube preamp.

I think the Synergy stuff is pricey especially the amps, I'd like one but $2199 for an amp with no modules, WTF, my Egnater MOD50 was $1899 with two modules! Still want one though

I would have to say the sounds you can get out out the US Egnater stuff is amazing - I've got a Jaded Faith (US modder) version of his Soldano module and it's so good I sold my SLO after getting it!

guitarfishbay

There's nothing stopping a Helix/Fractal user from using a valve power amp though. And then you get all the effects too.

The thing for me is I've realised I can get what I need for a fraction of the cost of Synergy. If I wanted a valve amp again I could grab a 6505+ and a basic small pedal board (which I still own anyway) and be happy. If I played in a softer poppier band I'd go get an AC30 combo again.

FelineGuitars

It's a nice to have like a really high end Hi-Fi.

And like a high end Hi-fi after hearing one you may think "Cor - wouldn't mind one of those" but then think again because it's expensive, and you'd be pretty damn happy with a regular system.

It doesn't take anything away from that posh Hi-fi - it's still freaking awesome, and you know you'd still like it if money were no option.

webrthomson

i_b_tulloch said:

what is the wait time for these?

Mine shipped yesterday and should arrive on the 3rd October!

i_b_tulloch

webrthomson said:

i_b_tulloch said:

what is the wait time for these?

Mine shipped yesterday and should arrive on the 3rd October!

Did you order straight from the website or from somewhere else? If I order I would prefer to order from a UK distributor. 

FelineGuitars

We are waiting to see what happens about distributors. I believe they are only selling direct at the moment to maximise their return to recoup as much of their investment and R&D time/costs that they can, before opening up distributors in different countries.

This may happen at the January NAMM show.

I hope to certainly know at some point because I am in regular touch with one of the companies likely to act as UK distributor.

i_b_tulloch

webrthomson - what power amp are you planning to run these into? I have the Dirty Shirley combo with 6L6' s, the same as the synergy rack power amp, so I think this should be a good match. George was using the synergy power amp during the Metro Plex demo and it seemed to work just fine rather than having EL34s. From reports on the interweb, it would seem they are working very well with most amps tested with so far.

webrthomson

i_b_tulloch said:

webrthomson said:

i_b_tulloch said:

what is the wait time for these?

Mine shipped yesterday and should arrive on the 3rd October!

Did you order straight from the website or from somewhere else? If I order I would prefer to order from a UK distributor. 

I ordered from the US website, got my new stuff today - I would recommend actually ordering from the German Musik Productive site instead:

https://www.musik-produktiv.co.uk/search.html?query=synergy

You save a little in import fees etc.

i_b_tulloch said:

webrthomson - what power amp are you planning to run these into? I have the Dirty Shirley combo with 6L6' s, the same as the synergy rack power amp, so I think this should be a good match. George was using the synergy power amp during the Metro Plex demo and it seemed to work just fine rather than having EL34s. From reports on the interweb, it would seem they are working very well with most amps tested with so far.

I'm not 100% sure at the moment - I want this to be as light possible so I'm thinking I'll use my Mesa 20/20 and try and stick to 4U for gigging purposes. I would like the 50/50 Synergy amp TBH I need to save for a bit to get that!

Got my preamps and SYN-2 today - very impressed with them in my MOD50:



Interesting looking at the modules themselves - the VH4 has WIMA caps in it just like the actual VH4 and the sound approximation is startling, its very very close to the VH4 even with a different power section on the MOD50.

I've not played a BE100 but he module is very nice indeed - modded Marshall at it's finest

The SLO is slightly more shouty that I remember my SLO being - mind you it's been a while since I had one - but it ace's that liquid rock lead that the SLO does in spades!

Very happy so far they seem well made and the noise floor for such high gain seems pretty amazingly low. Now the only problem is I want some of the lower gain and clean ones too!!!

clarkefan

Fyi Bruce Egnater and Dave Friedman discussed these a couple of days ago on the Tone Talk channel on YouTube that Dave hosts, episode 12.

webrthomson

clarkefan said:

Fyi Bruce Egnater and Dave Friedman discussed these a couple of days ago on the Tone Talk channel on YouTube that Dave hosts, episode 12.

Nice - thanks I'm off to look now

FelineGuitars

I'm waiting on a few 
The SLO, VH4, BE, Metro Plexi and 800

guitarfishbay

FelineGuitars said:

I'm waiting on a few 
The SLO, VH4, BE, Metro Plexi and 800

That sounds like it’ll be fun

webrthomson

FelineGuitars said:

I'm waiting on a few 
The SLO, VH4, BE, Metro Plexi and 800

Can't wait to hear what you think of the 800! That and the BMan are both on my list

Schmo

I'm heading for a Synergy based rig myself...would love to see pro-demos of each module beforehand. They've been quite poor at promoting this product so far...given the names behind it, you'd think this would have all been taken care off before launching to help demo & sell the product from the get-go !

Off to watch today's newly released Shawn Tubbs demo now...

Oh, if anyones selling Synergy stuff, please give me a shout.

Schmo

How cool, Shawn never fails to deliver

A quick run through of the concept, applications etc with the promise of individual module demos to come soon. Pete Thorn won't demo amps because of his Suhr endorsement, so to have a player of this calibre is as good as it gets !

FelineGuitars

@Schmo I have some new modules arriving this week and it means I should really look at my existing overload of modules both Egnater and Randall , and modified units by Salvation and Jaded Faith and thin the herd a bit as I'll be up to 60 modules with a few duplicates and too much crossover

FelineGuitars

Some folks may not realise how connected Bruce Egnater and Dave Friedman are - Dave having worked for Bruce at various points. This is a bit of a long video but some interesting background...

Schmo

@FelineGuitars - cheers for that offer mate, I'm limiting it to Synergy only though. Would love to hear your thoughts & feedback on what you have to date...

I'm looking to get a SYN02 rack & initially the SLO & a clean module (T/Deluxe?) but also the Friedman DS/Metroplex/Morgan AC20 down the road. If anyone is thinking of trying 'em out but ultimately selling-on, please drop me a PM, will look to order new otherwise early next week...