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GutWire Synchrony3

GutWire Synchrony3

GutWire is the example that proves the rule that marketing matters. If there were any justice in the audio world, GutWire would be up there with the Big Names, but because those Big Names spend Big Bucks (not just in advertising; they spend big at shows and events and stage lots of events to keep putting their name and products in front of media, dealer, and end-user alike) and GutWire doesn’t, it will likely forever be that plucky little Canadian company with the great cables that deserves to be better known.

GutWire’s entry level cables – Congruence and Synchrony – recently underwent some major changes, bringing both to ‘Cube’ status. The main change to the cable design is a change in insulation from polyethylene to Teflon, along with even higher purity copper throughout. Both interconnect and speaker cables in the Synchrony3 range tested here are multi-stranded copper designs with a copper braided shield in the interconnects and a Mylar metallic shield in both cables. The cables are also damped using natural material known as ‘Binchō-tan’ (this is a big thing with GutWire; as the company thinks plastic damping systems undermine the overall sound quality). From the outside at least, the main differentiator between Synchrony3 and its predecessor is the superscript ‘3’ on the strain-relief. There isn’t a Synchrony3 power cord, but the obvious partner would be B10 SE or Iris3 from the same company. All samples – a set of spade/banana-plug equipped 8ft loudspeaker cables and a pair of 1m RCA interconnects – receive 300-400 hours of real-music burn-in, so I cannot speak as to the running in process and its highlights. Nevertheless, I gave them some bedding in time before I put on my critical ears.

Fun with Cubism

The big physical difference between Synchrony3 and GutWire’s more up-scale products (such as Eon-Z interconnects and the Chime3 loudspeaker cable we tested in Issue 191) is the absence of heavy aluminium vibration absorbing blocks on the cables. Naturally, there’s a lot more going on under the covers (that sounds rude and was probably meant to do so), but those large cans and cubes on the cables do draw attention. Of course, the Synchrony3 loudspeaker cable is no shrinking violet, thanks to a one-inch diameter, and a subtle line of golden lustre from that shield beneath the braid.

GutWire Synchrony3 Speaker Cables

Regardless, the cables Synchrony3 have a lot in common with other GutWire cables I’ve tried. Where other cables often stress leading edges, speed, detail, soundstage width or some other aspect of performance, like previous GutWire cables, Synchrony3 goes for a more mature, level-headed, and even-handed approach. It’s almost acting like a butler for your music, acting invisibly but always on hand, except without a handy glass of Corpse Reviver No 1 for ‘those mornings’. There’s not a hair out of place; every frequency is perfectly handled, without any undue emphasis or weakness. The cable has great extension too; never forward, bright, boomy or ‘in yer face’, the cable simply keeps going in its natural, unforced manner from the deepest bass to the highest treble.

Synchrony3 is also extremely transparent and is possessed of a fine soundstage as good as the recording itself. This degree of transparency to source is heard more in the breech than the observance at times, as it so often comes with qualifications like ‘breezy and transparent’. Synchrony3 is just transparent, which is why it gets so close to some of GutWire’s bigger boys in performance terms.

The same applies to almost any aspect of performance that either yanks your chain or you try to focus upon. The cable behaves itself and makes so small a footprint on the character of the music or the equipment, you find yourself nodding in approval. Change tack and listen out for another aspect of the performance, and the same happens again. The difference between this and other GutWire cables is you get ever closer to the ideal of ‘nothing in-between components’. As they get larger, their imprint gets smaller!

It’s hard to put a pin between the two Synchrony3 cables in sonic terms. I suspect ‘all roads lead to Rome’ applies; you try – and like – the interconnect cables, there will be a loudspeaker cable change in the pipeline soon after. If you go down the speaker cable route, the same happens in reverse. Either way, you end up fully Synchronised3.

Tone-shaping? Nein danke!

In trying not to think cynically about why GutWire isn’t better known, I suspect a lot comes down to people using cables as a form of tone-shaping, even unconsciously. In truth, we all do this to some extent, and it’s only spending some hours sitting in front of cables that don’t tone shape do you begin to discover what you are missing. OK, that tone-shaping can often be very alluring (it’s basically the same as a classic LS3/5a making a piano sound more ‘piano-like’ than the piano itself!), but if the goal really is ‘high fidelity’, we should be all about the stripping away inaccuracy, no matter how exciting or euphonic it sounds. That stripping away of inaccuracy is what GutWire does so well, seemingly whatever the price point, and Synchrony3 is no exception. In fact, it does that stripping away so well, you might find the more up-market cables from the company harder to justify in absolute terms.

There might be some equipment brands that are so far from musical honesty and so reliant on cables to highlight that move. They will likely never play nice with GutWire, but in Synchrony3’s defence, criticising an intrinsically honest cable for not being dishonest enough is pretty far from the point of all this audio stuff, isn’t it?

For all its honesty, GutWire’s Synchrony3 cables are not ‘starkly’ honest, and neither do they force a rethink of your system (unless it’s so unbalanced it’s got all the articulation of a foghorn). They just tell you what your music and your system can sound like with a surprisingly large sonic impediment removed from the equation. It’s a dynamic and exciting neutrality too. Honesty, without the courtroom drama. What more do you need?

Price and contact details

  • Synchrony3 interconnect cables from £900/1m stereo pair
  • Synchrony3 speaker cables from £2,700 8’ stereo pair

Manufacturer

GutWire cables

gutwire.com

UK contact

The Audio Consultants

audioconsultants.co.uk

Tel: +44(0)118 981 9891

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Tags: GUTWIRE SYNCHRONY3 INTERCONNECT LOUDSPEAKER CABLES

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