Review: Synergy 5050

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Henk-Jan

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Today I received the Synergy 5050 poweramp.

Short version: I will return it to the shop.

Longer version: It sounds a little compressed, less chime, less 3D, less open
than a Mesa 2:90 and my friends 2:100.

It looked promising a design by Fryette/Egnater... but not my cup of tea.
I am little disappointed...
 
Nice to get your opinion on the Syn 5050.
I have been interested in the Syn 5050 but I have been put off by the price, and a suspicion that the transformers size would be a compromise the sound in a one rack unit.

Have you tried the Randall Rt2/50?
I feel it is a little dark and compressed too, but I am planning to get mine Foglifted some time soon.

The Mesa 2:90 is a beautiful sounding power amp.
I like running my Marshall style mods into my JCM 800 FX return, but apart from that I think everything sounds best through the Mesa 2:90, You probably wont find a better sounding power amp.

Pity the Syn 5050 didn't cut it for you, but cheers for curing my Gas for one.
 
shortlife said:
I feel it is a little dark and compressed too, but I am planning to get mine Foglifted some time soon.

I have an RT2/50. What is foglifting please?
 
werdna said:
shortlife said:
I feel it is a little dark and compressed too, but I am planning to get mine Foglifted some time soon.

I have an RT2/50. What is foglifting please?

The Foglifter is a re-voicing of the Presence and Density controls.

https://jadedfaithmods.com/mts-amp-mods

To get it done you will need to remove the board from the amp or send the whole amp to get modded.
 
I owned twice the VHT 2:50:2 and once the 2:90:2.
It maybe very well build but for my taste too clean and Hi-Fi sounding.
The SYN5050 is also designed by Steve Fryette (VHT).
I have not compared all poweramps the same time but from my memory
the SYN5050 is a little more focused and 'middy' and less Hi-Fi and
sits between a good tube poweramp and a transistor amp.
 
I have not compared all poweramps the same time but from my memory
the SYN5050 is a little more focused and 'middy' and less Hi-Fi and
sits between a good tube poweramp and a transistor amp.[/quote]

Do you prefer the Syn 5050 to the VHT?
I know the VHT has a very good reputation but I have not tried one, I do have a Fryette Power Station 2 but I don't like it at all for use as a Power amp, it's way too linear for me, but that is not really what it's for anyway.
 
Do you prefer the Syn 5050 to the VHT?
No, VHT is to clean for my taste but if I had to choose between the SYN5050 and a VHT (2:50:2/2:90:2) I would pick the latter.
I guess if you don't appreciate the PS2 you also won't like the SYN5050.
 
GtrGear said:
Do you prefer the Syn 5050 to the VHT?
No, VHT is to clean for my taste but if I had to choose between the SYN5050 and a VHT (2:50:2/2:90:2) I would pick the latter.
I guess if you don't appreciate the PS2 you also won't like the SYN5050.

Could you elaborate on what you mean by "too clean"? The do have those FRFR/Real-cab voicing switches on them right?
 
Too clean in a way that it's too much 'neutral'. Mesa has his own sound and sounds more 'guitar' but you have to like that sound also.
Guitar poweramps do have their own sound, just like preamps.
 
GtrGear said:
Too clean in a way that it's too much 'neutral'. Mesa has his own sound and sounds more 'guitar' but you have to like that sound also.
Guitar poweramps do have their own sound, just like preamps.

Ok. Just goes to show everyone has different tastes - people are always saying the VHT/Fryette power-amps are the be-all-end-all amps and everywhere I've read they'd rank them above a mesa 2:90 or 2:100. I've got a 2:100 and 2:50, owned a 2:90 for a spell but found it a little loose for my liking. Was on the hunt for a vht 2902 or 2502 to see if they live up to the hype or not, but you're saying they don't.

... My world is falling apart... :p
 
The past 30 years I have owned from past to present (with two or three poweramps same time):
1) Marshall Valvestate 8080
2) Peavey Classic 50/50 (EL84)
3) Mesa 20/20 (EL84)
4) Rocktron Velocity Valve (5881)
5) VHT 2:50:2 (EL34)
6) Mesa 2:90 (6L6)
7) Mesa 3:95 (6L6)
8) VHT 2:50:2 (EL34) 2nd time
9) VHT 2:90:2 (KT88)
10) Randall RT2:50 (EL34:6L6)
11) Mesa 2:100 (6L6) over 10 years now

1) no powertubes...
2) Very good for the money. But EL84 lacks punchy depth bass power.
Resonance and Presence nice feature
3) Louder than 2! Still EL84 lacks for me.
4) More mature than 1/2/3. A little nasal/'constipated' sound.
5) Very clear and open. Colors the sound less than 4
6) More 'guitar'. Mesa colors sound way more than VHT.
Depth and half power not usefull for my liking. Lacks a little punch
due to pseudo class A outer sockets. Mixing 6L6/EL34 possible.
Was thinking about outer sockets modifying to 'normal' bias for more
punch.
7) 3he and heavy. Can't remember well anymore. Was an old one and had
some trouble.
8) Again, see 5
9) Didn't like it that much. Too 'stiff' and lineair. Could be nice for powering a
heavy preamp that needs not to much coloration from poweramp.
10) Nice. But unreliable. 1 died on me.
11) In Modern mode a very pleasing 'grunt' to the sound no other poweramp
has. With clean and breakup sounds (Twin/DeLuxe/Bman/VX) I used it in
standard mode. Gain I switch by midi to Modern mode. Be carefull with
the presence knobs in standard mode (auto bypassed in Modern mode)
The 'grunt' could be annoying if you want ultra clear punch metal.

Tested a lot of other stuff like Synergy 5050, Koch ATR4502 and some I can't remember the brand anymore. Last 10 years the 2:100 and still going strong!
 
GtrGear said:
The past 30 years I have owned from past to present (with two or three poweramps same time):
1) Marshall Valvestate 8080
2) Peavey Classic 50/50 (EL84)
3) Mesa 20/20 (EL84)
4) Rocktron Velocity Valve (5881)
5) VHT 2:50:2 (EL34)
6) Mesa 2:90 (6L6)
7) Mesa 3:95 (6L6)
8) VHT 2:50:2 (EL34) 2nd time
9) VHT 2:90:2 (KT88)
10) Randall RT2:50 (EL34:6L6)
11) Mesa 2:100 (6L6) over 10 years now

1) no powertubes...
2) Very good for the money. But EL84 lacks punchy depth bass power.
Resonance and Presence nice feature
3) Louder than 2! Still EL84 lacks for me.
4) More mature than 1/2/3. A little nasal/'constipated' sound.
5) Very clear and open. Colors the sound less than 4
6) More 'guitar'. Mesa colors sound way more than VHT.
Depth and half power not usefull for my liking. Lacks a little punch
due to pseudo class A outer sockets. Mixing 6L6/EL34 possible.
Was thinking about outer sockets modifying to 'normal' bias for more
punch.
7) 3he and heavy. Can't remember well anymore. Was an old one and had
some trouble.
8) Again, see 5
9) Didn't like it that much. Too 'stiff' and lineair. Could be nice for powering a
heavy preamp that needs not to much coloration from poweramp.
10) Nice. But unreliable. 1 died on me.
11) In Modern mode a very pleasing 'grunt' to the sound no other poweramp
has. With clean and breakup sounds (Twin/DeLuxe/Bman/VX) I used it in
standard mode. Gain I switch by midi to Modern mode. Be carefull with
the presence knobs in standard mode (auto bypassed in Modern mode)
The 'grunt' could be annoying if you want ultra clear punch metal.

Tested a lot of other stuff like Synergy 5050, Koch ATR4502 and some I can't remember the brand anymore. Last 10 years the 2:100 and still going strong!

Never tried a valvestate, but heard it was decent. Tried every solid-state rocktron poweramp I could find; the velocity 100 was meh, the 300(new version, tried the old one, and an old 250 but they were also meh) was actually pretty good and ran that for a couple of years - would recommend it over the current Mainline which I found way too dark sounding. Tried more than a few of the Mosvalve offerings but didn't really like them at all and couldn't see why people dug them so much.

I didn't bond with the 20/20 either, with fat-mod and without - like you said it's too loose sounding. had a mesa 50/50 that was too loose too, though I did like the low-power mode on it. the 2:50 with 6l6s is too loose and too scooped, but running el34s gives it a much tighter and mid-focused sound which I like, and it's half the weight of the 2:100, which is another reason I've held onto it.
Would like to get my hands on a Strategy amp - a 400 or a 500 to see what one of those beasts is like. and even though it would be complete absolute overkill I'd like to own a Coliseum 300; double the power of the 2:100 with all the options of a 2:90 on it... If I could find one that wouldn't be bank-busting.

Like you, I've tried a *****-ton of poweramps but the 2:100 is the only one I've always come back to.

That said, there's a few I'd like to get my hands on to try like some VHTs, a Marshall dual-mono-block etc. The tone search is never over...
 
GtrGear said:
Do you prefer the Syn 5050 to the VHT?
No, VHT is to clean for my taste but if I had to choose between the SYN5050 and a VHT (2:50:2/2:90:2) I would pick the latter.
I guess if you don't appreciate the PS2 you also won't like the SYN5050.

I intensely disliked the PS2 as a power amp only option so I couldn't sell mine fast enough. I found the Syn5050 to work very well for me though, so I would disagree with your statement. I think the Syn5050 is an excellent power amp personally, but that's just my opinion. To me it's a world apart from a PS2.
 
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