It is working- Entreq Silver Tellus

[kcin]

I posted earlier that I was going to try before forming an opinion and had an opportunity to pick up a Silver Tellus from Entreq.

I wasn't going to dive right into the abyss with their cables at $350USD each so I made my own out of silver dueland wire sheathed in cotton. I am only grounding signal level and had to get creative with my direct drive tube amp for the panels to my Beveridge electrostatics.

What I hear is a cleansing and solidity to the lower registers in particular. Much like dialing in a sub and just getting that focus that can go miles back into the soundstage . Quieter and greater isolation between instruments.

I don't believe this should work .. I have a few more iterations of different hook ups to try and study my notes. I brought my local audio friend over who over who probably has a more critical ear than I do in aligning changes to perceived results quickly. I said nothing as the Telus was covered with some albums at the foot of my TT stand. He uttered the same descripitions-practically- after which we removed the unit and clearly noticed the change unwind.

Next is a properly isolated strapped ground for the safety ground plane of each of the electrical chassis of the system with and without the Telus and further reporting. Crazy.

Someone I know claims to be testing a new beta version of one these devices and I'm going to get it to trial for a month or so. Stay tuned.

[Bill Hart]

Cool. I'd be curious to try this- it is certainly more within the realm of possibility than the Tri-Point. As for leads, I'm sure you are more than competent to make your own. (Cf. my thread on soldering incompetency). For what it's worth, there's a nice heavy copper grounding bar that can be had for under 50 bucks with heavy duty mounts and it is pre-drilled to accept a standard lug. I've installed it after Greg Baron suggested having a 'clean ground' while wiring the power for my system here in Austin. Also, FWIW, Granite Audio had/has silver cable in cloth covering for their Ground Zero, a relatively cheap box I experimented with a decade ago. I still have the cable and plan to use it for my star grounding set up. I'm sure it is cheaper than the Entrec, but can't tell you how it compares. A final FWIW, I found 12 gauge copper stranded cable in a red cloth covering-- looks a bit like that old WE stuff. Got a roll of 100 feet from a place that sells parts for vintage motorcycles. Cheap. Gonna see what that does as grounding wire since I don't have quite enough of the old Granite Wire.
Carry on!

[kcin]

Hi Bill, I saw your earlier post with a pic of that ground buss. It looks like an excellent solution. Some of the other commercial ground solutions are priced astronomically. Keep us posted on your experience.

Re. the soldering, try not to knock yourself too badly. Partly practice, partly technique and partly tools - a good professional station is a must I a use a hakko - it's supposed to be fun.

[dcc]

Out of curiousity, I tested the Entreq products.

I already have a dedicated line for my system. Several years ago, I got the grounding reinforced by adding a 10 meter deep solid copper rod. The current ground resistance is measured at 12,7 Ohms. The Ansuz power distributor that I use has a built in star grounding feature.

Due to space limitations (I did not want to buy new racks), I opted for individual Silver Minimus and Atlantis boxes.

For each loudspeaker, I have a set of composed of
- Silver Minimus
- Atlantis
- Everest
- Apollo (Silver) and Konstantin (Copper) cables.

The Apollo cable is connected to the negative binding post for the bass whilst the Konstantin cable is connected to the negative binding post for the medium/treble.

I also have two Silver Minimus boxes dedicated to the preamp and the phono stage respectively. I tested the Konstantin and the Apollo cables and kept the Appolo which provided more yield.

Michel aka Flyer is coming over tomorrow with two Everest caps and we will test whether adding those to the preamp and phono stage setup provides an improvement.

The Entreq products have decrased the noise floor and the sound image has significantly improved. When I added the Atlantis, I could hear a tangible positive difference.

I would however recommend testing before buying. Brick and mortar dealers/distributors are still highly valuable from that perspective.

[MylesBAstor]

I just wish it was cheaper.

[GaryB]

I just wish it was cheaper.

Myles,
I tend to agree with you. While the Entreq is not cheap (a bit under $3K), it's a bargain compared to the Tripoint grounding boxes which are almost an order of magnitude more expensive. I haven't listened to any of these devices but my engineering background makes me think that they're an expensive solution to a problem that could be eliminated with good design. If all equipment had careful separation of signal ground and chassis ground and the ability to connect or disconnect them so that the system was star grounded at one point then these devices would be irrelevant. Or alternatively, the judicious use of input transformers would go a long way towards addressing noise problems at a slightly more reasonable price.
The attached link is to a tutorial from Jensen Transformers which gives some interesting insights into sources of noise problems and possible solutions. There are lots of good tips on isolating noise sources and unsurprisingly they think that transformers are often the best solution. So take it with a grain of salt. They also point out that independent of grounding problems, noise can couple in magnetically through transformers or cables and those problems need to be addressed in other ways. I found it interesting and thought provoking.
---Gary

http://www.bennettprescott.com/downl...g_tutorial.pdf

[dcc]

Michel aka Flyer came over yesterday to listen to some tapes. I asked him to bring two Altantis boxes in order to test them with the Silver Minimus boxes (and Everest caps) that are hooked to the preamp and the phono stage respectively. We basically replicated the same setup that I am using with the loudspeakers.

We started with the preamp and performed the test with vocals on tape (Pergolesi's Stabat Mater from Fonè Records). There was a dramatic improvement on the clarity of the voices. The soundstage improved as well.

We then disconnected the Atlantis box and hooked it to the Silver Minimus for the phono stage. We ran the test with Marin Marais' Suite d'un goût étranger performed by Jordi Savall (Astrée Records). The improvement was palpable as well. The treble was better tamed. The noise floor also decreased. I finally connected both Atlantis boxes (preamp and phono stage) and the combined impact when playing LPs was not marginal at all.

The end game is that the Altantis boxes are definitely staying home. I will hide the boxes behind the racks.

[Bill Hart]

Your room, from the limited view shown in the above pics, is gorgeous. Perhaps you posted it before, and I don't remember--are you in a small old building there? And what's the story with the transparent corner devices?
PS: not ignoring your observations re the Entreq.

[dcc]

Hi Bill. You can find a description of my room in the Member Systems section. It is indeed a converted barn from the late 19th century. The transparent corner devices are large SMT diffusers. As my system is in the living room, I had to find an acoustic treatment that was the least visually intrusive.