Entreq Tellus grounding

[LL21]

So, we had 5 Everests arrive...because the big Wilsons and the Gryphon use different sized and quite custom-made binding posts, i cannot use them there (and according to a fellow Tripoint/Entreq owner, not on the Tripoint either). So i have put them on the Entreq Receivus. Initial listening notes after 24 hours of being in:

- Tonal and harmonic density helps alleviate the slight sense of "hollowness" to notes which i have found due to our new space which has high ceilings (11') that make the sound 10%-15% more diffuse than i would ideally prefer.

- ?Bass delineation far superior across low, mid and upper bass; lower bass also more propulsive/powerful; In particular i find that the lower end of Cellos and Double bass have surprisingly better articulation. I was candidly not expecting that. Whereas on Beethoven's cello music, i tended to hear a violin with say 7-10 notes playing against a parallel line from the cello of 3-4 deeper notes...i now realized there were actually a matching 7-10 cello notes playing very rapidly.

- another surprise. i tend to use deep house tracks to test bass and snap from deep electronic notes...what i was NOT using these for was testing mids. While i was concentrating hard to listen to deep bass thwacks, i realized in the back of my mind, i understood the normally recessed words as clearly as if someone were on the phone in the other room. I went back immediately to listen to the passage again, but this time to pay attention to just those words. It was then that i realized (having owned the CD for a year now)...i had NEVER understood what they were saying the background. That was quite cool.

So far no downside. Tonal/harmonic density, clearer upper/mid/lower bass delineation by far, more propulsive lower bass (tighter and more powerful) and again clarity in the mids where words i had never understood before were not only understandable but to the point where i dont have to pay attention/concentrate to understand what the person is saying during the track.

 

[Jazzhead]

Good to know LL , so much for so little . Freaky little buggers these !!! Luv em .

 

[Fiddle Faddle]

In particular i find that the lower end of Cellos and Double bass have surprisingly better articulation.

That is currently one (relative only) weakness with my system. I look forward then to seeing if I note any difference when I get mine. Cellos and Double basses in an orchestral setting have always been a big challenge for the whole audio recording and reproduction chain. Sometimes you don't realise what you are missing out on in that respect - until you compare the live concert in a great hall to a recording. Then you realise that even with an incredible playback system, so much of the detail and nuances you hear live are just gone even before the music wound up on the storage device in the recording booth.

 

[Barry2013]

Hi Lloyd
Snap!

 

[Fiddle Faddle]

I have asked my dealer if I can demo both the K2 and Everest. I am pretty sure he will be able to oblige but there might be a couple of weeks wait or even longer. I'm actually a bit "worried" about these end-caps because of my previous experience demoing the Minimus and Minimus Silver boxes. As you would see much earlier in this thread, the plain copper boxes sounded better than the silver ones to my ears. So I don't actually want to "upgrade" my Minimus boxes into quasi-Silver ones! But I'd happily upgrade them to "Mega Copper Minimus" status.

So I have "warned" the dealer it might not be a sale since I either might not hear any difference or it might push the system in a direction that I do not want. Time will tell of course.

 

[Jazzhead]

I have asked my dealer if I can demo both the K2 and Everest. I am pretty sure he will be able to oblige but there might be a couple of weeks wait or even longer. I'm actually a bit "worried" about these end-caps because of my previous experience demoing the Minimus and Minimus Silver boxes. As you would see much earlier in this thread, the plain copper boxes sounded better than the silver ones to my ears. So I don't actually want to "upgrade" my Minimus boxes into quasi-Silver ones! But I'd happily upgrade them to "Mega Copper Minimus" status.



So I have "warned" the dealer it might not be a sale since I either might not hear any difference or it might push the system in a direction that I do not want. Time will tell of course.

I can assure you that it pushes towards the copper end of things , namely more earthy/organic with added density and no loss of resolution as an added bonus . None of that tipped up , white light associated with silver done wrong .

 

[Fiddle Faddle]

none of that tipped up , white light associated with silver done wrong .

Very apt description. I have heard silver "done right" and it is wonderful (e.g my Wireworld Gold Eclipse interconnect) but yes, when it is either done wrong or simply does not synergise, the results can be as inviting as being forced to eat nothing but Brussels Sprouts for a whole week.

 

[Barry2013]

I have asked my dealer if I can demo both the K2 and Everest. I am pretty sure he will be able to oblige but there might be a couple of weeks wait or even longer. I'm actually a bit "worried" about these end-caps because of my previous experience demoing the Minimus and Minimus Silver boxes. As you would see much earlier in this thread, the plain copper boxes sounded better than the silver ones to my ears. So I don't actually want to "upgrade" my Minimus boxes into quasi-Silver ones! But I'd happily upgrade them to "Mega Copper Minimus" status.

So I have "warned" the dealer it might not be a sale since I either might not hear any difference or it might push the system in a direction that I do not want. Time will tell of course.

Great news.
I have only tried the Everests on my Poseidon and Silver Tellus so can't comment on how well they will work on Minimus boxes. As you know I am very pleased with those applications. I'll be surprised if they don't improve things and will look forward to reading how it goes with both the Everest and the K2. I have no experience of the latter so will particularly look forward reading your evaluation.

 

[LL21]

...look forward to reading how it goes with both the Everest and the K2. I have no experience of the latter so will particularly look forward reading your evaluation.

+1.

 

[Fiddle Faddle]

Thanks guys. I will definitely update this thread once I've had them for a week. Might take 2 weeks to get them though as the demo units are doing the rounds presently. I found an independent reviewer who was lukewarm about the Everest and liked the K2 better. His experiences with them reflected my experience with the actual boxes. Sometimes the cheaper one just works better in some situations. I think with Entreq gear a good analogy is a TV screen. You can pay big money to get a superlative large screen TV and it will look fantastic with 4K content if it is barely compressed. But put ordinary broadcast quality HD on it and all the flaws are revealed. You'd be better off in such cases getting a high quality but smaller TV as the gear just becomes too revealing. I think that is a partial explanation of what I suffered testing the Entreq boxes so I am glad I am getting both the K2 and Everest to test. Apparently they do each have a different "flavour" and sonic presentation.

 

[Barry2013]

I should have posted this Everest tip previously but it slipped my mind so better late than never.
In particular, when fitting the Everests maintain the connection between the earth cable and the earth box. If you break the connection the earth cable takes about 24 hours to get back to optimum thus delaying the full benefits of the Everest upgrade.
Happy listening!

 

[Detlof]

Loved that! The Everests have arrived by the way. Hope to report shortly......and yes, thank you Barry for this important hint to not break the connection when adding the Everests. That makes perfect sense, but I would probably not have thought of this, with all the exitement in trying them out.

 

[Barry2013]

Thanks Detlof.
I am glad that my post was in time for your Everest installation and I will look out for your next report.

 

[caliaripaolo]

I should have posted this Everest tip previously but it slipped my mind so better late than never.
In particular, when fitting the Everests maintain the connection between the earth cable and the earth box. If you break the connection the earth cable takes about 24 hours to get back to optimum thus delaying the full benefits of the Everest upgrade.
Happy listening!

Hi Barry, thank you.
You have so much insisted that I could not resist, even considering that Detlof won his natural skepticism, , I could not be outdone.
Waiting for 6 Everests to try. Will not be easy to maintain the connection.
I think the better way to test for effectivity, will be to try installing one at time, don't you?

 

[Barry2013]

Good to hear from you
To date I have not come across any disappointed users so hopefully you will be able to maintain the successful track record.
Five went on at one go in my system and the sixth on the phono stage soon thereafter. There is obviously a good case for a more incremental approach but honestly I really could not be bothered.
I'll look forward to reading what you decide and to the results on your system.
They have certainly enhanced the sound of my system in the ways described in earlier posts so here's hoping for your system.

 

[Detlof]

Well here goes:

I thought for simplicity's sake I would listen to digital, ripped cds streamed from a NAS through "The BEAST" to the MSB dac and from there to the Kondo and since there was much talk about the improvement of the rendering of cello and double base, I listened, for a while, sens the E.s, to the two Brendels on the Beethoven Piano and Cello sonata No. 2 in f-minor. Loved the cello sound, which of course I was listening for, found it clear and very well defined, got a sense of the wood and the bowing etc. My ears felt, that it sounded pretty real, with the piano in the middle and the cello just to the left of the right speaker. Dynamics were good, there was good prat. I then added three Es to the binding posts of the left Poseidon, which was attached to the array of amps feeding my left speaker. When I went back to my seat, I was startled by the fact, that the entire sound stage, but especially the cello had moved ever so slightly to the left! Really just a teeny bit. So contrary to my experience with Olof's boxes, the Everests obviously had an immediate effect. But which was it? Try as I may, I could not discern much of a difference. speaking of a veil removed would already have been too much. Well, I munitioned the other Poseidon, thought that the cello had moved back to where it was before and tried very much to hear some difference in the cello sound and just couldn't. So I added a further E. to the Olympos which services the K ondo: Wonderful music, but certainly no leap into a better world. Obviously, due to my first observation, these things do something, but with that kind of music, later more cello, double base, electronic base, they certainly do not harm the music, give perhaps a tad more presence, but that seemed to be just all. I was about to give up, inwardly \ oscillating between the thought that I had tin ears or that my rig was so good, that it defied any attempt of improvement and of course believing neither, I picked an early Teldec rendering of the then still young Alban Berg Quartett of Mozart's D-minor string quartet, (the 15} again for the cello sound and came in for a rude awakening. These early Telefunkens were recorded with an elevated top end to compensate for the sound of the first stereo consoles in the late fifties, a top end which was difficult to tame, but when compensated for, were wonderful to listen to. this time round however, the first violin, when coming in with much gusto, was impossible to listen to, already without the Es in the system just barely acceptable, this time it was a screech, never heard like that before. Having become suspicious, with further samples there were sharp sibilants in voices, which before were pure, or for example, the early youthful, bravourous rendering of Hilary Hahn's partitas and sonatas by Bach, just impossible to listen to for the same very reason. Disgruntled, confused and sad with a bad case of listeners fatigue, not having had that for years, I went to bed, not without however having put on repeat the trusty old Purist degaussing cd and left it to play over night.

Now this morning, the sound was back to normal. Obviously the Purist had done its job. The music seems to be as always, in the way I had tweaked and voiced the system to please my ears. The top end is as it should be, clear, defined, airy and extended and analog and digital sounded just right again. Whether the sound is better with the Es in the system I simply cannot say for certain. I will have to wait and listen much more. Nor is it safe to say, that the Es caused the top end trouble and need to break in first. My system is complex, the trouble could have come from anywhere, my suspicions however lie on Olof's stuff to tell the truth. So far I do not know what to make of them. The job is not done yet. There is still the front end of the Lamms with the massive Olympus Tellus. These will have to come in a next installment. Who by the way, would like to know a bit more about my gear, can find it here: http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showt...e-Techdas-Kronos-you-name-it&highlight=Detlof
Dearly wished I had more positive things to report, but then it is still early......

By the way, I forgot to mention, all digital is bound to a Troy Signature.

 

[Fiddle Faddle]

Hi Detlof,

Great feedback! For what it is worth, your feedback strikes me as rather similar to a completely unrelated review of the Everest I read on the internet (which unfortunately I cannot find right at the moment). But in that same review, they were much more enthusiastic about the cheaper K2. This is the reason I have asked to audition both - hopefully I will get my demo units in a week or so. Your experiences only go to show that perhaps everyone auditioning these knobs should attempt to procure a demo of each type. It has become increasingly clear to me over the 12 months I have known Entreq that - more than any other item made for audiophile use - more expensive (infact more - period), does not necessarily equal best.

 

[Barry2013]

Thanks Detlof
You have a very extensive and sophisticated system so fitting the Everests may well be a more complex exercise which needs a bit more time.
The right thing to do as you say is to persevere, let them settle in and listen with the full suite of Everests, If they don't suit the system so be it but again as you acknowledge they may be exposing some hitherto hidden small weakness in the system. That would be something of a mixed blessing because I imagine identifying the source of it may not be straightforward.
Good luck!

 

[Detlof]

Hi Detlof,

Great feedback! For what it is worth, your feedback strikes me as rather similar to a completely unrelated review of the Everest I read on the internet (which unfortunately I cannot find right at the moment). But in that same review, they were much more enthusiastic about the cheaper K2. This is the reason I have asked to audition both - hopefully I will get my demo units in a week or so. Your experiences only go to show that perhaps everyone auditioning these knobs should attempt to procure a demo of each type. It has become increasingly clear to me over the 12 months I have known Entreq that - more than any other item made for audiophile use - more expensive (infact more - period), does not necessarily equal best.

Wished I had been that wise. Thank you for your reaction! Still being quite confused, I am glad to hear, that I am not the only one.
Am listening again to the D-minor as I write this, the first violine is pristine again. Do not know what to make of it, but possibly the Everests do need to break in. Besides, I use plasma tweeters to enhance the main speakers and these beasts are merciless.

 

[GuillaumeB]

For what it's worth I have taken the Everest off the binding post serving the d1-six Totaldac.

There was something slightly shouty or fatiguing about the sound and I felt as though I wasn't hearing the d1-six at its best.

I did find the K2 better but actually without either K2 or Everest I think I far prefer the sound. I have Everest on the other 2 binding posts (connected to Absolare and d1 server) and also on my Olympus Minimus connected to my router and sonicTransporter.

Without the Everests and K2s in the mix both Olympus Minimus and Poseidon are already quite a big jump up from the Silver Minimus and Silver Tellus... especially with a couple of Atlantis Eartha cables in the mix.

Guillaume