Entreq grounding boxes

[adhesiv]

Hi,

Have actually got my Olympus for test and new Apollo Cables.
The Pictures show the sizes, other one is the Silver Tellus.

Olympus have one (1) sterling silver ground post, bad thing if using the Atlantis Cables, because this baby handle my 800 much better, let me explain..
My system, Dev 800, Olympus, Apollo Cables and my new Scala v2 for the test.

Removed the Silver Tellus and my Atlantis cables. Connected the Olympus and connected the Apollo to the first RCA (phono) in both Devialet. From the first beat it sounded much "heavier" and clearer in a much better way then the Silver Tellus have ever give me, could not believe it. Called Mikael (Per-Olof tester and maker of several components) and he explained to me that it could be that Silver Tellus is to much for the Dev. units alone (i have only my Devs connected), maybe draining the units to hard and "holding" back the sound stage.

I will keep this!
If i want to use my Atlantis i have to buy one more unit!
If you are thinking of "earthing" more than two units with your Olympus, i do not think it will be for you.
Per-Olof is making a much larger Olympus to replace Silver Tellus as we speak

Sending some pictures

You're the first person I've seen stacking a D800 as a d-premier (presumably upgraded to D250) and new model D250...any issues with this configuration?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[stefanfreij]

You're the first person I've seen stacking a D800 as a d-premier (presumably upgraded to D250) and new model D250...any issues with this configuration?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Both are upgraded, Everything is working perfect, break-in period have been a pain, took looong time!
Have tried put the units side by side, but could not notice and big difference in heat

---

stefanfreij,

What does the Olympus cost?

Not sure yet, Think it will be between Silver Minimus and Silver Tellus
Here in Sweden it would be, 1000 usd?

[adhesiv]

Would the general consensus here be to upgrade speaker cables over something like the Entreq box or vice versa?

I'm looking to go with Nordost Signal Cabling and Shunyata Power Cords.

[GuillaumeB]

Would the general consensus here be to upgrade speaker cables over something like the Entreq box or vice versa?

I'm looking to go with Nordost Signal Cabling and Shunyata Power Cords.

Disclaimer: this is completely subjective and personal! My personal feeling is that in the overall chain the speaker cables are probably the least important element. I think all the more so with the Devialet given its high damping factor/low output impedance. That's not to say that different speaker cables don't change the sound; I believe they do. Some speaker cablers with networks (for e.g. Transparent) will literally tweak the sound and roll off high frequencies giving you a more pleasant sound. I think MIT do the same. I'm not so familiar with Nordost speaker cables although I have owned some in the past.

Both Nordost and Shunyata have a good reputation but as ever I would say listen to them in your own system first before committing. If you have a friend/partner to help out then even better. And take your time! Sometimes what seems great at first isn't so good in the long run. The mind can play tricks on you (expectation bias!). I believe Caelin Gabriel of Shunyata is a proud Devialet owner. He developed the ZPC-10 power cable specifically to fit the Devialet with the rear lid.

With Entreq the key is to find a good local dealer with the patience to sit with you for a whole afternoon (or morning!) experimenting with different combinations. More expensive is not necessarily better. I usually borrow gear for a few weeks before making any decisions.

Guillaume

[marcbrown]

In an email Bruce at Stillpoints says a new grounding box, the Olympus, is coming out soon with 1 connection instead of 4. It is at least equal to Silver Tellus level of performance. I will be getting price and availability. He also says the level of improvement is BIG. Hard for me to believe, but I have learned to keep an open ear.

If that email is genuine, when do these retail guys ever learn about marketing?

If the new Olympus model is a lot better ("the level of improvement is BIG"), then the stuff people have just bought is now a lot worse that you can buy very soon.

Dealers demonstrating this difference personally through blind listening tests will clearly demonstrate this ... (ROFL)

Bruce was referring to the sound improvement with vs without entreq box not one vs the other. He said it was big like the difference Stillpoints make. Stillpoints were such a game changer for me it is hard for me to believe an entreq box could make the same level of improvement the Stillpoints gave. I do plan to test them with an open ear.

[mauidan]

You're the first person I've seen stacking a D800 as a d-premier (presumably upgraded to D250) and new model D250...any issues with this configuration?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Both are upgraded, Everything is working perfect, break-in period have been a pain, took looong time!
Have tried put the units side by side, but could not notice and big difference in heat

---

stefanfreij,

What does the Olympus cost?

Not sure yet, Think it will be between Silver Minimus and Silver Tellus
Here in Sweden it would be, 1000 usd?

Just saw over on WBF, that it will sell for $2429. in the US.

[IanG-UK]

Well the Silver Minimus is listed at £440 in the UK (that is after distributor and dealer margins and VAT) and $1400 in the US, ex sales tax.***

But take the Silver Minimus UK price, take off the VAT, add import duty (3.3% I think) and convert at $1.58/£1 and you get $600, plus a bit extra for shipping and insurance.

A nice extra 133% profit for USA dealers eh??? (Lotus pricing in the UK, The Cable Company pricing in the USA)

So if that extravagant extra mark up applies in the USA with the Olympus, but not in the UK, its UK retail should be around £760.

For comparison, the Silver Tellus is listed at £1,650 in the UK. So as a marketing device, the pricing for the Olympus , I guess, should be pitched around £850 in the UK.

*** though the same extra margin doesn't apply with the Siver Tellus - £1,650 in the UK, $2,700 in the USA; and, perversely, the standard Tellus is cheaper in the USA than the UK.

[mauidan]

As per the Stillpoints(US Didtributor) website, the US price for the Silver Minimus is $729. The Cable Company pricing includes an Apollo cable.

[adhesiv]

I've been reading alot about these units...super super intrigued to the point that I'm ready to try them out.

I wonder though if one were to run a grounding rod into the ground then just expose that rod somehow to your listening room to connect your gear to it in the same way would that provide a similar or better benefit (real grounding).

I know 99% of folks couldn't or would do this but it seems easy enough to do in my house...heck i already have a grounding rod by the AC Main Panel, could i just run a copper line from that to some binding posts on a wall panel and connect? Any concerns with mixing signal, chassis and electrical grounding? Obviously I'm not an electrician so for all I know I'm creating a lethal situation

[Rufus McDufus]

I use a grounding rod and the Devialet has exclusive use of it. The rod is 3.6m deep. Funnily enough it doesn't make a huge difference, over having it connected to the domestic PME earth. The ground-loop impedance isn't great though - around 40-50 Ohms which might largely be down to poor soil type around the rod.
My Silver Tellus (in addition) gives a much larger improvement.

It depends which country you're in as to legality. Mine was installed by a qualified electrician, though in the UK the rules (currently BS7671 17th edition) are not very clear on grounding rods and how they integrate with the domestic earth scheme, so it varies by electrician as to what they'll actually allow! This is crazy, I know. The earthing for my Devialet is completely separate from the house earth, though some installations have the earth rod in addition. The potential problem with the latter is in the case of a catastrophic cabling failure several properties could route the fault current through one property's earth rod - though I don't believe there has been a single known case of this ever happening and there'd probably be bigger things to worry about if the circumstances for it to happen came about - i.e multiple properties on fire. If you're thinking of doing it I would say that the opinion of a qualified electrician should be considered mandatory.

Rob.