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Entreq Silver Tellus grounding/earthing system

Hi A'goners, I'd like to tell you all a little about this component which has taken noise elimination in my system to a whole new level.
I run a Trans Fi Salvation/Terminator tt/arm, ESCCo modded Zu 103 cart into a Tom Evans Audio Design Groove Plus SRX phono, Emm Labs CDSA SE, Hovland HP200/Radia pre/pow, and Zu Definitions Mk4 spkrs. This set up is (now) effortlessly dynamic and transparent.
I live in a semi industrial area with broadband on in every apartment, internet booster stations and light engineering nearby.
It became apparent some years ago that apart from the hours of midnight to 5am, I could not rely on a good sound, and research led to conclusion that mains borne noise was likely the culprit.
This led to my first partial success, the installation of the Burmester 948 mains conditioner/filter 7 years ago. This resulted in an immediate reduction in noise and increase in transparency/delicacy ie a major improvement, even in daylight hours. BUT it became apparent over time that dynamics were seriously pinched, and the conclusion I've correctly drawn is that peak current demand was restricted by the unit compromising the power amp output.
This led to my next upgrade, and now real progress: an 8kVA pro studio Westwick 8K balanced power transformer. Now I got all the previous improvements with no current restrictions to the power amp - transparency AND NOW dynamics in spades.
But as with all things audio, the awareness of the Entreq grounding/earthing system piqued my interest further in eliminating mains issues. Entreq are a Swedish audio engineering company with a couple of decades experience, and provide a variety of mains and interconnect products.
The Entreq Silver Tellus is a wooden box, the size and weight of a small power amp. It contains inert minerals and a grounding plate. It's a passive device ie NOT powered from the mains, and sits adjacent to the system. In my system, one Apollo Eartha interconnect runs from one of 4 terminals on the back of the Tellus, to an unused input of my preamp. It is possible to connect another 3 components to a single Tellus.
In effect, it provides an ADDITIONAL earth/ground to the system, NOT replacing the existing protective earth. This then provides an uninterrupted drain for RF/EMI/other hash from the system to the Tellus.
I was expecting a minor improvement at most. What I wasn't expecting was a transformation of the system.
Firstly, soundstage deepens dramatically, so much so that the stage seems totally independent of the spkrs. Phenomenal reduction in noise really enhances the blackness between notes, and brings micro detail to the fore. This reduction in noise has the amazing side benefit of relegating vinyl surface noise way into the background. The overall effect is a fantastic increase in dynamics and transparency, taking what balanced power brings to the party and sending it off the scale.
Vitally, the nature of the system sound hasn't changed, since the Silver Tellus enhances performance, doesn't change it; in many ways is the best system wide upgrade to optimise performance I could make.
My conclusion from the last 7 years is that noise is the major limiting factor in my system, and the installation of Westwick 8k balanced power ($7000) and Entreq Silver Tellus/ Apollo Eartha grounding/earthing ($3000) has led to improvements that even a total overhaul of the system and buying new at 5x the cost could not surpass.
If anyone is getting frustrated with their system, address the mains first before you go down the merry-go-round of endless component upgrades.
In the UK, Kog Audio are the go-to guys for Entreq. I have no affiliation, just an extremely content audiophile, now so much closer to the end point on improving my system.
spiritofmusic
msom
16 posts
 
HI Spirit,
Thanks for your reply. I'm been getting excellent results by minding each recording's absolute phase, to the extent of getting aquainted to Lps I've had for years but regarded as inoperative pressings. But I must go about this by switching loudspeaker cable polarity at the speaker, rather tedious. I took notice of a Hovland for sale near me, and wondered if a phase reversal facility could make me go for it, being pleased with my Pass Labs Aleph L. As for Entreq, I'm a confirmed buyer. Besides experimenting with grounding variations, I'm heading for an Eartha Atlantis cable for the preamp, plus Silver Minimus for each source arrangement. Will expand on this idea later, if you're patient enough to read it.
Best wishes.
spiritofmusic OP
828 posts
 
Hi Msom, may I ask why you've gone for separate Minimus for each component? I'm running a single Silver Tellus, to which 5 components are grounded via Apollo leads. The UK rep rates this better than separate boxes.
Aiming for upgraded Atlantis cables and Atlantis add on box, but at a later stage when my power grid, i/cs and p/cs are fully sorted.
msom
16 posts
 
Hi Spirit,
The thing was born out of trial and error, really. I began with a Tellus, then moved on to two Minimus, for the speakers. However, that implied connecting the Minimus to the return post on the speaker, which indeed tampered with the signal circuit directly, and I avoided it, feeling it wasn't beneficial. So, two Minimus to spare. To cut a long story, I looked at my phono stage, which has separate ground posts for chassis and signal board. I had plugged the ground from the turntable directly to the signal post on the phono, feeling it made sense. But, curiosity being what it is, I tried the chassis ground instead. Well then. Increased clarity, scale and texture. Why would this be? I reasoned that since the turntable's chassis and cartridge ground are joined together, connecting directly to the phono signal board was interfering with it. And it was. I also noticed that keeping a Minimus for the signal board alone improved matters further. So, next up I connected the preamp to the Tellus, the turntable to a Minimus, and the phono signal board to the other Minimus. This improved things further, so much so that going back to everything connected to the Tellus flattened matters down, and I began to refer to this new arrangement as the "isolation fleet". Remember though, I'm using copper Tellus and Minimus. With that in mind, I applied for a Silver Minimus... which arrived a week ago. And things got truly interesting. Well, this is getting long, I'll be sure to get back to it later. But I'll say that whatever one's system's peculiarites, using Entreq has been a pleasure and a revelation. Cheers,
spiritofmusic OP
828 posts
 
Msom, that sounds like a thorough and forensic way to come to your final conclusions - trial and error with a purpose!
Interesting that you've taken to attaching some Entreq grounding leads to equipment chassis'. This seems to be the favoured way of Tripoint Troy, whereas Entreq prefer to attach to unused rca/xlr/earth terminals.
Personally I'm getting such great results attaching to various terminals to not bother investigating chassis grounding, so going to stick as is (five Apollo leads from pre/2 SETs/phono/cdp, to Silver Tellus). Once I finalise power grid set up and overhaul of ic/pc loom, I'll reinvestigate Entreq to poss upgrade Apollo leads to Atlantis leads, Atlantis add-on box to Tellus, and maybe Powerus/Cleanus.
Getting FANTASTIC results with upgrading grid to 8kVA balanced power. The best way I can describe things is that Entreq grounding has sharpened up the soundstage, enhancing detail, stillness, and dynamics; and balanced power has revealed the natural warmth and power of the system, imparting such bass grip and control, that major issues I had with in-room bass interaction are almost totally eliminated. An amazing feat.
msom
16 posts
 
Spirit,

Your findings with balanced power are interesting. Using two Richard Gray 400 pro's in line with my system circuit has advantages but, unfortunately, also caveats. More on that later, I suppose. It's also interesting your mention of bass improvement as overall acoustic improvement, which possibly sheds light on room/system interaction way beyond bass traps and diffraction solutions. The thing is, the better my system gets in terms of output, the slighter acoustic impediments get.

I should point out that I'm using primarily the unused rca/xlr inputs for Entreq interface. Chassis ground has turned up as a secondary route, meaning two Minimus per device (copper on chassis, silver on signal) which yields complementary results. I suppose I'm being, as your US cousins might say, dedicated to the process. I'm afraid I'm not acquainted with Tripoint at all.
In the meanwhile, an Eartha Atlantis and second Silver Minimus are now on their way. Can't wait, really. Hope there'll be more positive points to discuss over the next few weeks. Still, I'll trace back your posts to read more about your balanced power setup.
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