Entreq Tellus and Eartha Silver Cables

The Tellus is really heavy and is fashioned out of wood, including the binding post caps. The latter are made from aged beech from an old farmhouse belonging to Entreq’s owner. It is heavier than most of my equipment, including my preamp and CD player. On the rear of the Tellus, three binding posts are provided.According to Entreq, the Minimus can be used to treat two source equipment, while the Tellus can treat a whole system.

The Eartha silver cables get special mention for their clever spade design. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

The Tellus is a ground conditioner, which promises a clean earth in order to enhance the sound of your hi-fi system. Hook-up is simple, with the user hooking up the Tellus to various possible ground points in the system, such as the negative binding post of your speakers,  the outer ring of RCA sockets, or the chassis screw or ground post of your equipment.

For readers not familiar with Singapore’s electrical wiring, our household AC sockets are polarized and earthed. Entreq’s ground system is therefore used in conjunction with the protective earth already in place. As a matter of clarification, the Tellus does NOT connect to the protective earth point of the household AC socket.

I used Entreq’s Eartha silver cables to hook up the Tellus to my preamp, as well as both of my speakers. My Minimus remained hooked up to my Entreq USB cable. I tried connecting the USB cable to the Tellus instead together with the rest of the system, but performance was better with the Minimus dedicated to the USB cable.

One of my dealer friends (who does not distribute Entreq products) happened to hear the Entreq in action. I did not explain how it worked, what it does, or how much it cost. He listened to my setup for a while, before I disconnected the Entreq Tellus (leaving the Minimus connected to the USB cable). He was wowed, and likened the effect to reducing a good projection system to a normal widescreen LCD TV.

The effect of the Entreq can best be described as a tightening of imaging and soundstaging, with clearer definition between instruments. The most obvious change is the change in depth perception, with the soundstage moving back at least a few rows. The second most obvious change is the pinpoint accuracy of imaging. Although image sizes are smaller, they are clearly defined in space.

Initially, there seemed to be a loss in immediacy and dynamics, but further introspection suggested that this was due to a reduction in harshness and tighter bass control. After adjusting for the generally calmer and quieter presentation of the Tellus, there is a realisation of the improved quality of microdetail, treble and bass extension, and a generally lower noise floor.

It is also worthwhile to note that the effect of the Entreq depends very much on other ground control / enhancers in use in the system. Adding the very popular Acoustic Revive RGC-24 still makes a difference, but to a lesser extent than if the RGC-24 was used alone.

Assuming that you do not prefer a more intimate presentation (some audiophiles I know demand that their favourite female vocalist appears a few feet before them, rather than a few meters away on stage), there is little not to like about the Tellus. Well, there is of course, the issue of price (the Tellus with Eartha Silver Cables costs as much as nice component), and bulk. In perspective, the eye popping price tags of current high end equipment suggests that pricing may be reasonable after all, assuming that your system price tag justifies it.

Eric also publishes his own blogspot out of Singapore entitled Eric’s Hifi Blogs (http://singaporehifi.blogspot.com/)