To say that Entreq make an exhaustive range of grounding products is an understatement if ever there was one – to someone looking at Entreq for the first time the range can be bewildering, confusing and even off-putting to potential users.
The current range consists of 8 Infinity Ground Cables and this is being dramatically streamlined, with 6 of the current 8 cables being discontinued.
From the existing line up the following Infinity Ground Cables are now no longer available – Copper, Discover, Konstantin, Challenger, Silver and Atlantis, only Apollo and the flagship Olympus continue along with 2 brand new ground cables being introduced.
Argo Infinity
The first of these 2 new cables is the Argo, which is the new entry level ground cable. Argo replaces all the previous ground cables from Copper through to Challenger, it is a completely new design of cable with a 3 braided conductors and a copper hook. Like the Challenger it is a ‘hybrid’ cable containing both copper and silver in its construction.
The Argo is available with the following termination options: RCA, XLR (male and female), USB, RJ45, Spade and 5 Pin Din connectors. For existing Entreq owners who may require 3.5mm ground cables for older interconnects these are still available, but are now special order only.
The Argo ground cables are available now and are priced at £340.00 each.
From a performance point of view I’m delighted to say the Argo comfortably outperforms all the cables it replaces (there wouldn’t be much point otherwise!), tonally the Argo sits closest to where a Challenger was.
It also possible to purchase an Silver Argo Grounding Kit which gives you 1 Argo Ground Cable and a Silver Minimus Infinity Ground Box for £800 (£140 saving over buying them separately)
Apollo Infinity
Above the Argo sits now sits Apollo, which remains unchanged at £680.00. The Apollo has consistently been the most popular ground cable in the range in all of the forms it has taken over the years. It offers superb transparency and insight into your music, without ever sounding forward or strident. All of the same termination options are available with Apollo as they are with Argo.
Triton Infinity
Sitting above the Apollo is a new cable called the Triton, as with the Argo the Triton is an all new braided design, Triton utilises 4 conductors and is a silver conductor. It is voiced like an Apollo but simply helps to deliver even more of everything the Apollo is so good at, increased levels of texture and body, but with all of the openness and transparency the Apollo excels at – the Triton will be a brilliant upgrade for Apollo owners who want to take things to the next level but don’t want to go to the Olympus.
The Triton cables are £1000 each and available now.
The Olympus is the flagship cable and like the Apollo this remains unchanged from the version you can buy now, these are £1550 each so not for the faint of heart.
In a good system the Olympus is a bit of a revelation and is a huge step up over Argo, Apollo and Triton. I genuinely don’t recall anyone listening to an Olympus cable and not being suitably impressed, literally everyone who has heard one has ending up buying at least one for their system. It always goes down really well, with great comments like “David, I don’t like you anymore!”
All 4 cables now feature interchangeable connections, which on Argo, Apollo and Triton are easily swappable 3.5mm bayonets. Olympus is also a swappable bayonet but uses a larger solid silver connection. If you buy an Argo, Apollo or Triton RCA ground cable, but if you change equipment and require a different end, you simply purchase a new connector for £40.00 and keep the original as a spare, the Olympus connectors are £140 each.
This new range of cables is designed to offer 4 distinct price points and 4 very distinct levels of performance, as always there is no right or wrong option with Entreq and the Olympus isn’t necessarily the ‘best’ cable for you or your system, it all hinges on the balance of your system, your taste and budget.
We keep all 4 cables on demonstration and have a wide selection of terminations so can cover most likely system configurations.
As always part exchange of older ground cables is welcome and actively encouraged to help you get on the ladder with the new cables so you can get the best from your system!
The evolution to the ground cable range isn’t the only thing Entreq are changing, we’ll have several blog posts coming over the next week or so outlining them all separately, there certainly has never been a better time to get into Entreq!
Noise is the enemy and all systems at all levels contain plenty of it and when you experience Entreq in your system for the first time it can be a bit of an eye opener, watch this space and as always please don’t hesitate to get in touch for more information!
