Entreq Grounding – A Rough Guide

When I started Audio Therapy back in 2017 Entreq were one of my original brands and they have been a great success, a large number of my customers listened and the vast majority loved what they heard.

At that time there were only a small handful of Entreq dealers in the UK and they were relatively unknown as a brand. I’ve spent the past 7 years extolling their virtues, they are a brand which I have huge passion for and belief in and over that time I’ve developed a profound understanding and knowledge of all things Entreq. I’ll be bold and say that Audio Therapy has been instrumental in helping grow Entreq as a brand, introducing it to many new customers and even helping with other dealers getting on board, both in the UK and overseas.

As their logo on their ground boxes proudly displays Entreq hail from Sweden and the name is an abbreviation of the term ENergy TRansforming EQuipment.

They design and manufacture a variety of products, ground boxes, ground cables, signal cables, power cables, an equipment stand and a selection of really effective accessories. They are probably most well known for their grounding solutions, their first ground box was the original Tellus which launched in 2007 and from there the range has expanded and evolved into the current line up available today.

A recurring theme on my website is discussion over extracting the best performance from a product or system, before that product or system is inevitably traded in and ‘upgraded’. I come across so many customers who are merely scratching the surface of the potential with their system, yet so many people get stuck on that merry go round of part exchanges and buying the latest flavour of the month.

I’ve had a few candid conversations with customers over the years about this scenario and some of the most satisfied customers are the ones that took heed of that advice. In simple terms, get the best from the system you have before you upgrade it, I enjoy throwing a customer a curve call and Entreq is a fairly frequent ball to be thrown, usually in the shape of one of their ground boxes

So what is a Ground Box?

This is a question I get asked quite frequently and it’s important to stress what a ground box isn’t or what it doesn’t do – they are completely passive boxes and they do not replicate or replace your protective earth/ground.

Connect an Entreq ground box to a component in your system using an unused socket (RCA, XLR, USB etc) and it will remove noise and interference contained within the signal path and drain it to the box.  The sonic benefit this brings can be sizeable, this connection lowers the noise floor which in turn elevates performance by increasing clarity, detail, scale and also developing the sound-stage, bringing out textures and layering in the music that were previously being masked or subdued by noise.

There is a comprehensive range of boxes available with different sizes and performance levels, they all can play a pivotal role in improving a system, which is the most suitable box or boxes will depend on the system in question, there is a choice of ground cables as well.

Once a box is connected to a component most people detect a change occurring in the music within just a few songs, although it takes several days for the connection to fully establish itself, the removal of noise is not like flicking a switch.

Some people often find the benefit can be initially quite subtle, but once you have lived with the box in your system for a few days if you remove it you should quickly appreciate what it was doing.

What Noise?

All systems produce noise, a by-product of a system being connected to mains power. Power in a typical home is noisy to start with, it is generally worse if you live in a large city, but everyone regardless of location will be affected by mains borne noise to some degree.

All of the devices and products that we plug in around the home (including our hi-fi systems) also create noise and this can make the situation worse, refrigeration, laundry products, routers, televisions, gaming consoles and vast array of charging devices, smart speakers, ethernet over mains adapters, the list goes on and on. Take a mental walk around your home and count how many devices you have permanently connected; they all can have a detrimental effect on system performance to some degree.

All of this noise gets in the way of your systems ability to perform to its best, it can get dispersed around the components in your system via the signal cables and it can mask a systems ability to render fine detail and effect how a system performs.

You can’t obviously hear this noise directly, but you can hear what happens to your system when you remove it, it is usually quite obvious and going back again to the system as it was should tell you in no uncertain terms what it is doing. Generally speaking the better the system the bigger the improvement that can be had, I must stress that although Entreq is incredibly capable, it cannot and will not make a silk purse out of a sows ear.

Ground Boxes & Grounding Kits – The Range

There is a wide range of ground boxes and kits, they all perform at different levels, some boxes have greater capacity than others so they can remove more noise and are better suited for specific applications. As a rough guide if you want to work out the maximum capacity of a ground box multiply its effective mass by 5 and this will give the weight that the ground box can effectively operate up to.

For example, a Silver Minimus Tungsten version has a mass of 2kg, therefore it will operate most effectively on a product which weighs up to 10kg. To be fair I have plenty of customers using a Silver Minimus on products which weigh more than 10kg and we still get superb results. Speaking personally I would not get too hung up on this calculation, it is not a hard rule that must be adhered to, more of a useful gauge.

For the purposes of this guide I have divided the grounding boxes into 3 distinct groups.

Grounding Kits, Single Cell Ground Boxes and Multi Cell Ground Boxes.

Grounding Kits

Since their launch around 3 years ago the grounding kits have been really popular, Entreq wanted to make something affordable, with great performance and to attract new customers to the brand, they have been a huge success with both new and existing customers alike. Each grounding kit comes with a ground cable included so nothing else is required to get up and running.

Macro Kit

The Macro Kit is now £380 and it comprises of a ground box and a 1.65m ground cable. I’ve customers using Macro Kits with all manner of components – routers, integrated amplifiers, streamers, DAC’s, network switches, CD players. You can specify the type of connector to be included with the ground cable, RJ45, RCA, XLR (male and female), USB A, USB B and spade.

For those who stream music a Macro Kit on a router is a very good move and this has been the most popular application of this particular kit.

Over two-thirds of the customers who purchase a Macro Kit end up returning to buy another one (or more in some cases), to use on another component in their system. For the price of admission the improvement they can bring is truly excellent and they offer tremendous value for money.

Macro Twin Kit

The Macro Twin Kit is exactly as it sounds, it is 2 Macro kits bundled together. They recently had a welcome reduction in price and are now  £700, the 2 ground cables that come with the Twin Kit are slightly different to one in the standard kit, the Twin Kit is used for a specific role in a system – connecting to the negative loudspeaker outputs on your integrated amplifier or power amplifier.

The level of noise that exists between an amplifier and loudspeaker can be significant and this noise constantly goes back and forth between them (the signal is not a one way path from the amplifier to the speaker) and by placing a ground box on the negative loudspeaker outputs we effectively stop the noise leaving the amplifier and divert it to the ground boxes, one box is used per channel.

There are a few other brands that have grounding products in the market today, but this particular solution is unique to Entreq, no other brand has the ability to connect to the negative outputs of an amplifier to remove this noise.

If someone only has the budget or space to add only one piece of Entreq to their system, a Macro Twin Kit would always get my vote before anything else, it offers a significant upgrade to everything a system does. 

Note: For this application each Macro Box must be not be connected to anything other than the negative speaker outputs, 1 box for left channel, 1 box for right. You can use any matching pair of Entreq boxes for this and using bigger boxes does make the benefit even more pronounced.

You cannot connect both outputs to 1 ground post or to 1 ground box, unless it is a multi-cell box – if in any doubt please ask.

Silver Hexa Kit

This kit uses a Silver Minimus Tungsten Ground Box and a Hexa Ground Cable, purchasing these items separately costs £860, but the Silver Hexa Kit is £760 so it represents good value for money. The theory behind this kit is exactly the same as the Macro Kit, it simply gives you superior performance. There is greater capacity in the box which makes it more efficient and it has a different mixture of minerals. Also, the Hexa ground cable is superior to the cable in the Macro Kit.

Over the past 7 years the Silver Minimus has been the most popular ground box we have sold and this Tungsten version is the 3rd iteration.

Single Cell Ground Boxes

The single cell ground boxes all contain one ground post (or cell). They are designed to be connected to a single component. I would not recommend sharing 2 components on a single cell ground box as you reduce the efficiency of the box, you will always achieve greater performance by keeping them separate. Single cell and multi cell ground boxes do not come with a ground cable included, they start from £120.

Silver Minimus Tungsten

As mentioned above the Silver Minimus Tungsten is the 3rd version of the popular Silver Minimus, they are priced at £580 and have a newly refined mineral mixture including Tungsten. They unlock greater levels of texture and layering within the music. The noise floor reduces to a level where discreet levels of detail and nuance can become quite distinct and obvious.

Olympus Ten Tungsten

The Tungsten version of the Olympus Ten replaced the original model, which was released to coincide with Entreq’s 10th anniversary. This new version has elevated performance compared to that original box. This box is all about textures, layering and the soundstage, all 3 of these elements in a system get developed really well by this box.

Speaking personally, this is probably my favourite Entreq ground box, they never fail to impress, the level of refinement and calmness they instill is incredibly strong.

There is 1 particular customer who bought an Olympus Ten Tungsten and his feedback always sticks in my mind, he borrowed one for a week and called me to say that it was one of the most impressive upgrades he had ever made to his system and this a customer who has had a serious system for a long time (25+ years)

The Olympus Ten Tungsten is now £1200.

Olympus Infinity Tungsten

The Olympus Infinity T is Entreq’s flagship single cell ground box, if you look on the back you will see there are 2 posts but this is still a single cell box, they share the same ground plane so you cannot use this box for negative loudspeaker grounding. But due to the much greater capacity there is no issue with connecting a couple of components to it (this is the only box I would suggest this with) but as ever the less you ask of it the better it will perform.

When you look at Entreq’s larger multi-cell boxes, the Pluton and the Hero they are built around multiple versions of the Olympus Infinity Tungsten.

Following a recent price reduction the Olympus Infinity T is now £3600

Connect this box to an unused input on an integrated amplifier, DAC or pre-amp and what happens isn’t subtle, it can deliver a serious component level upgrade.

Multi Cell Ground Boxes

This range of ground boxes offers great flexibility and very good value for money when you look at what you get compared to the same number of single cell boxes. Many customers prefer the small boxes as they are more affordable, smaller so you can site them out of view, behind components etc. But if you have the space and the budget the multi-cell boxes certainly serve a purpose.

Tellus 3 Tungsten

The replacement for the Tellus 2 Infinity is very interesting, it follows a different form compared to all of the other Entreq ground boxes, in that it is vertical, it is also very small, more so than the images would suggest, it is not as wide as Silver Minimus for example and it stands only 43cm tall. It has been designed to stand to the side of an equipment rack, but I can see many people using this box behind their rack, or even laid horizontally when space is at a premium.

The Tellus 3 has 3 independent ground posts, 2 of which are based around the Silver Minimus Tungsten, the third post is based around an Olympus Ten Tungsten. There is no shortage of ways a Tellus 3 could be utilised in a system. Negative output grounding is the obvious role for this box, it offers greater performance than a Macro Twin Kit, but you gain a 3rd post, equivalent to a Olympus Ten Tungsten to use elsewhere.

Priced at £1650 the Tellus 3 Tungsten offers incredible value for money compared to purchasing the 3 equivalent boxes separately. The manufacturing of this box cuts down on labour compared to 3 small boxes and the box itself is a little more simple and easier to produce, and the cost saving has been passed to make it as attractive as possible. Released in September 2024 – this will be a popular product.

If someone wants a Tellus 3 Tungsten but needs a horizontal version to go in a rack it can be special ordered.

Silver Tellus Tungsten

The original Silver Tellus is often thought of the classic Entreq box, it had 4 posts, but it was a single cell box so it had incredible capacity to remove noise and it sold well as a result. Its replacement, the Silver Tellus Infinity changed the configuration slightly and in this new Tungsten version Entreq have adapted its configuration into its most flexible form yet.  You will still see 4 ground posts on the back of a Silver Tellus Tungsten, but they are divided into 2 cells, each being based around an Olympus Ten Tungsten.

This means you could use this box for negative output grounding and achieve performance to a higher level than you get from a Tellus 3 or a Macro Twin Kit. But, you could also use this box to ground several components, effectively separating digital products from analogue products. Connect your integrated amplifier and DAC to one half of the box with your router and network streamer to the other half for example.

The Silver Tellus Tungsten is priced at £2000, another example of good value compared to purchasing separate boxes as the Olympus Ten Tungsten are £1200 each.

Pluton

This theme of value for money continues with the Pluton, this is a tri-cell box, each post is equivalent to an Olympus Infinity Tungsten, we have 3 of them contained within the Pluton, purchasing 3 Olympus Infinity T separately would cost £10,800 whereas a Pluton is £7000, still expensive but in relative terms it offers good value.

As with all tri-cell boxes negative output grounding is almost always utilised, with the 3rd output being used wherever it is best served in the system.

TenTen

The TenTen is a Multi Cell box with a difference, here we have ten Olympus Ten Tungsten in one rather sizeable box, in addition to this you also get an Entreq CleanUs included too. There is an IEC socket on the rear of the TenTen, connect this to a spare wall socket and the CleanUs draws away high frequency noise from the mains to help improve performance.

The TenTen is a superb product, I supplied and installed the very TenTen that arrived into the UK.

Many people have said that ten posts is completely overkill, for smaller systems quite possibly but it is not hard to find 10 uses for one in a system.

Integrated amplifier input and negative outputs x 2, DAC, Melco Player, router, Entreq XLR grounding (left and right), Entreq speaker cable grounding (left and right)

Entreq provide bridging links with the Ten Ten so you can combine some of the posts together to enhance performance even further, great for making the TenTen work in a serious system but one made up of less components.

A single Olympus Ten Tungsten is £1200 and a CleanUs is £1500, making a combined price of £13500, the TenTen is £8400.

Hero

The Hero is huge weighing in around 60kg, it stands half a metre tall and has a combined effective mass of around 250kg so it has almost unrivalled capacity for removing noise. Like the Pluton the Hero is a multi-cell version of the Olympus Infinity T, here we have 5 of them combined, the Hero also integrates a Silver CleanUs into it as well.

5 x Olympus Infinity Tungsten would cost £18,000, plus £2400 for a Silver CleanUs if purchased as individual items, a Hero is £13500, in relative terms it’s good value, but let’s make no mistake – it is still an awful lot of money! But to put into context, for those with systems in excess of £200,000 (systems of this magnitude are more common that a lot of people reading this will realise) the cost of a Hero is relatively small compared to what it can bring to a system at this sort of level. Like the TenTen it is possible to combine some of the ground posts with links to create larger ground planes.

Ground Cables

Entreq produce a range of dedicated ground cables to use with their ground boxes.

All ground cables are 1.65m long by default and there are several termination options available.

All ground cables are supplied with a hard wired connector as standard, there is the choice of RCA, XLR (male and female), RJ45, USB (type A and type B), plus spade. If someone would prefer the option to have a removable connector so the ends can easily be changed this is not a problem, these connectors increase the cost and they don’t sound quite a good as the hard wired alternative but they are more flexible.

A hard wired Hexa is £280 for example, or £350 with a removable copper connector.

Each ground cable is manufactured using different conductors, as such there are tonal differences between all of the cables.

Copper

This is Entreq’s entry level ground cable. Copper produces a warm, rounded presentation. Ideal on a older Minimus, Minimus Infinity or any version of the Silver Minimus or Silver Tellus. In a lively, forward sounding system the Copper is a great choice. Copper was Entreq’s entry level ground cable for a long time, but it was discontinued in 2021 and has been relaunched with this new version in October 2024.

Priced at £120 with a hard wired connector or £190 with a removable 3.5mm Copper connector.

Hexa

Hexa is a new model in the range and effectively replaces Argo from the previous range. Hexa is best described as a Copper cable but on steroids, Hexa is superior than both Challenger Infinity and Argo and it is more affordable than both of these older cables. A great step up over Copper.

Priced at £280 with a hard wired connector or £350 with a removable 3.5mm Copper connector

Revelation

This is another new cable launched in the Autumn of 2024. Revelation is a more cost effective version of the Apollo. Very similar in construction, with same grade of conductor, but with a smaller gauge of wiring. Revelation is transparent and open sounding.

Priced at £400 with a hard wired connector or £500 with a removable Silver 3.5mm connector

Apollo

The Apollo has consistently been the most popular ground cable through all of the various ranges over the years. Apollo offers excellent transparency and insight into the music. An Apollo lifts a veil over music you thought you knew really well, it really allows subtle nuances and finer details in recordings to really shine through.

An Apollo with a Silver Minimus or Olympus Ten makes for a really compelling combination

Priced at £600 with a hard wired connector or £700 with a removable Silver 3.5mm connector

Suduko

This is a new cable which replaces the Triton from the previous range. The Suduko is a lower cost version of the Olympus cable, made from smaller conductors, it is more flexible and offers a sizeable slice of Olympus performance, but at a more affordable price point.

Priced at £900 with a hard wired connector or £1000 with a removable Silver 3.5mm connector

Olympus

The Olympus is Entreq’s flagship ground cable and it is one of the those products that I would not recommend listening to before you are ready to buy as there is no going back once you’ve experienced one in your system.

Olympus represents a significant step up over all of the other ground cables. It takes the performance to a completely new level – improved textures and layering, a more 3d soundstage, improved clarity. The Olympus is a superb upgrade, this is a cable that inevitably only gets used on boxes like Olympus Ten, Olympus Infinity, the Poseidon or the larger multi-cell boxes

Priced at £1400 with a hard wired connector or £1550 with a removable solid silver twist/lock bayonet connector

Max-T Ground Post

Over the past few years Entreq have released 3 optional ground posts which when screwed to the back of a ground box improve the performance. The standard wooden nut on all of the ground boxes does not serve a sonic purpose, they exist to simply hold the cable in place.

The upgraded posts are best described as an oversized wooden thumbscrew, but the large thread that screws to the post on the ground box is made from a mixture of the same metals that are in contained in the ground boxes, so adding one essentially boosts the performance of the ground box.

The first 2 posts Entreq released were K2 and Everest, we sold lots of both posts, the K2 brought refinement to the presentation and the Everest added insight and transparency, the Peak 4 was the third post and this combined the best elements of these posts into 1.

When the current range of Tungsten ground boxes launched Entreq developed the Max-T and just like the Tungsten based boxes, by adding a Max-T to any ground box you unlock greater texture, detail and get an improved sound-stage with a better sense of 3d, they are a great addition to any ground box (even a Macro Kit)

The Max-T has proven so popular that the K2, Everest and Peak 4 are now all discontinued, it serves as a really strong upgrade.

Summing Up

Well done if you are still with us, there is no real way to cover this in a more concise way unfortunately.

Over the past 7 years Entreq has shown us in no uncertain terms that any system, at any level has so much more performance to give. By connecting some key pieces of Entreq to a system we lower the noise floor and by doing so we allow a system to breath and uncover more information in the music we listen to.

I can remember at a recent audio show Fraser from Airt Audio (the UK importer of Entreq) demonstrated the Macro Twin Kit to a room full of customers, the amplifier in question was a Waversa model, which was around £10,000 from memory.

Fraser played some music, connected the Twin Kit to the amplifier replayed the same tracks and then went back to the original configuration.

There was a customer in the room who I know who looked at me and said ‘it sounds like you just upgraded the amplifier, the system sounded good before, but it’s like a different system now’.

If you are new to Entreq and have some questions feel free to reach out. I keep a large selection of Entreq product available for home demonstration, there is always a healthy selection of pre-owned Entreq available as well.

There is no obligation to trying some Entreq in your own system, I would simply ask you cover P&P costs if you don’t end up purchasing something.

If you are an existing Entreq owner looking to upgrade part exchange is welcome as ever.

There are 2 other new Entreq products, the Protectus platform and the MaxMix T2 Kit which will be featured in their own post shortly.