Small companies, like Entreq, to achieve some level of success, have to find some market niche for themselves. Finding a niche inside another niche, because after all that's what audiophilism, a perfectionist audio actually is by itself, might seem easy. All one has to do is to come up with some creative idea, add some marketing strategy, do some PR and voila! Or not. Because when you think about it for a minute you will surely figure out that it seems that all niches have already been taken. Each detail, even the smallest one that might improve the sound of our system has already be invented/presented, taken by some company that already exists. Well, fortunately that is also not the whole truth – you need some interesting idea, a bit of luck and there you go – a new company emerges on the market and makes some fuss. Like Entreq did.
Their offer might be divided into three main groups of products: cables, AC products and anti-vibration accessories. I've been using for quite some time now Konstantin 2010 headphone cables, and now I'm auditioning Challenger 2010 (yes – it performs even better!). These cables are made manually, which has also some downsides, are also heavy, but I use them in my reference headphone system. Recently I decided to try out another product, Minimus, that was supposed to minimize noise arising from problems with grounding, and it really worked for me. But I think that a clou of Entreq program is a trio consisting of power distributor Powerus, AC filter Cleanus and a virtual earth/ground, Tellus. Together they create a complex system for audio system powering.

For this review I requested two of these three products, plus some additional accessories. As I knew that large, wooden boxes of Powerus and Tellus were equipped only with small feet, I requested also from Entreq their „apparatus feet”, a LynxFoot model to be specific. There is a product in this manufacturer's portfolio that seems to have no competition, at least one, that I'm aware of – a special AC Wraps filled with some mixture of minerals (used also in other Entreq products), and I asked for these too to complete the test package. So let me explain how exactly have I conducted this test. I put large boxes of Powerus and Cleanus on LynxFoot, and put Acoustic Revive RST-38H platforms underneath. I decided to use these products together as I realized that both gentlemen - Per-Olof Friberg, the owner of Entreq and Ken Ishiguro, the owner of Acoustic Revive – seem to think in a similar way. Both of them use natural minerals (crystals) for vibration and noise damping, both prefer to use wood whenever possible and both believe that the less metal 'around' signal path, the better. So Cleanus was plugged in to Powerus, and the latter's power cable was plugged to a wall receptacle It's a pure coincident, of course, but the fact is that Per-Olof used for his power distributor exactly the same power outlets that I use to power my system - Furutech FT-SWS (R). I have three of these, in parallel connection, fed with separate line (Oyaide cable) from a separate fuse in my power box. And since plug on Powerus power cable is a top Furutech product, when I plugged it in my top Furutech power outlet I created a nice, coherent power system. I used Wraps around all power cables plugged to Powerus.
I plugged my power set to the second Furutech's wall receptacle My reference set consists of Acrolink Mexcel 7N-PC9300 power cable and Acoustic Revive RTP-4eu Ultimate power distributor. On my power cable I use a Audio Replas CNS-7000SZ (see HERE), which is a Cable-Noise Stabilizer and it is supposed to do something similar to what AC Wraps do. Test was conducted as A/B/A comparison, I was plugging power cables, Acrolink 7N-PC9300, feeding my system, to the Acoustic Revive and than to Entreq, and back again. And again and again and again... I have two devices in my system, with tubes on board (CD Player and preamplifier) so each time I made a switch I gave my system a minute to heat up before critical listening.

SOUND

Recordings used during test (a selection)

• Audiofeels, Uncovered, Penguin Records 5865033, CD (2009).
• Bach, Violin Concertos, Yehudi Menuhin, EMI/Hi-Q Records HIQXRCD9, XRCD24, CD (1960/2013).
• Bogdan Hołownia, Chwile, Sony Music Polska 5052882, kopia z taśmy master, CD-R (2001).
• Frank Sinatra, Where Are You?, Capitol Records/Mobile Fidelity UDSACD 2109, “Special Limited Edition No. 261”, SACD/CD (1957/2013).
• Jean Michel Jarre, Essentials & Rarities, Disques Dreyfus/Sony Music 62872, 2 x CD (2011).
• John Coltrane, A Love Supreme, Impulse! 589 945-2, “Deluxe Edition”, 2 x CD (1965/2002).
• Michael Jackson, Thriller. 25th Anniversary Edition, Epic/Sony Music Japan EICP-963-4, CD+DVD (1982/2008).
• Miles Davis, In A Silent Way, Columbia/Mobile Fidelity UDSACD 2088, "Special Limited Edition No. 1311", SACD/CD (1969/2012).
• OMD, English Electric, 100%/Sony Music Japan SICP-3810, CD (2013).
• Perfect, Perfect, Polskie Nagrania Muza/Polskie Radio PRCD 1596, CD (1981/2013).

Japanese editions of CDs and SACDs are available from

If we lived in a perfect world..., OK, too general, if our audio world was perfect..., still too general, if we had a perfect current in our wall outlets, there would be no reason for products like these to even exist. We would have a perfect 230V (in Poland) sine wave in power outlet with perfect frequency of 50 Hz, an impedance of voltage source would be infinite, and grounding perfect. Since we are already in a fantasy world I would add that there would be no interaction between system components. There would be no noise, vibration, nor EMI. That's a fantasy world. In a real one a situation is dramatically different: surges, spikes, asymmetry, voltage and frequency ups and downs both short and long term ones, high-frequency noise, dc voltage (bias), impulse distortions – we get all that from our wall power outlets everyday. Depending on where you live you get more or less of all these „attractions”, but even in the least „polluted” environments distortions in power grids reach values of at least few percent. One might think that advanced power supplies of electronic devices should deal with these problems easily – after all power transformers act like low pass filters, they are (often) accompanied with huge banks of capacitors, power regulators, and sometimes even AC filters in power inlets. Well, they don't, not fully anyway.
Getting to the bottom of this might be expensive as most of us get there making small steps and that costs a lot of money. I, myself, am a very good example of taking this road and ending it with power cables, distributor, outlets that cost not so much less than my electronics. Each of us who builds a system, gets finally to some satisfactory results and than, some of us at least, make another effort and we change a (in our opinion) good power system for a very good one. And there is no turning back once you have tried that. If you go back to a 'just good' power system the knowledge of how much more you can gain in terms of performance of the whole system using a better one will eat you alive.

But it seems that this is still not the most interesting part of the story. You can easily find out that using different power conditioners, power distributors, cables, sockets and plug will give you different sonic effects – all you need to do is to try to change some of these elements in your system. What is more difficult to recognize is that different power enhancement products have a different impact on the sound – to learn that you have to try out many of them focusing on their influence on sound of the system. Of course all these products, regardless of make and brand will have some sonic elements in common, but the final effect will be different depending on what power products you use.
Entreq system is, in this respect, no different – comparing its impact on sound with the one of a regular, 'non-audiophile' power distributor proved huge difference beyond any doubt. A long time ago, when I just started my audio adventure, each change of standard power cables, or plastic power distributor from Castorama for better ones seemed a step back. The dynamics was gone, treble rolled off, transparency diminished, selectivity obviously worse. Today I realize that then I simply didn't know what I was talking about as I was still to hear a good audio system and to realize how it should have sounded like. What I then thought was dynamics actually was a caricature emphasis on the attack phase, selectivity of treble was in fact brightness, and the whole sound was chaotic and simply unpleasant, non-friendly in a long run.

Entreq reminded me of those first experiences, because the extend of its impact on sound almost doubled what I heard in the past when I switched from 'junk' power products to the 'audiophile' ones for athe first time. The sound becomes soft and smooth. It's dark and treble might seem slightly rolled off. There is a lot of power and kick in a bass but it seems not to be too well defined especially at the very bottom. From my experience I know that the darker and smoother sound is (if carrying lots of information), the better. Entreq system belongs to the best ones in this respect.

The most significant change it brought to the sound is tranquility, for better and worse. I switched from my power system to the Swedish one many times and each time same thing happened – I thought that with the latter the volume was slightly lower. I needed to increase volume by 1-2 dB to get back to the level I listened all the time at.

But even after I matched sound levels sound wasn't the same. Entreq seems to smoothen the attack phase of the sound, to round it up a bit. Doing so it eliminates many elements of the recording's or system's sound signature that might be annoying – if necessary it eliminates excessive brightness, some imperfections in treble articulation or in an attack phase. In short, it introduces some tranquility, or serenity if you will, to the sound. That is why it seems quieter and you need to pump up volume a bit and when you do that volume is OK, but you can heard that the sound changed/improved. Yes, it is still slightly rounded, but it is more palpable, more 3D. That's because the depth of the image, with Swedish products in the system, is amazing. The bodies of the instruments are not so clearly outlined like with my reference system, and I had to accept that. But the softness, silkiness of the presentation, highly required for most systems, will compensate that little downside in excess.
Another interesting finding – Swedish power system changed tonality of my system – in short, it made it sound a bit darker. Some amplifiers have a 'tone control' and if you turn „treble” down sound becomes darker – here it wasn't the same kind of 'dark'. Direct cymbal stroke in Coltrane's Love Supreme, upper tones of Davis' trumpet in In A Silent Way and Art Davis' in Chwil, bells and other percussion elements in the latter recording and also cymbals in Michael Jackson's Thriller were not so well expressed, like they were hidden behind everything happening in a midrange and lowrange. But at the same time all the reverberations in the treble were more obvious, were easier to listen to. Listening to Jackson's Billie Jean I realized I was actually following closely finger snapping that usually is not so easy to notice, as it blends into the mix hidden behind a 'wall' of sound. With Entreq products in a system the reverberation was more obvious, clearer and that somehow drown also the snapping itself out. It has nothing to do with brightness of the sound, because, as I already said, Entreq does quit the opposite. It is rather about being thorough about micro-information, tiny, little detail that are connected with more significant elements of the sound. The resolution of the system power by this power system is very good, but not outstanding, and the same goes for selectivity. Still, the acoustic ambiance around cymbals in Davis' and Coltrane's recording was amazing in its naturalness and palpability.

The methodology of the test has already been described but let me remind you one more time that what I did was comparing this system to my reference one. My system consists of Acrolink power cable and Acoustic Revive power distributor. I also have a secondary power system consisting of Oyaide products. I also reviewed many other power system's reviews, including a one from Synergistic Research, which was one of the most interesting, and one with the most consistent idea behind it, I ever dealt with (see HERE). Each of these systems was compared with my reference one. So I believe that such an extensive experience gives my tests credibility and that the results of my tests should be similar to those in other systems.
Comparing Swedish system with all others I know I must say it is something different. It's influence on system's sonics is significant and „intended'. It throws out all unpleasant elements from the sound whether they come from a recording or a system. But the sound doesn't close-in, and does shine, even though it is quieter than with Oyaide, or active systems like the one by Synergistic Research. You need to crank up the volume a bit but what you get is more 3D and smoother sound than with any other power system I heard so far. Palpability and sound differentiation of Acrolink/AR system is more convincing – they offer an absolute top performance in these aspects. But still Entreq does damn well being clearly ahead of Oyaide and only slightly behind Synergistic Research system. Unlike the latter two, Entreq offers a sound that seems more natural. The outlines of bass notes are not so sharp but nobody should be complaining about its power, weight and kick. It delivers amazingly natural, like most materials used by Per-Olof Friberg are, sound with most important features being smoothness and three-dimensionality.

Distributor's comment

The sound you described with a rounded attack phase came from placing AC Wraps near power plug plugged to receptacle. I don't know if you followed a procedure I suggested and tried Wraps placing them in the middle of the power cord length, or just on one of the conductors. When used like that they provide faster and brighter sound. So depending on placement you can achieve a different effect and thus chose the one that suits your needs/your system best. The same goes, as I mentioned to you, for using them on speaker cables – AC Wraps can do their job there too. Please ask Mr Jurek Herzyk of Harpia (I know you had Doberman speakers in the past) about his impressions of using AC Wraps in his system.
The Lynx Feet are intended for use with electronics. Sound will have a faster attack when Powerus and Cleanus are placed on standard harder, wooden feet. Perhaps using additionally Acoustic Revive platform was simply too much, an that's why sound wasn't 'sharp” enough. You realize that very well, how much impact anti-vibration accessories have on sound and how important is finding the proper configuration for each system. I wish you had considered all my suggestion and than maybe the outcome of this test would have been slightly different. I hope that at least you could include my explanations, because I don't think that Entreq system softens attack. If it really did it would have never attracted my attention as I truly dislike this kind of sound.

DESCRIPTION

Per-Olof Friberg prefers using natural materials for his audio products, so he uses wood, silk, cotton, leather and minerals. You can see that in each and every product he makes. A power distributor Powerus and passive mains filter Cleanus both sport a wooden casings. I have learned that first test batch of Tellus and Powerus send for beta tests had casings made of raw wood and customers who were testing them were delighted. Than they received a final version with wooden casings but now covered with some lacquer, and they found their performance not that good. So finally, after some experiments, Per-Olof decided to use a special formula resin. It doesn't impact performance any more but it does preserve wood. That's how all wooden elements of Entreq products are finished nowadays. Cables sport cotton sleeves. When necessary Per-Olof uses highly processed elements like plugs and sockets.

Powerus

Even though it is a large, wooden box, it is 'just' a power distributor. There are no electronic passive nor active elements inside, and canceling of RF and EMI noise is based on turning them into heat that is than dissipated in one of the layers of internal cabling made of carefully chosen minerals. What mineral exactly – I don't know, that's manufacturer's proprietary recipe he doesn't share. The same type of solution is used by American manufacturer Shunyata Research in their power distributor Hydra, but also in power strip of Acoustic Revive. On the front manufacturer decided to put a engraved large logo and the name of the product. On the back wall there are four very fine Furutech FT-SWS (R) receptacles with rhodium plated contact areas and with a carbon and glass fiber finished front plate, that helps to damp vibrations. I use exactly the same receptacles in my system. The distributor sports a permanently fixed power cable, model Apollo, that is also available as a stand-alone cable. It sports two conductor runs, and a top Furutech FI-E50 (R) plug, with rhodium plated pins and the body of that combines two “active” materials: nano-sized ceramic particles and powdered carbon, nylon and fiberglass are incorporated as well. Halfway through cable's run there is a wooden cube with a logo, product's name and a serial number. It is clipping both conductor runs together. The whole box stands on small, wooden feet. This devices sports also an additional terminal with copper contact area, that can be used to connect this device to a one of „virtual ground” products, Minimus or Tellus.

Cleanus

Although Cleanus looks a lot alike Powerus, its body is actually bit smaller, and the box is made of a different wood. I think that a complete system would look better if the design and look of all devices would have coherent. On the back wall there is a single terminal to connect either Minimus or Tellus. Cleanus also sports a permanently fixed Apollo cable but with less expensive Furutech plug – this time it's a FI-35 (G), with gold plated contact pins. Wooden feet are identical to those used for Powerus.

LynxFeet

To have both tested devices properly isolated from what they stand on one needs to use some proper feet. I can obviously recommend Franc Audio Accessories Ceramic Discs, but Entreq also offers its own feet, called LynxFoot. These are made in a form of a cone, with a small cylinder made of wood filled in with vibration damping minerals, that is closed from the bottom with piece of leather. Set combines of three pieces.

AC Wrap

Last but not least – a product that I knew about for some time but until this test I had no chance to test myself – AC Wraps. These are made of leather (artificial?). Name is self-explanatory – you wrap these around power cables – preferably near the plug. Wraps sport elongated sockets filled with minerals – same ones as used in Cleanus. You use Velcro fastener to keep them in place on a cable.