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Getting Down to Listening
My listening room is 23’ wide by 20’ deep
with 8’ high ceilings and a concrete floor
covered with a Berber carpet. My equipment
sits in a massive audio/video cabinet (104”
wide, 30” deep, and 78” high), with the
exception of my BAT VK1000 mono amps which
sit on Osiris amp stands. My Escalante
Design Fremont loudspeakers flank the
cabinet, 10’ apart and 4’ out from the wall.
My seated position is about 10’ from the
front baffle of the speakers which are
toed-in about 5 degrees.
I began my listening by re-establishing the
characteristics of my reference Stealth
Audio Petite Dream speaker cables and GS
50-50 interconnects, Argento Serenity and
Virtual Dynamics Nite II power cords. I
listened to a wide variety of music and
re-visited the notes I had made about what
those cables were doing in my system. This
provided me with an opportunity to once
again appreciate just how good these cables
are and know how good the Entreq cables
would have to be to supplant them.
 Once
I had gotten the measure of my reference
system it was time to take all of the cables
out and install the Entreqs. Now before I
played the first tune I knew that the result
would be a mixed bag, after all, the cables
were made to order and had not been fully
broken in. The First disc I listened to was
Clifford Jordan’s Live at Ethel’s [Mapleshade
56292]. Track 1, “Summer Serenade,” sounded
a bit soft at the upper frequency extremes
but boy, talk about a soundstage! It was
wide and deep and well defined. Side to side
spacing was very good. The same could be
heard from track 2, “‘Round Midnight.” Kevin
O’Connell’s piano playing sounded nicely
detailed and you could get a great sense of
the venue.
 The
next disc I played was Voices of Concord
Jazz: Live at Montreux [Concord
CCD22246-2], a two-disc set of wonderful
live, jazz vocal recordings. Disc one, track
7 is “A Day in the Life of a Fool,” by
Monica Mancini. Mancini’s voice is simply
mellifluous and the Entreq cables render it
with a surprising amount of detail despite
not being fully broken in.
Getting Down to Earth
I spent the next week or so just playing
music, mostly from my Magnum Dynalab DT-5
tuner, in order to make sure that the cables
were sufficiently broken in and ready for
more intense scrutiny. I had a few listening
sessions with some friends but it was during
my own private late-night listening sessions
that I was able to form some solid opinions.
The first and most important thing that I
can say about these Entreq Konstantin 09
cables is that they allowed my system to
perform as quietly as I have ever
experienced. A big reason for this is
another of Per-Olof Friberg’s thoughtful
design touches. Friberg understands the
negative effects that can be caused by
electrical anomalies such things as static
and magnetic fields on an improperly
grounded system. So he developed an External
Earth Drain System (EEDS) which allows you
to connect your system to a good Earth
point, away from your system. The EEDS is
comprised of short copper wires that connect
positive (+) and negative (-) speaker cables
and a long wire that connects to an external
ground location. In my case that ground was
a metal heating duct. I can’t comment on the
science that goes into this design but I can
tell you that the effect it had on my system
was phenomenal. I’ve always come to accept
that there would be some level of audible
noise from my system because I was using a
tube preamp or because my amps sit close to
a carpeted floor. But the Entreq cables have
allowed me to experience the joys of a
quiet, properly grounded system.
Now that my system was completely wired with
(broken in) Entreq Konstantin 09 cables and
the system was properly grounded, I was
ready to get into some serious listening.
 I
have always been a huge fan of 70’s funk
music, and that of course means “the
Godfather of Soul,” James Brown. Now while
James when penning some of the greatest
lyrics of that era he was also responsible
for putting together one of the best R&B
bands ever, the JBs. The JBs were a virtual
all-star band of some of the best black
musicians of that generation. The JBs
featured the likes of William “Bootsy”
Collins, Fred Wesley, and of course the
legendary Maceo Parker. One of the JBs’
seminal tunes was JBs Monaurail. This was
the first tune that I listened to from the
disc “James Brown’s Funky People” [Polydor].
The horn section led by Wesley and Parker is
stellar. They produce a … well, funky drive
on this tune that simply can’t be described.
These days this type of sound could only be
reproduced on some type of computerized
loop. The Entreq cables rendered this tune
so naturally that I was completely taken
aback by how wonderful this horn section
was. Another track from this disc was “Same
Beat,” which actually is a repetition of the
same bluesy beat but infused with the wild
wailings of Wesley on trombone. Man, this is
fun music to hear when reproduced through a
system wired with such detailed and highly
resolved cables.
I wanted to focus on the different aspects
of the Entreq cables so I began by listening
to some female vocals.
 Joyce
Cooling’s CD, Revolving Door [Narada]
was just what the doctor ordered. Track 5,
“I’ll Always Love You” not only features
Cooling’s wonderful vocals but also her
splendid guitar playing. The background of
this recording is winter cold quiet,
allowing the performance to be upfront and
pristinely defined. Upper frequency
performance through the Entreq cables
provides an exceptional level of detail and
musicality. More proof of this came from
guitarist Al DiMeola on Kiss My Axe [Tomato
RD 79751]. The title track is not only a
showcase for DiMeolas lightning quick guitar
playing but also features a tremendous
amount of slam and deep bass. My room,
concrete floors and all, shook noticeably on
this tune. The Entreq cables did an
excellent job of defining the space within
the properly sized soundstage that the
musicians occupied.
Finally, I went back to the Clifford Jordan
disc because I wanted to hear one of the
live recordings that I heard before the
cables had been broken in. Listening to the
opening track, “Summer Serenade” again, I
went back to my initial notes to see if
things had changed. Boy, had they. The
softness that I previously heard was now
gone and the music in those upper frequency
extremes was fully realized. The sound
wasn’t bright, mind you, but I didn’t feel
as though there was any information missing
either. Soundstage height and depth seemed
more expansive than before and the overall
character of the music remained natural and
very satisfying.
Excellent Accessories
Before I conclude this review, I need to
also mention the impact of the Entreq
accessories that I mention earlier, the
Vibbeaters and AC Wraps. The Vibbeaters are
leather bags filled with a combination of
copper-based sand and metal that helps
minimize magnetic fields and absorbs
vibrations. They are meant to be placed on
speakers or electronic components, not
unlike other devices such as VPI Bricks and
Shakti Stones. I primarily used them over
the transformers on the amps of my main
system but they also did wonders for a pair
of Master Source Model 20M stand mounted
mini-monitors that I am currently using in
my other system.
The AC Wraps are sort of a dual function
tweak. They are 6” x 6” leather pads filled
with the same compound as the Vibbeaters
that can be used to shield any cables that
are lying on a floor from vibration and
magnetic fields. But they can also be used
to wrap around AC cords where they are
connected to the components. Overall, I
found these tweaks to be a solid enhancement
to my system, as combining them with the
benefits of a properly grounded system lead
to an overall reduction in background noise
and noticeably quieter operation. The result
is more music in a realistic space.
Per-Olof Friberg is to be commended for
producing such marvelously executed products
and using natural materials in the process.
I also can’t thank Lennarth (whoever he or
she or it may be) enough for finding me on
the web and introducing me to these
wonderful products. There are many wonderful
cable products in the marketplace these
days, many of which have graced my system.
As I mentioned earlier, if the Entreq cables
were going to supplant my current reference
and make an impact in the crowded audiophile
cable market, they would have to be very
special products. Special is exactly what
the Entreq Konstantin cables are. Highly
recommended and a sure-fire bet for this
publication’s highest honor, the “Most
Wanted Component” Award.
Price:
Vibbeaters $108.00/pr to $243.00/pr
AC Wraps $170.00/pr
Konstantin 09 Interconnects $1,470.00/pr
Konstantin 09 Speaker Cables $1,460.00/pr
Konstantin Power Cords $830.00
Address:
Entreq
Rönnetorp
265 90 S-Åstorp
Sweden
Tel: +46 (0)705 200 500
Fax: +46 (0)42 520 50
Email:
info@entreq.com Website:
www.entreq.com
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