Twenty years ago we released our first cable, Konstantin. Today we introduce our latest cable system, Delphius, the product of everything we’ve learned in the intervening years.
But first, some background from 2006 to today.
Fringe to mainstream
Back in 2006, when we first began talking about grounding, our research was considered “outsider”. Quirky products and system tweaks of interest only to the most obsessive Hi-Fi enthusiast. In the years since, manufacturers and product engineers – the industry – have quietly picked up on our techniques, realising what a difference our methods of tackling EMI / RFI and unwanted vibrational energy can make to the performance of a system.
Today, grounding is considered de rigueur by serious audiophiles and there now exist endless alternatives to our original ground boxes from a range of manufacturers offering both passive and powered systems at many different price points. Our methods have found their way into the build processes of manufacturers both at the very top end of the market and at the mass market level. Validation, if it were needed, that we’re onto something.
Understanding what’s happening
We understand very well the efficacy of our ground boxes. But making one great discovery only encouraged deeper exploration. Further research into the fundamental ways signals propagate through a system, the ways in which noise and interference enter the audio chain and the profound effects passive materials can have on the signal and ultimately in the performance of an audio system when applied in the right ways.
Key to understanding the importance of cable construction is the knowledge that the signal in a cable doesn’t actually flow through the conductor. While the electrons themselves drift through the conductor very slowly, the energy, the signal, moves at close to the speed of light through the surrounding electromagnetic field. The conductor and dielectric (the insulating material around the core) act as a waveguide for this energy. The dielectric polarises in response to the signal and the way the dielectric stores and releases that energy directly shapes what reaches the other end.
All this tells us that what’s happening in the electromagnetic environment in and around your equipment matters more than almost anything else.
Everything matters
This explains why placing a Vibbeater directly over the AC inlet on a power amplifier has a profound effect on the sound of the system when one would expect the greater effect to be from the mass of a Vibbeater being placed on a speaker. It follows that mass is not the most important factor. The mineral mixture is, even when no direct electrical connection between the mixture and the component exists.
This understanding – that electromagnetism is perhaps the key factor in the successful preservation and reproduction of the audio signal from source to speaker – led us to develop Protectus, the first Entreq product designed specifically to directly influence the magnetic fields around the component placed upon it.
It was when a customer contacted us to say they had placed their Protectus directly in front of their components and found that it had a bigger effect than when placed under their equipment that we knew we were on the right track. But this raised a question for us. What could the same thinking achieve at the points where energy actually enters the system?
Enter Magneus
Magneus was the answer.
The development of Magneus was directly based on our learning from Protectus – the specific materials used, the specific amounts of each, their geometries and placements. This knowledge led to the development of three Magneus components that directly affect the electromagnetic fields around a cable with the flexibility to be moved around throughout the system.
We found these to become an essential addition at the entry points to our listening room, i.e. between the AC outlet and power distribution and between the WAN and router, shaping the magnetic fields and helping reduce the effect of EMI and RFI from the power grid and network respectively before the signal reaches the components and unwanted energy propagates further.
Magneus showed us how much could be done by affecting the fields around the cable and at the points where energy enters the chain. But that raised the obvious next question. If passive electromagnetic intervention works this well with an external component, what would happen when this thinking is applied directly to the construction of the cables themselves?
Introducing Delphius
The answer comes in the form of Delphius, an entirely new cable system and the first product in a new architecture built from the ground up to benefit from the passive electromagnetic field transformation techniques developed over the last three years.
All cables feature our new Energy Reference System (ERS) which sees the EEDS drain wire and ground box set up found on earlier cables replaced with a visually similar (but structurally unique) ERS wire and accompanying Corepoint unit.
Introducing Corepoint
A Corepoint unit is supplied with every Delphius cable and comes in two configurations – Corepoint Signal and Corepoint Power. A Corepoint Signal unit is supplied with analogue and digital cables and two Corepoint Signal units are supplied with the speaker cables. A Corepoint Power unit, tuned for high-current applications, is supplied with the power cables.
Each Corepoint unit connects to the ERS wire on its Delphius cable via spade connector and acts as a stable reference point for signal ground – the zero against which the signal is measured – between the source and destination components the cable connects. Corepoint contains the specific configuration of materials that stabilises the reference point. No less important, though, is the physical geometry of the ERS wire and its construction alongside the conductors themselves. Together, Corepoint, the ERS wire and the conductors hold the signal coherent across the length of the cable – fast, stable, and faithful to its source.
EEDS vs ERS
Our first cable system used the EEDS drain wire and an attached ground box to manage induced noise. ERS takes a different approach. The ERS wire is a separately shielded conductor, spaced further from the signal conductors than a conventional drain wire, and designed to interact with the electromagnetic field around the cable rather than simply carrying induced current (high-frequency noise) away. The Corepoint provides the stable reference point that allows it to do so.
Sound profile
The aim of any cable is to do as little as possible. Not to add, flatter or impose character. Just to faithfully reproduce the signal that was sent.
Physics tells us that no cable can be truly perfect across the audible frequency range. What is possible, with the right techniques, is to get the conditions right for the most faithful transmission a cable can achieve. By supplying a stable reference point with each cable, Delphius and Corepoint do exactly that. When a full Delphius loom is in place, the entire audio chain benefits from a consistent, stable signal ground from source to amplifier to speakers. What emerges, when everything is in equilibrium, is the music, exactly as the artist intended.
A system, not a cable
Delphius and Corepoint form an architecture designed to grow with the listener.
That starts with the Corepoint unit itself. Any of the Entreq Max posts – Max S, Max T, and the soon-to-be-released Max Ti (Titanium), Max Pa (Palladium), Max Pl (Platinum) and the range-topping Max Supreme — can be attached to a Corepoint unit, each producing a distinct performance and presentational enhancement. Some bring detail forward, some open out the soundstage, some weight the sound differently. Which performance/presentation level is right for you depends on the system, the room, and you the listener. The answer can change as any of those parameters change. Physics, as noted earlier, doesn’t allow a cable to be perfect. What it does allow is for the conditions to be adjusted and Corepoint is the point at which those adjustments are made.
A cable is usually a fixed decision. You buy it and you live with it. The only way to improve the performance is to replace or upgrade the cable or cables. Delphius is designed differently. Performance and even presentation can be dramatically enhanced to your preference making Delphius, Corepoint and ERS a tuneable solution that can be refined as your system changes and extending performance as the architecture grows around it. This single quality defines why we believe the propogation of signal in the magnetic field lies at the core of audio performance going forward into the future. We don’t know of another cable system that offers scope or flexibility in performance and most importantly, value. Delphius is less a purchase than an investment, one that can change, accommodate, and grow as your system and your tastes do.
This thinking extends beyond Delphius. The ERS and Corepoint architecture will also underpin the new Primer Core loom (replacing Primer Infinity) and the updated Sudoku range (coming soon). Cables purchased today will work alongside everything that follows. Whatever you start with, the path forward stays open.
Delphius is part of the broader Entreq ecosystem. The thinking behind Delphius is the same thinking that runs through everything we make. Each Entreq product offers an answer to the challenges of faithful audio reproduction, and each is designed to work alongside the others. Whether Delphius arrives in a system already featuring Entreq products, or as the first, it will find its place.