My objective is to duplicate the sound of a good jazz venue as best I can. I'll never match it but getting close is fine. I've had various audio components through the years and tubes particularly DHT tubes/ASSET have gotten me the closest. So this is where I will settle down and appreciate.
Balanced AC power is fantastic !! 1800va balanced isolation transformer/conditioner. All aspects of music reproduction are improved for every single component.
Tripoint Tripoint Troy.
A wonderful grounding box component. When added to my system it increased the sense of natural sound quality and emotional engagement. The Troy has a humanistic and “soulful “ quality to it.
Coincident Speaker Tech Total eclipse 2
This wonderful speaker is transparent,open and involving. It`s large yet completely disappears as the source of sound within the room. Very easy to drive,94db and 14 0hm impedance (Minimum 10 ohm). I replaced the stock Solens capacitor with the Duelund CAST in the crossover.
Coincident Statement linestage
Superb performance. In my opinion , a masterpiece by Israel Blume. As would be expected, a wonderful match with its sibling the Frankenstein MK II.
Coincident Speaker Tech Frankenstein mark 2
A terrific 300b SET amplifier that is the foundation of my system. The EML XLS 300b tubes are a superb match with this amplifier.
Acquiring these 300b SET mono blocks changed the course of my music listening experience. They elevated the emotional engagement, tactility and “breath of life “ realism.
Yamamoto YDA-01
Wonderful music lover's DAC that has a very natural/organic sound quality. Duelund CAST addition(output coupling capacitors) makes it sound even better. It has a very minimalist circuit/design that was implemented well.
Ocellia Silver Reference IC
Very natural and pure sounding with excellent tone and timbre preservation.
Ocellia Silver Reference Speaker Cable
Same qualities/ comments as the IC.
Star Sound Technologies Sistrum Apprentice component platforms..
These Star Sound platforms are mandatory in my system. Effectively managing resonance and vibration leads to a very noticeable sound improvement with every component and especially the speakers. Excellent product.
High Fidelity CT1 Ultimate Digital cable
A highly impressive digital cable that mates beautifully into my system. Contributes to the natural sound presentation.
Pro-Ject Audio Systems CD Box RS2T
This is a superb Redbook CD playback transport. It’s both high resolution and impressively natural.
. I’m using the excellent Fidelizer Nikola II LPS. Splendid pairing.
Lavricables Grand and Master series Power Cables.
Pure silver wire and unshielded power cables. These are used with all of my audio components. They are very open, transparent, high resolution with beautiful natural tone and timbre presentation.
Abbas Esoteric Audio 3.2SE
Built by renown Ukrainian Abbas Zulfugarov. NOS DAC utilizing the classic Phillips TDA 1541 multi bit chip. Two 6080 tubes in the analog stage. 5 various rectifier tubes in the power supplies.
3 separate toroidal transformers (And 2 chokes ) for the power supplies.A very serious and successful upper tier DAC implementation. Using with the Abbas SPDIF and power cable.
Saelectric, I also read Atmasphere's possible explanation of the Troy's performance in his post that your mention. We all realize Ralph's high technical capabilities and knowledge whereas, I am at the extreme other end of the scale. What is the reason for buffer resistors, then? Charles, I (we:) feel that our SET systems are on the same level. I did see your Troy's ad (probably five minutes before you bought it:) and seriously considered it for a minute. I am in a temporary small place and don't have the room. Hey... how would you like to make a cool $200 profit? I'll make the room!! HA totally kidding :) Keep the good (better) sounds coming!
Agear, thanks for the note re Ground Zero. Charles, good to hear the Tripoint Troy is doing what you hoped. Following up on what Atmasphere said about the Tripoint in another Agon thread, I am curious whether your electronics (preamp, amps, DAC) have any ground buffer resistors. Do you have a DVM? If so can you measure the resistance between each component's chassis and the ground collar of an input or output jack on the component (without the Tripoint connected to it)? This will tell us if there is a buffer or not. A buffer will cause a reading of 10 ohms or so, perhaps more. Close to zero ohms means no buffer. This is important because the Tripoint would seem, from the somewhat vague descriptions, to be defeating any buffer resistors in a particular component.
Hi Knghifi, My system was silent and I had no hum,hiss, buzzing etc. at all, so I also questioned if the Troy would be a worthwhile purchase. There`s simply more to this device than many realize, the significant effect it has in my system is quite inspiring to say the least. It may affect electrical grounding at a level that is comprehensive and under appreciated in audio at this time.Could RFI/EMI alter what we hear more than we recognize?
The Tripoint Troy is easy to dismiss and be skeptical toward due to a lack of a full/clear explanation of how it`s made and what it does. The high price certainly makes people wary(I understand that). Based on my very short time with it I can sincerely say this is an exceptionally fine product that makes a 'significant impact' in a system that was already performing very well.What ever Miguel Alvarez has discovered, it sure is something special.When you consider what many audiophiles willingly spend on speaker,component and wire upgrades with varying levels of sucess, the Troy IMO becomes very cost effective for what it delivers. Charles,
Charles, congrats again. I am not sure why my post shows two days later. Anyway, the real test is to remove it from your system after a month and see what happens.
hifi, grounding can have an effective on an ostensibly quiet system. I had the ASR Emitter which is tombstone quiet. Grounding (Ionic not Tripoint) had an impact. The test that baby wants to be performed has already be done and I am unsure if it will be duplicated anytime soon. You should start with the Entreq which is cheap and has a return policy. If you like what you hear, you know where to go....
I got a message this evening from Fernando Cruze (Cruze First Audio) who sold me the used Tripoint Troy. He says the four silver grounding cables are new and require two-three weeks of break in before things sound their best. Well this is very good news given what's happen already in the first 48 hours of use.
Charles, Both platforms you own as well as the Back Stage will certainly enhance the ground efficiency potential of the Thor. You may want to try the APCD3 coupling discs between the Apprentice shelf points and the bottom of the Thor. The greater surface area of the larger disc is apparent when used under all my active components and I am sure it would be beneficial under the heavy weight Thor. Tom. Star Sound Technology.
Brett, I agree with the Audio Exotic crowd, these guys can hear. My impressions were"early" the system's sound has clearly improved since yesterday's listening, it's steadily evolving and better than what I described before. This Tripoint Troy is mysterious (-I can't really explain how it works, it just does) and fascinating. All the things that my system does well (if I do say so myself) have further improved. Wow, does seriously managing EMI and RFI yield so much musical beauty and naturalness, how?
I apologize for sounding like a broken record but that natural word keeps reappearing, tone, overtones, harmonics, dynamics and vibrant color and a vividness that is just simply right are the forte of the Troy. Listening to Bobby Hutchinson's vibraphone, Pepper Adam's Baritone Sax or the piano of Kenny Barron, they all sound closer to the real thing. What makes this possible? It takes what a good SETamplifier introduces to your system and goes further, pure organic rightness-flesh and blood realism. I wonder how much more will evolve before it settles down? Charles,
If there is any physical relationship between a electrical grounding device and a mechanical grounding device then the Thor breakin period should be at least 72 hours. That's based on what I have encountered with mechanical grounding of racks platforms,and acoustic instruments. A grounding plane under a ongoing chemical reaction [battery] and hearing and seeing an audible improvement in sound stage and acoustic air as a result was totally unexpected. There is always more.Tom
Charles1dad, congrats on your Tripoint Troy. My system is also DEAD quiet so not sure Troy a good ROI ... law of diminishing returns. I'll wait for Babybear and Jfrech results before making a final decision.
I put my 60lb. deep cycle marine battery that powers my Dac on a Sistrum 101 and it made for a big improvement over the previous Sp004 under the same chemical reactor. Why this would make for a marked improvement..I'll take it. May also work to enhance passive electrical grounding devices such as a Troy. Tom. Star Sound Technology.
Charles, I just searched "Tripoint Troy break in" and found a thread on Audio Exotics. One owner replied that the instruction manual noted to give it 24 hours. You are setting the bar high for us fellow SET advocates to match in sound quality. Keep it up :)
Bill, Either grounding is more complex and influential than we realize or the Troy is also involved in areas besides "mere" grounding. Regarding the cost I understand, I was very fortunate to buy it used (still not cheap). To its credit I've yet to read of any dissatisfied owners, universally people are thrilled with it. I can concur that this is a very refined and musically sophisticated audio component. Listeners who are intimately familiar with the sound of live acoustic instruments are the ones who'll just love the Tripoint Troy in their systems. It's all natural without the hifi artificial preservatives. Charles,
Thanks Charles. This whole grounding thing is most interesting. It's amazing such a device makes a sound system more musical. I trust it does, but it still astounds me.
I am looking into lower cost units as a Troy will not be possible for me.
I am sure your music is glorious! Thanks for the updates on your system as I plan to use Sistrum's new stands and a grounding unit down the road.
As for fuses, well I don't like them and either bypass them altogether or build without them. I realize most folks would not be comfortable with this however.
Bill, The Troy comes with four pure silver grounding cables. I connected my PWT transport, linestage and the two amplifier mono blocks via a chassis screw on each component. My cables have the "mini spade" on the componect end of the cable to fit these smaller chassis screws. The cable's other end has the larger standard spade that goes to the Troy binding post. Charles,
The Tripoint Troy MK II arrived yesterday. The shipping preparation was the best I've personally experienced, a very sturdy and heavy wood crate (no cardboard box this time) with high quality custom fit foam protection. The Troy is in a thick cloth sack, it's well packaged and protected. It's pretty heavy at about 50 lbs and has a truly fabulous appearance and fit and finish. Early sonic impressions, this is a very good product, no jaw dropping, night and day improvement, there's a likely reason why. My system has no obvious grounding issue (components seem to have that sorted out already). I also use a balanced AC transformer conditioner that also addresses EMI and R FI.
There's been a systematic upgrade and fine tuning of the core components in the last year, Duelund capacitors, Star Sound stands for mechanical grounding (big sonic benefits), premium fuses and use of the stellar High Fidelity CT1 U digital cable. These steps made a very good system considerably better, thus some of what the Tripoint Troy offers has been addressed to a certain degree. I believe the Troy into my stock, non fine tuned system would have been more dramatic.
Despite these the Troy still made an impact! All of the fine attributes currently present just got moved to a higher level (this is a sincere compliment). Tonal colors, density and completeness are first rate, the harmonies and the timbre reproduced are truly superb. Dynamic gradients, inflection ebb and flow are simply realistic. The Tripoint Troy is the epitome of natural and correct IMO, the emotion of music flows free and deeply. What more could you want from an audio component? It's made an organic system even more so and has even improved the already high level of resolution and transparency, that's a lot to do on an already elevated playing field.
I wish the Troy was half of the retail price so potentially many more could experience it, but I understand that it's very expensive to build and I accept that fact. This is the final fine tuning product for me and what a way to end. It extends my system further down the path I'd chosen, a natural pure sound that attempts to project the realistic sound and presence of live acoustic instruments played by living souls.
Hi Sal, Thanks for the recommended "2 Degrees East, 3 Degrees West" I received this CD yesterday and this is very well done! Sonically it's full bodied mono, natural and present, instruments are captured well and venue ambience is quite apparent. Best of all the music and the musicianship is exceptional.
This CD has 4 bonus tracks that were recorded in 1960 in stereo and are just wonderful(reach out and touch palpable quality). It is a quartet that features John Lewis and Jim Hall, what a delight! I wish these two had done more sessions together, they're a beautiful match. I will play this excellent CD often. Charles,
Sal, Norm Luttbeg(Tbg on this site) reviewed the Tripoint Troy on Dagogo in July 2009 and in that review he made reference to the Granite Audio Ground Zero the he'd reviewed earlier. He acknowledged that they're different approaches to grounding with different results.
Does anyone have an idea how the Granite Audio Ground Zero or the Acoustic Revive RCC-24 compare to the Tripoint Troy or the EntreQ? It seems that the Ground Zero, the Acoustic Revive and EntreQ are not connected to the wall socket ground, whereas the Troy is. So they seem to operate with some different principles but I am curious if anyone has actually compared the different units. The Ground Zero and Acoustic Revive are much less expensive than the Troy or EntreQ.
That speaks well for the Coincident power cords. I will look forward to your comments on the Tripoint. I had not heard of it prior to your note, but from my reading since it then it seems quite interesting.
