Tripoint troy signature grounding device

Mike Lavigne · Jan 20, 2018

LL21 said:
Yes, I have in fact been experimenting here so will be very interested to go thru the posts here, and also see how Tang does with his experiment. Here is where i am at the moment:

1. On the same shelf (4" birch ply on top of 1.5" slate), we have Zanden PSU and Burmester 948 Power Conditioner, and Tripoint Troy)
2. For both Zanden and Burmester...I have found using a combination of HRS Nimbus Couplers (aluminum + elastomer-like rubber) with Stillpoints Ultra 6s is great.
3. HOWEVER, I only just discovered that putting the Nimbus Couplers UNDER the Ultra 6s is far better than ON TOP (ie, directly under each component). In my non-techie mind, it is both the improved contact between the Ultra 6s 'pockets' and the unit...but also the fact that the Nimbus Couplers are actually being put to better use by absorbing vibration COMING UP FROM THE FLOOR. There is a residual hardness/thinness that i get in my system without this configuration.

4. As a result, my current Tripoint is ONLY mass dampened (not enough footers!)...Artesania damping plate plus Ultra 5s on top with some weight.

5. I am now trying to figure out how to isolate the Tripoint with not only Ultra 5s but ALSO Nimbus Couplers to see if that is more successful than my brief trial with ONLY Ultra 5s.

I am loving my Elite and Troy Sig on Hardpoint footers.

Trinia for the Elite, Serene for the Troy Sig. the Troy Sig (on the amps and speakers) is on a hardwood over concrete floor. the Elite is on a carpet over concrete, with the Trinia's on a BDR Carbon Fibre shelf sitting on large Walker cones through the carpet and pad into the concrete. I get zero high frequency hardening with the 'floating' Hardpoints. now, almost 2 months later, i'd say maybe the single biggest tweak I've ever done is the Trinia footers underneath the Elite (which is on my sources) which added considerable tonal richness to my all solid state system, without any loss of information, in a way nothing else has ever done. maybe there are a number of other footers that could have accomplished that same thing? or not? I did not try others.

at some point I will try those Entreq Vibbeaters that Jazzhead likes.

LL21 · Jan 20, 2018

Mike Lavigne said:
I am loving my Elite and Troy Sig on Hardpoint footers.

Trinia for the Elite, Serene for the Troy Sig. the Troy Sig (on the amps and speakers) is on a hardwood over concrete floor. the Elite is on a carpet over concrete, with the Trinia's on a BDR Carbon Fibre shelf sitting on large Walker cones through the carpet and pad into the concrete. I get zero high frequency hardening with the 'floating' Hardpoints. now, almost 2 months later, i'd say maybe the single biggest tweak I've ever done is the Trinia footers underneath the Elite (which is on my sources) which added considerable tonal richness to my all solid state system, without any loss of information, in a way nothing else has ever done. maybe there are a number of other footers that could have accomplished that same thing? or not? I did not try others.

at some point I will try those Entreq Vibbeaters that Jazzhead likes.

Thanks, Mike. I have 2 isolation projects in my mind at the moment: upgrading the upper shelf which is HRS Nimbus Couplers/HRS M3X shelves...simply by upgrading to the HRS Vortex which replaces the HRS Nimbus Couplers (new generation with new design).

The other is placing something underneath the Troy. Your experiments continue to intrigue me. In addition to my Stillpoints/HRS combination i use across the entire lower shelf of equipment, I might even try these new HRS Vortex. stay tuned.

LL21 · Jan 21, 2018

Few updates:

- HRS Vortexs are out: they are are very heavy, thick-sided solid equipment. the places where i use HRS are more lightweight (sub 40lbs). And the places where i use Stillpoints are straight to wood shelves or floors...where the HRS nimbus is great (elastomer/polymer bottom) vs Vortex which is spiked

- Have now taken 3 sets of HRS Nimbus/Ultra 5s and placed them under the 3 legs of the Tripoint Troy. (previously, i put just U5s under the Tripoint box itself, bypassing the feet). This is (for me) a much better way to setting up the Troy, and I am pretty sure to keep this new configuration.

Because I had to use some existing HRS Nimbus/U5s from elsewhere, i have now got a few things on order to backfill those other places. But having done this carefully, i have a good sense of what the final setup will sound like.

Thanks for the advice, Mike!!!

SuperDave · Jan 22, 2018

Audiocrack said:
Tang, did you receive the Tripoint Elite? If so, any experiences to share with the WBF members?

Hey Rudolf,
Happy New Year! Miguel says I'll get it in the next 10 days and I hope he finishes your Emperors at the same time. I'm really looking forward to February.

Dave

Audiocrack · Jan 22, 2018

SuperDave said:
Hey Rudolf,
Happy New Year! Miguel says I'll get it in the next 10 days and I hope he finishes your Emperors at the same time. I'm really looking forward to February.

Dave

Hello Dave,

Great news that you will receive your Elite on very short notice. I am very glad for you!

Btw, take care that you connect the Thor se’s correctly (these cables are directional).

Of course the Elite needs time to (fully) break in but it would be great if you are willing to keep the WBF members posted about your ‘Elite experiences’.

Wish you and your loved ones a wonderful and above all healthy 2018!

Audiocrack · Jan 27, 2018

SuperDave said:
Hey Rudolf,
Happy New Year! Miguel says I'll get it in the next 10 days and I hope he finishes your Emperors at the same time. I'm really looking forward to February.

Dave

Hi Dave,

Spoke yesterday with Miguel and I have good news for you: he will first finish your Elite on short notice. So your waiting is almost over.

My three ‘Anaconda’s’ will probably be ready in the third week of February. So hopefully I can start playing with them early next March.

Tango · Feb 12, 2018

Yesterday, I was listening to “Midnight Sugar” by Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio 45. I switched between my Kronos SAT/Opus and AF1P Axiom/Coralstone. For the first time I thought the AF1P combo sounded better than the Kronos combo. The attacks of piano, the refinement, the tonal texture from the Coralstone were coming out of nowhere. I know that the Coralstone has more midbass than the Opus1, but yesterday this was even more clearly pronounced making the the two carts much further distinguishable. And all the sudden, the micro details and spatial info of the Coralstone matches the Opus which I think is the champion on this regard. I wrote before that the I could feel a bit better energy transfer from SAT than the Axiom. Yesterday was the opposite. So what happened? It was indeed the Elite. I grounded the AF1P to the Elite while the Kronos was not. I went home and was bugged a bit that the AF1P beaten the Kronos. This morning I ground the Kronos to the Elite. Voila!! Life is back to my normal comfort zone

.

This Elite experience is like when you have a brass vase and it is oxidized a bit and not shiny as it should. You use the Elite to clean up, polish it and your vase become very shiny and see the true color of brass.

Should be good to put another one to the amps. You go ahead first Mike

.

Kind regards,
Tang

Mike Lavigne · Feb 12, 2018

Tango said:
Yesterday, I was listening to “Midnight Sugar” by Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio 45. I switched between my Kronos SAT/Opus and AF1P Axiom/Coralstone. For the first time I thought the AF1P combo sounded better than the Kronos combo. The attacks of piano, the refinement, the tonal texture from the Coralstone were coming out of nowhere. I know that the Coralstone has more midbass than the Opus1, but yesterday this was even more clearly pronounced making the the two carts much further distinguishable. And all the sudden, the micro details and spatial info of the Coralstone matches the Opus which I think is the champion on this regard. I wrote before that the I could feel a bit better energy transfer from SAT than the Axiom. Yesterday was the opposite. So what happened? It was indeed the Elite. I grounded the AF1P to the Elite while the Kronos was not. I went home and was bugged a bit that the AF1P beaten the Kronos. This morning I ground the Kronos to the Elite. Voila!! Life is back to my normal comfort zone .

This Elite experience is like when you have a brass vase and it is oxidized a bit and not shiny as it should. You use the Elite to clean up, polish it and your vase become very shiny and see the true color of brass.

Should be good to put another one to the amps. You go ahead first Mike .

Kind regards,
Tang

Dear Tang,

right now I have (1) my Entreq Poseidon with Entreq Atlantic Minimus boosters (negative speaker terminals) + (2) the Tripoint Troy Signature on the amps ( amp chassis ground). my next step there will be switching the stock Tripoint ground cables with the Tripoint Thor Master Reference grounding cables. I did try my Elite there, with the Troy Sig on the sources, but found the net performance was better with the Elite on the sources. no doubt that adding another second Elite for the amps would jump things even higher. but I think you will get there before me, or maybe Super Dave will. I am spread too thin for this move for quite a while.

I did love reading about how the Elite can change the ranking of sound in your sources. it just takes things to a higher level magically. we can never sell it short.

kind regards,

Mike

Tango · Feb 13, 2018

Mike Lavigne said:
I did love reading about how the Elite can change the ranking of sound in your sources. it just takes things to a higher level magically. we can never sell it short.

That’s right Mike. There is always more magic available somewhere.

Even I ground my EMT stupidly like this, I get more delta than grounding the other tts of mine. I guess the 50+ Yrs tt has a lot of electro magnetic interferences. I once said I didn’t get the kind of detail and resolution from 927 like I get from modern tts. I have to think again now.

Kind regards,
Tang

Marcus · Feb 13, 2018

AFAIK, this is the first review of Tripoint Empress. Translation seems like uncle google’s work but a few interesting information are there nonetheless.

https://www.facebook.com/miguel.alvarez.75685/posts/10216169921067241

If we exclude AE, there are very few information available about this intriguing Tripoint product. So, those of you who own it, could you share your experiences please.

Mike Lavigne · Feb 13, 2018

Tango said:
That’s right Mike. There is always more magic available somewhere.

Even I ground my EMT stupidly like this, I get more delta than grounding the other tts of mine. I guess the 50+ Yrs tt has a lot of electro magnetic interferences. I once said I didn’t get the kind of detail and resolution from 927 like I get from modern tts. I have to think again now.

Kind regards,
Tang

dear Tang,

not surprised. i will have David tap holes for grounding posts on the arm boards of AS-2000. here are pics of my grounding both stainless steel arm boards on the NVS, one does not yet have an arm on it. i also ground the NVS power supply.

Jazzhead · Feb 13, 2018

Lovely pics , that's clean !!!!!

Audiocrack · Feb 13, 2018

Marcus said:
AFAIK, this is the first review of Tripoint Empress. Translation seems like uncle google’s work but a few interesting information are there nonetheless.

https://www.facebook.com/miguel.alvarez.75685/posts/10216169921067241

If we exclude AE, there are very few information available about this intriguing Tripoint product. So, those of you who own it, could you share your experiences please.

If I remember correctly Chris of AE put his Empress experiences/comments on the AE website some time ago, albeit his comments date from the period before Miguel introduced the ‘Elite technique’.

But you explicitly asked for Empress experiences outside the AE community. So here we go.

When Miguel visited me a few months ago he partially ‘upgraded’ my Empress filters but due to time restraints no ‘Elite technique’ was installed in these units. However, this technique was inserted in my Emperor mk ii and elevated the level of the Emperor. So I am sure I have not yet heard what the Empress filters are really capable of. Therefore I am going to ask Miguel to visit me once more (later this year?) in order to insert his ‘Elite technique’ in both my Empress filters. Although the ‘Tripoint man’ is one of the hardest working lads in the audio business I really hope I can arrange such a visit.

So please keep in mind that my ‘non Elite’ Empress comments are (only) preliminary. Furthermore the LA’s are behemoths and I could fully understand that the effects of the Empress filters on other loudspeakers might be different or maybe more profound.

I recently removed the Empress filters because the Ebony blocks (consisting out of various ebony parts that are glued together) on which the Empress filters are standing need additional ‘care’. The main differences between the sound with and without the Empress filters connected to the LA’s are the following: less ‘blurr’, better focussing and even more coherency and transparency. So yes, I am realling missing them at the moment.

But in all honesty I have to add the following. To my ears the effects of the Empress filters are less profound than those of the Emperor ‘grounding’ unit. That said, I remember quite vividly when we hooked up the Empress filters for the first time after their upgrade that Miguel became very excited indeed: to his - undoubtedly more sophisticated - ears the combination LA/Empress was spellbinding.

Marcus · Feb 18, 2018

Thanks Audiocrack for your reply. Chris from AE wrote some very interesting observations about the effects of Empress. Among others, there are two that intrigue me for quite some time. The first is: “In short, the Empress takes "stress" away from the sound.” and the other is: “The Empress also enriches musicality at the micro level”. Would you agree with that?

Audiocrack · Feb 18, 2018

Marcus said:
Thanks Audiocrack for your reply. Chris from AE wrote some very interesting observations about the effects of Empress. Among others, there are two that intrigue me for quite some time. The first is: “In short, the Empress takes "stress" away from the sound.” and the other is: “The Empress also enriches musicality at the micro level”. Would you agree with that?

Hello Marcus,

Chris is - compared to my (non horn) Tidal LA's - employing completely different loudspeakers (mostly Cessaro horns), so our experiences might differ (somewhat).

In my LA set up the additional coherency and focusing were the most intriguing aspects for me and surprised me because the LA's are already incredible coherent loudspeakers. Please keep in mind that the Tidal LA's are furthermore - extremely - ‘quiet/stressfree/musical' speakers of themselves and might in this regard interact differently with the Tripoint Empress filters than the AE's loudspeakers do. But if he, that is Chris, refers with expressions such as 'stress' and 'enrich' to a (somewhat) more real and less mechanical presentation I agree with him. I used the words “less blurr” for this phenomenon.

Adding the Empress filters somehow created more 'air' or space around the various artists and instruments within the existing soundstage. The Empress filters do not create a deeper and wider soundstage in my LA set up - grounding the LA's with the Tripoint Emperor mk i master reference ground cables and Emperor mk II ‘ground' unit surely did the latter - but they somehow suggests more space or air within this soundstage.

Hope this helps.

Marcus · Feb 18, 2018

Sure it helps. In fact your comments reflect my experinces when I listened to the AE system in HK a year ago and when Chris unplugged only one Empress. There was an immediate and profound loss of realism. Sound without the Empress became so ordinary “hi-fi”, less natural and real and yes, more mechanical as you said.

This system demonstrated one very important aspect of reproduction that I have never heard anywhere else and it is connected with the Empress because it vanished almost completely without it. It is, I hope I’ll manage to put this correctly, a three dimensional projection of instrument’s bodies. One aspect of soundstage we all know well is positioning of instruments on stage between speakers but these images are mostly more or less two dimensional. But the AE system is capable of reproducing an instrument in all three dimensions. We were listening to the tune from the The Royal Ballet LP (Classic Records reissue) the Arabian Dance from the Tchaikovsky Nutcracker suite. There is a short clarinet line at the end of the tune that AE system reproduces in a one of a kind fashion. The clarinet was well positioned on the stage and nothing special about that but what is special is that it »worked« in all three dimensions – there was not only a 2D image of a playing clarinet but a realistic, full bodied 3D image of an instrument with all of it's subtle and not so subtle dynamic shadings and timbral contrasts. It was so real that I thought I could grab the instrument with my hands. As I said, this phenomenon that was crazy real almost completely vanished when Chris disconnected one Empress...

Audiocrack · Jun 16, 2018

In order to finance a Tripoint Elite and / or some additional Tripoint Emperor mk ii ground cables I have decided to sell my Tripoint Troy Signature se (msrp usd 21,5k). All European import duties/taxes (including VAT) have been paid. If you are interested, please pm me.

Stereophonic · Jun 24, 2018

Tripoint Troy, brief history...

LL21 · Jun 24, 2018

Marcus and Audiocrack,

Apologies if this has already been answered, but any differences between Empress and Tripoint Elite? I believe Empress is no longer available, but interested to know anyway to gauge the level of quality the Tripoint Elite achieves. Thanks for any guidance...including any references to earlier posts if they already exist on this.

Audiocrack · Jun 24, 2018

LL21 said:
Marcus and Audiocrack,

Apologies if this has already been answered, but any differences between Empress and Tripoint Elite? I believe Empress is no longer available, but interested to know anyway to gauge the level of quality the Tripoint Elite achieves. Thanks for any guidance...including any references to earlier posts if they already exist on this.

Hi Lloyd,

The Troy Elite is a Troy signature on steroids. So the Elite is a ‘ground’ station. The Empress boxes are filters that you only connect to the binding posts of your loudspeakers. So the latter is not a grounding device.

Btw, the Tripoint Empress is still available.

Hope this helps.

Tripoint troy signature grounding device

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