TRIPOINT TROY ELITE NG

[Marko Puš]

NA WBF (What's Best Forum), kjer se včasih oglašam, si lahko preberete moje "poročilo" o novem Tripoint Troy Elite NG.

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Troy Elite NG (NG=New Generation) is a new Tripoint flagship grounding station that replaced the Emperor. It’s a 10 year Anniversary, Audio Exotics exclusive product that will be made in limited quantities.

Troy Elite NG is quite different from previous Tripoint grounding devices. The departure from African Bubinga chassis to metal is only the most obvious. The Elite NG is also smaller than the previous flagship Emperor, more compact and extremely heavy (160 lbs). No, not a typo. 160lbs and consequently almost impossible to manage without a second pair of hands. The construction, precision, finish and execution is on a highest possible level. A real beauty. And a beast. Photos really don’t do it justice. It comes as standard with a Thor SE power chord (with Oyaide P-079 male plug) and four silver grounding cables. Oyaide don’t make (yet!) European shuko version of superior AP004 plug so this upgrade was unfortunately out of consideration.

My Elite NG came with superior Emperor power cable (as extra) and I also bought two Emperor Mkii grounding cables with it. These new flagship grounding cables were connected to main units of Zanden 1200 mk3 phono stage and 3000 mk2 line stage, regular silver cables went on conrad-johnson ART mono blocks.

I visited Hong Kong and Chris Leung of Audio Exotics a few years ago and I’m not sure I would buy the Elite NG if he wouldn’t demonstrate his system to me and my friends. After the demo of AE truly superb system (and a few special “tricks” Chris performed for us) it became crystal clear Troy Signature is not the end of the road and that much more is possible with the upper range of Tripoint grounding products.

I used Troy Signature (with standard grounding cables) and one Thor SE in my system for years before upgrading to Troy Elite NG and Emperors mkii but the level of improvement this combo brought to the sound of my system is simply staggering. Now I understand Audiocrack’s feelings and enthusiasm and don’t think he exaggerated one bit!

To be continued.

Še link: https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/ ... 41/page-16

[Marko Puš]

Drugi del...

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Here’s a few thoughts on Tripoint Troy Elite NG...

Although you can place any Tripoint Troy wherever you want these devices do benefit if you pay a proper attention to isolation. I tried various platforms under my ex Troy Signature and differences were clearly audible. Haven’t experimented with isolation platforms under the Elite NG yet, but I have changed spike bases and heard a clear improvement in the bass that became tighter and more defined. If such a minor change was audible, you can imagine the impact of a high quality isolation base. A very thick and heavy ebony platform is in the works and will report on this later.

Troy Elite NG showed its potential the moment I connected the Emperor power cable to the wall socket (this was before I bought Cardas Nautilus). Even without connecting any grounding cable this alone brought better bass articulation, soundstage expansion, and more focus with a subtle feeling of calmness. This was a big surprise, and I was wondering why that happened? How can this influence the sound of the system? Thought it had something to do with the EMI/RFI, so I tried AlphaLab Inc. EMI Line Meter but readings didn’t show anything conclusive.

Then both Emperors Mkii and Silver Signatures went in and after a few hours three things were immediately obvious: bass became a bit stronger, and deeper, soundstage expanded a bit more, and there was a clear improvement in dynamics and speed. As Audiocrack and Dave explained in their reports, Emperor Mkii needs at least 400 hours of burn-in. After a few days of excitement and enjoyment, the expected “down phase” came. Miguel also warned me about the crazy way these grounding cables behave in the burn-in period, but I was not expecting such huge swings between “good and bad periods”. Anyway, after three months cables obviously settled as the sound became consistent.

Unfortunately I haven’t heard the regular Elite to make direct comparison but did own the Signature for several years and can say this: Even if you know the effects of Troy Signature (with or without the Thor SE grounding cables), that can not prepare you for a huge jump in realism the Elite NG/Emperor Mkii combo brings to the table. There is simply no comparison. Some improvements on which the Signature only hinted at are fully developed with the Elite NG (like bass, solidity, soundstage, clarity, and articulation), and then lifted to a far, far higher level, but there are also totally new improvements.

With this combo, there is no highlighting of any frequency at any time. Midrange is seamlessly connected with the treble and everything is more fluid, more natural (unprocessed) with a beautiful sense of completeness. Next thing I noticed and find it interesting is increased serenity between notes, a new sense of calmness and natural easiness.

A minor “complaint” about the sound of otherwise superb conrad-johnson ART mono blocks I have is their ability to articulate starting transients. My previous power amps were solid state Karan KAM 2000 which excelled in transients articulation but adding a new Tripoint grounding system brought this quality with the cj ART on a solid state level. Unbelievable.

Next thing was the truth of timbres. Improved articulation, and clarity can result in improved timbres, but with the Tripoint combo there was also more weight, density, and solidity to instruments. This infusion of weight to bodies of instruments (without softening!), was also present in lower most registers, but the clarity and articulation of each string draw, pluck, or air blow also improved tremendously.

Musical presentation became much more dynamic, agile, and explosive. The sense of speed and agility is incredible and reminds me of a great horn system. Soundstage became not only much deeper, wider, and better defined. More important to me is a rock solid 3D presentation of instruments and their proportional dimensions. I heard this “effect” for the first time in Hong Kong a few years ago and I think it is an important contributor of the feeling “being in their presence” and (IMO) a result of fewer artifacts and less distortion.

My system always sounded best from 9 am to 4 pm and then late at night, at other times the sound could be often boring, but with the Elite NG/Emperor Mkii these differences simply vanished. System now sounds great no matter when I listen. I’m not sure this effect would be heard in every system but in mine, this combo also acts like a completely invisible power line filter. This is like a dream come true. System performing optimally no matter when you listen to it! Crazy.

One more thing. Everything I have described above is easily heard also at very low volumes. Especially airier and expanded soundstage, denser colors and fuller bodies of instruments stand out.

Years ago I bought Troy Signature blind. I simply couldn’t have imagined that every review and report from users (and there were plenty) I read and basically described identical sonic gains, could be wrong. I was right and became a huge fan of Tripoint from the moment the Troy started to make it’s magic. I’m in the process of changing speakers, so I’ll write more about the Elite NG/Emperor Mkii combo in the future. What I wrote here are only the most obvious hi-fi superlatives but I also hear new dimensions of sound beyond that and this is hard to explain. Will try to expand on this in the future.

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/ ... 41/page-17

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[Marko Puš]

In še tretji del...

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I promised a follow-up in my first report of Troy Elite NG because I was in the middle of a speaker changing process. At a time I was selling my Avalon Time and succeeded then my friend loaned me a pair of Reference 3A Episode for a few months and finally new AlsyVox Botticelli came and this was a reason I had to rearrange the system. After I got Botticellis I deliberately disconnected Troy Elite NG from the system and listened that way for a few months to know them better “as they are” without any help from Tripoint.

Then, when I thought everything was well settled and burned-in, I put Elite NG into the system again. Even though new speakers sounded excellent without the Tripoint, the story from the first part of my report repeated and effects were even more pronounced. Perhaps because of superior resolution and greater extension of Botticellis. As good as system sounded without the Tripoint, it jumped to another level almost immediately after all connections were done. It took only 24 hours and my friends who were eagerly waiting my invitation and have heard AlsyVoxes only at hi-fi shows were floored.

The story could end at this point but then I remembered Daniele Cohen, the designer of Botticellis made a special modification for me. On my request he installed a dedicated grounding post at the bottom of the metal base that is connected to the huge metal mass of the frame (more than 100kg/speaker). I’m glad I asked him to do this at the early stage of manufacturing process because later that would be considerably harder. Speakers are so heavy and so hard to move around that I doubt I would be willing to send them back to the factory.

Troy Elite NG has 4 grounding posts covering at least 8-12 components. Since all parts of my system were already connected to it, I was wondering where to connect speakers. I had two more Tripoint Silver Signature cables on disposal which I couldn’t connect to posts occupied by the Emperor mkii and since only cj ART monos were on one post with the Signatures, I decided to connect speakers to it. Was quite concerned with four cables on one grounding post since my old Troy Signature was happy only with two or three. Well, seems the new generation of Tripoint grounding products have much more powerful filters since the effect was very surprising to say the least.

In one sentence, effects brought by the Elite NG on speakers were greater than with any other component and I expected only minor at most. The well-known story of Elite NG magic repeated itself once again and no need to go through all descriptions again. You get even greater soundstage, more authority in the bass, more body, more wood, strings, brass, skins...etc on acoustic instruments, slight spikes or distortions vanished almost completely. One detail that stayed in my memory is the reproduction of tambourine on The Royal Ballet LP (side 1, Tchaikovsky, The Nutcracker suite). I could swear I can hear more metal jingles on it after connecting speakers to the Elite NG. Before tambourine sounded very convincing but Elite NG infused it with a dose of authenticity and realism I haven’t heard before. With most of my system on Troy Elite NG (only Power supplies of Zanden phono and line stage and Magnum Dynalab tuner are not...yet ) there is also a much improved insight into musical tissue. It’s hard to explain this but it is like to be able to hear and observe more closely the composer’s musical idea, the conductor’s and artist’s idea of interpretation. I have experienced such phenomenon sometimes but never that intense.

All of this surprised me even more considering I had four components on one grounding post. I tried such configuration on Troy Signature in the past and found it a bit too much. Namely, improvements with additional (fourth) component on one filter was very small. So, I was quite skeptical before first audition and frankly didn’t expect much. Just wanted to explore the possibility at hand. Obviously filters in the Elite NG are considerably stronger and can easily handle 4 components and I’m sure even more.

Latter I did another experiment. Disconnected both power amps from the Elite NG and immediately sound became softer, much less defined, less dynamic and slower, and more tube like? In short, a proportionate part of improvements were lost. Reconnection restored the magic and all was well again. This was also a proof that one filter can easily take care of even the biggest and heaviest components such as speakers and power amps.

Although I can’t guarantee that connecting metal baskets of drivers or crossovers of conventional speakers to the Tripoint would have same effect as I described above but since Audicrack had similarly spectacular experience after grounding his Tidal Assolutas, I’m pretty convinced it would. The problem is, how to do that if you don’t have dedicated grounding posts. Wish more speaker manufacturers would follow Tidal’s decision to include them as a part of a design.

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/ ... 41/page-19

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[Marko Puš]

Tukaj pa se je vse skupaj pravzaprav začelo...

https://audioexotics.vanillacommunity.c ... y-tripoint

[Marko Puš]

TRIPOINT TROY ELITE NG (Silver finish)
Audio Review by Dr. Ned

For a long time, I felt I had a very revealing audio system with a very low noise floor. Larry Diaz of High-End Palace in Coral Gables, FL was urging me for a while to explore the EMI/RFI passive filtration grounding components Miguel Alvarez of Tripoint Audio had developed. Finally, I moved forward to explore Miguel’s offerings. My first exploration was with the Troy Elite to be followed by the Troy Elite NG. What has resulted from this exploration has been revelatory and transformational. My current system is advanced and constitutes the following components:

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· Aurender W20SE
· dCs Vivaldi DAC
· dCs Vivaldi Clock
· Benchmark LA4 preamplifier
· Pass Labs XA160.8 monoblock amplifiers
· Tripoint Audio Troy Elite NG with Signature Silver SE grounding cables
· Acoustic Zen Crescendo II speakers
· REL SE212 sub-bass system (pair)
· Acoustic Zen Absolute Silver interconnects and speaker cables
· Shunyata Research power systems and power cables
· Shunyata Research Sigma 75 Word Clock cables (clock to Aurender and DAC)
· Audioquest Wild dual AES/EBU digital cables (Aurender to DAC)
· Dedicated Room (14’ x 29.75’ x 10’) with 6 dedicated 20-amp outlets


OVERVIEW
The Tripoint Troy Elite NG is a stunning looking compact rectangular box (14.25’ W x 10” D x 5.75” H) supported by three massive 3” solid brass spikes. Don’t let the compact size of the box fool you, it weighs a substantial 160 lbs! This exceeds the 125 lb weight of each Pass Labs XA160.8 amplifier (the Troy Elite NG’s volume is only 18% of that of each amplifier). Once positioned, I doubt it will be moved often, if at all.
The Troy Elite NG has 4 ground core modules, each with over-sized copper binding posts on the back of the component designed to achieve the highest level of EMI/RFI filtration of all Tripoint Audio’s series of grounding components. My initial lengthy experience with the Troy Elite and later with the Troy Elite NG confirmed there is a distinct improvement in EMI/RFI filtration with the later. A massive and very heavy wall cable is plugged into an outlet and attached to one of the binding posts. This is a passive grounding system, so this cable is used to only establish a ground from an outlet to the Troy Elite NG. Signature Silver grounding cables are being used in my system. These go from the other remaining binding posts in the back of the Troy Elite NG to unused input or output ports, chassis screws, or ground screws on the source components.

CONNECTIONS
In my system, the wall cable is plugged into the same outlet shared with my front-end components and is attached to one of the 4 module binding posts. Signature Silver cables from the Aurender, Clock, and DAC (connected to unused BNC ports) share another module binding post on the Troy Elite NG. Cables from the preamplifier (connected to an unused RCA port) and from each amplifier (spade connector the dedicated amplifier ground connection) share another module binding post. The 4th module binding post shares cables from unused RCA ports from each subwoofer.

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LISTENING
As I mentioned previously, I considered I had a very revealing audio system with a very low noise floor. Was I ever wrong! The first thing, the Tripoint components do not add anything to editorialize the sound. What they offer is what I will call life and air. They open up the soundstage providing life-like imaging, crafting music to become vivid and alive. It is like transporting the audio system into the original recording venue. Dynamics are enhanced and less constrained. Dynamics are more detailed. Timing and rhythm of music is enriched. Ambient cues are uncannily liberated to open up an expansive and immersive soundstage. Vocals take on improved pitch definition and inflection. Low level definition is enhanced and outstanding. Fundamentally, fine grain or haze inherent in audio systems is lifted providing crystalline clarity to music.
Flying Carpet by Quadro Neuvo & Cairo Steps (Flying Carpet 44.1/16) is a densely orchestrated song with many unique instruments. With the Troy components inserted into my audio system, all of the instruments seemed to float on a cushion of air with each seemingly to have endless decay of notes. There is freedom from previously unrealized minor congestion now with no blurring of instruments whether played loud or soft. All instruments simply now arise from their own sense of space with rich overtones. Mr. Somewhere by This Mortal Coil (Blood 96/24) demonstrated absolute purity to vocals. Low background drum beats become clearly delineated with a cushion of air around each beat. The cello exhibits beautiful resonances and timbre not appreciated previously. New York by St. Vincent (Mass Education Tidal HiFi) is a simple piece with piano and vocal. There is now absolute purity to the voice which seemingly floats in space. All is rendered with absolute beauty against a stark black background with no grain. Finally, Sunset by The xx (Coexist 44.1/16) has clear delineation of vocals. There is vast depth and width with a black background to the soundstage. Low frequencies have enhanced definition and depth.
I just shared a few of my listening notes regarding a wide spectrum of songs I auditioned for this review. Many of my notes mention that whole songs now take on a subtile beauty with an organic quality. Subtile details previously audible, but somewhat buried, now have clarity. The difference between the Troy Elite and the Troy Elite NG are not subtle. The Troy Elite is a tremendous component offering a clear view into music. The Troy Elite NG simply offers a clearer view (as it should for the price difference).

SUMMARY
The Tripoint EMI/RFI passive filtration grounding components are not inexpensive. What they do so well is to transform an already excellent audio system to a level of performance that could never be achieved by simply upgrading to increasingly more expensive source components or speakers. These Tripoint components are in a league of their own and will pull the finest performance out of a music system. One listen, you will never go back. Now when I hear audio systems, the music invariably loses that special magic that the Tripoint components bring to the game. The Troy Elite NG is a limited-edition piece. Although no one would be disappointed with the Troy Elite (as I was not), the Troy Elite NG elevates that magic to another level. The Troy elite NG is to stay in my system. Exceptionally and exceedingly recommended!

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