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This review first appeared in the April 2012 issue of hi-end hifi magazine High Fidelity of Poland. You can also read it in its original Polish version here. We publish its English translation in a mutual syndication arrangement with publisher Wojciech Pacula. As is customary for our own articles, the writer's signature at review's end shows an e-mail address should you have questions or wish to send feedback. All images contained in this review are the property of High Fidelity or Entreq. - Ed

Reviewer: Wojciech Pacula
CD player: Ancient Audio Lektor Air V-edition
Phono preamplifier: RCM Audio Sensor Prelude IC
Cartridges: Miyajima Laboratory Shilabe, Miyajima Laboratory Kansui
Preamplifier: Ayon Audio Polaris III Signature Version with Regenerator power
Power amplifier: Soulution 710
Integrated amplifier/headphone amplifier: Leben CS300 XS Custom Version
Loudspeakers: Harbeth M40.1 Domestic
Headphones: Sennheiser HD800, AKG K701, Ultrasone PROLine 2500, Beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro 600Ω version
Interconnects: CD-preamp: Acrolink Mexcel 7N-DA6300, preamp-power amp Acrolink 8N-A2080III Evo
Speaker cable: Tara Labs Omega Onyx
Power cables (on all equipment): Acrolink Mexcel 7N-PC9300
Power strip: Acoustic Revive RTP-4eu Ultimate
Stand: Base under all components
Resonance control: Finite Elemente Ceraball under the CD player, Acoustic Revive RAF-48 platform under the CD player and preamplifier. Pro Audio Bono platform under Leben CS300
Review component retail in Sweden: HifiMan €390/2.2m, €450/3.3m, Sennheiser HD800 €510/2.2m, €570/3.3m


Led by Mr. Per-Olof Friberg, the Swedish Entreq firm is one of a fairly large number of micro companies offering products and services to people who—speaking plainly—know what they want. I mean experienced audiophiles who seek a change for the better in areas others only begin to perceive; those who are aware that when it comes to sound everything matter, literally each and every small detail. Entreq offers equipment racks, stands, vibration damping and isolating accessories, products used to improve the quality of the mains supply, interconnects and sometimes more esoteric products such as the Minimus which connects to equipment ground and reportedly has a positive impact on signal quality. While Acoustic Revive offers a similar product, the Ground Conditioner RGC-24, it remains one of the more exotic pieces of audio equipment I have seen (I will review both RGC-24 and Minimus when I have cooled down). Against that background the headphone cables from Per-Olof Friberg appear to be quite mainstream.

All of his products are linked by one common notion: to minimize vibration and to minimize the amount of metal and plastic around conductors. Thus we find the inscription and company motto - Energy Transforming Equipment. The main construction materials besides metal conductors are wood and cotton. The designer explains: "In terms of technical assumptions, we deal with a lot of small components working together. The most important objective is, however, using the least amount of metal and plastic. The signal path should be as short as possible. We also try to reduce the magnetic field. The positive and negative signal lines are built differently and have different lengths. The point is that there should be no ‘crosstalk’ through the magnetic field."

The review loaners were from the Konstantin 2010 series produced by hand from A to Z. That even includes the 6.3mm plug. Instead of metal or plastic, its casing is bored and milled from wood. We can see similar components where the cable splits into two separate wires for the left and right ear pads. The cable features black outer cotton wrapping with a white thread. The company offers cables for several different headphones including the Sennheiser HD800, AKG K701 and HifiMan models. For my test I requested cables for the HD800 and HE-500.