Review: Tripoint Troy AC filter

Category: Accessories

After having the Tripoint Troy in my system for 6 months, I took it out for a week, and have recently put it back in. Here are some of my observations.

The Troy makes music sound beautiful. When critically evaluating a piece of equipment, I tend to dissect the sound to determine what is does and what it lacks. However, it is important to take a step back and ask whether the music is beautiful. Does it flow and breath? Is it natural? Do I stop listening because of boredom, or because I have to? A concerto with violin is often my litmus test. Violin is not an intrinsically beautiful instrument. Violin requires a musician’s masterful technique to make it sing, and it is very difficult to record the soul of violin playing. Same thing for voice in classical music and opera, as it seems much easier to reproduce the detail than to convey the beauty.

The Troy creates this extra dimension to music that makes it palpable, as if I were sitting in front of the performers. The midrange is full of plump and juicy details. Instruments decay as if in a live hall. The notes are relaxed. I am now beginning to appreciate the sense of true depth, both from the seat to the soundstage, and from the front of the soundstage to the back. Everything on the stage has expanded, and is clearly positioned, but nothing is highlighted. I have to admit that this realistic perspective into a musical performance is like nothing I have experienced from another component. I am now listening to CDs which bored me due to ‘poor engineering’. Now I realized that flat, dull, and distant sound was due to compression of the stage into a false 2D representation. Now that everything is extended and moved back into perspective, the whole piece takes on new life.

Music sounds great at low level. I listen to music at low level in the morning, and the detail is still present. The music sounds fantastic at high level, with real emotional heft and fluidity. I remain impressed how music soars unrestricted. It does not roll-off the treble, but it does remove the glare from the top. With the Troy, I now listen a few db higher with the treble being so clean. The bass goes lower, is rounded, and evolves more naturally

I hate to say it, but the Troy has become an essential part of my system. It does something unique and very involving. When you first put it in, the sound changes hour-by-hour. The improvement creeps up on you. You may think it does a little more of this and a little more of that, but pay particular attention to your behavior. Do you spend more time in front of your stereo as a result? Does it hold interest after several months? As your ears open, and you begin to appreciate what it does, you realize that many of the audiophile definitions have been redefined. This device compells you to sit and listen without distractions.

All of which comes down to the question of value. I wish this was a half or even two-thirds the price. That way, many more people could experience the effect of removing electronic artifact from the musical presentation. This unit is passive. It does not add anything. It merely allows your components to come closer to their true potential. I would say that after you have all other components up to snuff, this will allow everything to work all that much better, and add several units of emotional involvement. The Troy will bring you closer to live music.