Ι will check but I think I have the latest version.... |
Fla,
I find it unlikely to be able to drive the Cera with a 18w SET . It is is big speaker... |
Calloway,
congrats for buying your final speaker ever. Next step is the Argento Flow cables (or even better FMR). |
Tbg,
are things still improving? |
After 100 hours you will feel like it is a different speaker |
I will drive the Tidal Piano with a set of Sovereign amplifiers and Argento Flow Cables.My Dac is an Orpheus Dac One but I will replace it in the future. Potential buys are the Stylos, DCS Debussy, Emm Labs Dac2 |
Tidal electronics are fantastic but the Sovereign are the best value for money amplifiers in the world (especially the preamplifier). They are also more musical than the Tidal Electronics but always being exremely neutral |
I am using the Sovereign Director with a Sovereign Power for amplification. I guarantee that if you cover them with a blanket many people will not be able to say whether it is tube or solid state amplifiers. Just to give a hint I dislike most tube amplifiers (except the power amplifiers by Wavac) but these babies make the Tidal set to sound kind of dry in comparison....
The way a friend describes it is that he would use the Preos in a studio for the remastering of a production and then he would use the Director at home to listen to it.
Anyway keep your eyes open in case you get the option to audition them. |
Hi Emigene,
I believe that you are talking about the 3 best amplifier brands in the world. Sovereign, Soulution and Tidal are my top 3 brands...
After those 3 i would put Gryphon (for their power amps, I don't know anything about their preamps).
Another candidate for the best amplifier in the world would be the new Orpheus Labs Privilege Series but haven't heard them yet... |
Tbg,
I have tried the Stealth Indra and Dream Petite, Echole Obsession interconnect and speaker cable, Synergistic Research Accelerator interconnect (a Special Edition that a friend bought from thecableco.com and is much better than the normal, close to Apex) , Purist Audio Design 20th Anniversary interconnect, Argento Serenity, Argento Serenity SE, Argento Serenity Reference, Argento Serenity Master Reference and some other less high end brands... |
Calloway,
even the Argento Flow is much much better cable than the SMR. Of course SMR is already fantastic if you compare it with most of the other cables... |
Maxx1973,
you are a very lucky guy. I have heard the Sunray a few times and I find it unique in every aspect. Anything else sounds fake... |
Tbg,
the sound will improve dramatically in the next few days. Wait and see... |
Linc,
I heard the Tidal Piano Cera this weekend in a friend's house (first pair sold in Greece). It had played only for 50 hours but already showed its potential. The best speaker in the world for its size? Quite possibly... I have never heard anything coming even close... I do have this feeling that it might be better than the Contriva too (not the Diacera of course)!! |
Very soon, Argyro will be a member of the Tidal owners family and I am next!!!! For all those people that do not have extensive listening experience with Tidal I have one thing to say.
Tidal speakers are the end of the road. After that, you better save money for amplifiers because you will never change speakers again... I definitely won't... |
I was in the audition of Piano Cera together with Argyro. The sound was truly exceptional and this system even without all its component being in the top league could easily compete for the Best Sound of the Munich High End show if it had been demonstrated in this year's show.
The preamplifier was the Sovereign Director, the power amplifier was the Electrocompaniet AW-250 and the digital source was the Resolution Opus and/or Orpheus Dac One. Cables were the Organic by Argento... |
Bear in mind that the speakers had played only 40-50 hours so they were not properly broken yet... |
Kclone,
I guess you heard a big improvement when you replaced your Audio Research preamp? Both preamplifiers that we heard are superior to the Audio Research ref... |
Kw13,
did you listen to the same recordings in your second audition?
Contrivas have the unique ability to show all the details of a recording whether they are good or bad.... |
Tbg,
I am using the Pure Vinyl not the Pure music but I assume that it has the same music engine.
Argyro is of the guys, the others don't write in Audiogon... |
Tbg,
having extensive experience with computer based audio, I strongly suggest you should prefer Amarra instead of the Pure Music. I believe that Pure Music tonality is wrong. My Weiss Medea/Vesta setup is quite neutral and similar to yours so I believe you will easily hear the difference when you are listening to piano (Pure music sound is thinner than it should be)... I also saw some serious improvement when I used a firewire cable made by the professional division of Oyaide. Check AsiaWeiss for more info... |
In my opinion that trick of lowering the midbass region by few db in order to give the impression that there is more resolution and more details in the rest of the audible spectrum is totally unacceptable. I have seen the same trick used on and on by cable or DAC manufacturers and it pisses me off.
In order to understand where is the real difference between the Amarra and Pure Music try a comparison between your DAC and a Benchmark. You will hear exactly the same effect. Same with cables (I have personally compared my Argento Flow with a Stealth Indra RCA interconnect and heard exactly the same).
Except the midbass gap, there is also a phase shift in some upper frequencies that gives you the effect of the deeper soundstage. But then, was this depth really what the mastering engineer had in his mind or is it created by the software using those phase shift tricks? |
no worries my friend. Better keep the one you like....
It would be easier to check which of the two programs is closer to a top vinyl system if you have one around.
Bear in mind that the conclusions about Pure Vinyl are not just mine. There are at least 3 people with top systems that have the same opinion... Including people using Tidal speakers.... |
One correction Argyro. The system had the Sovereign Eternity monoblock amplifiers (4 of them) rather than the Sovereign Glory.... |
Tbg,
don't even try to compare the Ypsilon with the Sovereign electronics. Sovereign are far superior products, no doubt about it... |
Alectiong,
no I haven't compared the Ypsilon and the Sovereign amplifiers side by side. I guess it would be possible to do that in the US since the importer is the same for both brands.
I personally use the Sovereign Director - Glory pair in my personal system and that shows my clear preferences. |
Finally, I ordered my own Tidal Piano Cera speakers...
I am planning to drive them with the Sovereign Director/Glory using my Weiss Medea as a source. Will probably upgrade to a Stylos Sys USB Dac soon... Cables will be the Argento Flow... |
Linkster,
I agree with you regarding the important of the quality of power supply in a system that is so analytical. I am planning to add a balanced power conditioner soon... |
If you check the Tidal Audio website you will find distributors in Greece, Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden, Portugal.... |
I visited the Munich High End Show on Saturday and Sunday. The best sound of the show was in my opinion the system with Ancient Audio lector Air, Tidal Impact stereo amplifier and the Tidal Piano Cera with the latest black ceramic drivers. A system with a total value of 50000 Euros was so musical and coherent unlike any other system I heard. Congratulations Jorn... |
For all Tidal owners that are not using Argento cables...
Guys you don't know what you are missing... |
Tbg,
you need to focus on the fact that the Sunray is a two-and-half way design whereas the Contriva is a three-way design. That makes the Sunray more coherent and easier to place despite its size. It is possible to listen near-field with a Sunray but impossible to do that with a Contriva.
Sunray also has superior drivers ("black ceramic") plus superior cabin construction. There are certain reasons why it is so expensive compared to the Contriva Diacera. Tidal Sunray is a totally different beast and quite possibly the best speaker in the world... |
Quanmer,
you better ask Tidal for more technical info.... But I know for sure that the speaker designer considers the Black Ceramic drivers to be superior... |
Elviukai,
I suggest you take a look in the News section in the Tidal website. There are some news about black ceramic drivers there... |
Focalfan,
I am glad you found the right speaker for you.
A person like you that believes that any Focal Utopia is a top speaker would never even consider a Tidal. |
Dear Roysen,
I have a friend that his plan is to build the absolutely best system in the planet and he has no particular issue about spending the money needed. His current choices are Orpheus Heritage DAC, Tidal Sunray speakers, Tidal Presencio preamplifier, Tidal LPX external crossover, 4 Sovereign Eternity power amplifiers and Argento Flow Master Reference cables.
His future plans are to install the Tidal Sunray T1 and 6 THE SOVEREIGN amplifiers to drive the speakers.
No further comments apart from the fact that his current setup has no sound at all, it is pure live music and easily the best setup I have heard in my life...
Tidal speakers are the most neutral speakers that you could possible experience. So in case you heard any coloration then you should investigate the other components of the system...
|
Tbg,
the answer to your question why the two sets had totally different sound lies on the cables that were used. During the first time, the cabling was Echole Obsession. This year they used Argento Flow Master Reference. I have owned both so I understand very well what you say. |
I believe that they are excellent value for money amplifiers (even though they are still expensive) and definitely a worthy match with Tidal speakers. It is an fine alternative for the people that cannot afford Tidal electronics.For example I have not read any reviews about the Sovereign preamplifier but it is one of the very few preamplifiers I would consider as an alternative to a Tidal Preos... Of course Preos is a better preamp if your priotity is the absolute neutrality.... But that comes with a higher cost.... |
Regarding Tidal Agoria, if its sound matches its looks then Sunray will face some serious competition for the title of the best speaker ever built... |
I have listened to the Sovereign Eternity driving the Sunray but I haven't heard the Impulse yet. I guess that you cannot go wrong with either of them.... |
|
Maceear,
I was in Munich High End show this year and I listened extensively to the Contriva G2 for two days, Friday and Saturday. My first impression on Friday was that the G2 was the most beautiful speaker I had ever seen in my life. It is that amazing!!! The sound on the first day was not up to the usual Tidal standards so I asked how many hours of burn-in were in these speakers. Apparently, the speakers were brand new and they had had only 15 hours when I first listened to them.
On Saturday though, things had already changed. The sound with about 25-30 hours of playing time was already one of the two best in the show (the other one was the system with Zellaton Reference). That was surprising to me because I know how long it takes for those Accuton drivers to reach their peak performance so I believe that this speaker won't really have any competition in their price range, both in terms of sound performance and gorgeous looks. It is a masterpiece in my personal opinion and definitely worths a careful audition by any audiophile that is looking for a true -to- the-source transducer. |
Linkster,
I am sure that the Piano Diacera are best-in-their-class speakers but I believe the Contriva G2 are superior, the same way that Agoria was superior to the Contriva Diacera. Their cabin is bigger and more advanced (Tiralit based), they go lower, they feel like they have bigger dynamic range and they are an easier load to drive. If you can afford them, they are a superior speaker overall. |
