TIDAL AUDIO, “100% transparency, 0% colouration”
Tidal for me will always be extremely special, a whole reason to start a dealership or even get into this hobby in the first place. The brand could quite happily have its very own luxury shop right in the heart of Mayfair or Knightsbridge selling just Tidal. It not only arguably deserves this but it would surely flourish exponentially if it did. Their recent partnership with Bugatti is a triumph of identity and market perception. It further clarifies their lofty status and the very highest design and manufacturing standards which they inexorably maintain. Truth be told well over 50% of everyone walking through the doors of Lotus is buying Tidal and has a Tidal system. It is our core business and once you begin to discover the brand you will quickly understand why.
For the size of the total world customer base, there are now simply too many High-end brands out there. Many of them are very competent and a select few are truly world class but not one of them can be built into a complete system from end to end where all components are truly state of the art and the equal of eachother. Streamer to DAC, amplification, cables and of course loudspeakers, everything perfectly sympathetic to everything else and designed by the same people in the same factory with the exact same principles, philosophies and know how. Added to this is the not inconspicuous price tag of the very top level Tidal system with La Assoluta floorstanders and G1 towers, a cool 2 million Euros, and it’s easy to understand why the company is simply out on its own, competing really only with itself.
Other brands have of course also tried to achieve a complete in house top to tail system, but being fair to the team from Koln, none even remotely near the level of a Tidal system. Then you get to the build quality, component choice and craftsmanship of this brand, recently aptly described by Jeff Fritz of Soundstage Ultra: “Their build and finish qualities, inside and outside the speaker, are the best I’ve seen on any audio product of any type.” Tidal is not only an ultra high-end product but also a true luxury product, in the same mould as say a Patek watch, a Leica M camera or indeed, a Bugatti hypercar.
As all the reviews and awards point out, Tidal offers you the very highest levels of performance but in a package that is possibly unequalled for its liquidity, naturalness and feeling of sonic invisibility or “equipment not being there”. A “pure glass of water” is the phrase managing director Jorn Janczak likes to employ. Customers adore it for it’s intoxicating and inexhaustive levels of musicality, it’s utterly pure sense of truth and of course it’s very high pride of ownership. Any Tidal is a purchase that brings immense joy, not just when it is a delivering beautiful music, but also purely by the act of it just being in your possession. For many, it is an acquisition of a lifetime, something unique and treasured that will endure forever.
I urge you to investigate my TIDAL BLOG to understand more about this exquisite marque. The enriched, illimitable, extreme world of TIDAL, the inherent passion and love, the fanatical attention to detail and the remarkable technology behind this company should be digested and appreciated at a slow contemplative pace.
.. the musical presentation was no less than a revelation to my ears. I simply have never experienced this outrageous level of audio transparency.
Tidal stands at the very top of the industry for its promise to perfect every detail, down to the most microscopic and seemingly least consequential. Their build and finish qualities, inside and outside the speaker, are the best I’ve seen on any audio product of any type. I could go on and on — suffice it to say that you probably haven’t seen what’s possible in precision loudspeaker design and manufacture until you’ve been in the presence of a Tidal loudspeaker.
Having heard both Tidal Preos and Presencio I agree with Karel that they are simply the number one and number two preamps in the world.
Utterly seamless, it was fluid, unforced, expressive and finely nuanced. Intricate and delicate when necessary, it was also capable of remarkable power and sudden dynamic shifts when necessary. Subtle musical shadings and textures were explicit without being exaggerated, and the Akira made a powerful argument for its exotic driver technology. Once again it got better as the show went on, but past experience made sure I went back on Sunday and sure enough, the resulting musical coherence and astonishingly lucid performance were more than worth the wait.
Sonically, the sheer scale and dynamics of the music in this room was bloody extraordinary. The electronics might have been new to North America, but the effect was “Audio Oasis! Award material” all the way. The sound was effortless, fluid, natural, organic, and had the sort of transparency that I associate with only the finest sort of designs that I’ve encountered on this planet. Detail without edginess; dynamics without loss of control; full-frequency-range presentation without humps or valleys.
I simply have never experienced this outrageous level of audio transparency. I seldom give much of my music listening energy to imaging and soundstage, but the scale and continuity of the space projected by the TIDAL Audio Agoria loudspeakers was among the best I have ever experienced. I then went closer to inspect the exquisite finishes of the TIDAL Agoria Speakers, Preos preamplifier and Impulse power amplifier. The finishes were just out of this world, there is nothing perfect in this world of ours but, these finishes from TIDAL were super close to perfection. Doug then told me to touch and turn the volume control of the Preos preamplifier. I kid you not, my jaw did not drop but literally fell to the floor…. Of all my years in high-end audio, I have never had such “high” from turning a volume control knob. TIDAL Audio truly does take care of details and it makes great music. Wow !
At, 105K, the speakers chosen as Best Sound of Show should be good. And, they were. TIDAL Acoustics magnificent Agoria Loudspeakers have dynamics par excellence, real heft in the bass, and a wonderful soundstage, but it was the timbral accuracy and imaging that really wowed me. Sublime.
The finish on these speakers is so far past “piano black”, it makes most speakers look like they were doodled on by a kindergartener. I’ve honestly seen nothing like it. It’s unbelievable. The build quality overall is appallingly good and the attention to detail is likewise fanatical — take, for a random example, the faceplate, which is 4mm thick and counter-sunk into the fascia to a depth of 3mm. Who does this kind of thing?
To be fair, I’m a bit critical of this sound. I’m familiar, after all. So, when I say I was gobsmacked, do take that familiarity into consideration. This was incredibly heady stuff. Ethereal … delicate … insightful. And then, on a dime, wildly bombastic. This is why we get into audio, folks. Right here. This is a reference for Absolute Sound.
Hi Rich, I had a couple of hours with the Tidals last night. I started with the Preos against my monos so I could gauge what the Impulse did when it replaced the monos. The Impulse is Incredible, no-brainier, better in every respect. No point in describing differences, everything just better. The inbuilt DAC on the Tidal is now sounding better on some tracks than I remember on the Trinity combination. Maybe it is improving, or maybe it suits dynamic tracks better. Upshot is yes, I would like them both.
Master speaker builder Jörn Janczak of TIDAL loudspeakers was among the first persons I had met when I came first came to Munich back in 2003 (the last show held in Franfurt before moving to Munich in 2004). Since that time Janczak has literally turned this show on its proverbial ear. Whether showing off his newest series of electronics or those magnificently finished loudspeakers, he’s always got a trick up his sleeves that leaves me stuck in deep admiration.
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