Calloway, be patient the wait will be well worth it. |
Tbg,
are things still improving? |
Geopolitis, yes, indeed. My life unintentionally has been complicated by getting a new turntable, the Bergman and a new cartridge, the Ortofon A90 as well as getting a new version of my linestage. This is, of course, a no no for introducing new components. But everything is sounding just outstanding. I went to the trouble to go back to everything as it was with my old speakers, except for using those speakers. The sound had that wonderful extended and sweet top end, the soundstage was real and on live recording quite involving. The bass is still not up to what my Acapellas did but I expect that will come with additional breakin. I am now running the system from 7 am to 11 pm daily.
Each day I go to listen with confidence that I will better sound than the day before. Many of my digital sources sound so different than what I heard before that they could almost be different recordings.
Life is great! |
Fantastic that Tidal is finally making a splash here in the US. I'm extremely pleased with my Piano's, but with new/larger house, I need more current. Anyone have experience with Rogue Audio's amps? |
Brdsmith, check out the Tidal electronic thread. |
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Maybe off the topic a little, i wonder how the Tidal compares with the Marten range of speakers that use similar drivers? Lets say Marten Coltrane vs Tidal Contriva diacera. Anyone has heard both? |
The cool thing about the Tidal, and this was mentioned somewhere else in this thread and maybe another, is that if you make a tweak or a change in components, room, cables, ect...the Tidal's will display it. I mean all speakers will to certain extent, but with the Piano is seems like it is not the speaker signature sound that you hear, it is the rest of the system so when making a tweak or a better component change it can be very rewarding. My intention when I got the Piano's was to get off the Audio merry go around. Well, I'm sure I am done with speakers for awhile, but I had a lot of fun probing the potential of the Tidal's by making a lot of tweaks and component changes. The down side is I spent some more money. Oh well, I guess that is the sickness of this hobby. |
Kclone, your comments about the Tidals are right on target for my experience. I had changed too many things at the same time and decided to get to the bottom of the major improvement I was hearing. My Contriva Discera SEs were placed in my room the same day I got a new version of my H-Cat preamp and a day after I got Synergistic Research Galileo Universal interconnect Cells. I showed some patience but within several days all of the new stuff was in the system and being played with the Tidals. I went through two weeks of daily improvement. Once I had some leveling off of the improvement, I decided to see what was contributing by ultimately removing everything other than the speakers and also using the old version of the preamp. Ultimately I had everything back in but on this older preamp. It sounded very good, until I put the new version in. Once it settled in, I just sat there and listened to disc after disc. There was realism that I thought was unobtainable in home audio reproduction.
Like you, I am very happy, but additional dollars into my system. Thus far, only non-audiophile friends have heard this system, but the look on their face says it all, they are dumbfounded and typically sit down to listen or ask for some specific album. On hearing it they comment that they had never really heard it before.
I have owned 27 prior speakers in a long career in audio, and I have listened to many others including the Magicos and the Marten Coltrane. I have never heard the "magic" that I am getting now. Wow! |
Hi Alec, last year I had the occasion to compare quite closely the Marten Coltrane Momento with the Tidal Contriva (with other source and amps, but certainly no slouches on either system), so that is one number higher in the Marten hierarchy against one number lower in the Tidal hierarchy. I had noted my detailed impressions in a thread that was deleted meanwhile, but the key differences were that the less expensive Contrivas showed better homogeneity and Marten couldn't hide traces of ceramic hardness, dare I say "grain". Mind you, Marten makes great speakers. But it is the seamless coherence and see-through capacity that sets Tidal apart: you hear music, understand the musician's emotional state, as opposed to hearing (good) gear reproducing music.
It is indeed the "magic" that Tbg mentioned that makes all the difference, just uncanny!
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Karelfd, tonight my system jump another notch in sound quality. The sweetness of the top end, the decay of bass notes, the audibility of the conductor's movements, the clear audibility of the percussionist's movements before striking, etc. You would never hear it as I did unless you were the conductor or sitting front row center and somehow elevated to stage level. The mics have the best seat in the house.
It probably is not entirely the Tidal Contrivas, but they certainly are needed to present it to my ears. Wow! |
Wow Karelfd, I better go listen to the Tidal.
Tbg, could you share pics of your new speakers?
Alec |
Alectiong, yes, I have been meaning to update my system pictures. I would warn you about hearing these speakers-do so only if you are ready to invest in them. It was the best audio decision I ever made. |
Still at Munich due to the volcano problem but cannot believe the sound I heard yesterday in the Tidal room! The most amazing sound I gave heard, amazing cohereness and timbre!!! So so natural sound!! |
Yes, I too was at the show and heard the Tidal room.
It was super. Timbre, coherence, imaging, musicality.
Best sound at the show! |
Today I am ordering the Piano Cera SE, with Argento Flow cabling inside. I cannot listen to ANYTHING else anymore!!!
Cant wait! |
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Argyro, welcome to the Piano Cera owner's club, presently a very small but discriminating group! BTW, did you ever have a chance to listen to the Piano Diacera? |
Thanks Karelfd!
A dream comes true, I had started losing hope in this hobby until I came across the Tidals! They just stand so far away from any competition.
I will be driving with my Wavac MD-805m. If those Watts are enough, I am sure its going to be a match made in heaven! Pure Bliss!
Thanks again! :) |
Life is very strange with the Tidals. They are so revealing that you notice when your amp has been on long enough, when you need to await cables that you have moved around to settle, and, of course, when everything is just right and you have no choice but to listen to album after album. To never be able to find the speaker's compromises at fault is a rare experience. |
Congrats Argyro. Now is he hardest part for you, I mean you got a taste the Tidals and now you have all of this waiting a head of you. Just know it is darn worth it. |
Thanks Kclone, I am sure I made the best decision I have ever made in this hobby. I am that sure...;)
Just to clarify something when I talk about a Piano Cera SE, I mean that I will use a Flow cable from the binding posts to the crossover and not the complete internal wiring of the speaker.
Cant wait! |
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... |
Mike, thanks for clarifying that as there is no SE option for the Piano series loudspeakers (each version has its own customized crossover). |
Hi Linkster!
Thanks for your kind words (I accidentally missed before)!
Yes, I felt I needed to clarify this as it could be very confusing for current and future Tidal owners!
How long did it take for your speaker to arrive? Can you please comment on the break-in period?
Regards,
Mike |
Hi Mike. I have the Piano Classic, which I assume is somewhat similar to the Cera. From my experience, it takes at least 500 hours before they come into their own. They will sound good up until that time, but they kind of take on a new life after that. The other fun thing is any changes made are really noticalbe. I have changed all of my components, cables, placement, ect.. to get the most of the Tidal's. What I learned is, there does't really seem to be a "getting the most" out of them. Their potential will be as good as the room and upstream stuff allow. |
Mike, since I was the first to order the Piano Cera (although not the first to take delivery), I received mine with 500 hours on it (i.e., already broken-in) and therefore not qualified to offer anything concerning break-in. It was also a seven month wait, during which time Tidal decided to incorporate variogain/terminal and tweeter adjustability features. My experience should not be typical for buyers of the Piano Cera, or any other Tidal product for that matter. I do think you would receive them faster by ordering the piano black finish though. |
Guys thanks very much for the insightful answers!
I just placed my order! :) My stomach is "aching" from the excitement!
I once again listened to the Contrivas, it is just not normal what these speakers can do! You could EASILY differentiate each recording from each other and it sounded so scarily real!
Time passes slowly....:)
Mike |
Be patient Mike, in the end the wait will be well worth it! BTW, what finish did you select? |
Yes, I waited a long time, and it was worth the wait. |
Linkster, the standard Piano black! |
Mike, that's what I have! Tidal's premium finishes are unbelievable but as they don't impact performance, I have a hard time recommending them for the upcharge required. At any rate, Tidal's piano black is by far the best I have ever seen. None of those nasty swirl marks that are so common in the industry. |
Mike, just curious. What is the size of your room? |
Kclone the size of my room right now is 4x5 m2 (dedicated) but soon I will be moving to a treared-dedicated 8x6! :)
I am usually listening at 85-90 db average and very few times around 100 average (110 peaks). Hope the piano can easily reach such SPL's.
Happy listening Everyone!
Mike |
I'd say I listen at 75-80. Do you have a preference in music or do you listen to a lot of genre's? |
80% Classical and Jazz and 20% classic rock and others! |
I would like the Tidal Piano owners to please comment on their speaker set up, distances from front-side walls, with each other, and how that affected their sound! Hope I am not asking much....:-)
Happy listening,
Mike |
Is everybody listening to their speakers? Come on guys, feel with me, anticipation is the worst feeling! lol |
Sorry Argyro, but I just dropped a sub in the system a couple of days ago so I am still working on repositioning. I may not have to do anything at all, but either way I will post my measurements/position in the room. |
Sorry Argyro, you get to suffer the wait like the rest of us. We all had to do it. Enjoy that anticipation feeling. :) |
Argyro, I agree with Kclone about all of us going through the wait. I should also say that these speakers are so revealing that you may have another adjustment period to come as you cull through your equipment finding the weak links.
Do you have a date certain for getting your Tidals? |
Kclone I suppose you are right, anticipation is part of the story but..... I can say I enjoy it!:)
tbg no clue, I hope I have them by the end of July but this is just my estimation!
Have a good day,
Mike |
Seems like all of you had to wait to take delivery of the speakers. What is the reason?
Thanks, |
I suppose very high demand! |
Lucky boy, small company and large demand. |
..as a recent buyer of a pair of contriva diacera-se speakers, i was told, when i ordered my pair, that it would take from 4-5 months to take delivery as they are made individually when ordered.that was 2 months ago.that being said i received an email a few days ago that informed me that mine would be arriving in about '3-6'weeks..as good as these speakers are the wait is worth it. |
This thread sounds like a love fest :)
As good as these speakers are (if indeed the case as I have not seen any major reviews), they will be bettered down the line as is always the case just as they are now dethroning some other speakers.
Having got caught up a little in this "hype", I am trying to find a way to hear them. But they are unsightly expensive! If these are to be a last pair of speakers it might be worth the effort to save - but will take a few years... Why can't they bring these down to more reasonable level? |
Kw13, there is no answer to your question. Obviously, you have to make your own decision, but hearing them is a must.
They were a major stretch financially for me, but I heard them. If you look at the workmanship, the drivers and other components and realize that they have maintained effortless and extended sound using drivers that have many excellent characteristics but a notorious "ceramic driver sound" and a cabinet that just does not vibrate, you will reassess your "unreasonable" cost concern.
Listen to them as well as the many much more expensive speakers, and you will buy them. |
Kw13, once you're caught there is no going back. And that has nothing to do with having read threads like this one on the subject. I take my own case as an example, but you can also read a number of other people's stories that didn't even know the name until they heard them for the first time, immediately fell for them and were prepared to break the bank to get them in their system as soon as possible.
The unfortunate bit in that last statement is the "didn't even know the name", unfortunate for an interested audiophile, that is. As you correctly pointed out, there are very few reviews. John Potis's review on the Piano (classic) on 6moons probably was the first major one. In their native Germany, there are none at all until this day. Let's just assume this has nothing to do with systematically ignoring the brand for fear it might ravage some existing elite (well...) but only with inexistent advertisement budget (I've seen one ad by the dealer and I do read a lot) and extremely thin dealer network in Germany. As pointed out by the previous posters, these speakers are in fact made on order. In any case, that is why it is so important that at least these "love fest" threads exist: grassroots information upon which everyone can then either continue to read, search, attend show performances, audition ... or not (this is not religion, we're not here to convert anyone).
Sadly, the content of these threads must also tell you something about prices that are to be expected. Let's be realistic, to achieve Tidal's quality benchmarks in terms of sonics and build quality, research, custom made parts, craftsmanship all have a price ticket. Very unfortunate for all of us, rest assured I couldn' t agree more, but we all know other examples of that. Outside of Germany, add shipment cost, distributor's (healthy) margins and their advertisement outlay. And since there is nothing to be found in the used market ...
Will these speakers be bettered as you suspect? Well, other people already have elected another own best anyway, and Tidal aficionados (or cognoscenti, if you like ;^)) may find future Tidal series to outshine today's one day. As per today however, you have stated the most important thing: find a way to hear them and be the judge yourself. Warning: you may find yourself wanting to have some and even relativize the price (in all honesty, I've heard more expensive speakers that didn't stand a chance).
Hope you find an opportunity to listen soon!
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The first time I heard them I didnt even know the name, of course no reviews and I opened the first Tidal thread here in Audiogon two years ago! I knew I had to buy this speaker from the very first minutes of my first audition!
Kind Regards,
Mike |
