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Piano Diacera - The Empress's New Clothes
The twin towers are standing majestically like fjords overlooking yet another Viking’s conquest. Like a piece of granite, the uncompromising contour echoes the depth of the seemingly unfathomable enamel. In itself, a statement of absolute authority. Void of even the slightest sliver of commercialism in its aesthetics, the towering Piano Diacera is a flawless execution with the sole objective – to sing with grace and confidence.
It was a disquieting moment and I found myself unconsciously holding my breath as the first record was unleashed (Largo, Vivaldi’s Concerto for Oboe and Bassoon; Archiv 419 615-2). First, the silence and somehow the dimension of the open space already seemed to be defined even before it uttered its first note. Then, unhurriedly taking its first breath, the oboe rolled out its notes. They twisted and turned and then sustained themselves in the air like starlets in the night’s sky. They were stress free but with a gravity that soothed the mind and uplifted my spirit as if an eagle soaring through the crevasses of the overhanging cliffs. The rendition is natural and confidence. The sense of freedom and liberty sets free the spirit and reminds me of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet:
And he will make the face of Heaven so fine,
That all would be in love with night,
And play no attention to the garish sun.
I had been deeply worried recently that the PD cannot withstand the onslaught of Lord Sauron’s high efficiency camp as its legion grows by the day. But the initial voicing of PD leaves no doubt that the power camp still has a claim on its nobility and fidelity. With the system all wired up by SMR and which extends right through the heart of PD, the superhighway charges the diamond tweeter and the two ceramic drivers to work seamlessly. I was torn between the joy of immersing in the river of music and the urge to define the signature of the speaker. But on those few instances that I managed to engage myself in critical listening, I always find the transition among the drivers to be silky smooth and without any dislocations in tonal texture.
I have been a user of Kharma for a good number of years and listened to a few products in its upper echelon. Its characteristics crystal clear upper range does leap ahead of competition. Such uniqueness had captured many audiences, including myself, who were willing to trade in tonal linearity for its crispiness. Indeed, it is a matter of taste and which I have reveled for a while. But this very nature also tinted the realism of the playback in its extreme boundaries. If this is to be described as an after-taste, the current users should no doubt have detected this in all AB comparison. It is like a designer dress with its emblem that screams for attention. With the PD now being the guardian in my system, the glacier has finally finds its way into open water. The salmon must spawn and I feel like I have finally reached my destiny to search for the sirens.
Unlike Andersen’s Emperor who foolishly bought into the value of his commissioned designer, the empress allows her true beauty to shine through from under the new dress. What we cherish is music in its rawest form, unrestrained and without any coloration that epitomizes the designer’s intent. This must be the ultimate goal of all music lovers regardless of approaches and execution. And Tidal has achieved this goal without leaving a mark of its signature over the two towers.
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Comments
The finishing of the Preos is obviously flawless and very desirable.
Once again, a big thank you for the big heart, Marvel.
Yes, your suggestions should be the natural progression but for me it will be a long march. I dated my wife for 10 years before I committed to marry her. Likewise in this instance, I will enjoy the courtship along the way before that fateful day.
Good to hear from fellow Tidal lovers!
一天之後, 低頻的細緻開始湧現.
鼓皮的張力已經有七成的還原度.
可惜家有嬰孩, 不可能放任去Run-in.
但展望樂觀!
Compared with SMR SE, Serenity is a misnomer!
The SME SE releases a lot more energy than Serenity and the noise level immediately default to ground zero. I didn't notice it until SE is in the food chain and it felt like a smoke screen has been removed. Also think this is indispensable for the vinyl section as the preservation of details within that 0.1x mV is going to make nite and day difference to the playback.
One impressive interconnect! The finishing on the plug is very solid (I didn't had a chance to research into it the design and construction) but I can now confidently unplug it without worrying about breaking the cable.
The Tidal Preos is the real deal. Why do you change cables to SMR SE? After the cables, you will discover more bottlenecks.
I will just leave your trick question unanswered.
My recent round of upgrades are long called for. The cartridge and the speaker are both the weak link to my system so I once I decided to let go of one, the other has to find its exit as well. The replacement of Serenity for the phono section completes the chain of SMR that now runs all its way through into the internal wiring of PD. There is obviously an urge to try out the EE but this will be superfluous given the many other constraints.
The absolute success of AudioExotics also brings an inherent problem. There are just too many top notch gears that are here for the pickings. Once a playback system hits a certain performance level, each subsequent upgrade presents a major philosophical question. What I think this forum needs are more dedicated product champions to share their experience. One may not buy into everything champions claimed, but the inductions and inferences are no doubt extremely insightful.
Nirvana is a state of mind and not necessarily a state of measurable achievement. Right now, I am blissful and hopeful.
Enjoy your state of nirvana. Your joy is felt. It's my character to speculate and to do forecast, don't mean to be pushy, though I know I sound like all the time.
Your points are well taken. In fact your suggestion reflects precisely my thought process. Meanwhile the top priority for me now is to let the PD settled down and that needs quite a bit of adjustments.
I was shocked last night that PD is now pumping out a lot more bass than I had expected after the brief run-in. A pleasant surprise no doubt but that also means I have to find way to integrate the new toy into my acoustics environment.