It is because good amp dosen't come by that often. The Takumi is a very special amp that does the job right. It plays music naturally and peacefully When the power calls for his service, it roars with speed with tremendous resolution. I was touched by the sound of Cello and choirs one disc after another last Friday from a horn speaker that I dislike.
It is also my habit to have 3 pairs of amp ready so that I can have some rotational fun from time to time.
I just want to say one preference over any amp does not mean that you have to sell yours. You should enjoy your system the way you want it to be.
The Tidal Stereo amp will always be my reference amp. It does the job right in a Tidal system but I doubt it will have any edge over amp-to-amp comparison. Because this amp has no character, just like a glass of water.
To those that are not using a Tidal suite, the meaning of "no character...like a glass of water" can be easily misunderstood.
Tidal is ultra-transparent in showing the character of your system as a whole. In some ways, I see it as an excellent analytical tool in the sense of what you add or subtract from the system will immediately be apparent. Whether it will be musical or hifi-ish eventually depends on your orientation.
The fact that the Takumi constantly draws in 18amp of current already suggests it has superb transient responses. I also speculate the colors as heard by Raymond is a result of the shared power plant design which is difficult to execute.
It could probably rival Tidal's impact on a standalone basis but the suite approach is difficult to beat if one is looking for a complete musical experience without added surealism or MSG!
WChow, don't be influenced by Uncle Ray. He's good but you should have your own judgment. You should enjoy the system the way you want to be as Ray suggested. You have a great system. We all have different tastes. It is not easy to understand Ray. If you do, troubles will follow.
I asked PT several times about if there would be a preamp from Robert Koda to match with Takumi. PT said eventually there would be and he told me yesterday that until then, Tidal Preos is the best match given the design philosophy is very similar between the two. I am happy because I also intend to have the Tidal suite as my reference system in the long run.
Ray's comments in the past two days troubled me so much. Thanks for reminding me I should enjoy my system the way it should be. I don't blindly follow comments. To verify your comments on the wrong tonality of English Horn and the color problem of pianos, I have invited two teachers from http://www.ccom.edu.cn/ (中央音樂學院)to listen to my system on your suggested recording. One of the teachers play piano and the other one teaches "the art of conducting". Both are senior staff. They know nothing about audio. When they saw my system, they were astonished.
Uncle Ray, you are right. It is not a taste matter now. The attitude of that asshole is very rude.
The "conductor" professor commented my system expressed the symphonic ideas of Reiner well during his reign over the Chicago team. The system showed the expression as he understood from studying conducting for years. But there is some degree of "over-charging" on scores conducted by George Solti.
The reproduction of Aida and Magic Flute expressed the theatrical atmosphere fully. Voices in general are vivid but the system seems to perform male voice far much better than female voices. That's exactly the reason why Cello and Piano are the weakest part.
Good. You are real good. Please share more from true musicians' point of view. I respect your attitude of truth seeking a lot. Always trust yourself, not me, not anyone.
There is a Russian conductor called Pletnev. He has a Mozart Piano Sonata recording. The Chinese professor met Pletnev before and saw him played Mozart. His interpretation of Mozart is tender, the touching of his left hand on bass keys are very subtle, not the kind of strength expected from Horowitz, but the kind of strenght that seems to have an inward development. On my system, he said to me he could not recognize Pletnev at all. He felt the bass keys are played from a hand of a "giant" with the wrong tempo.
Very good description! I noticed the same problem before with other piano recordings. But after the installation of the super crossover and changing the KT88 tubes to GEC NOS, the problem has been eased a lot. I also took out all OR pc in my system.
Comments
It is also my habit to have 3 pairs of amp ready so that I can have some rotational fun from time to time.
I just want to say one preference over any amp does not mean that you have to sell yours. You should enjoy your system the way you want it to be.
Tidal is ultra-transparent in showing the character of your system as a whole. In some ways, I see it as an excellent analytical tool in the sense of what you add or subtract from the system will immediately be apparent. Whether it will be musical or hifi-ish eventually depends on your orientation.
The fact that the Takumi constantly draws in 18amp of current already suggests it has superb transient responses. I also speculate the colors as heard by Raymond is a result of the shared power plant design which is difficult to execute.
It could probably rival Tidal's impact on a standalone basis but the suite approach is difficult to beat if one is looking for a complete musical experience without added surealism or MSG!
Marvel
Uncle Ray, you are right. It is not a taste matter now. The attitude of that asshole is very rude.
Could share more about how d professionals felt on the sound of Audio reproduce?
The reproduction of Aida and Magic Flute expressed the theatrical atmosphere fully. Voices in general are vivid but the system seems to perform male voice far much better than female voices. That's exactly the reason why Cello and Piano are the weakest part.
Very good description! I noticed the same problem before with other piano recordings. But after the installation of the super crossover and changing the KT88 tubes to GEC NOS, the problem has been eased a lot. I also took out all OR pc in my system.