Capital Audiofest (CAF) 2016 Show Report
The Voice That Is
Report By Kemper Holt

  Any room featuring Tidal speakers has the potential to be at the top! When Doug White, who runs The Voice That Is, is involved you can bet hours of setup will result in a beautiful room both aesthetically and sonically. Doug displayed the Tidal Diacera G2 speakers ($39,990 per pair) in a stunning glossy wood finish being driven by Tidal electronics, Preos-D preamp ($31,990) and Impulse Dual Mono Stereo amplifier ($32,290). I heard the digital front-end when I visited, an Aurender N10 server ($7999) feeding a Bricasti M1se DAC ($10,000), with the analog gear including a Brinkman Audio Spyder turntable ($12,000), Brinkman 10.5 tonearm ($5490), and a Brinkman EMT-ti cartridge ($3990).

The system could be described as solid, precise, detailed, vocals were floated in the center, and bass was powerful and taut (the REL was not used during my visit). Doug's room was filled most of the time, but I got the super sweet spot chair and just reveled in the portrayal of a full orchestra. The soundscape was wider than the speaker's physical location with good depth, no edge on strings, and proper bite from the horn section. It was easy to forget about the equipment and follow the interpretation of the piece.

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