AXPONA 2024

TIDAL made a fine showing in the room sponsored by one of its three US dealers, Christopher Thornton's Artisan Fidelity. Totally drug-free I swear, I melted into the exceptional smoothness and beauty of "The Girl from Ipanema" on vinyl.

Stan Getz's saxophone sounded absolutely right, the color contrasts between percussion and Astrud Gilberto's voice delicious. Turning to files, I loved the mellowness at the center of tones on Clare Teal's "Dream a Little Dream of Me" and Ayana Wilter-Johnson’s "The Nearness of You." That's a lot of pronouns.

Heard: TIDAL Piano G3 Midnight Black speakers ($64,000/pair), Intra stereo amplifier ($30,000), Prisma balanced preamp with phono ($41,000), Camira DMC DAC ($42,000), and Arkas streamer ($30,000). Also in the system: Garrard 401 Statement SE turntable with LCA power supply ($39,835 as shown), Schroeder CB-1L 11" tonearm ($5900), and VDH Grand Cru cartridge ($14,000); Signal Projects cabling except for the proprietary TIDAL digital cable, and Butcher Block Acoustics component platforms.