Sound Stage Ultra Munich 2015 show coverage by Jeff Fritz
With Jörn Janczak, President and Designer, Tidal Audio
The presentation of the Tidal Audio Akira loudspeaker was unique at High End 2015 in being fronted by an all-Tidal system: amps, DAC, preamp -- you name it, Tidal produces it. The advantage was that Tidal founder Jörn Janczak could get exactly the sound he wanted, because he controlled all the variables (well, he hadn’t built the room, but he had exhibited in it before, and knows its acoustics). The sound was Tidal’s best yet at a High End show: clear, open, ultraprecise, never harsh. The Akira lifted a veil from the Tidal sound, which at High End has always been at least very good. For instance, I felt that cymbal crashes were true to life, without the whitish splash that many speakers produce. Another hallmark of the design was the perfect blend of the five drivers’ outputs, with no hint that disparate drive-units were handling different parts of the audioband. Imaging? Superb: a Norah Jones and Willie Nelson track produced accurately formed images on a wall-to-wall soundstage. That track also made clear that the Akiras were tonally neutral, reproducing these singers’ distinctive voices without wavering. And their room-energizing bass showed that the Akiras had real dynamic punch when that was needed. My takeaway: Tidal’s best speaker yet, and by no small margin.
Akira specifications
multi chamber cabinet made out of TIDAL's proprietary cabinet material TIRALIT Ultra.
1 x 30 mm (1,2") diamond tweeter TAD-30-EX (an exclusive ACCUTON TIDAL project)
1 x 127 mm (5") diamond midrange-woofer TAD-MW (an exclusive ACCUTON TIDAL project)
3 x 190 mm (7.5") long excursion woofer TAS-190W-EX(an exclusive ACCUTON TIDAL project), semi-pointsource crossover-control
5 x 190 mm (7.5") long excursion radiator TAS-190PR-EX (an exclusive ACCUTON TIDAL project)
TIDAL UNOPULSE passive crossover: TIDAL proprietary design to reproduce signals with an excellent step response and linear frequency response network with ultra low tolerance components, exclusive use of costume tailored DUELUND-copper-capacitors (silver/copper), metalfilm-resistors, silver-carbon resistors, silver air-core-inductors, ultra low resistance bass-inductor passive crossover is microphonic and hermetically isolated in a separated chamber, total weight of the passive crossover construction: 20 Kg / 44 lbs.
pure silver binding posts for perfect contact, isolated massive aluminum knobs on fiberglass isolation core
ground connection binding post
special 5-part TIDAL stainless steel isolators
8 x trigger bars out of massive stainless steel, 32 Kg (70 lbs.) per speaker, high gloss hand-polished
serial cabinet finish: original TIDAL piano lacquer in midnight black
optional cabinet finishes: finest hand selected veneers in TIDAL's original transparent piano lacquer.
other finishes: on request
free option: polished stainless steel side panel with AKIRA engraving
the TIDAL Akira is being delivered in 2 x ATA-flightcase for the most safest transport
nominal power handling: 400 / 800 VA
nominal impedance: 4 Ohm
recommended amplifier power: > 30 watt. Very easy impedance load, no impedance drop below 4 ohm
speaker dimensions: 140 cm x 29 cm x 55 cm / 55" high x 11.5" wide x 22" deep
dimensions with vario feet (from ground to top): 148 cm high / 58" high
speaker weight without flight cases: 2 x 158 Kg / 2 x 348 lbs.
shipping weight with flight cases (transport weight): 2 x 182 Kg / 2 x 401 lbs.
shipping dimensions: 2 flightcases, each flight case is 162 cm length x 42 cm width x 71 cm height / 64" length x 16.5" width x 28" height
Tidal La Assoulta. When only the best will suffice.
http://www.laassoluta.com/intro.htm