Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

[Kris]

Alas, when visiting on Sunday, I found none of the Taiko team members present but I did manage to obtain a front-row seat, which was a pleasant surprise given the popularity of the room.

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The Alsyvox/Pilium/Taiko Audio system sounded mightily impressive. The system performed in a powerful, crisp, and well-textured, as well as articulate, fast, amazingly expressive, and dynamic manner, yet without any edge or unnatural hardness. The system as a whole was clearly playing in a hugely synergistic manner, providing control, precision, and transparency and an engaging musical connection in equal measure.

Of the full-range ribbon panels that I heard during the show, these were easily the most impactful and dynamic and just plain most realistic.

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I heard some people say this system sounds lean but that's not how I hear it, per se. Of course, full-range ribbon speakers do sound very different from typical dynamic cabinet speakers, and they are indeed relatively leaner. To a large extent, I feel this can be attributed to there being no cabinet-induced fullness or coloration, nor fat or bloom added to the sound. To my ears, this is, on many accounts, a lot like live music. If anything, more like the real thing in fact.

In any event, I've also heard the very same Alsyvox models before in the Taiko showroom in Oldenzaal and in that location, and with Atma-Sphere OTL amplifiers, they sounded remarkably robust and quite full-bodied in the bass. But I'll add that no one will ever mistake them for, say, Wilson Audio speakers. These are just very different breeds.

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Here are the Taiko Extreme Router, Extreme DC Power Distributor, and Extreme Switch. Note that the right-hand unit is a display model. More Taiko "Extremeness" is going on behind the main racks.

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As shared by Emile, here is a look behind the system.

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All Omega Audio Concepts cabling, complete with Omega Audio Concepts power distributors.

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As Emile unveiled, the router was not used and neither was XDMS because of the ”large” number of “deejays” and we don’t currently have an XDMS remote for iPhones. What was used were 2 DC distributors/filters, one for the switch and one to “fix” the Fritz Box router provided by the MOC.

If the sound was as good as you all mentioned
its hard to imagine the final effect with XDMS , Taiko Router and Taiko BPS.
I understand Emile wanted to be the best , but not to crash all others SQ in comparison.

 

[Kris]

Red copper is copper without alloys, yellow copper is an alloy with zinc (brass), white copper is an alloy with zinc and nickel.

So red copper = copper, the purer it is, the softer and more malleable it is.

What are Red Metals?​

Though the red metals are all quite different in composition, quality, and application, they all have one unifying component: copper.

As one of the first metals mined by our ancestors, copper has been integral to the development of societies and serves as the base metal for the other two red metals: brass and bronze.

I got the copper at its finest from Germany being sold by mint.

 

[jelt2359]

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Here are the Taiko Extreme Router, Extreme DC Power Distributor, and Extreme Switch. Note that the right-hand unit is a display model. More Taiko "Extremeness" is going on behind the main racks.

Holy CRAP! That distributor looks nuts. That's definitely not black, and there were only two options (I went for the non-black option), so I'm praying that's the finish that I'm getting.

 

[Di-fi]

A little is acceptable Looks legit! The light surface scratches in the marked area are very typical for pure copper too.

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After the bend test:

- Did the vinegar and salt test - green oxidation clearly visible on Viborg pin and reference copper flat bar
- Did the magnetic test with Rare earth magnet - confirms a non-magnetic metal

Next: poor salt and vinegar mix on your Extreme switch, copper version that is ;-)

 

[Taiko Audio]

Holy CRAP! That distributor looks nuts. That's definitely not black, and there were only two options (I went for the non-black option), so I'm praying that's the finish that I'm getting.

That’s unfinished and will turn “ugly” in a week or so unfortunately. We have chrome and black right now, same as the switch and router.

 

[Taiko Audio]

After the bend test:
- Did the vinegar and salt test - green oxidation clearly visible on Viborg and reference copper flat bar
- Did the magnetic test with Rare earth magnet - confirms a non-magnetic metal

Nice job establishing authenticity

 

[John T]

On a different note the generosity from some of our members is off the charts! @Tuckia Greg, sent me 2 Mullards to kick the tires with. The audio community is a special group. I find it so refreshing (unfortunate the rest of the world doesn't take heed). You start to establish a rapport just with messages and before you know it your sending things to each other. Its a really nice thing...

 

[oldmustang]

As Emile put it himself earlier: "Of paramount importance are PRAT, dynamic range, midrange saturation/density, naturalness, and full-scale/immersive sound staging. Secondary considerations are clarity, transparency, and detail levels".

Words to live by.

Steve Z

 

[Steve williams]

On a different note the generosity from some of our members is off the charts! @Tuckia Greg, sent me 2 Mullards to kick the tires with. The audio community is a special group. I find it so refreshing (unfortunate the rest of the world doesn't take heed). You start to establish a rapport just with messages and before you know it your sending things to each other. Its a really nice thing...

I hope they look like these two

 

[marty]

On a different note the generosity from some of our members is off the charts! @Tuckia Greg, sent me 2 Mullards to kick the tires with. The audio community is a special group. I find it so refreshing (unfortunate the rest of the world doesn't take heed). You start to establish a rapport just with messages and before you know it your sending things to each other. Its a really nice thing...

Agree. @dminches was kind enough to send me some of his spare tubes to try recently. I hope to return the favor some day but that guy has tubes I haven't even heard of, so it might be a while...

 

[John T]

I hope they look like these two

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Way too early to make any accurate observations. You know my main stay has been the TS Round Plates 6SN7's. Dinah Washington Verve Jazz Masters 19 is sounding very nice with the Mullards. I'll have to go back and play the same albums to try ascertain the difference with the Tung Sol tomorrow. My ears are not that good to make an immediate observation. And I am using the KT170's so the plot thickens!! Might pull the Tak out also tomorrow and go with the Tung Sol 5U4G circa 1943...

 

[Taiko Audio]

I should extend credit to @takacs75 for supplying the tubes for the Horizon we used at the show being Mullard ECC32, Philips Miniwatt 4699 and a Telefunken RGN2004.

 

[John T]

I should extend credit to @takacs75 for supplying the tubes for the Horizon we used at the show being Mullard ECC32, Philips Miniwatt 4699 and a Telefunken RGN2004.

Hell of a nice collection of tubes...

 

[Steve williams]

Hell of a nice collection of tubes...

The RGN 2004 is a system changer

 

[adamaley]

Agree. @dminches was kind enough to send me some of his spare tubes to try recently. I hope to return the favor some day but that guy has tubes I haven't even heard of, so it might be a while...

That's so like @dminches . He once sent me a pair of Western Electric 275As to try out in my system. If you know what these legendary tubes go for and stand for in the pantheon of tubes, it takes a special person to put them at the mercy of any shipping company in America for a round trip. Thanks again @dminches

 

[dminches]

My "attitude" dates back to the early days of trading Grateful Dead tapes. I always took great joy in sending someone a new recording that I had received. I feel the same way about tubes. Letting people try different tubes is a lot of fun.

 

[Sampajanna]

My "attitude" dates back to the early days of trading Grateful Dead tapes. I always took great joy in sending someone a new recording that I had received. I feel the same way about tubes. Letting people try different tubes is a lot of fun.

LOVE this!!! I still have 300 Tapes. Thinking of getting a machine to play them….

 

[Di-fi]

Many thanks for your kind words and recommendation!

My pleasure Christiaan. I can not recommended your writing at hifi-advice highly enough. Over the years you carefully described a preferred sound picture, today that became a solid base for reference of auditioned devices.

Many here possibly only know you for assembling the huge amount of Taiko documentation sometimes seeming to appear almost inadvertently. Trying to keep up with the crazy pace of new devices and developments being presented to the public. Eventually all those PDF versions will evolve in a solid final version.

I know for many audiophiles ‘’hearing is believing’’. Allow me to say that after reading your extended reviews at hifi-advice I realized many times ‘’believing is hearing’’.

- - hifi-advice - -

PS. my apologies for the plug, but try once and you know it was worth it.
And now let’s Taiko!​

 

[oldmustang]

LOVE this!!! I still have 300 Tapes. Thinking of getting a machine to play them….

I see the hand of Jerry as your avatar @Sampajanna. Very cool.

I still have a shoe box of Grateful Dead cassettes stashed around here somewhere, though I converted all my concerts to digital some time back, and kept collecting and trading through the early 2000s when peer-to-peer sharing became a thing. I've got a bunch of external hard drives full of music that I need to transfer to my Extreme. I lost my index of what all I have when my daily-driver laptop crashed some years back.

Steve Z

 

[Sampajanna]

So cool there are so many of us old heads here. Sorry to derail the awesome Taiko thread with this.
“once in awhile you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look it right.”