Regarding the new Taiko Olympus…
Remember when you were a young audiophile and visited a friend’s place whose system was just significantly better? It kind of recalibrated your understanding of what’s possible? The new server is like that for me, only I get to go down every day and have the pleasure of hearing that next level in my own rig. It really has been that kind of change, for more than the typical “component level” upgrade — the Olympus (with my Pilium kit and the Alsyvox) has been ‘emotionally’ transformational. I’m not trying to be hyperbolic at all. Last night’s listening session I really found myself getting so much more the emotional expression of the musicians. Its been a long while since I’ve had that kind of deep connection to the music.
Listen, for example, to the first track “Nihavent” on Joel Grare’s album “Paris - Istanbul - Shangai” , this is audiophile gold with respect to recording and performance and I’ve played this track many times — but with the Olympus now reasonably well run-in last night I was moved by the performance in a way I’ve never been. The same emotional connection occurred on many tracks. A new performance I just found on Qobuz by the 80’s pop band “a-ha “: “take on me” had me grinning ear-to-ear. A song I’d heard at least a hundred times on the radio but the MTV - Unplugged / Edit version was completely new to me and I was just smiling at the quality of the recording and performance. I felt happy to discover that song as completely new. So much fun.
Bravo Emile & Team Taiko, your creativity is bringing much joy to this old audiophile.
