Tact RCS 2.0 Preamplifier

Stereophile, September 2001

"The RCS itself is the outcome of wave-propagation research by Dr. Radomir Bozovic. It works by
1) measuring how the system and room together reproduce test signals,
2) determining the differences, in both the frequency and time domains, between the original test signals and the measured ones, and
3) developing and applying a corrective algorithm to the test and music signals that compensates for the changes wrought by hardware and acoustics."

"Subjectively, the result was my perception of vastly improved resolution of detail across the spectrum. Initially, I thought the bass seemed a bit less full. It was, but, with continued listening, it became apparent that a pervasive bloom associated with the listening room's low-frequency resonances had been removed. Consequently, the bass was exposed with greater definition and impact."

"Tracks 7 and 8 of The Chieftains' The Long Black Veil (RCA 62702-2) feature Ry Cooder on electric guitar and "floor slide" (!). With Tact correction, the bass shook my room, yet was defined and entirely devoid of boom. Even Telarc's signature bass-drum sound was improved. Compared with the familiar full whomp of bass, the corrected sound on the "Cossack Dance" from Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa (Erich Kunzel/Cincinnati Pops, Telarc CD-80541) hit me like a sledgehammer hurled from the back of the orchestra."

"The RCS also made the placement of bass instruments in depth and width much more precise. I had been particularly impressed by Dean Peer's electric bass and Ty Burhoe's percussion on I think...It's All Good (Turtle 599008), which Avalon Acoustics used to demonstrate their big speakers in a big room at CES. I found it unexceptional on my system until I used the RCS, when, finally, I heard what had blown me away at the Show: tight and powerful sounds occupying a really huge space. It's gotta be the room! (Yeah, the components were okay, too.)"

"With the masking influence of the listening room eliminated, the soundstage was strikingly more wide and deep, but instruments were still stably placed and seemed tonally more true. In fact, the bigger the music and the recording venue, the greater the improvement wrought by the RCS."

"Voices, speaking or singing, were also devastatingly improved. From Odetta and the Cowboy Junkies' Margo Timmins to Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash, every voice was notably more intimate and direct, and more characteristic of the singer."

"The walls melted away. I was transported to the performance. The speakers disappeared. A veil was lifted."

"Well, excuse me! These clichés accurately describe the RCS's removal of my listening room's superimposed character. It permitted me to hear the low-level ambience cues of the original performance sites."

"The longer I lived with the Tact Audio RCS 2.0, the more I was convinced that it brought me much closer to the sound of live music, and that room correction should be a mandatory part of any serious audio system. In the future, it will be."

Stereophile, November 1999

"Used as just a manual preamp, it has the most intricate and precise tone control system ever included in a home device. The RCS 2.0 AA is the ultimate parametric equalizer, able to control amplitude at any audible frequency with a frequency resolution of two Hz in the bass and comparable resolution in the treble with CD like dynamic range."

"Let me state at the outset that my results are in no way typical. My listening room and test facility is very well treated with absorption panels to eliminate early reflections and room modes. So I did not anticipate any major sonic revelations. I was wrong in this expectation."

"I certainly can say unequivocally that after making the adjustments indicated by the Tact system and activating the correction filters that the improvement was spectacularly noticeable. All those descriptions of improvements attributed to expensive cables, single ended amplifiers, power line conditioners, and 96/24 could be applied in spades here. A bypass switch on the remote control allows instant AB comparisons between music with the correction filters and without and the difference is not in the least bit subtle.
As far as I am concerned bypass is no longer a conceivable option."