Price Paid:  $4500.00 from online u sed

Summary:
Anyone who listens to a digital source owes it to himself to listen to the Tact Millenium Mk II. The reason is simple, THERE IS NO POSSIBLE WAY THAT A DAC, PREAMP, AND AN AMP CAN REPRODUCE DIGITAL MUSIC BETTER!!! Saying that a analog system would be better is like saying that a LCD panel will look better with a analog input instead of a digital one like DVI, which is IMPOSSIBLE, doesn't matter how good the video card is, or how good the A-to-D is on the LCD. The Tact is NOT a "digital amplifier". It is a powered DAC in which the signal remains digital all the way until the point it exits to the speaker terminals. Nothing is lost, nothing is added. Whoever thinks that their dac/amp combinations is better has only that in their mind! Well, in the audio world, people believe what they want to believe, which is why there are people who buy $1000 digital interconnect (it's about as stupid as buying a $200 printer cable which is not going to print one single pixel clearer or faster). The only scenario which I think the Tact may not be enough is when you have very low effeciency speakers used in a very large room that you absolutely need more than what the Tact can provide. For everybody else, the search for the perfect dac/pre/amp is over, THIS IS IT!!!

Strengths:
Not only is it a stunning piece of equipment. One listen, you'll realize why it's worth every dime of the $10k list price.

Weaknesses:
Makes you want to buy better and better speakers. So far I've bought 4 different pairs trying to find something good enough for my Tact.

Similar Products Used:
Gamut D200 (great amp, but not even close), Plinius SA250Mk3, Mark Levinson 331 (heavy piece of junk), Bryston (cheap but decent), Jeff Rowland 8Ti (if not for the discovery of the Tact, I would say this is very close to the best amp, pretty too!).

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I auditioned the TACT Millenium through a pair of Totem Mani 2's. The CD player was a high end Krell. Of course there were some heavy connectors and cables. I'm not sure which piece of equipment impressed me most, so I guess this review is about the whole combination. I've listened to live music for about 40 years now; classical, jazz and everything else; acoustic and amplified. I don't believe that recorded music, even through the best equipment (and I've listened to plenty of it) sounds like live music; especially when compared to unamplified acoustic music at close proximity. Our ears and brains are pretty sophisticated instruments, and when properly educated can discern very fine acoustic nuances. However, we are easily influenced. Our mood, the salesman's pitch, our expectations, the price etc. all conspire to influence how we hear a piece of equipment. So, when I audition equipment, I try to forget everything and just go with my first emotional reaction. I especially don't try to convince myself that the stuff sounds like a live performance. It can't. Not with all the hundreds of human, electronic and mechanical recording/playback interventions that occur between you and the actual performance. (If you want the sound of live music, don't spend your money on stereo equipment, buy seasons tickets and support your local symphony orchestra or jazz club/festival or rock bar.) The equipment combination I described above, playing some acoustic jazz, then classical and finally some vocals, did something I've never heard before. It really made me want to pick up an instument and play with the band! The equipment didn't sound live - it sounded better! I felt like an array of microphones invading the band. That's a very different feeling from listening to a live performance. (Upon reflection, that's how most music is recorded - with an array of microphones up close and personal among the performers. That's probably the biggest reason why recordings don't sound live. Sort of like eating a steak rather than looking at one close up on a plate. A whole new bunch of senses are involved.) As I said at the outset, I'm not sure that any single piece of equipment deserves all of the credit. But I think the TACT Millenium got me closer to the microphones than any other amp/preamp combination I've ever heard. (And yes, that includes Naim, which is what I use at home.)

Summary:
Searching for a new amp to partner my Naulilus 802 I initially had the opportunity to listen to both Nu Vista and Millennium M1 Mk11 amps at home. And to my taste it had to be the Millennium in simple terms it sounded more natural. Luckily my dealer let me live with the Millennium for two weeks as I was then able to locate a Krell FPB 300
which by comparison sounded relatively warm and stodgy (and dumped far too much heat into the room)and so I bought the Millennium and lived with it for 3 months before buying a Tact RCS Room Correction Preamplifier and to cut straight to the relevant point.
To add the RCS Preamp to the Millennium creates a whole new animal in terms of transparancy and tonal accuracy, once the room correction was properly set up I had a system where instruments started for the first time sounding believable. To quantify, I am not convinced that any amp at any price can compete with the accuracy of this combination.
Though beware, not all CDs can live up to such close scrutiny yet many older recordings can sound remarkably fresh!

Strengths:
Natural

Weaknesses:
Puts all of your CDs under a magnifying glass

Price Paid:  $9000.00 from Hong Kong/Pro Audio

Summary:
I use the Millenium with a Mark Levinson No. 37 transport and ProAc Response 4 speakers. The first thing that stuns you is the absolute pitch black silence. Transparency is incredible, something you can only get perhaps with a digital to digital format while the sound is neutral. Detail is also very vey good.

HOWEVER,

1. There is no upgrade to SACD and DVD Audio availble yet and I feel I am missing out. SACD, I find is really good. TACT has promised software upgrades for over a year, but nothing as of yet.

2. Second, if you like powerful ROCK etc music, this may not be for you. I listen to Jazz etc most of the time, but once awhile do ge the urge to rock: and I end up wondering if I could get more out of my Proac Response 4s with a big KRELL or Linn Klimaxx for example.

3. Tube amp lovers may think the TACT lacks the warmth to involve the listener: personally I find it fine as excess warmth tends to be tiring on the ear after a while.

Strengths:
Transparency, detail, "pitch black" silence

Weaknesses:
no upgrade for SACD, DVD Audio availble yet

Similar Products Used:
nothing similiar!

Summary:
In the time that I have had my Millennium II, I have found that it has change the way I listen to music. My system (CEC belt
drive transport, Tact RCS 2.0, millennium II, and Martin Logan Requests) now reproduces music so well that I listen
significantly louder. Previously I had reduced the volume well below concert hall levels in, justified, anticipation of horns that
blared, violin that screeched, and sopranos, that well, where automatically fast forwarded past. Now I listen at concert hall
levels, 6 - 8 decibels louder. And that makes all the differences. Classic music was often composed for vigorous playing.
The Millennium permits me to enjoy the music at it was intended.

While the Millennium cannot be called inexpensive, it nonetheless represents real value. It not only takes the place of a pair of
high end mono blocks, eliminates the for a DAC and a preamp. Considering that the best, and most expensive, preamps have
the primary "virtue" of disappearing, i.e. imparting nothing to the sound, the millennium is surpassing. In my comparison system
at the dealer, the millennium outpaced monoblocks, Rowland preamp, dCS Elgar and Delius -- forty thousand in
components. In another comparison, it outperformed an AR system (basic components) driving Wilson Watt/Puppies.

The millennium does have a limitation, if you have analog sources, its digital nature becomes a liability rather than an asset.
However, if you are in CD's and looking to SACD and DVD Audio, you owe it to yourself to give the millennium a try, --
before you expend too much on DAC's, preamp, and interconnects.

Strengths:
Musical presentation, replaces DAC, preamp, and mono blocks

Weaknesses:
Best with Digital sources, vinyl would require unterproductive A/D conversion

Similar Products Used:
No compariable products on market