Any experience with TAD speakers ?

Hello Foxtrot,

I haven't heard the 2401, but I've heard (and built) several speakers using TAD drivers. Yup, they're superb! Classic Audio Reproductions also uses TAD drivers in their speakers, and Westlake uses TADS (or so I've been told). I've yet to hear (or build) a speaker with a configuration like the 2401's.

Just curious - were the 2401's sitting on the floor? If so, were you aware of the sound source being below ear level? Subjectively, how was the top end extension? Did they seem to have a reasonably wide sweet spot? Did the tonal balance change significantly as you moved off-axis?

Thanks!

Duke

Foxtrot -

Thanks for the information on the sound quality and presentation of the 2401's.

So far I'd have to characterize my own work with TAD drivers as "prototyping" - I have yet to build an identical pair of loudspeakers using TAD components. If I ever do "get it right", hopefully a commercial product will result. Unfortunately it won't be cheap, but it won't have a ridiculous markup either.

I would think you could build an excellent home-brew speaker using TAD parts. Unfortunately, TAD does not sell the crossover network for the 2401, so it would be difficult to clone that speaker. On the other hand, they do sell the crossover networks for the 2402 and 2404, which are similar single-woofer speakers. Actually you can probably do a bit better than the originals - I think there's some room for improvement in the cabinet itself. If you're interested in purchasing some TAD parts I might be able to help you get a pretty good price. I can't pass along my crossover designs unfortunately because I'm sharing this project with a couple of other people and that would be proprietary information, but the Pioneer crossovers would probably work better with their horns anyway (I've been experimenting with alternative horns to get different radiation characteristics).

Best wishes,

Duke

@Lewinskih01,

TAD's prosound division is pretty much a separate entity from their home audio division, and the latter doesn't sell drivers directly to the public.

Andrew Jones of KEF went to work for the TAD home audio division and brought his concentric driver topology with him. He now works for Elac.

You might need to look at other companies such as Faital Pro for high output 6" cone mids.

BTW, in the years since my posts from way back in 2003, I did indeed become a speaker manufacturer and used the TL-1102 woofer in several of my models. The internal geometry of their compression drivers is not a good match for the type of horns (waveguides) that I use.

Duke