TAD Speakers

So i've got new to me Pioneer S-2EX fly in straight from Japan to Tx. Looks like customs dropped them and damaged the cabinets and broke the grills-only cosmetic thankfully as the cabinets are built like tanks. ENORMOUS stand mounts.

I'm aware Andrew Jones wanted these to be sold as TAD speakers. They utilize TAD drivers -though the wiring, "Spirit" caps and inductors and resistors may be more budget as well as the binding posts and jumpers. I had already planned in the future to upgrade the parts to more premium parts. The speakers getting cosmetic damage likely forces me to do take the drivers out and refinish the speaker anyway so i'll just do the crossovers and cosmetics at once, but it got me thinking about skipping the passive networks.

I know these speakers need lots of power. I only have tube amps. Audio Tekne transformer coupled 6550(modded to use RCA 807) push-pull amp with about 30+wpc. I also have these great little rebuilt Eico HF-14 monoblocks. Both sound great with the speakers as long as i go through my subwoofers high pass filter at 100hz. Otherwise there's just not enough power to wake that woofer up.  I even tried a Yamaha AVR to power the LF, but it still wasn't enough. Without a sub, the sound is unbalanced with the tweeter slightly hotter than the mids which almost kind of drowns out the mids a bit. 

It's the best tweeter i've personally ever heard and as someone who has dealt with bad tinnitus from years of owning Klipschorns and La Scalas and every Klipsch heritage speaker horn blasting at my ears at dangerous levels, forcing me to leave traditional speakers for Omni directionals. The Omnis never set off my tinnitus.  This was my first step back into traditional directional speakers and i had heard Focals with beryllium tweeters in the past. Made my ears ring like crazy so i was truly worried these would do the same. They don't. They're beautiful. Extended with long decay. They're the stars of the show, but completely hog all the attention if that makes sense-at least with the power i have on them.

How much of that non fatigue, non ringing attributed to using tube amps? If i switch to SS/Class D, will it wake the mids and LF up, but set off my tinnitus? Live with the trade off?

Will investing in a solid state amp for bi-amping the LF be even worth while? It's only 400hz down and my sub would take over at 100hz. That's an expensive route.

Has anyone actively bi-amped TAD/Pioneer S-EX models? Crossover points are easy to find, but how do i protect the drivers from damage being directly hooked up to amps? 

 

Thanks

C

@wretnuh2 again, congrats and enjoy!  

 

Due to space/WAF/heat issues, and a great listen to a friend’s system, I’m getting a Bel Canto Black EX amp.  I still use the system for movies about 20% off the time, and have a growing guilty pleasure for some Dolby Atmos mixes. So starting out with an Anthem AVM 90 for processing.  If there’s any 2 channel concerns I’d then add a different pre and/or a stand alone DAC.  Any wisdom on this strategy is welcome.

 

Giantsalami, everything I’ve read says the sonic signature of the ME1 and CE1 is very very close, and tuned with a great sub it’s even closer.  I’m jealous of the time you’ve had with the ME1. So much fun!

@wretnuh2 Congratulations on your TAD acquisition! May I ask you which electronics you'll be pairing with them?  (Nice name, BTW.  Backwards "hunter").

I am always on the lookout for a worthy upgrade to my KEF Reference 1’s. The consistently glowing reports for TAD speakers keep them on my radar. I have not had a chance to hear them, and am unlikely to spend that kind of money on a blind upgrade. Does anyone have experience with KEF and TAD, and can you comment on how they might compare?

Nice post, wretnuh2. I don't see me ever affording the newer models, but am quite happy with the ME-1's. Excellent, tight bass and mids. I have no problems with the highs being sharp or fatiguing, and I am pretty sensitive to that. Again, the addition of my new amp was quite an eye opener. Great speakers! 

I have an opinion on TAD speakers. One small voice.

 

I have been a semi-audiophile for decades now, but my level of technical and industry knowledge is a fraction of many (most?) of the frequent posters on Audiogon.  

 

Having said that, I’ve had speakers from many of the major players, including Samsui, Monitor Audio, Kef, Focal, B&W, and Andrew Jones Pioneer era.  I’ve owned Magico S1 (v1) for the past 14 years and I’ve loved them. Incredibly detailed.  I’ve done detailed auditions from  many top offerings from MBL, Dynaudio, Planars, etc.

 

This year I was finally ready to upgrade, and was ready to pull the string for some S3 2023 Magico.

 

But I remembered briefly hearing some TAD speakers a few years ago, and started poking around. 

 

Blah blah blah, I now own CE1Tx speakers.  

 

I took delivery, put them together, and placed them approximately where I thought they’d work, and hooked them up, cranked them up. 

 

Within seconds of playing the first track, I was absolutely stunned. I’d never ever heard a soundstage so broad, high, and fulsome. So many subtleties jumped out, with tight musical base that stopped and started on a dime. It did not matter the volume level, instrumentation, or genre. Just a coherent beautiful soundscape. Harmonies creating buzzing in my chest.  Synesthesia was easily triggered. Completely mesmerizing. 

 

I can get chills just thinking about female vocals from these beauties.  

 

My wife, who has a mere passing interest/tolerance for this hobby, came home, let me sit her down on the couch, and in five minutes said “That’s the most amazing thing I’ve heard in my life.”

 

One thing they have done is to give me even more appreciation for the artistry and genius of the producers and sound mixers in the world. They must die inside knowing that just a sliver of the population ever hears just what they created. Like how the cinematographers would feel if Lawrence of Arabia was seen only on a black and white TV.

 

If there is any criticism I have, it’s that the highs can sometimes be a bit bright.  But this has not been a regular comment with other listeners, and I’m still listening to them on my freaking AVR (Shame on me!!).  I’m waiting for the arrival of my new electronics, and (while I can’t imagine how) hope for even more improvement. 

 

I seriously doubt I’ll ever upgrade again, and if I did, I can only imagine going with the CR1Tx.

 

I understand now what so many of you dedicated audiophiles on this board try to put into words.  

 

Sometimes you don’t know what you were looking for, until you find it. 

I purchased a used pair of ME-1 speakers in December. Very shortly after I purchased a new amp and the difference was quite a surprise. They seem to respond to up stream electronics very nicely. Fantastic speakers.

Current: TAD E1TX, Pioneer XY-3B (tad engg had its hands in the design of this PA horn)

Past: TAD Reference (OG version by A.Jones), Pioneer S-1EX by A.Jones

 

TAD Vs B&W 801, 803

TAD is more tonally balanced, coherent, easy to place/work with in suboptimal rooms. Holographic soundstage of TAD cannot be produced by b&w. TAD engineering may have figured out how to engineer a emotional response, figured out some esoteric sauce.

 

801 can feel more, dynamic,  latest rev exhibits some spatial qualities, quite intriguing. Guys who have exposure to spatial or object based audio (atmos, auro, etc) will catch this. I don't care for its skewed (for my tastes) tonal balance, but, it is their signature, not that they are incapable or lack the aptitude to engineer something else...which should have appeal for others... could be harder to work with in suboptimal rooms.

Listen to both and decide what appeals to you more. 

 

How did they compared to b&w 800 series speakers?

The TAD ME-1 are the best stand mount speaker I've ever heard or owned.

How did they compared to b&w 800 series speakers?

I know quite a few months have passed since @letitbe1306  posted, but I’ll add that one of the most unique qualities of TAD, at least the reference series (I own CR1’s) is the amount of inner detail, that makes ordinary (but good) recordings sound like audiophile recordings. Bass is also very articulate, which is important for me.

I have augmented mine with Velodyne subs and Enigmacoustics super tweeter to widen the window of realism ever further. (After hearing Raidho speakers I felt like I wanted a little bit more sparkle, so added the super tweeters).

I’d say if you can find a used CR1, that’s the speaker I’d suggest. It’s also the speaker Andrew Jones has stated he’s most proud of (which I confirmed with him in person)

letitbe, You can usefully read about a speaker only so much. As you said, they get reviewed frequently, but ultimately you have to listen to it, preferably in your own system (good luck with that), to know if it’s right for you.

There were a Compact Reference and an Evolution One that sold pretty quickly here on Audiogon recently. Good luck in your search.

Thank you for your comments, tymco6. There are many TAD speaker systems that I have an interest in. TAD originated its speakers on the pro audio side many years ago so my interest began with the studio monitors. Given that this is an audiophile forum I was more curious about the TAD home audio speaker systems that have been introduced over the last decade. These include the Evolution and Reference versions and now the more recent TX versions which have received considerable notice from the hi-fi press.  I have never owed TAD speakers but would like to at some point in the near future. 

You could buy new TAD speakers or a new car, whichever you need more.

Which TADs are you interested in, letitbe? TADs are excellent modern speakers, that is, musical but uncolored, very transparent.

Their beryllium tweeter reproduces sound way past the range of human hearing, so there’s no softening of high frequencies. If your system or a recording is bright, you’ll hear it. On the other hand, if there are beautiful, delicate details up there on the recording, you’ll hear them too.

The midrange driver is beryllium in the Reference line and magnesium in the Evolution line. So again, there’s no softening or pleasant coloration going on, but they’re not harsh or metallic sounding either. They cleanly reproduce what they’re fed.

You don’t have to listen to only audiophile records, they sound good on all kinds of music, but if you listen to a lot of badly produced pop or badly produced whatever, these are probably not what you’re looking for.

They always get great reviews, most recently the Compact Evolution Ones in the June Stereophile. But keep in mind that most reviewers probably have their electronics in good listening order. It’s their job after all.

So I like them but I know that there are people for whom they are not warm, lush or pretty enough sounding.

So which model are you looking at? What kind of sound are you looking for?