TAD doesn't license technology from any other manufacturer. However, TAD designs may be described as a more refined JBL. In the late 1970s, when Pioneer created the Technical Audio Devices Division, they hired an ex-JBL transducer engineer, Bart Locanthi, to design that first generation of TAD drivers (TL-1601 & -1602 woofers, TD-4001 compression driver, TH-4001 wooden horn). Subsequent designs were created by Japanese engineers, but they're all further refinements of the original JBL-inspired designs). Very roughly speaking, the TAD TL-1601 series correspond to the JBL 2225, the TL-1602 to the JBL 2235, the TAD TD-4001 to the JBL 375/244* series, the TL-1801 to the JBL 2245, the TAD TD-2001 to the JBL 242* series. However, TAD horns seem to owe more to the larger format Altec horns from the 1960s and 1970s than to JBL designs, with hard maple replacing aluminum as the horn material of choice. I'm currently working on an all-TAD DIY system: TAD TM-1201 mid-range driver with TD-2001 HF compression driver and round DDS horn in a 2 cu.ft. cabinet, with frequencies below 160 Hz handled by the massive TL-1801 subwoofer in a separate 9.5 cu.ft. reflex cabinet. An MC2 Audio S1400 will power the subs via a Bryston 10B crossover, with a passive crossover between the MF and HF drivers designed by Steve Kranis at Audio Hardware here in Toronto. Hope to have everything up and running by the end of next month. . .
