TDL Speakers - Pls. Read & Share Your Thoughts


Hi,

I have been using TDL REFERENCE STUDIO MONITOR 'M' speakers for quite a few years now.They have kept me very happy & content through these years .

TDL speakers are rarely spoken of & i know only a few people who own them. I thought it will be interesting to share the experiences of pepole who have owned or heard TDL speakers.

IMO TDL's ref monitor's are very well balanced speakers.I have heard quite a few expensive and well reputed speakers in the $10k - $20k range, but none has made me want to give up the TDL's. Some were good at doing one thing well but the overall picture was somehow not complete. Many of them fell far short in the lower frequencies and this is where the TDL's trully excelled, reaching down to nearly 18 Hz.

I guess as with any system matching is crucial and i found tubes to be the best match but to enjoy the bass depths these speakers reach you need SS control. I settled for a Supratek Chardonnay tube pre with a Mac MC352 power amp. This combo works *** MAGIC *** for me. I have something to look forward to at the end of every day. Something us audiophiles have in common i guess to keep us sane in this crazy world. Sit back and let it flow !!!

I would love to hear from any A'gonners who have owned or experienced these trully special speakers. There's next to nothing to be found on the web about TDL's so i think it would be nice to start a thread on this one time great company.

Pls. pay your tribute to " TDL " by sharing your experiences with ANY TDL model you would like to mention along with various sys. combinations you might have tried on them.

From a TDL fan !!!
dilly
Hi all.
I just came across this thread, by accident, and decided to add my thoughts. I am the proud owner of TDL Reference Studio Monitor M's, TDL Studio 4's, as well as IMF RSPM IV's, IMF TLS 50 II's, IMF ALS 40 b's, a couple pairs of IMF Super compacts, and several pairs of Frieds.(Model H, A3's, Model R's and several pairs of Q's. IMF was the predacessor of TDL, and Irving M Fried was the founder of IMF, who also sold speakers with the Fried Products badge.
The TDL's, IMF's and Frieds all share one thing in common. Their tremendous, deep, powerful transmition line bass, and incredible bass slam. Once you hear it, you never forget it. And once you have lived with it, it is really hard to live without it. They are all very natural sounding in the mids and highs, with great extension on the M models. The early models all benefit greatly from cap, resistor and wire upgrades, because of the type of caps available when they were designed and built. All in ll, great speakers, from a great company. By the way, they are still being built today, by AOS, i believe, in Germany. They are expensive, however, starting around $10,000 a pair. Regards to all.
Hello Rico,

Nice to hear from another fan! You have a vast collection!!!

Recently met a gent who had owned IMF top model (can't remember the model) 20 years ago which he had to let go way back. He mentioned he has been missing these for nearly 15 years since then. Recently he found himself a pair of Reference Studio Monitor M used & said this will be his "last set of speakers"! I know he meant it though we audiophiles tend to use this term a lot. Just thought I would share this.

I too have another TDL pair. A pair of Studio .5 M. Supposed to be "worlds smallest full Transmission line speakers" according to their brochure at the time.

Cheers,
Oh and this Kharma Grand Ceramique review gives you an idea of how good the TDL Reference bass really is.........

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue13/kharmagrandceramique.htm
I own a pair of the TDL Reference Standards and both woofers on the left channel are damaged, (One has an 8 ohm voice coil and the other has a 16 ohm voice coil). I am aware that TDL and Elac, who made the drivers both went out of business years ago and the biradial woofer are particularly difficult to come by. I am looking for replacement drivers or someone who can repair them. If this is not possible, I will sell them for parts. All the other 12 drivers and crossovers are in good shape. I even own the original boxes and packing materials.
Hi, its nice to hear from other TDL owners who are happy with their speakers. I have a pair of TDL Monitors's (the model below the Ref Standard) - is this a different model from the Studio Reference Monitor - i haven't seen or heard of this model - does anyone have a pic they could post, host or point to? I also have a pair of Studio 1's and a pair of Studio 1's with the 'M' drivers (but not in Studio 1M guise). I bi-amp the Monitors with an Audiolab 8000A and a 8000P and use the original Exposure cd player and a project deck as sources. Very happy with the TDL sound and deep bass extension, jsut need to find some original stands for them. Cheers, Mark.