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TAD Reference loudspeakers-How good are they?

Just wondering if the TAD Ref 1 and/or TAD Compact Ref 1 are as good as some of the show reviews suggest, although a recent review did mention a slightly "dark" presentation, albeit state of the art sound.

Does anyone know if the implementation of concentric tweeter/mid is superior to that of KEF/Thiel, or perhaps the Berylium constructed drivers and/or crossover sophistication.

I'm thinking about the TAD Compact Ref One as my "final" loudspeaker, as I have a small listening room at 14 x 16; Quite expensive at MSRP of $37K. I would appreciate any and all opinions and experience with the TAD Reference loudspeakers.

Thanks so much!
opinions
audiobrian
bcgator's avatar
bcgator
355 posts
 
@zephyr24069

Please do come back and post some comments for us, even if only a quickie review.  Some of us here still may have a set of TAD in our future :-)
knghifi
1,668 posts
 
Thank you all for the feedback both on the thread and to those who responded privately.  The choice has been made recently and it looks like I will get to experience these speakers for a long time to come...
Congratulations @zephyr24069!  When I can finally move on from tube amps, I will be replacing my TAD E1 with R1.   SS is getting closer and closer to tubes so hopefully soon :-)

What amps are you planning to drive the R1s?
zephyr24069's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
zephyr24069
1,243 posts
 
Will do bcgator once they are up and running and broken in!
zephyr24069's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
zephyr24069
1,243 posts
 
knghifi: Will post feedback as noted once I have some them up and running, broken in, etc....I plan on using my existing Esoteric A-02 amp. The nice touch around all this is that this will be the first time I've ever heard my speaker cables and that amp run full-range as the prior speaker and RoomEQ device delegated bass and sub-bass (rather well and with great results) to dual 500W ICE amps in each tower and routed those frequencies over analog XLR to the speaker. The whole experience should be a real event....
psag
518 posts
 
I've had the Ref1 in my main system for 3 or 4 years. Very happy with them. Would be interesting to compare them to the current best Magico, Raidho, and MBL.
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