Tad CR1's or Blade 1's

without knowing the room it's a bit presumptive to assume his taste,no? 

Sciencecop is right in that I tend to gravitate to  highly resolving systems that can be forward sounding. I also pair them with tubes (Atmasphere tube pre and tube input section off BHK300 amps) so it’s not what I’d call hard sounding.

I found the best way to calibrate one’s ears is to attend live acoustic music, preferably in a domestic or intimate club and literally close ones eyes and then pretend to evaluate it as if it were a stereo. I heard a stand up bass at Mezzrow jazz club here in NYC and it left an indelible imprint on my brain of what a real bass sounds like, unamplified and from up close.

A friend used to host bluegrass jams (Dave Grisman came and played at one) on a regular basis, and I used to walk around his apartment, listening to how the acoustics changed, just as they would with a stereo.

While the star of the CR-1 show is that eggshell thin, brittle vapor deposited beryllium mid/tweeter combo, TAD’S studio heritage gives the CR-1’s modest 8" ported woofer a character that renders bass in a manner I really love. It’s just the right combo of extemely articulate and loose enough to slam when the recording has good bandwidth and dynamics.

Since only the massive Reference 1 and Compact Reference 1 have the full beryllium larger concentric driver, its the reason to have the CR-1 over other speakers in The TAD line.

@emailists  Yep, I guess I've grown to join your take.  I have increasingly gravitated toward high resolution, with tubes used to temper things.  I used to be very solidly in the tube/forgiving camp, and it just renders too many recordings sonically boring to me.  But as they say, there's no accounting for taste, or ears for that matter, and we all get to pick what floats our personal boats.

I, too, attend a large number and wide variety of live concerts each year, and I find my CR-1's to be uncannily like live music with really good recordings.  And I even like listening to pretty crappy ones on them, too!  (Been listening to the Number One songs from 1953 forward, via Tidal, and there are a lot of poorly realized recordings - - but just a blast to hear them as the music evolved over time!)  You get such a clear window into the crafting of the tune, which I find enchanting.

Some information on the rest of the gear in the chain & the room might help a bit.
Both spk in question sound different i think. Give them a listen. Could be an easier way to decide. 
All the best 
Cheers