TAD Evolution 2 Speaker Review

[dtaylo1066]

Was expecting results to be a tad better.

 

[Spocko]

Sure but I highly doubt their assembly line workers make any significant portion of that 20K.They are just vastly overpriced like all products that over emphasize their "tradition of craftmanship"

No argument there - often times the cult of personality for anything "made in Japan" creates a value of its own for consumers who specifically want that label and willing to pay for it. I'm pretty certain there are some amazing electronics made in Taiwan that arguably are objectively better designed/engineered than more expensive Japanese competitors and yet "made in Taiwan" lacks the allure of Japanese made products.

 

[crappypanther]

Almost all manufacturers of super-expensive speakers ask money for nothing. You can literally count the exceptions on the fingers, and everyone here knows them.

 

[fpitas]

So, we're agreeing this speaker is a good hobby project for someone who doesn't care about price, wants TAD quality, and loves to EQ speakers.

 

[Spocko]

So, we're agreeing this speaker is a good hobby project for someone who doesn't care about price, wants TAD quality, and loves to EQ speakers.

You pretty much described almost all expensive "audiophile" speakers not developed by a select few data driven designers (Revel, KEF, Andrew Jones, etc.). I wonder how Wilson would do when measured here?

EQ = expensive cables, toe-in, absorbers, magic dice, etc

 

[fpitas]

You pretty much described almost all expensive "audiophile" speakers not developed by a select few data driven designers (Revel, KEF, Andrew Jones, etc.)

True. Although I doubt many of those owners know or care about EQ. And the TAD does have good directivity control, despite the wavy FR.

 

[Spocko]

True. Although I doubt many of those owners know or care about EQ. And the TAD does have good directivity control, despite the wavy FR.

EXACTLY this. EQ is what audiophiles try to do with exotic cabling, tube amps, etc. when they would do better to just plug in a true EQ/RoomCorrection DSP into the chain. Taming the highs with speaker cables is a stone age passive frequency filter!

 

[fredoamigo]

I was thinking about this. It seems that several speakers that measure poorly but have better subjective opinions tend to have a very nice sound power and early reflection DI. Both in terms of smoothness but also a lower slope through critical areas of the midrange.

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@ctrl gave a convincing explanation in any case that convinced me on the subject (post 5/6 )

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...s-with-pearl-sibelius-speaker-designer.32044/

 

[amirm]

A great one to review. And appreciation to the manufacturer sending them in. @amirm Is there a possibility to listen to these at some point or are they on their way back already?

They are still here. I just don't know how to manage the time given what else happening. But I will see if I can do it....

 

[Thomas savage]

Uninspired offering , I'm not offended by the price but the plain box with nothing exciting or particularly performant inside dose make we wonder what decade TAD thinks its operating in .

I had the previous version of these at home for a week , they looked a lot better , also had the little stand mounts for a period that also looked better . Neither excited me sound wise for whatever that's worth .

If you want a TAD speaker I'd look at the second hand market.

Me I'd forget it and buy a pair of KEF Blade meta's, one or two , what size fits . At least you are getting top draw physical engineering and just about as good as it gets measured performance from a passive. Outside of that there's all sorts of exciting integrated speaker systems using DSP to achieve great performance.

Time for TAD labs to shut up shop imo.

 

[fpitas]

If you want a TAD speaker I'd look at the second hand market.

I'd gladly live with a model 2402 or even a 2401. Probably not happening, though. Those were TAD's glory days.

 

[Thomas savage]

They are still here. I just don't know how to manage the time given what else happening. But I will see if I can do it....

Great job mate , don't comprise though, your afternoon nap and 2 hour daily tea tasting takes priority .

 

[Spocko]

Would be nice to have some listening impressions. It is necessary for speakers, measurements do not tell the whole story if they are at the level as those shown. I like the built quality, finally we can see something else than the “cost effective” low cost mass production product.

I love reading about listening impressions as much as the next audiophile, but for all practical purposes, it's not useful for comparisons with other speakers because your room has such a noticeable effect on sound quality and your hearing acuity/sensitivity is sooo different from the reviewer (age related, DNA related, damage related, etc.) that it would be a rare thing indeed if you could extrapolate anything useful from such a review in terms of telling "the whole story"

 

[GXAlan]

They are still here. I just don't know how to manage the time given what else happening. But I will see if I can do it....

There does seem to be 3 categories of speakers
a) great speakers that measure well sound great
b) really bad speakers that measure horribly in all metrics and sound poorly
c) speakers that subjectively seem to sound better than you'd expect from the preference score

In group C, they seem to have flatter sound power DI and early reflections DI.

Two speakers that you reviewed/measured and said sounded better than you'd expect were the Canon S50 (with a negative preference score!) and JBL XPL90 which was one speaker you thought somehow sounded better than you'd predict from the clear directivity errors. Looking at those measurements, it had a somewhat low-slope to the woofer-component of the sound power DI/early reflections DI compared to other speakers which might not have subjectively sounded as good to you.

Would be super interesting if the TAD speaker somehow falls into the category of a) knowing that it measures bad for the preference score (for the price) b) sounding better than you'd think from the number alone.

Maybe there needs to be some sort of A-weighting to the SPDI/ERDI?

 

[fpitas]

My experience with wavy FR is that it can sound great...on certain tracks. On others, not so much. I'd say it's one of the traits of a great speaker that it plays everything competently.

 

[Dj7675]

I love reading about listening impressions as much as the next audiophile, but for all practical purposes, it's not useful for comparisons with other speakers because your room has such a noticeable effect on sound quality and your hearing acuity/sensitivity is sooo different from the reviewer (age related, DNA related, damage related, etc.) that it would be a rare thing indeed if you could extrapolate anything useful from such a review in terms of telling "the whole story"

It all comes down to the value or utility of Amir’s subjective listening tests. Nothing is perfect but there are times that the some qualities of a speaker might come through more in listening tests. As an example, when looking at Revel Ultama2 Salon2 Spinorama it isn’t something I look at and say this must be outstanding and a speaker that beats everything in listening comparison tests… but it does. It isn’t often we get a tower speaker like this let alone at the expense of a manufacturer like this. Despite what may seem like imperfect measurements it is one of those speakers that deserves a listen.

 

[fpitas]

It all comes down to the value or utility of Amir’s subjective listening tests. Nothing is perfect but there are times that the some qualities of a speaker might come through more in listening tests. As an example, when looking at Revel Ultama2 Salon2 Spinorama it isn’t something I look at and say this must be outstanding and a speaker that beats everything in listening comparison tests… but it does. It isn’t often we get a tower speaker like this let alone at the expense of a manufacturer like this. Despite what may seem like imperfect measurements it is one of those speakers that deserves a listen.View attachment 242233

I agree in general, but that's a pretty doggone good response for a passive crossover speaker. A little extra around 150Hz and the general downward slope will make it very friendly, even with bad tracks.

 

[GXAlan]

It all comes down to the value or utility of Amir’s subjective listening tests. Nothing is perfect but there are times that the some qualities of a speaker might come through more in listening tests. As an example, when looking at Revel Ultama2 Salon2 Spinorama it isn’t something I look at and say this must be outstanding and a speaker that beats everything in listening comparison tests… but it does. It isn’t often we get a tower speaker like this let alone at the expense of a manufacturer like this. Despite what may seem like imperfect measurements it is one of those speakers that deserves a listen.View attachment 242233

Take a look at that Sound Power and early reflections DI. Do you see how the slope isn’t quite as steep as others until you go above 10 kHz? Or put an other way, the SPDI and ERDI looks better than the FR above?

All this is part of science and CEA-2034 but I don’t believe there is an A weighting to the assessment of SPDI/ERDI?

 

[Robbo99999]

They are still here. I just don't know how to manage the time given what else happening. But I will see if I can do it....

(And maybe even use Pierre's or Maiky's EQ as a "one off" contrast to your normal listening impressions, as it seems that these speakers are perhaps the best example of an easily effective EQ'able speaker.)

 

[Highvolt60]

I'll keep my new Arendal Tower S thank you.
They measure much better and sound great !
At $3k Including shipping and no sale tax they are a no brainer...

Given the price, these s/b a NO