Speaker pair TAD R1
Severe economic situation in Japan has forced many electronics manufacturers to reduce the volume of the release, or even close entire units. It is in this difficult time, the company Technical Audio Devices after nearly 20-year hiatus, re-emerging on the market. And not only with the acoustics, as before, but with a full line of components class High End Audio.
Let me remind you that the original TAD was a division of Pioneer, It produced professional speakers, mostly for scoring big studios and concert halls. Scope determines the specificity - large-woofers with high sensitivity and compression midrange/tweeter drivers in horn design.
The experience gained and the results of numerous studies the company decided to use to create a home audio line. It is now three uncompromising model - respectable size monitors CR1 plus two floor systems, E1, and the flagship R1. It is with them, Reference One, we start testing the components of TAD.
Rare manufacturer in our time comes to create the acoustics are so seriously - in the design of the 150-kg giant developers (and this is the best specialists Pioneer) did not miss a single detail that affects the sound.
Record weight of R1 is due, primarily, an unprecedented design a streamlined body made by our own technology structurally inert lamination SILENT. Some of it is borrowed from the aviation and shipbuilding industries - a frame made of birch plywood 21 mm thick reinforced by transverse bulkheads. Their shape is optimized to obtain maximum rigidity and effectively suppress the standing waves, which also contributes to the housing itself, having no corners and side surfaces. Wall thickness which places reaches 137 mm, are layered sandwich sintered at high temperature by high frequency.
In the upper part of the front panel having the slope 4 deg. ago, installed coaxial assembly with the brand name of CST - Coherent Source Transducer. In the center of the midrange transducer with a 16-cm diffuser is fixed dome tweeter caliber 3.5 cm, and their characteristics are chosen in such a way as to obtain coherent radiation in the range of 250 Hz - 100 kHz.
And the diffuser, and the dome is made of beryllium by metal deposition from the vapor phase technology, the development of TAD more 30 years ago with the production of powerful compression heads. By the way, even in our days with beryllium work only a few - this material for all its virtues (a record low weight and high stiffness) requires high production and expensive equipment. When designing the assembly applied advanced mathematical modeling techniques that allowed to align the frequency response up to 100 kHz. The diffuser is also the midrange waveguide beamforms tweeter. Decoupling coaxial assembly vibration body is a proprietary mounting system ISO with insulating rings.
Upper range, of course, very important, but the biggest problem for developers has always been a bass. To achieve depth, speed and low distortion, TAD engineers found some innovative solutions. One of them - the special geometry of the magnetic field in the gap (OFGMS), which provides linear movement of the 10-inch woofer diffusers at a stroke length of 30 mm. To do this, have also been developed powerful neodymium magnets and a new, short voice coil diameter of 100 mm. Corrugated suspension borrowed from professional speakers TAD, provides a symmetrical shift of the mobile system in both directions. To increase rigidity themselves diffusers have a sandwich structure, in which the inner layer of compressed foam acrylamide, and external - oriented in a certain way aramid fibers. Close the dust cap also prevents deformation of the diffuser at high signal levels.
Bass reflex horn type is designed using the laws of aerodynamics so as to disperse the air flow and thus eliminate background noise while playing loud bass notes. In addition, it creates the effect of low-frequency compression drivers, causing the bass becomes more dynamic and collected.
Crossovers LF and HF units are mounted on different boards in order to reduce the influence of mutual inductors. Aluminum plate on which the filters used for the heat sink power resistors. Input terminals connected by wide webs.
Housing off with a very beautiful exotic wood veneer Pommele Sapele and then coated with clear lacquer. The base is heavy plate, which are screwed into three support cone. All speakers are closed own metal grill with a tight fit to prevent bounce.
Each speaker is held in a factory full control of all parameters, the results are entered into the database under the appropriate serial number.
Speakers was connected to the terminal TAD M2500 amplifier with 500 watts per channel. The main feature of this machine - the uncompromising realization of economic class D, which allowed the maximum use of the energy derived from the network.
CD/SACD-player - TAD D600 with an external power supply. Electronic components TAD we will devote a separate study, therefore, dwell on them will not.
Listening room was quite small, about 15 meters, and speakers stood quite close to the side walls. And even in such straitened circumstances, carp to lower case it was almost impossible. Whatever the nature of the musical genre amplifier system gives as much freedom as you want for an extremely natural reproduction. Bass is deep and agile, he's under control, but in moderation - hear the subtle nuances of reverb, as if working paper light diffusers. When this affects a large area of radiation - Reference One can reliably recreate the acoustics of the hall, in which the entry, keeping the correct scale virtual sources. Is especially true in the classical works with a wide frequency and dynamic range. However, in these records primarily pay attention to the powerful energy and thunderous tutti with no signs of distortion or compression. I really Reference One character concert acoustics - the disc Creedence Clearwater Revival, they create a very delicate sound pressure and sound at the same time detailed and transparent. Much of the credit TAD engineers also in the fact that their systems are able to convey that in a professional environment called "vibrations" (vibes) - the mood, ie subtle shades of sound and typical methods of execution. It is thanks to these qualities, vocal and musical instruments seem absolutely real. Whether it's the bass, trumpet solo, violin virtuoso passages, rapid series of blows on drums - all sounds natural, as in real life. Only slightly affected where naturalness - near the very top of the operating limits, there appears some synthetics, and sometimes edkovataya coloring. It is possible that this contribution preamplifier, which is clearly not up to the level of the other components of the system.
Contribution of coaxial radiators overemphasized. Inside a small area, these high speakers sounded together, the tweeter is not "broke away" from the middle of the strip. But the main achievement, of course, is the sound space that seemed wider than the room itself, and virtual sources in it lived up to their real size. Listening to records Columbia, is simply amazing art recording engineer - position soloists and orchestra musicians scrutinized the width and depth of the scene, perfectly conveys the atmosphere of the studio.
It seemed to me that the TAD Reference One has its own aura, like a musical instrument handmade. This speaker is literally mesmerizing and appearance, and sound.
