Tube amp recommendations for TAD R-1

You should hunt down Joeinind for his thoughts- he's the TAD expert.

KeithR said:

You should hunt down Joeinid for his thoughts- he's the TAD expert.

Click to expand...

Thanks Keith,

I'm no expert but tried more than a few amps when I had the TAD CR-1's One of the better amps is the Music Reference RM-200T mark II. If 100 wpc is enough (it is for me), please try and listen to one. The other amazing amp, for my taste, is Conrad Johnson ART monos. I suspect the ARTsa would be awesome too. Just beautiful music coming from the TADs with these amps. My taste is on the warmer side of neutral for maximum enjoyment. To me, the TADs are like spotlights and need a little taming.

joeinid said:

Thanks Keith,

I'm no expert but tried more than a few amps when I had the TAD CR-1's One of the better amps is the Music Reference RM-200T mark II. If 100 wpc is enough (it is for me), please try and listen to one. The other amazing amp, for my taste, is Conrad Johnson ART monos. I suspect the ARTsa would be awesome too. Just beautiful music coming from the TADs with these amps. My taste is on the warmer side of neutral for maximum enjoyment. To me, the TADs are like spotlights and need a little taming.

Click to expand...

Having auditioned the TAD Ref Ones in Japan at TADs room, I would be inclined to agree that my personal preference/instinct would have been to put some seriously powerful tube amps behind them like CJ ARTs. I don't know the ARTs but have owned 4 CJ pieces over the last 14-15 years, and feel like they are definitely worth a try with the TADs.

Having owned first the M1 and now the R1, I've tried a few amps with them over the years, but always sticking to solid state. They do like power and can be very unforgiving if the amp is even slightly bright. The R1 is much more forgiving. Currently I have the Constellation Performance Series monos and the new Berkeley Alpha Reference DAC. The sound is truly amazing, even when the source is my Samsung TV. If watching a show you hear a phone ring, or vibrate as they now do, it's hard to tell whether it's the TV or a real phone ... On high resolution material or good CDs they are insanely good.

I've not heard the more economical Constellation Inspiration series, but I would think you may want to give them a try. Even though these are solid state designs, the timbal coloring these amps offer is amazing. My concern is tubes may not control the large ported woofers in the R1 and could glare a bit with the beryllium tweeter, but I'm sure there are some excellent tube amps that sound great.