Tad reference 1

Smokin' Joe said:

Correct.

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What are the serial numbers? Have you noticed any variation in quality?

Smokin' Joe said:

Correct.

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Interesting. Was this to get the latest TX series? If so, I'd love to hear your take on how TX compares to originals. Enjoy!

Hi smokin' joe,
I'm eager to know your views of this newest version too.
Many thanks in advance!

jbrrp1 said:

Interesting. Was this to get the latest TX series? If so, I'd love to hear your take on how TX compares to originals. Enjoy!

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If you look at the photos Joe provides, its pretty clear it is the TX model.

Would love to hear what speakers you had in between the tad’s and why you kept returning to them. Are there any sonic differences among the different versions?

LL21 said:

Congrats! Beautiful!

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+1 !!!

Congrats! Beautiful!
Thanks for sharing images

I have never seen more revealing speaker than TAD Reference One Speaker. high Energy & high SPL & dynamics without distortion.

TAD R1/CR1 are very very sensitive to these items:
1. upstream electronics specially Power amplifier (TAD D600/C600/M700 are very good for R1)
2. AC quality
3. Cables
4. Records Quality
5. Room Acoustics

TAD R1/CR1 need more silent rooms (lower rt) .

reaching full potential of R1 is not easy but if you reach then it will be shocking experience ...

Sharing my recent experience where I had a chance to listen to von schweikert vr 9 SE Mk2 side by side with TAD CR-1TX.
VR9 SE mk2 is a pair of mighty speakers. However I was really surprised and amazed with CR1TX, the scale of presentation is really amazing and held up pretty well to the VR9. The R1TXs are blocked by VR9

I had my room treated professionally by RPG with absorbers on the ceiling and one side wall (the other side has a window), bass traps and absorption on the front wall (and a TV ...) and diffusion and abfussion on the back wall. Overall the Rt is on the low side, similar to what a mastering studio would be like.

However, even after all that, I still had problems getting the bass to be in balance with the treble, and the timbre to be correct. This was even after a couple visits by Andrew Jones (although that was with M1s that I had prior to the R1s). Andrew set up the speakers toed in so they "crossed" slightly in front of the listener. This helps quite a lot reducing near side wall reflections.

I've also experimented with many DACs and mono block amplifiers over the years, including Berkeley, Meitner, Constellation, MBS, Pass and Spectral. These were all great and probably the best of the bunch were the Constellation as they had the smoothness of the Pass with the speed and texture of the Spectral. However, what to me sounds the best are the Benchmark AHB2 amplifiers running in bridged mono with the Meitner MA3 DAC. The AHB2s are quite amazing with essentially no distortion or noise, and the combination with Andrew's very low distortion speaker is a fantastic match. BTW, the AHB2 was designed by Andrew's twin brother, who's an electrical engineer (I believe Andrew studied mechanical engineering).

Clean power with a robust ground also helps. I'm using a Furman 20 amp transformer that provides fully isolated balanced power (+/- 60v versus ground).

This all said, what made the biggest difference for me with the R1s was hiring Mitch Barnett, who's a very seasoned and experienced acoustics expert, to design a convolution filter for my speakers in my room. Mitch used Audiolense to design the filter and the filter runs on Roon. If you tried doing this yourself with REW and didn't like how it sounded, then you should probably let a professional do this for you. REW simply does not have the same computational capability as Audiolense, and you need to know what you're doing to get the most out of this process. Mitch has literally written a book on the topic.

The end result with the R1s in an acoustically treated room and a properly designed convolution filter is amazing. These speakers have almost no dynamic limit in my 12x18 room. And the distortion is also vanishingly low.

Smokin' Joe said:

Hands down the absolute worst packaging I’ve experienced in my Hifi career.
150kg of flagship speakers supported by nothing but cardboard..
I’d be embarrassed to send them out of my factory like this if I was running the show.
My last 2 pairs of Reference 1 Mk2’s were much better packed with a wooden base and foam around the speaker.
Double the RRP and cut back in packaging costs…… Disgusting!!!!!

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That's incredible,...having owned a pair of TAD R1 Mk2's for about 2 years, and dealing with the incredible packaging,
40+ pound molded plastic skids (that would break a foot if you dropped them), speakers-bolt-to-the skid from underneath,
and what I swear was very close to 7/8" thick cardboard cartons that locked together with fastener bolt of sorts on the 2nd and
4th corner seams, not to mention the impossibly thick foam cradles all around the speaker attached to the cardboard sides,
I am flabbergasted to see this huge drop in shipping strategy and quality of materials.

Having personally seen what TAD does when they've done things to perfection, I could not imagine what's in those pictures, ever.

Smokin' Joe said:

Hands down the absolute worst packaging I’ve experienced in my Hifi career.
150kg of flagship speakers supported by nothing but cardboard..
I’d be embarrassed to send them out of my factory like this if I was running the show.
My last 2 pairs of Reference 1 Mk2’s were much better packed with a wooden base and foam around the speaker.
Double the RRP and cut back in packaging costs…… Disgusting!!!!!

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That is shockingly flimsy for the mass and value these present. What the hell was TAD thinking?! Did the speakers get any damage from shipment?

Smokin' Joe said:

I’m nothing short of disgusted.

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Believe me, I would have "let my displeasure be known" to the dealer and TAD in parallel so you are not alone. Hopefully the sound of the speakers will in some way help you get over the initial pain on this topic. The R1 Mk2s are fantastic,...can imagine the Mk3's are more refined and will be with you for many years to come!

After all it is Pioneer.

Smokin' Joe said:

Hands down the absolute worst packaging I’ve experienced in my Hifi career.
150kg of flagship speakers supported by nothing but cardboard..
I’d be embarrassed to send them out of my factory like this if I was running the show.
My last 2 pairs of Reference 1 Mk2’s were much better packed with a wooden base and foam around the speaker.
Double the RRP and cut back in packaging costs…… Disgusting!!!!!

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send your feedback to TAD japan :

SCAudiophile said:

Believe me, I would have "let my displeasure be known" to the dealer and TAD in parallel so you are not alone. Hopefully the sound of the speakers will in some way help you get over the initial pain on this topic. The R1 Mk2s are fantastic,...can imagine the Mk3's are more refined and will be with you for many years to come!

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Sure they will!

The last packing of R1tx is abit different :


you can also order wood boxes for R1tx.
Please contact TAD and they will help.

Amir said:

The last packing of R1tx is abit different :
View attachment 90528

you can also order wood boxes for R1tx.
Please contact TAD and they will help.

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I'm almost certain that my R1 Mk2 came in a similar cardboard box several years ago. No issues at all, but I agree it was surprised with the packaging. M1s that these R1s replaced were in wood crates.