TAD Reference 1, Rockport Altair, Evolution Acoustics MM3

Hi akatora,

I can tell you from experience my TAD CR-1's are the best speakers I've ever heard. I have not listened to the others you have mentioned but friends I know have experienced TAD's as well. Everyone I know who has heard TAD, fell in love with them. Since you have an opportunity to get a great deal on the Reference 1's, you can't go wrong. My "little" ones are awesome. I am happy, very happy.

Joe

Hi


You're in trouble All three are great speakers, amongst the best regardless of price... The MM3 is on my short list and the Altair would have been if not for the (considerable) cost. I have never heard a TAD but know about its reputation The Altair and MM3 are truly full range: both have robust output below 20 Hz and well above 20 Khz.... If you are planning to use subwoofers ( I insist on using more than one preferably 3) the concern of full range may not be much to you.
Don't let the opportunity pass. The demo pair will not be there forever,especially with speakers of the TAD caliber... Grab them while you can ... By the way I rarely, very rarely if ever see MM3 or Altair for sale.... TO me that says a lot..

If you aren't averse to a short trip, you could listen to the VR-9 SE Mk2s at Studio Aalkmar in the Netherlands.

Note: I'm biased. I'm both an owner of these loudspeakers (which blow away the Mk1 version) and became the distributor of the brand. On the plus side, I'm half way around the world so I'm not making a kroner from this recommendation.

By the way, I love your country. I spent some time in Karlstad, Stockholm and Gothenburg on a SIDA scholarship. I hope to visit again someday. I did rub the head of the iron statue so that means I eventually will!

Good Dag

Akatora,

IMHO, the choice of a speaker is a personal decision - besides I can not imagine how to recommend a speaker to any one without knowing his preferences, room, ancillaries and the type of music he prefers.

And remember all of us are strongly biased, as we have paid for our loudspeakers!

akatora,

Don't delay. Buy the TAD. The demo pair will not last. You may regret it if you don't. I would get the TAD easily before Rockport.

Good luck.

the TAD and Rockport are excellent speakers which have been frequently at shows so many people have heard them. the Evolution Acoustics MM3's are less widely known. sounds like the TAD's are where you are leaning.

looking at the TAD compared to the MM3's objectively;

the TAD's are 90db efficient at 4 ohm nominal load. they are rated at -10db down at 21hz, and are said to be flat to 25hz.

the MM3's are 93db efficient at 6 ohm load, and are rated at -3db at 10hz....and are flat 15hz-20hz in room.

the MM3's will be much more amplifier friendly, and room adjustable....the question is whether those issues are important to you. your amp will only need to power the mid and tweeter down to around 100hz on the MM3, on the TAD your amp will need to power down to 20hz. the MM3's have considerable adjustability in the bass to accomodate different rooms. i'm not aware of any adjustability in the TAD.

i've heard the TAD's, and i own the MM3's. i view the MM3 as at a level beyond; the TAD's are somewhat limited in ultimate full range dynamic capabaility, and are more like high quality monitors than full frequency range speakers. and i prefer the ribbon tweeter and ceramic mid-range on the MM3's to the drivers on the TAD. but TAD is certainly a high resolution speaker. the additional choices of amplification on the MM3's is a big deal to me as it opens up many possibilities of low power tubes.

if you do desire at some point to augment the TAD lower frequency performance with subwoofers not only will it be expensive to buy high quality subs, but true integration without a low pass filter in the main speakers is unlikely. the MM3's bring true full frequency performance and top to bottom coherence.

again; i own the MM3's so i'm biased. i have heard the TAD's at least three times at shows and listened to them quite a bit.

all three speakers are great choices; good luck with your desision.

I have heard on several occasions the MM3's and the TAD's. IMO, the main concern that you should have is whether the speaker(s) will work well in your room. The MM3's may not work/probably won't work as well as the TAD's in a small room.
Like Mike said, the MM3's are more of a fully range design than the TAD's. Question is whether they would overload your room if it is too small?
I am not a fan of shoe horning large speakers into small rooms, IMHO, one has to be very cognizant of the size of the room vs. the size of the speaker.

I currently own both Rockport Ankaa's and TAD CR-1's. I have spent a considerable amount of time with both and I personally decided to keep the CR-1's. The biggest difference is in the treble rendition which is more forward in the TAD's and not as spotlit in the Rockports (I believe the Ankaa has the same scanspeak D30 tweeter as the Altair).

Below are my impressions that I posted on another site:

... the TAD's are gonna be staying (to be honest I pretty much knew it after the first few tracks on day 1). I just won't be able to live without this CST dive unit now that I have heard what it is capable of. I have never heard such a refined rendition of 250Hz and above. The match with Burmester is absolutely sublime, and they are great with any genre I throw at them. The high's are voiced slightly forward but this is done so in a completely natural way and allows an incredible wealth of detail to come through yet it remains completely non-fatiguing, the treble detail is accurate and not a result of over-shot transients which is often the inaccuracy I hear with highly detailed speakers.

The rockports have the edge in the deepest bass octave but I will find a way to fill up this 20-30Hz gap with a pair of quality subs (I am being extremely picky here, the 30Hz is enough for 80% of even my most demanding electronic music, I would say most could live happily without a sub). The challenge will be to get the sub's low bass integrated into the mid and upper bass as well as done in the Rockport's. Careful setup, phase alignment and measurements should get me pretty close, plus the TAD's already dig down deep so its not like the sub's would have a huge role to play. Love the idea of a separate sub(s) that can be fully tweaked and optimized to work best with my current (and future) listening rooms.

Hope that helps...

DaveyF said:

I have heard on several occasions the MM3's and the TAD's. IMO, the main concern that you should have is whether the speaker(s) will work well in your room. The MM3's may not work/probably won't work as well as the TAD's in a small room.
Like Mike said, the MM3's are more of a fully range design than the TAD's. Question is whether they would overload your room if it is too small?
I am not a fan of shoe horning large speakers into small rooms, IMHO, one has to be very cognizant of the size of the room vs. the size of the speaker.

Click to expand...

specifically, regarding your comment about the MM3's being too big for some rooms; i have to disagree. locally here there are three other owners of MM3's with smallish rooms, one 13' x 18', another approx 14' x 20', and another 14' x 16', where they all sound amazing. the adjustability of the speaker (crossover, bass gain, 'Q', and extention) is a benefit in any room. what you need to remember is that it's the mid-bass (50hz-120hz) where many rooms have problems; and even a small monitor that only goes to 40hz can have trouble. the adjustments allow for many room problems to be minimized.

I am not sure whether this is relevant for the OP... but personally I would be VERY careful with this. Yes is it possible to make such large speakers work in smaller rooms, however there would only be a very limited number of positions (speakers and listener) where you would not severely excite room modes, and these positions might not result in something close to an equilateral triangle for ideal stereo imaging.

The TAD's would probably work best as you would be able to use them nearfield (due to the CST driver) and you would likely need to sit fairly close to the speakers.