TAD Evolution 2 Speaker Review

[fineMen]

I would argue that the BBC dip originates in the back then new 2-way paradigm with larger plastic woofers (8") and tiny tweeters (3/4") with, by todays standards, very high x/o frequencies (3,5k). The on-axis equalization might have compensated the directivity error.

Maybe its a typo, but from the measurement of the individual branches I would rather suggest that the lower bass is cut off at 900Hz rather than 90Hz as was stated in the description.

The BBC dip is overdone here. Again, it may be some 'voicing' as to discriminate the product against others. For many such minor differences make or break a deal. If all were the same (perfect) what to decide for, having only the naked ears to evaluate performance?

 

[fpitas]

Price and performance aside, the design is just ... not pretty.
The weird spacing of the drivers, the unfortunate combination of the color and texture of the drivers with the mesh grille and bright ring around the tweeter practically fighting with the wood veneer, the little single driver grills, the sharp corners - it just looks like somebody stuck a bunch of random components together.
I have nothing against a utilitarian finish on high end speakers. A Neummann KH 420 for example looks like an overgrown cinder block, but the design is consistent and it's clear that form follows function.

On these, nothing follows nothing. Price, design, performance - none of those makes sense either in itself or at least when looking at the whole combination.

Have to agree. My pet theory is they outsourced to China (for example) and this is what they got. Ship it!

 

[amirm]

Maybe its a typo, but from the measurement of the individual branches I would rather suggest that the lower bass is cut off at 900Hz rather than 90Hz as was stated in the description.

That was my thinking as well.

 

[AndreaT]

For a similar price Revel offers better results. Even the modestly priced F208 is comparable or better than the TAD. I think only a personal listening session (and a discussion with my wife) could help to gather more info to decide if a x4 price (as compared to Revel F208) is justifiable.

 

[enricoclaudio]

Have to agree. My pet theory is they outsourced to China (for example) and this is what they got. Ship it!

These are Made in Japan speakers....

 

[fpitas]

These are Made in Japan speakers....

View attachment 242020

Still could have been designed elsewhere, and assembled in Japan.

 

[enricoclaudio]

Still could have been designed elsewhere, and assembled in Japan.

TAD E2 Evolution Two Speaker System | TAD Labs Europe

The TAD story continues with a new icon: The E2 Evolution Two floorstanding loudspeaker. Made in Japan.

tad.tokyo

 

[fpitas]

View attachment 242023

TAD E2 Evolution Two Speaker System | TAD Labs Europe

The TAD story continues with a new icon: The E2 Evolution Two floorstanding loudspeaker. Made in Japan.

tad.tokyo

Well, that's too bad then. I was trying to give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

 

[Robbo99999]

I really like how these speakers measure. The frequency response looks like it doesn't have any nasty resonances and the deviations from flat are quite broad so it looks really easy to EQ this speaker to a very flat response. I also really like the look of bass, the extension is great and the very slight downsloping might help in room, but it would be easy to EQ it up to flat if you wanted. The distortion measurements look fantastic, but I suppose the 96dB performance is a bit worrying if you want to fill a large space at a long listening distance. And the directivity in horizontal looks pretty good. Very high price though! You'd still be better off with the following (link) though right, eventhough of course they're active speakers, but a fraction of the price!?

Genelec 8361A Review (Powered Monitor)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Genelc 8361A studio monitor (powered active speaker). It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $4,995. The 8361A looks identical to the rest of the series except massively scaled up: It doesn't look it but it is extremely heavy. It has a...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[fpitas]

I really like how these speakers measure. The frequency response looks like it doesn't have any nasty resonances and the deviations from flat are quite broad so it looks really easy to EQ this speaker to a very flat response. I also really like the look of bass, the extension is great and the very slight downsloping might help in room, but it would be easy to EQ it up to flat if you wanted. The distortion measurements look fantastic, but I suppose the 96dB performance is a bit worrying if you want to fill a large space at a long listening distance. And the directivity in horizontal looks pretty good. Very high price though! You'd still be better off with the following (link) though right, eventhough of course they're active speakers, but a fraction of the price!

Genelec 8361A Review (Powered Monitor)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Genelc 8361A studio monitor (powered active speaker). It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $4,995. The 8361A looks identical to the rest of the series except massively scaled up: It doesn't look it but it is extremely heavy. It has a...

www.audiosciencereview.com

It's kind of sad to pay $20k and have to do extensive EQ. Not what I expect from TAD.

 

[enricoclaudio]

It's kind of sad to pay $20k and have to do extensive EQ. Not what I expect from TAD.

Not what you expect from any company’s $20K speaker….

 

[fpitas]

Not what you expect from any company’s $20K speaker….

You'd think so, but we've seen some fascinating speaker FRs come through here.

 

[ssashton]

JBL adds mysterious lumps to their modern horns and waveguides, under the guidance of computer modeling. One assumes it gives the desired dispersion pattern.

You mean the 'Image Control Waveguides"?

These are rather different to the lump on the pioneer

IIRC these can basically be decomposed as two waveguides with one rotated 45 degrees. The goal being to have less directivity loss in horizontal and vertical axis, but shift the loss to a 45 degree axis, which arguable is just playing the game based on how speaker measurments are usually done (focusing on horizontal and vertical, not a full sphear).

P.s. this thread has so much info I can't even find half of what I recall reading. https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/acoustic-horn-design-the-easy-way-ath4.338806/page-49

 

[mathman]

They could've been made in Atlantis and it still wouldn't change a thing.
Mediocre performance for its price with a lackluster design, IMHO.

 

[Mnyb]

You'd think so, but we've seen some fascinating speaker FRs come through here.

O yes from Wilson or Zu or other cargo cult designs but is not TAD a real speaker company , cabable of doing real engineering , they engineered all the drivers themselfs ? So the total product is a bit perplexing ? And it’s probably a better speaker than I have rigth now , but the price ?

 

[fpitas]

O yes from Wilson or Zu or other cargo cult designs but is not TAD a real speaker company , cabable of doing real engineering , they engineered all the drivers themselfs ? So the total product is a bit perplexing ? And it’s probably a better speaker than I have rigth now , but the price ?

Yes, and I'm not sure any of us TAD sorts expected this kind of performance from TAD. The price however doesn't surprise me.

 

[Mnyb]

I’m also a little biased against the 2,5 way design with two 6,5” bass/midbass concept. It’s what my Meridian 5200 are the concept has limitations, what saves midrange clarity for me is up mixing with trifield and using a center channel and sides....

 

[pierre]

Score	out of the box	w/EQ
out of the box	6.0	6.8
w/ perfect subwoofer	7.3	8.0

I will not comment on the price. I didn't read the thread yet but clearly they know what they are doing: DI is outstanding. And linear DI means great opportunity to EQ.
Let's do a simple EQ to flatten the listening window (orange curve):

EQ for TAD Evolution 2 computed from ASR data
Preference Score 6.0 with EQ 6.8
Generated from http://github.com/pierreaubert/spinorama/generate_peqs.py v0.16
Dated: 2022-11-08-21:00:14

Preamp: -4.4 dB

Filter  1: ON PK Fc  8925 Hz Gain -2.27 dB Q 1.93
Filter  2: ON PK Fc  2540 Hz Gain +1.86 dB Q 2.85
Filter  3: ON PK Fc   601 Hz Gain -3.59 dB Q 1.64
Filter  4: ON PK Fc  6638 Hz Gain -0.51 dB Q 1.55
Filter  5: ON PK Fc    34 Hz Gain +4.24 dB Q 0.81
Filter  6: ON PK Fc   120 Hz Gain -0.99 dB Q 2.92
Filter  7: ON PK Fc    43 Hz Gain -0.55 dB Q 2.96
Filter  8: ON PK Fc    55 Hz Gain +0.55 dB Q 0.61
Filter  9: ON PK Fc    45 Hz Gain -0.62 dB Q 2.97

 

[fpitas]

You mean the 'Image Control Waveguides"?
View attachment 242028
These are rather different to the lump on the pioneer

IIRC these can basically be decomposed as two waveguides with one rotated 45 degrees. The goal being to have less directivity loss in horizontal and vertical axis, but shift the loss to a 45 degree axis, which arguable is just playing the game based on how speaker measurments are usually done (focusing on horizontal and vertical, not a full sphear).

P.s. this thread has so much info I can't even find half of what I recall reading. https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/acoustic-horn-design-the-easy-way-ath4.338806/page-49

I was thinking of the 4367 horn in particular, but yeah, image control.