TAD Evolution 2 Speaker Review

[fredoamigo]

There is just no excuse for a 20k speaker to have this performance. Though they look kind of pretty, almost every larger Genelec speaker far outperforms.

That's not the point, and there are much better speakers for the price, but what bothers me is that I get the impression that these speakers are only criticized for the price they are sold for, and not for their intrinsic qualities or defects.
It reminds me of the action of environmentalists here in France who trash golf courses and prevent private jets from taking off because they would necessarily become the ideal culprits of global warming!
here the TAD would become a kind of ideal culprit sold 20K is not really SOTA!

 

[anphex]

Price and value/performance for me will always be intertwined.

What would you tell a customer he gets for his money when it's not superb performance(here average or below) or design(here pretty nice, but nothing revolutionary)? Extra tight and shiny screws?

No one blamed TAD for the price, but it begs the question WHERE does that price tag come from when it's not in the performance.

 

[eddantes]

All this debate about price/performance! Why? Lets just cut to the chase...

Thers no freakin way a 20K speaker is allowed to look like a BestBuy special.
End of Story

 

[Robbo99999]

I don't understand why would anyone vote anything different then "poor". How is a sonically imperfect product for $20k (btw is it for a pair?) 'Not terrible', 'fine', or 'great'? If that is what the audience think, then the audience get what it deserves. I wonder what is the thinking behind that votes? We should expect good engineering at $100K?

Well I voted "Fine", and I normally pan expensive gear that measures just ok; however, with this speaker the distortion values are very impressive (for 86dB at least, and still good for 96dB), and the directivity is very good combined with a frequency response that is smooth (free of nasty resonances) and so those two things make a very EQ'able speaker - so these speakers are likely to be very impressive once EQ'd (praps one of the best measured here)........so that's why I voted "Fine" as it obviously couldn't get a "Great" rating due to the stock frequency response being imperfect and the high price.

 

[Suffolkhifinut]

Ironically the Kudos speakers tend to measure “poorly” as well. They take a design by ear approach and it shows up in some wonky measurements, especially peaks in the highs.

At the same time I kind of envy you: I have really enjoyed Kudos speakers. I even went out of my way to audition the Titan series when I visited Britain several years ago.
Previously I’d really liked the X3 and Super20!

Kudos and Neat two very closely related companies take a design by ear approach. Heard the Titan 606s partnered with
Naim electronics at a show a few years ago the sound was too etched for my taste. They come from the same sounding stable as Naim, partnered with more neutral sounding electronics Kudos speakers are superb and they do look worth the money.

 

[BlackTalon]

Price and value/performance for me will always be intertwined.

What would you tell a customer he gets for his money when it's not superb performance(here average or below) or design(here pretty nice, but nothing revolutionary)? Extra tight and shiny screws?

No one blamed TAD for the price, but it begs the question WHERE does that price tag come from when it's not in the performance.

Rather than a single ASR rating, it would be useful to have two for each product -- one for the overall technical merits, and one for value. There are already two ratings for headphones/ earbuds (w/o and w/ equalization); having two for DACs, amps, speakers, etc. would be useful.

 

[DMill]

I must be the only one who doesn’t find these speakers ugly. They are understated and very traditional and would blend nicely into many rooms. Not everyone wants some giant Wilson Alexx in their rooms that to me look like something out of Aliens. The problem I have with it has nothing to do with what’s on the outside or the price tag. It’s what’s in the box that has me thinking TAD has done better in the past. Why the step back in performance?

 

[Mnyb]

Some “value” measurement ? I’m still wondering if making a slim 2,5 way is the most effective way to build a 20k speaker even if it is a good one . Like for example very expensive bookshelf speakers ? What’s the meaning of those you should already geared up to a 3 way tower already for serious money.

 

[Suffolkhifinut]

I must be the only one who doesn’t find these speakers ugly. They are understated and very traditional and would blend nicely into many rooms. Not everyone wants some giant Wilson Alexx in their rooms that to me look like something out of Aliens. The problem I have with it has nothing to do with what’s on the outside or the price tag. It’s what’s in the box that has me thinking TAD has done better in the past. Why the step back in performance?

Wouldn’t say they look ugly, just bland.

 

[eddantes]

$20K (CAD?) speakers that don't look exotic, but at least try to look the price... Oh, and as for performance... well...

So... Deepest apologies to TAD, but in all respects it's a sad-sack of a product - satisfying only the "exclusivity" metric and little else.

 

[MattHooper]

Kudos and Neat two very closely related companies take a design by ear approach. Heard the Titan 606s partnered with
Naim electronics at a show a few years ago the sound was too etched for my taste. They come from the same sounding stable as Naim, partnered with more neutral sounding electronics Kudos speakers are superb and they do look worth the money.

I found the 606s a bit too etched sounding too!

As for Neat, my local Kudos dealer switched over to Neat speakers instead. He gave me a demo of his new line and...oh my god, they were among the worst sounding speakers I've ever heard! What a step back IMO. I didn't have the heart to tell him just how bad they were, but I did indicate I was sorry to see the Kudos line go.

 

[Suffolkhifinut]

I found the 606s a bit too etched sounding too!

As for Neat, my local Kudos dealer switched over to Neat speakers instead. He gave me a demo of his new line and...oh my god, they were among the worst sounding speakers I've ever heard! What a step back IMO. I didn't have the heart to tell him just how bad they were, but I did indicate I was sorry to see the Kudos line go.

Found exactly the same auditioned some Neat speakers didn’t like them at all. Think it’s telling at HiFi shows Kudos have replaced Neat speakers.

 

[Gremlins]

Look at what sonus farber 20k speaker look like, at least you get much nicer lookkng furniture for your living room, and bonus its plays music too

 

[Matsuo Mayu]

At the price range of around US $20,000, can get a better performance floorstanding with same Be tweeter...which say like Perlisten s7t.
Totally beat TAD off.
Heard it at a Audio show, quite amazing.
Better than those speakers several times more expensive than s7t.


The official published specs & test as below.

https://perlistenaudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/tech-sheet_S7t_v20210216.pdf

 

[Arc Acoustics]

Perlisten does not have valid waveguides for mid so horizontal dispersion is not that good.
In short, the DPC thing is just a gimmick for someone who can't make a proper coincident driver.
So, I still dreaming of a loudspeaker which has a slightly finer tonal texture than 83*1 but with Genelec's sophisticated technology.

 

[Adi777]

Better than those speakers several times more expensive than s7t.

Several times? Which speakers?

 

[Vhond]

All this debate about price/performance! Why? Lets just cut to the chase...

View attachment 242850

Thers no freakin way a 20K speaker is allowed to look like a BestBuy special.
End of Story

Yeah or really name a speaker of this price which is worth it?!

 

[beagleman]

That's not the point, and there are much better speakers for the price, but what bothers me is that I get the impression that these speakers are only criticized for the price they are sold for, and not for their intrinsic qualities or defects.
It reminds me of the action of environmentalists here in France who trash golf courses and prevent private jets from taking off because they would necessarily become the ideal culprits of global warming!
here the TAD would become a kind of ideal culprit sold 20K is not really SOTA!

But they are consumer "PRODUCTS", not works of art or nature to simply adore.

I look at performance first. Not bad.
Then I look at, would I even consider a purchase.......Not even a remote chance.

 

[807Recordings]

Jewelry: they are not as usually (some exceptions) requires some sort of valuable material (gold, diamonds, etc).
Art: Surely not as it comes from no passion or expression from an individual (or group) having a meaning. Corp Art is not art either.
Product: They are and should be judged on performance and appeal. Good value is highly subjective when you have money to burn. There is many a multi million dollar house with some very high end brand name kitchens and appliances that perform poorly. Even my little custom kitchen with some high end brands fell to this.
Let us be real here and recognize though a nice cabinet on a speaker is usually just some veneered MDF and even the well machines binding posts have no real big monetary value.

 

[Matsuo Mayu]

Several times? Which speakers?

Marten Estelon Stenheim etc...Relatively famous Brands of Hi-End you could name.
Just my subjective view