• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

TAD Evolution 2 Speaker Review

Rate this speaker:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 66 15.1%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 208 47.6%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther

    Votes: 149 34.1%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 14 3.2%

  • Total voters
    437

Purité Audio

Master Contributor
Industry Insider
Barrowmaster
Forum Donor
Joined
Feb 29, 2016
Messages
9,050
Likes
12,148
Location
London
16 pages of criticism and not a single post with first hand experience about how they sound?
As others have pointed out, the directivity is pretty smooth. And there’s a presence dip, which isn’t always a bad thing. Flame suit on.
Why would you bother auditioning, when there are better and far cheaper options available, isn’t that the whole point of measurement separating the wheat from the chaff?
Keith
 

Sokel

Master Contributor
Joined
Sep 8, 2021
Messages
5,840
Likes
5,774
Why would you bother auditioning, when there are better and far cheaper options available, isn’t that the whole point of measurement separating the wheat from the chaff?
Keith
I generaly agree but as Amir says we go for the rest 30%.
 

Suffolkhifinut

Major Contributor
Joined
Dec 8, 2021
Messages
1,224
Likes
2,027
16 pages of criticism and not a single post with first hand experience about how they sound?
As others have pointed out, the directivity is pretty smooth. And there’s a presence dip, which isn’t always a bad thing. Flame suit on.
Agree with your comments on it being condemned over its appearance, I include myself in that! However appearance does matter, if it didn’t we wouldn’t be saddled with anorexic looking speakers. Years ago had a pair of Wharfedale speakers with huge woofers in infinite baffle cabinets. Very few on the market now, it isn’t unusual to see several drivers working in tandem to get a similar bass output, or passive bass radiators (the devil’s spawn). Multiple drivers can never work together harmoniously due to manufacturing tolerances coming into play.
 
Last edited:

Adi777

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Apr 14, 2022
Messages
689
Likes
458
I agree. We have a let down with this speaker, but this is a company that created some of coolest (and possibly performant) speakers of all time. I'd suggest that thinking TAD is "meh" is a bit of an overshoot. I mean... behold:

PIONEER%2BEXCLUSIVE%2B2401%2B%252801%2529.jpg


View attachment 243500

View attachment 243497

View attachment 243498

A
What is the name of the TAD model in the second photo? I'm seeing him for the first time.
 

muslhead

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
May 28, 2020
Messages
1,560
Likes
1,718
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.
No need to beg. The answer is the market.
It is what the market will bear
 

muslhead

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
May 28, 2020
Messages
1,560
Likes
1,718
Since Amir's priorities have given us more time to focus on this speaker, would like to share a bit of my experience having been on the other side of pricing debates. One of my earlier products would be considered high-end and was premium-priced. I had a wise friend on our negotiations team that was fond of reminding me "once you lower your price, you'll never get it back to the higher price point". With a given customer, this was almost always true.

While most of us lament over what appears to be price gouging, it may just be a new market for the manufacturer and (in TAD's case), it might be that they are seeking to gain some entry into a higher volume market. In my later years, I ended up working on a newer, more value-oriented product that served a very competitive, higher volume market. While I did get my management to market a free version of the software, any time a feature simply sniffed like it might cannibalize the more premium high-end offering, management got all bunged up. So, I can see why TAD or any other management team might behave comparably. Even if I could show that volumes might be healthy and help prevent competitive erosion, it is very difficult for management to risk (even potentially) cannibalizing their existing revenue stream. I can see how the same behaviors might be in play here.

So, it may not be this TAD speaker fits the particular scenario I just outlined, but just thought it might be useful to walk in someone else's shoes. You may find that their situation is not just a simple money grab. As we all know, speakers are a very competitive market. Mess up your margins and you may not be around for long.:oops:
Rick
Please stop with the common sense and talking from a business understand reference point, very few here will get it and will only get you nasty replies :)
 

delta76

Major Contributor
Joined
Nov 27, 2021
Messages
1,613
Likes
2,452
16 pages of criticism and not a single post with first hand experience about how they sound?
As others have pointed out, the directivity is pretty smooth. And there’s a presence dip, which isn’t always a bad thing. Flame suit on.
because how they sound is subjective and one people preference is not the same as other?
on other hands the measurements, the finish quality can be criticized objectively.

The speaker is not bad, objectively. But relatively to the price, there are better options for much cheaper price. I think that's the most common criticism.
 

Vhond

Active Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2021
Messages
127
Likes
23
because how they sound is subjective and one people preference is not the same as other?
on other hands the measurements, the finish quality can be criticized objectively.

The speaker is not bad, objectively. But relatively to the price, there are better options for much cheaper price. I think that's the most common criticism.
Please name them...
 

delta76

Major Contributor
Joined
Nov 27, 2021
Messages
1,613
Likes
2,452

Vhond

Active Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2021
Messages
127
Likes
23
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?pages/Reviews/
if you search by Tower, you will find tower speakers that were measured here. For example https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/revel-f208-tower-speaker-review.13192/ which is much cheaper and is also better measured.

If you expand your search to beyond ones that were reviewed by Amir, then there are so much more.
The highest score for the reviewed speakers is 7,2 (I would say from 8 on to 10 it would be really good)...
 

delta76

Major Contributor
Joined
Nov 27, 2021
Messages
1,613
Likes
2,452
The highest score for the reviewed speakers is 7,2 (I would say from 8 on to 10 it would be really good)...
You must be kidding...

But ignore that for now, those are some better yet much cheaper tower speakers than this.
 

Vhond

Active Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2021
Messages
127
Likes
23
You must be kidding...

But ignore that for now, those are some better yet much cheaper tower speakers than this.
I think I don't understand your reply (I am used to the Dutch system where a 7 is really ok, but from 8 on to 10 "you're really talking".
Maybe I don't understand why there are no higher preference scores given in the review index??
 

Vacceo

Major Contributor
Joined
Mar 9, 2022
Messages
2,632
Likes
2,751
Actually, you misunderstand Perlisten's design goal - its horizontal directivity is well controlled and excellent - these are intended to be narrow dispersion speakers for multi-channel home theater use where you want to minimize (1) wall reflections and (2) interference with nearby speakers. If for stereo application, then indeed you would want wide dispersion speakers, but for multi-channel applications then these Perlisten speakers are the way to go.

Speakers that are great for stereo use are not necessarily ideal for multi-channel use and vice versa.
You are the person to ask as you have two excellent multichannel systems. So here it goes: Genelec or Perlisten? ;)

Nuanced answers such as "depends on what you want" are absolutely welcome!
 

BrokenEnglishGuy

Major Contributor
Joined
Jul 19, 2020
Messages
1,914
Likes
1,147
I think I don't understand your reply (I am used to the Dutch system where a 7 is really ok, but from 8 on to 10 "you're really talking".
Maybe I don't understand why there are no higher preference scores given in the review index??
Because you need to add the subwoofer.
 

Eetu

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 11, 2020
Messages
763
Likes
1,180
Location
Helsinki
I think I don't understand your reply (I am used to the Dutch system where a 7 is really ok, but from 8 on to 10 "you're really talking".
Maybe I don't understand why there are no higher preference scores given in the review index??
I think you should read about the Olive score a little bit.. This discussion is a good one and here (pdf) is the algorithm it's based on.

Amongst the Klippel NFS measurements done by either Amir or Erin, currently the best scoring speaker is the Kii Three with a score of 7.6 (no sub, no EQ). 10 is a theoretical max score which cannot be achieved in real world.
 

Arc Acoustics

Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2021
Messages
74
Likes
53
Location
Japan
10 is a theoretical max score which cannot be achieved in real world.
Nah, theoretically speaking, the score is unlimited.
10 is a theoretical max of "with sub".
 

Eetu

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 11, 2020
Messages
763
Likes
1,180
Location
Helsinki
Nah, theoretically speaking, the score is unlimited.
10 is a theoretical max of "with sub".
IIRC a speaker that's flat down to 20Hz with a 'smoothness' of 1 achieves a preference score of 10. (Edit: forgot to mention PIR..)
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom