Full TAD System Experience at AV Designs

All my Hi-F friends know that I am nuts about all things TAD. So, a few weeks ago, when I was told by AV Designs' Tony that they were putting up a complete TAD system for demo, I made a beeline for it.

The complete TAD system from source to amplifiers to loudspeakers. TAD is one of those rare Hi-Fi brands that have the technological prowess to cover the entire Hi-Fi equipment chain

The TAD-D600 CD/SACD player which also came with digital inputs (S/PDIF on RCA and  AES/EBU on XLR), was acting both as a disc player and a DAC 

From top, the Bryston BDP-3 Digital Music Player which was used to stream music files to the TAD-D600's built in DAC; the TAD-C2000 per-amp; the TAD-M2500 power amp

TAD-C2000 pre-amp

The TAD-M2500 power amp. 250w into 8ohm, 500w into 4ohm. This is a class-D amplifier that employs a linear power supply, it is heavy and runs warm. Its sound defied all my previous impression of class-D sound (i.e., precise, lean and somewhat dry), I can't tell it apart from a well-designed class AB amplifier

The TAD-CR1 mkII loudspeakers. These TAD Compact Reference speakers, to me, were definitely the star of the show   

The about only distinguishable outward feature of the mkII from the original CR1 is the texture of the bass cone, which on the mkII has a kind of a weave pattern and is matte looking

 

My listening experience with this TAD system didn't disappoint, nay, it was much more than that, it was very impressive.

Despite its size relative to the showroom which has a floor area of 800 sqft, the TAD-CR1 filled the huge space with well defined, rich, and very balanced sound from top to bottom. 

First time listeners to a TAD system would never fail to be impressed by the marque's expression of dynamic contrast, speed and attack, and this system demonstrated these qualities in spade. However, once one got over this, one would also start to appreciate that these TADs were capable of much delicacy, subtleties and nuances too. Their capabilities with both the macro and micro stuff were what gripped the listeners' attention and led them to listen on and on. 

I captured a video clip of the TAD system in action with my phone which was then compressed by whatsapp. Even through a compressed recording I believe you could still make out this system's ease and control in terms of its dynamic expression while not losing out on timbral richness. 

AV Designs is putting some of the TAD equipment on special offers. If you are interested contacted them at 03-62411237.