So, after I put up the TSM-2201 loudspeakers in my listening room, I proceeded to experiment with their positioning. My options were limited though, as my main speakers, the TAD-CR1s were still in their original positions.. The final position that I arrived at for the TSM-2201 was slightly in front of the TAD-CR1 loudspeakers, which freed and opened up their sound somewhat, and with a slight toe-in, which sharpened the image focus a bit.
After a couple of weeks of running and listening to the
TSM-2201s, I believe I can encapsulate and summarize
their performance in one word: "Honest". They basically don’t have much character of their own, their raison d’etre is to faithfully reproduce the signal fed to them, and I meant not only from the recordings, but also from the equipment that is feeding them.
Let me elaborate more. My impression of the TSM-2201 is that they are of very low distortion and very low colouration. They don't favour any particular part of the frequency spectrum. meaning that they don’t have any hump/boost built into their frequency response to give an impression of big bass, or to have an emphasis on the vocal range, or to produce a dark or a sweet or a brilliant treble region. They pretty much have a linear frequency response.
The TSM-2201's sound reproduction is coherent and its detail retrieval is simply excellent at this price range. They handle dynamics with aplomb, which can’t be said of all mini monitors.
Solo piano recordings can be a big challenge to many system. As the piano covers almost the entire frequency range for music, any significant unevenness in a replay system will make the notes sound as if they are not coming from the same instrument. In addition, piano is a percussive instrument, therefore the loudspeakers' transient and dynamic capabilities are important. The sound from a piano is also harmonically rich and complex so the loudspeaker's ability to portray details, as captured in the recording, is critical for the complete listening experience.
Listen to this recording of solo piano (made with a handheld iPhone SE) below, from George Winston's "Autumn" album, track 3 "Longing/Love". I found the TSM-2201's handing of it exemplary. The nuances in George Winston's playing was clearly delivered, the piano's tonal colour pretty much matched what I am used to hearing on a real life piano, I could imagine a piano playing in front of me. The only nit picking I had was on the piano left hand, the bass notes were clean but I'd wish for more weight, this is of course limited by the TSM-2201's size.
The TSM-2201's imaging is sharp and clear, but not etchy, and the image size and soundstage were realistically portrayed. They can go loud and I believe they could fill up smaller room with no issue. My mid-sized listening room (15ft x 22ft x 9ft wdh) could be filled up adequately with simpler music (vocals, jazz, smaller ensemble). I could make them struggle with big orchestral work, but not with this track from Reference Recordings' "Tutti" SACD, track 1 "Dance of the Tumblers". The dynamics, attack and soundstage spread were all there, it was a satisfying listening experience for me. Take a listen to this recording made on my iPhone SE:
As the TSM-2201 is revealing, the upstream equipment matched to it and also the acoustic environment it plays in become important. This may entail a bit more work on the owner's part, but you will be rewarded once you get this right. I have heard the TSM-2201 tipping into aggressive territory when partnered with equipment renowned for its relentless drive. Bright or rough sounding partners would also render the TSM-2201 sounding overly bright. My smaller amplifiers, the Pass Labs Aleph 3 and Musical Fidelity A1, both class A amps, worked very well, even the humble NAD316BEE integrated amplifier was a great match too.
At the end of the day, whether an audiophile loves the TSM-2201 would depend on his/her philosophy towards his/her sound system. Are you the kind who has a sonic
“target” in your mind and wants audio equipment that can sculpt or beautify your
system’s sound reproduction to your liking? Or, is your aim
to hear what has been put down in the recordings, and you believe that audio
equipment should, as much as possible, not impose their signature on the
musical message, but instead, should just be faithful and aim to reproduce the unvarnished truth,
as per what’s on the recordings?
My experience with TAD is that its audio equipment veer heavily to the latter. The TSM-2201 is no exception. Since my personal liking is also of the latter, if anyone were to ask me whether the TSM-2201 sounds good, my answer would be, "I found the TSM-2201 to sound very very good!"
Time and again, I found myself getting bored quickly with audio equipment that imposes too heavy a sonic fingerprint on its reproduction, though the sound can be very good on first listen, different recordings would start to have the same sound over the long haul. And when an audiophile gets bored, he/she starts to look for something else and thus the cycle of equipment change goes on.
On the other hand, when I come across equipment that are more faithful to the source, such as TAD, I started to realize that there was so much enjoyment to be had from listening to the music, the artists’ performance, and the recordings themselves, rather than listening to the equipment. I was surprised time and again by the varieties of sound from different recording labels, different artists, different bands / orchestras which enhanced my music experience and my listening enjoyment tremendously.
At the end, will you find the TSM-2201 tempting? You decide. Let me leave you with this local recording of 2V1G, from their 3rd album "Tempting Heart", track 8 "Feminine as Flower 女人花".
TAD is carried by AV Designs in Malaysia, phone: 03-62411237.
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