Congrats...having heard the mighty R1s in Japan, i know a little of what you speak...a truly great speaker. And like the Magicos, my preference would be to run them with electronics that have a voice like Zanden, and in your case Viva sounds like an great one. Enjoy!
Amplification options with TAD speakers
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After more than a year with the CR1's I continue to be amazed by them on a daily basis. I still get the same 'wow' moment I got on the first day when I first installed them. I have not compared them to recent SOTA speaker suspects but no other speaker I have heard even gets anywhere close to the extent of their performance envelope. I also could not be happier with these speakers!
I've heard the R1s with TAD's monoblocks, the big VTLs and some cheap Bel Canto amp. Anyway, the R1s sounded better to my ears with the Bel Canto than it did with the other ones, although the TAD units were great. It's hard for me to say that I liked the Bel Cantos because I'm a tube guy who definitely has a general overall bias against digital amplifiers, but I heard what I heard.
Quite honestly, the VTLs didn't do it for me with these speakers. There was some midrange issue that I couldn't get past, and I am reasonably sure the amp/speaker combination was the cause of it. I've heard stellar sound from VTLs, but not that time.
Great synergy between TAD Reference and Lamm M1.2 at Axpona in Chicago.
I knew how Odysseus felt sailing past the sirens. He tied himself to the mast of the ship, but I just kept coming back to the room...
TAD Reference 1 also sounded great with a $6K amp called an Innamorata Amplifier. Even this "modestly priced" amp was able to resolve the quietest details of the recordings.
On another floor, the CR1 was driven by the Devaliet. Great combo, but obviously a big difference between the 2 speakers in the TAD family.
I knew how Odysseus felt sailing past the sirens. He tied himself to the mast of the ship, but I just kept coming back to the room...
TAD Reference 1 also sounded great with a $6K amp called an Innamorata Amplifier. Even this "modestly priced" amp was able to resolve the quietest details of the recordings.
On another floor, the CR1 was driven by the Devaliet. Great combo, but obviously a big difference between the 2 speakers in the TAD family.
Caesar, these look like interesting amp pairings, thanks for sharing.
I have also heard the devaliet - it is not a good pairing with tad ref speakers (or other garbage-in-garbage-out speakers for that matter).
I have also heard the devaliet - it is not a good pairing with tad ref speakers (or other garbage-in-garbage-out speakers for that matter).
I often heard G amps in other systems, not with Tads.
I am of the opinion G (all models) have a tubish-like, little mellow coloration, I am not sure if this is ok associated with the absolute tranparency of the Tad's.
If we speak of SS, I prefere the combination with Boulder Amps, excellent match with Tad, imho
In the next days I'll report about R1 + big Vivas Aurora directly at my home, in a middle sized room.. Let's see..
Have you heard ALL Gryphon models ? that is rare
After seeing close up shots of the Axpona show, it appeared the amps (yes they were connected) were Lamm M2.2s, the twice as powerful hybrid brother of the more famous M1.2 Reference.
Scott (parttimeaudiophile)reports here:
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/axpona-2013-part-2/
confirmed
I am pondering the purchase of a PASS Labs X150.8 amp to drive TAD CR1's in a fairly good sized room. The preamp it will be paired with is the Atma-sphere MP1 balanced tube preamp. I don't generally play that loud, but there are times I do. Any opinions? I won't be able to arrange a home demo as my dealer doesn't stock the unit, and even if I could demo it, it would be on a totally different system, so I don't feel it will inform me much.
If you have a local Pass dealer, Reno HiFi may not be able to sell to you. However, if you don't or you just want some advice, give Mark a call. He will answer any questions that you may have and he may be able to send you an X150.8 for a two week audition period. I think Pass and TAD would be a good match. I don't know about Pass/Atma-sphere. I'd write Ralph and ask.
I had M1s and now R1s, and owned Spectral 360s, very smooth but a little lean; Pass 600.5, richer sounding but not as detailed and had a certain sound I didn't quite like; MSB 200 monos, terrific sounding, very well balanced; Bel Canto Ref 1000s, great for the money. Now I have the Constellation monos. By far the best amp I've owned, including Cello and Levinson amps that I owned before the TADs. Second best for my ears would be either the Spectral or MSB.
Actually running the Classe Omega Monoblocks. Great soundstage, but dark and slow sound. Old school?
To revive this great thread, has anyone had any of these on their ref1s-
Lamm, bat , Zanden, accuphase?
What have been your findings?
Lamm, bat , Zanden, accuphase?
What have been your findings?
I use Hegel H30 for the summer and ARC REF250 for the winter to drive my E1's. I bet running H30 in mono will be interesting on your R1.
D'Agostino just introduced Momentum M400 that's worth investigating.
http://wizard-highend.blogspot.com/2015/11/dan-dagostino-momentum-m400-power.html
I thought Zesto gear sounded excellent with TADs at the Newport shows - better than TAD's own electronics actually. I really prefer tubes with TADs.
I've heard Zesto/TAD several times at RMAF and thought the demo AJ did in 2013 with the Evo towers and all TAD gear was far superior to any of the Zesto/TAD systems. By a mile...
Funny, I thought AJ's demo in a large room at Newport was all hifi, no music.
Just goes to show you rooms and opinions are different.
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