TAD CR-1 Review Hifi Plus, October 2012

Thanks for posting that review JD. I noticed the CR-1's extend higher to 100kHz, but don't dig as deep as the Coltrane Alto's (24Hz). It's always interesting to see how the pro's and con's weigh up in a side by side comparison.

[Sweetmusic69]

Originally Posted by jdebonth

I heard the CR1's with the TAD C2000/M2500 last weekend and I was hugely impressed. Impossible to compare to my own system (CR1's with 911mk3) as the room, acoustics and loudspeaker positioning was completely different.

Joost

How different was the size of the listening room compared to your own?
What were the major differences that stood out for you?

In my experience the TAD C2000 dac delivers a appreciable leap in performance over the Weiss Medea dac's presentation, it digs deeper into the recordings, generating greater texture and palpable depth. Also imbibing a musical flow that makes the Weiss equipment somewhat sound sterile and two dimensional. Whilst quality units without question, Weiss to me majors on a more studio orientated sound which does appeal to many people.

The Burmester 911 MK III V's the TAD 2500, again a personal choice, for realism the TAD no contest. For a powerful engineered, touch warm sound with great dynamic's and articulation then 911's

Possibly too simplistic a view?
Maybe however both a fine examples of the amplification breed and both have strong ownership appeal

I do agree with Joe, the Burmester take almost as long as the Esoteric equipment to fully come of age.

Lately I have been in the company of Burmester more often than my own equipment due to current business commitments.

The conclusion I have drawn for this:

Burmester has a house sound (more so the high up the ranges you traverse) engineered to sound expensive like a top of the line Bentley Mulsanne, opulent, expansive, sumptuous and grandiose.

Much like the build quality from the legendary UK marque, Burmester delivers in both constructional aspects and sound quality alike.

There in like the rub for me, sonically it’s too well engineered, designed to sound they way a great many people would feel "Hey, that’s how great hifi sound like"

Burmester a well thought out and contrived sound with a dash of bling through in the sonic melting pot for good measure.

To quote one of the best northern American exports "Take heart sports fans" I am not damning the Burmester with faint praise, make no mistake it produces a damn fine sound that many will find intoxicating and desirable.

Like a great many German projects, the engineering skills on display are beyond reproach, built to outlast a Star-trek franchise, appeal to the West Coast in-set and New England elite alike.
Throw in the million dollars looks, all be it in a downtown Bronx finest illicit substance entrepreneurs kind of way .

Joking aside for a moment how is your Vac pre shaping up Joe

Any firm conclusions drawn yet Joe?


David

[joeinid]

Originally Posted by Sweetmusic69

Joost

edit ...

The Burmester 911 MK III V's the TAD 2500, again a personal choice, for realism the TAD no contest. For a powerful engineered, touch warm sound with great dynamic's and articulation then 911's

Possibly too simplistic a view?
Maybe however both a fine examples of the amplification breed and both have strong ownership appeal

I do agree with Joe, the Burmester take almost as long as the Esoteric equipment to fully come of age.

edit ...

Joking aside for a moment how is your Vac pre shaping up Joe

Any firm conclusions drawn yet Joe?


David

Hi David,

My stereo 911mk3 was a dealer demo. I was spoiled. It sounded great out of the box. My 911mk3 monos are STILL breaking in but definitely reached a much needed turning point. A touch sweeter and smoother - so very welcome on my TADs. I've heard from others upwards of 1000 hours for full break in to happen. You are 100% correct, a house sound does exist and depending on the speakers, can be wonderful or tiring.

The VAC is still a couple of weeks out, at least. I'll keep you posted.

[Sweetmusic69]

Hi Joe

The running / burn in issue seems to be more previlent with more desirable equipment.

My CR-1's are close to 1200 hours now, I am absolutely certain they went through a final settling period around 800 hours.

The M600 mono's are making the presence felt in a good way, the depth and texture they elude is quite breath taking whilst demonstrating what seems like limitless headroom.

I did have the chance to compare a 111 and a TAD D600 last week, very interesting indeed!

Are you looking to move to a 111 Joe?


David

[joeinid]

Originally Posted by Sweetmusic69

Hi Joe

The running / burn in issue seems to be more previlent with more desirable equipment.

My CR-1's are close to 1200 hours now, I am absolutely certain they went through a final settling period around 800 hours.

The M600 mono's are making the presence felt in a good way, the depth and texture they elude is quite breath taking whilst demonstrating what seems like limitless headroom.

I did have the chance to compare a 111 and a TAD D600 last week, very interesting indeed!

Are you looking to move to a 111 Joe?


David

That is absolutely true. Once you break through to the other side though, it is very wonderful.

I am still considering the 111. Maybe a Mark II version I still want to give it more time. I am not convinced updates/fixes will come quickly enough. Sure it wil always be superb (hopefully) but digital is a moving target. I love my EMM Labs DAC2X (for 30% of the price) and if a suitable music server makes itself known, I will look at that solution. The 111 is the main reason I sold the 077 and still have the 911 monos. I remain hopeful the 111 will fulfill its destiny.

[jdebonth]

Originally Posted by Sweetmusic69

Joost
How different was the size of the listening room compared to your own?
What were the major differences that stood out for you?
In my experience the TAD C2000 dac delivers a appreciable leap in performance over the Weiss Medea dac's presentation, it digs deeper into the recordings, generating greater texture and palpable depth. Also imbibing a musical flow that makes the Weiss equipment somewhat sound sterile and two dimensional. Whilst quality units without question, Weiss to me majors on a more studio orientated sound which does appeal to many people.
The Burmester 911 MK III V's the TAD 2500, again a personal choice, for realism the TAD no contest. For a powerful engineered, touch warm sound with great dynamic's and articulation then 911's
Possibly too simplistic a view?
Maybe however both a fine examples of the amplification breed and both have strong ownership appeal
I do agree with Joe, the Burmester take almost as long as the Esoteric equipment to fully come of age.
Lately I have been in the company of Burmester more often than my own equipment due to current business commitments.
The conclusion I have drawn for this:
Burmester has a house sound (more so the high up the ranges you traverse) engineered to sound expensive like a top of the line Bentley Mulsanne, opulent, expansive, sumptuous and grandiose.
Much like the build quality from the legendary UK marque, Burmester delivers in both constructional aspects and sound quality alike.
There in like the rub for me, sonically it’s too well engineered, designed to sound they way a great many people would feel "Hey, that’s how great hifi sound like"
Burmester a well thought out and contrived sound with a dash of bling through in the sonic melting pot for good measure.
To quote one of the best northern American exports "Take heart sports fans" I am not damning the Burmester with faint praise, make no mistake it produces a damn fine sound that many will find intoxicating and desirable.
Like a great many German projects, the engineering skills on display are beyond reproach, built to outlast a Star-trek franchise, appeal to the West Coast in-set and New England elite alike.
Throw in the million dollars looks, all be it in a downtown Bronx finest illicit substance entrepreneurs kind of way .
Joking aside for a moment how is your Vac pre shaping up Joe
Any firm conclusions drawn yet Joe?
David

David,

Thanks for the colorful perspective on the two amps. When I auditioned the CR1's with the C2000/M2500 it was at an audio show where the system was setup by TAD, I would estimate the room to have been a factor 2-3 of my own in terms of volume. I was sitting in the middle of the front row of seats, the speaker/listener triangle was obviously a fair bit larger than what I have at home and there was a bit more distance between the speakers then how I have them set up. The presenter did a great job and played some interesting tracks via the USB input, some of which I was familiar with.

I felt the system did certain things I was not getting from my system back home. Notably on some classical pieces (particularly Baba yaga from Mussorgsky's pictures of an exhibition) the expansive dimensionality of the sound-stage, and spatial placement of instruments really stood out, I was able to look around and picture the concert hall in front of me. I believe this difference to be attributed to the room rather than the components. The C2000 may have played a role as well since as you mentioned it bests the Medea in palpable depth, this is pretty much bang on what I heard.

In any case, impossible to draw firm conclusions at this stage - I will try to seek out further auditions of the TAD gear and hopefully be able to arrange it in my own home. My local dealer has the above combo on demo and will be getting the M600's in, I will schedule a session with him. There is also a show in Paris coming up in a few weeks which I may go to as well.

I would love to hear your take on the M600's now that you have spent some time with them. At the start of your quest I remember you saying they were Utopian but out of reach, I guess since they made you reevaluate your budget they must be something special with the CR1's?

Joost

[Sweetmusic69]

Joost

Do would try and make Paris, I always go, I have an apartment relatively near and the wife and I always go to sample the food and atmosphere, the Audio show is good sidebar.

Coincidentally it was at that very show 4 years ago I saw my then speaker purchase Grande Utopia Mk III's


Sorry I digress, The M600s, I have personally owned physically larger amplifiers and more powerful units to boot.

How do they sit with the CR-1's, they compliment the speakers superbly well, generating a totally and utterly grain free seamless fluid and musical presentation.

The TAD mono blocks also have the ability to grip the speakers amazing well, yet unlike virtually all of the other highly regarded candidates I have auditioned this year, allow the speakers to breathe totally liberating the sound from cabinets themselves.

The M600's are not just about raw power (in fact they are quite lightweight power wise compared to a few of the boxes that have graced our listening room this year), they offer a way with low level detail, resolution I've seldom heard.

Their ability to demonstrate a layered sound stage with delicacy and supreme even handiness is quite remarkable.

Stage and depth and dynamic shading is nothing short of ground breaking, it is out there in the ether! it is that good.

Are they any negatives?, they do take a good 45 minutes to present themselves in full and proper order. They do weigh around 90Kg, not sure on the beautifully machined isolation disc's (I had some bespoke isolation platforms made, this was beneficial).

The pair with the CR-1's like salt does to pepper, Lamborghini's to drug dealers and sports stars, Lambrini sparkling wine to Essex girls.

Although I do have an itch to listen to the Constellation amplifiers, particularly the Centaur mono's.

I have been in the company with the Dartzeel Mono blocks, as superb as they are, they leave me cold, difficult to put your finger on it, every possible audiophile angle is catered for, it just fails to move me.

Perhaps I'm just too finite on my musical tastes, hey I'm allowed!

One thing is the M600's are staying and will be paired with the CR-1's without question.

The reason, our new home is nearing completion, the CR-1's will not fill my new media suite. A pair of R-1 MK II will possibly toying with the idea of using the CR-1's as rear channels in a new home cinema set up. The good lady has no issue as long as I let her design skills loose on the room!

Now I would require another pair of CR-1's for this to happen, I notice there is a pair still on European Ebay for a crazy price of £18000 (No Link Ivan I promise, sorry about last time).
Does any one have any knowledge of this pair at all?

David

[jdebonth]

David, appreciate your account on the M600. Love the Essex girl analogy . Sounds like the be all end all amp for TAD speaker owners.

[Sweetmusic69]

Hi Joost

The price just seems to good to be true, I mean how many pairs of CR-1's do you see for sale, let alone on e-bay and at half price?

I felt in would diligent to made some enquires over here regarding this pair for sale in Brussels.

It seems if the seller maybe not being entirely honest in the e-bay listing.

There is a very real possibility these are a grey import that were sold as a damaged pair and shipped from the US earlier in the year and have been since bee subsequently repaired.

No mention of this in the advert, so these will be left well alone.

David

[Dawgneck]

Originally Posted by Sweetmusic69

Hi Joost

The price just seems to good to be true, I mean how many pairs of CR-1's do you see for sale, let alone on e-bay and at half price?

I felt in would diligent to made some enquires over here regarding this pair for sale in Brussels.

It seems if the seller maybe not being entirely honest in the e-bay listing.

There is a very real possibility these are a grey import that were sold as a damaged pair and shipped from the US earlier in the year and have been since bee subsequently repaired.

No mention of this in the advert, so these will be left well alone.

David

Good idea to leave them alone. Too many overseas scams going on right now....