Up to the big boys.
150 kg of gorgeously finished speaker.
Source: SACD player D600.
Pre: C600.
Power: 2 monoblocks M600.
You can see the rack is "vintage".
This ultra high end combination sounded of course excellent.
Even more low end grunt.
A little remark: it sounded at times a bit too heavy.
For example in choir music (The King's Singers), the voices sounded bigger than live, but this could have something to do with settings in the pre.
I walked around the room again, and I think the sweet spot was a little more narrow than with the Compact Reference.
Don't misunderstand me: the sound was top notch, also when you were 6-8 meters away from the speakers.
These Reference Ones need a lot of space to breathe, that's for sure.
Conclusion.
I think the Compact Reference is the best buy in the TAD range.
It gives you at least 85% of the performance of its big brother (same tweeter, developed in the house).
Only the lowest octave is missing.
The authority of the monoblocks is impressive; but the more modest "little" pre-power combo really delivers also.
I think the (SA)CD player is amongst the best, but I'd like to test it in my own system. I heard too little SACD's to really evaluate it.
A candidate for my system?
The electronics do appeal.
And the speakers... I could easily live with them. Absolutely.
But I missed something today. Something I do have at home: the sound really in the room, loose from the speakers.
And, as natural as the Reference series sound, my Vivids excel even more in this area.
And that was what my wife wispered to me during the demo: "This sounds good, but we do have better sound at home".
And that with a "modest" Burmester Classic Line integrated amp and CD-player...