Built for the love of music.....

[gaboudreaux]

Originally Posted by SCAudiophile

Of all the great photos out there from Ivan, Eelii08 and others, absolutely nothing compares to seeing these speakers in person; they are truly breath-taking in how striking and beautiful they are in person!

Congrats again Mark! It's obvious you are very pleased with your move to the TAD's. I need to visit Ivan and see these speakers.

[SCAudiophile]

Originally Posted by gaboudreaux

Congrats again Mark! It's obvious you are very pleased with your move to the TAD's. I need to visit Ivan and see these speakers.

Thank you....these speakers are like artwork in the room; even disconnected they speak volumes!

[SCAudiophile]

Pictures post-arrival and of some of the ensuring fun are here;

https://www.audioaficionado.org/showthread.php?t=37726

[SCAudiophile]

I will put detailed comments out after they are broken in but for today I will say that with about 3 hours of listening that it is apparent that top to bottom this is an amazing speaker, extremely musical, prodigious output, excellent imaging from the first notes I heard and overall amazing how great they are from the time I hit play...exceeded my expectations by a mile. They obviously need breakin from what I hear in the bass and sub bass regions, mids and highs but it is clear that will come in time.....

Truly an incredible speaker. I was also getting ample information down to 19 to 23 Hz easily and without difficulty (pipe organ tracks) I believe these perform well beyond the conservative specs right from day 1.

A bit more...throughout the day they've been playing and the 'whole-house' listening aspect where a speaker not only sounds great in the sweet spot but all around the house, down the hall in office, down the stairs around corners in the main living area, etc....is a very strong experience with these speakers.

I've also thrown my top 30 "SHOW ME" tracks at these throughout the day, even pipe organ and complex drumming along with more delicate (jazz, violin, piano, native percussion & wind instruments, etc...) tracks plus those that with a well seasoned set of speakers and system will portray instrument 7-8+ to the left or right of a speaker, pans across, back and forth, etc...with full range material (didgeridoo in Oystein Sevag's "Global House" album, track 2", a go-to crucible track for the last 15 years...), those with tremendous 3D sound stages, high and deep in all 3 dimensions and these speakers are frankly 'chowing down' on anything I throw at them with a finesse, accuracy, imaging and natural musical playback that I am finding hard to adequately describe. As resolving my system is and my prior speakers were (quite amazing actually), I'm hearing nuances that were never fully revealing before or in ways that were not made apparent. I am 'hearing into the performance' to new levels.

All this with only 10 hours into the play/burn-in cycle. Benefit of existing great high-end power, system components, cables, etc...definitely yes, but it is absolutely clear these speakers are a force to be reckoned with. Out of everything I've listened to at or above this price point, these do it all and from the outset, seem to be doing it better and more musically. Simply amazing to me at this young point in the TAD R1s life.

Let me put it this way; I'm supposed to fly out tomorrow morning at 6 up north for the next 5 days (during which you know these will continue their burn-in). The way these speakers sound, I'm getting a flare-up of the 'audiophile HERMIT' condition and want to change flights and have them all fly down here instead!!! Evil, mischievous/selfish yes(!), will it happen, NO(!), but if you heard what I'm hearing you'd be tempted too!

Have a good evening all and a very Merry Christmas. These are simply outstanding in every way thus far!

[Weirdcuba]

So exciting. I just need a dedicated room and I'm there with you. Their little brothers are amazing - I can only imagine the full beasts.

[SCAudiophile]

Originally Posted by Weirdcuba

So exciting. I just need a dedicated room and I'm there with you. Their little brothers are amazing - I can only imagine the full beasts.

I'm pulling for you to get the room, then the R1s! Day One, actually only 12 hours in has been a very eye-opening experience. Currently listening to the most recent 2 YELLO albums and there are nuances coming out in several key places plus a rock solid great portrayal of the music on those two discs. Same for Bela Fleck and everything else from different genres before it.

[SCAudiophile]

I will put detailed comments out after they are broken in but for today I will say that with about 3 hours of listening that it is apparent that top to bottom this is an amazing speaker, extremely musical, prodigious output, excellent imaging from the first notes I heard and overall amazing how great they are from the time I hit play...exceeded my expectations by a mile. They obviously need breakin from what I hear in the bass and sub bass regions, mids and highs but it is clear that will come in time.....

Truly an incredible speaker. I was also getting ample information down to 19 to 23 Hz easily and without difficulty (pipe organ tracks) I believe these perform well beyond the conservative specs right from day 1.

Latest News: throughout the day they've been playing and the 'whole-house' listening aspect where a speaker not only sounds great in the sweet spot but all around the house, down the hall in office, down the stairs around corners in the main living area, etc....is a very strong experience with these speakers.

I've also thrown my top (now 40) "SHOW ME" tracks at these throughout the day, even pipe organ and complex drumming along with more delicate (jazz, violin, piano, native percussion & wind instruments, etc...) tracks plus those that with a well seasoned set of speakers and system will portray instrument 7-8+ to the left or right of a speaker, pans across, back and forth, etc...with full range material (didgeridoo in Oystein Sevag's "Global House" album, track 2", a go-to crucible track for the last 15 years...), those with tremendous 3D sound stages, high and deep in all 3 dimensions and these speakers are frankly 'chowing down' on anything I throw at them with a finesse, accuracy, imaging and natural musical playback that I am finding hard to adequately describe. As resolving my system is and my prior speakers were (quite amazing actually), I'm hearing nuances that were never fully revealing before or in ways that were not made apparent. I am 'hearing into the performance' to new levels.

All this with only 10 hours into the play/burn-in cycle. Benefit of existing great high-end power, system components, cables, etc...definitely yes, but it is absolutely clear these speakers are a force to be reckoned with. Out of everything I've listened to at or above this price point, these do it all and from the outset, seem to be doing it better and more musically. Simply amazing to me at this young point in the TAD R1s life.

Let me put it this way; I'm supposed to fly out tomorrow morning at 6 up north for the next 5 days (during which you know these will continue their burn-in). The way these speakers sound, I'm getting a flare-up of the 'audiophile HERMIT' condition and want to change flights and have them all fly down here instead!!! Evil, mischievous/selfish yes(!), will it happen, NO(!), but if you heard what I'm hearing you'd be tempted too!

Have a good evening all and a very Merry Christmas. These are simply outstanding in every way thus far!

New Pictures are going up now on my system thread....

https://www.audioaficionado.org/show...t=37143&page=6

[SCAudiophile]

NEW PHOTOS as of today;















NewSystem-GreerSC-w-TAD-R1s-SysView-Left-1-20161221_110610.jpg

NewSystem-GreerSC-w-TAD-R1s-Left-R1-Front-20161221_110840.jpg

NewSystem-GreerSC-w-TAD-R1s-SysRack-Left-R1-20161221_110643.jpg

NewSystem-GreerSC-w-TAD-R1s-SysViewRight-1-20161221_110716.jpg

NewSystem-GreerSC-w-TAD-R1s-Right-R1-20161221_111023.jpg

NewSystem-GreerSC-w-TAD-R1s-Amp-Front-20161221_110807.jpg

NewSystem-GreerSC-w-TAD-R1s-Amp&Cables-FromAbove-20161221_110736.jpg

NewSystem-GreerSC-w-TAD-R1s-SpeakerCables&Jumpers-20161221_111038.jpg

[2fastdriving]

Wow! Wow. Great system you have put together. Hey, did you hear any difference with the damping plate on your A-02? I have one too... I didn't think I could put one on there because it has vents. But I suppose it's not covered much.

[2fastdriving]

Also... The more obvious question.. How do these beauties sound compared to the legacy's?