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Pioneer TAD EX speakers

44K views 149 replies 53 participants last post by  Afgverhart 
#1 ·
Anyone heard these. My understanding is that they use the TAD drivers which are some of the best out there. Find them on the web site but seems no dealer for them here (but sold in Europe).
 
#55 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kal Rubinson /forum/post/0


The rooms at the Venetian varied widely in their acoustic suitability.

I meant the set-up at HE2006, where I thought the TAD EX speakers sounded terrible. I seemed to have been alone in that opinion until the other poster mentioned hearing the same set-up at CES, with similar results.


BTW, I got a chance to hear them again at a meeting of our local LA/OC Audio Society and had the complete opposite opinion. See my post earlier in this thread.


Sanjay
 
#56 ·
A friend of mine in the industry and who lives close enough will have the whole EX set-up on display in about a week (or so he says)...he lurks here frequently, he says, but I don't believe he posts. I am quite anxious to hear them and he says he might get to speak with Andrew Jones if he drops by.
 
#59 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by cschang /forum/post/0


Great read! That Edward for posting it....thanks Kal for writing it.

And, Kal, also thanks for the Audyssey "in the round review". It helped me identify another mistake I was making setting it up (felt about as dumb as a box of rocks on that one).


By the way, if I won the lottery, those TAD's would be in my new house
 
#65 ·

Quote:
I guess that's the difference in $51K

...and the rooms, and the set up, and the associated equipment, etc.
 
#67 ·
oops, yes...corrected that


I understand that they only have the EX at about 7 dealers nationwide right now.
 
#69 ·
Not if you've heard them ...and word of their magnificence is spreading.

If you love music, you don't care about names, there is only cache amongst those who are interested more in the gear than the sound.

Hell, I've even heard Sony ES speakers that I liked some time ago.
 
#70 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jake Sm /forum/post/0


Not if you've heard them ...and word of their magnificence is spreading.

If you love music, you don't care about names, there is only cache amongst those who are interested more in the gear than the sound.

Hell, I've even heard Sony ES speakers that I liked some time ago.

Agreed...you have to show interest in hearing them.


Kal's article should help that.
 
#73 ·
Well once again I spent some time with the venerable S-1EX speakers. I had intended to compare them with the Focal Be1027 and the 1037. Unfortunately the Focals were no longer there, so I listened to the B&W 802D. All I can say is wow for both. I had a friend with me who owns a pair of Cerwin Vegas driven by a Panasonic receiver. Not a bad sound actually. Just to wet our palette we first listened to Paradigm S8v1. The amp and pre were McIntosh. I didn't really pay much attention to the Models. The S8 are an outstanding speaker. The bass was robust and it had an "all there" sound. I thought they were a bit bright sounding, which surprised me because I own a pair of the old MkIII with the textile tweeter. The sound stage was convincing. Well my friend was amazed. He actually said "MY GOD THOSE ARE ------- AWSOME". Now it was time for the B&Ws. After 30 seconds, I thought I saw a tear in his eye. Now the Pioneers, we both were blown away by the sound stage. It is huge!!! To make a long story short the 802D and the S-1EX sound to our ears much more natural and just plain better than the S8s. I know at the price difference you would expect a better sound but, the law of diminishing returns is at play here. The S-1ex did sound well worth the $3000 premium over the S8s, but the 802Ds compared to the S-1ex was very close. I liked the B&Ws bass, it sounded more natural in its decay than the S-1ex. In the end we were split, I loved the S-1ex he gave the 802d his vote. I think it was the Pioneers huge sound stage that that swayed me. just an amazing speaker. I will be picking up my set in early Sept.



ED
 
#74 ·
"I liked the B&Ws bass, it sounded more natural in its decay than the S-1ex. " I agree but I found the mid-bass of the Pioneers less emphasized than that of the B&Ws. The result was that the B&Ws were more critical of placement and that could be a really big factor in comparisons.
 
#75 ·

Quote:
The result was that the B&Ws were more critical of placement and that could be a really big factor in comparisons.

Especially when talking about differances in soundstage.
 
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