Review: Tube Audio Design TAD 150 Tube preamp

Category: Preamps

The Tube Audio Design TAD 150 Pre-amp is a reference level pre-amp that I believe will rival ANY pre-amp and ANY price.

The TAD 150 replaced a ten year old Musical Design SP-2B which was very good for its day, but the TAD 150 really did pick up where the Musical Design Piece left off.

The improvements were from top to bottom, the separation, and detail are much improved as well as this unit's ability to dig deeper in the music, and I hate to use this because it sounds so cliché, but yes, I'm hearing things that was just hinted at or simply not there at all with my previous pre-amp. The tone, accuracy, and soundstage of this unit is truly holographic and 3D. It is the most natural sounding pre-amp I have ever owned or Auditioned, but even more spectacular is it's stability it sounds so effortless, you know the types that sound either like they are trying to hard, or trying to keep up, this unit never sounds strained or harsh even at loud volumes or complex passages! No matter loud or soft this unit integrity stays in tact.

So I could go on about how quiet it is, how covenant having a remote control is and so forth but I think you catch my drift. My recommendation is to at least audition the unit, you get your money back if you somehow convince yourself that you don’t like it, but to be fair it may or may not be for everyone based on your taste, but I can almost guarantee that you would have to pay at least $5000 dollars to get anything that comes close.

Associated gear
Musical Concepts CDT-4 transport

Musical Design DAC 1A20 Platinum.

Custom built (By Bizzie Bee) S.E.T. amp using 6AS7 tubes(5W.P.C.)

Bizzie Bee Frozen interconnects throught whole system including Digital Cable.

Speaker Cables are a home brew using Radio Shack RG-58 Coax.

Speakers are Klipsch Quartets. Highly Modified with Auricaps, Goertz copper foil inductors and solen Fast cap.

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