TAD Reference loudspeakers-How good are they?

Very good speakers but pricey. I heard them at a Pioneer specialty store here in Southern California and they throw a vast soundstage and feature excellent mids. With that said, for the money, I think you can do better with ATC pro reference monitors. I think the ATC 100s and 150s are superior to these models, especially the active ones.

I have heard (twice) the Reference One. It is absolutely amazing. The soundstage is awesome. As pointed out by others in this thread, the speakers need a amplification of very good quality. Playing with Mcintosh MA7000 the soundstage was small, but with amplification by Hegel the Ref 1's played heavenly.

Until this week, I considered them (and even contacted my bank who said the loan would be OK). My reasons for not buying them at the present moment are: 1) the cost (together with the cost of top amplification) 2) the size and shape of my listening room.

Some information on TAD Ref 1 here:
http://hi-fi-avenue.blogspot.com/2010/06/tads-great-sound.html

and a great picture here:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_os3NNzmoDAo/TCeCqRo7jnI/AAAAAAAAAms/hep2lIugWyw/s1600/20100622_0850.JPG

The TAD Reference speakers are great sounding speakers.

Poor man's version of TAD Reference speakers are the Pioneer S-3EX speakers which incorporate TAD drivers and design by Andrew Jones of Pioneer/TAD.

The Pioneer speakers which have the same type of concentric drivers do not have the same richness of sound because they have aluminum and not berylium deposited on the drivers. This is what Andrew Jones told me. I have the good fortune to own a pair of TAD Ref 1 since a week before last Christmas. They are so amazing that even a pair of Neforce 9SE V3 sound fantastic. I have tube preamps (CAT Legend and VTL 7.5 Series2) and a couple of pairs of tube amps (CAT JL-3 Sig Mk2 and custom made monos along with the before mentioned Nuforce). The sound is fantastic with all of the equipment I have listened to on these wonderful speakers. The sound is very detailed and very musical. The image is holographic and large. My previous speakers were Avalon Eidolon which I loved but I could not go back to them. I am sorry that I can't describe in more detail my experience but several audiophile friends that have heard my system have agreed with what I have described.

For the money the Pioneer S-3EX is a hard speaker to beat period. I bring in many pairs of speakers over the years and easily can say the S-3EX is a contender for one of the best bargains out there. I had a room full of people comparing S-3ex vs the Thiel 3.7. I can say everyone in the listening room agreed the S-3EX out performed the Thiels.