Tad, Vivid or ?

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moby1977

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Hello

I am Alex from Hong Kong and I am looking for a new set of speakers !
My current gear is the following : Trinnov Amethyst as a drive/dac/preamp and room optimisation correction, Accuphase A-70 as a power amp and Kef Reference 205/2 speakers.
i d like to improve further my set up by changing my speakers. i am looking for more clarity, dynamics and image.
i can t put too big speakers in my room so i am looking for speakers of a "reasonable" size.
Two models catched my interest : TAD CR-1 and Vivid Giya G3.

Unfortunately in Hong Kong home demo is not an option. However I ve been able to listen to the TAD with my gears ( but in a very different room than mine). I ve also heard several times the Vivid but not with my gear so hard to compare but both gave me a lot of pleasure !

I can have both at the same price range as TAD pricing ( like many other Asian brands) in Hong Kong is much more "reasonable" than in Europe or in the US.

My room is on the "clear" side for the time being (some acoustic panels would help ! ) so might be an issue with the TAD ?
At the same time, i dont have much flexibility to modify my speakers placement but I would believe that TAD bookshelf would give me a bit more flexibility on that aspect.

Your advice would be more than welcome !

THks
Alex

PS : sorry for my imperfect English, I am French native
 
Based on what I have heard, the CR-1 do have a quite strong bass and might hence overpower a small room.

That said, I heard the TAD ME-1 at the Munich show and they were excellent and most likely also suitable for a smaller room.

On another note, I also heard the large Giyas at the same event and they were simply phantastic.


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Hi Alex,

Please do not worry. You English seems perfect to me. It is certainly better than some of our natives :)

I've owned TAD CR-1 for two years before giving up and selling them. They were actually extremely impressive in some areas. What bothered me was the forward nature of the treble. There seemed to be a little too much treble for me and a higher volumes, they were uncomfortable to listen to. I don't know how the other, newer and less expensive TAD speakers sound but are highly regarded as well and from what I understand, don't exhibit the same forward treble.

You will have to match electronics carefully with TAD and optimize placement as well as tame your room for reflections at a minimum.

I have never heard Vivid speakers but I would love to and love the looks too.

Based on what I know, I believe the Vivid speakers are more my flavor.
 
Thanks for your advice. Both are good speakers indeed.
My room is quite ok size-wise : 400 sq ft with pretty high ceiling ( 3.2meters) but to respect the WAF, my audio set up is occupying a "limited" space of the living room.
The dealer had the whole TAD line in demo ( but the R1) and I listened them all ( as my first intention was the CE1). Unfortunately once you ve heard the CR1... CE1, ME1 or even the Evolution 1 are very good but not in the same league.

Alex
 
joeinid said:
Hi Alex,

Please do not worry. You English seems perfect to me. It is certainly better than some of our natives :)

I've owned TAD CR-1 for two years before giving up and selling them. They were actually extremely impressive in some areas. What bothered me was the forward nature of the treble. There seemed to be a little too much treble for me and a higher volumes, they were uncomfortable to listen to. I don't know how the other, newer and less expensive TAD speakers sound but are highly regarded as well and from what I understand, don't exhibit the same forward treble.

You will have to match electronics carefully with TAD and optimize placement as well as tame your room for reflections at a minimum.

I have never heard Vivid speakers but I would love to and love the looks too.

Based on what I know, I believe the Vivid speakers are more my flavor.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing your experience Joe. This is my concern with the TAD. The dealer had a room full of acoustic panels. I would not say it was a perfectly treated room however (it was more giving the impression to exhibit the whole range of available products) but definitively a much less bright room than mine...
If I could find a dealer with Accuphase and Vivid it would make the choice "easier"...

Alex
 
I absolutely love Accuphase and wish it was available here at more sane pricing levels. I believe Vivid and Accuphase could be great together.
 
Not to sound presumptive, but I think it is safe to say there is rather little risk of being able to do anything wrong with any of the Vivids.

I just mentioned the small new TADs, because I understood from your comment that you would have a limitation in terms of room size, which however does not appear to be the case.


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Kuoppis said:
Not to sound presumptive, but I think it is safe to say there is rather little risk of being able to do anything wrong with any of the Vivids.

I just mentioned the small new TADs, because I understood from your comment that you would have a limitation in terms of room size, which however does not appear to be the case.


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Click to expand...

Ok seems Vivid is unanimously appreciated !
My music taste is very versatile. Vivid is ticking this box as well ?
Also I just read in another thread that vivid is about to launch an updated giya series.
Maybe worth waiting a bit...



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Are Magicos available in Hong Kong? If so, you might want to consider S3 Mk IIs. They are great speakers, and their sealed enclosure design should make them less sensitive to room placement than some.
 
GSOphile said:
Are Magicos available in Hong Kong? If so, you might want to consider S3 Mk IIs. They are great speakers, and their sealed enclosure design should make them less sensitive to room placement than some.
Click to expand...

Yes indeed magico is so acclaimed that I have to give them a try. Magico is available in HK but if I am not mistaken with a certain premium compared to the US price unfortunately.



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I had this dilemma a few years ago myself.

I was trying to choose between Wilson Benesch Act 1 Evo, TAD CR1 and Vivid G3.

The Wilson Benesch was my choice due to various reasons.

I revisited the Vivid Giya last year just because I have always wanted a pair. After listening I didnt feel they offered a performance increase over my Wilson Benesch.

I now have TAD R1 and it is easily a better speaker imo. Not a fair comparison as the R1 are on a differnt level not only performance wise but price wise also :) Still have the Wilson benesch as theyre wonderful also.

All the best with your decision

Oh and I still want some Giya one day :D
 
Alex, with your limited space & Accuphase A70 amp I could throw a few options at you you might not have considered..

- Wilson Benesch Discovery II, $25kUS
- Chario Academy Sovran, $20kUS
- Magico S1 Mk2, $16.5kUS + optional S Pods ($3k)
- Joseph Audio Perspective, $13kUS

The WB, Chario & Joseph audio models above are all moderately efficient to efficient, hence your Accuphase amp should have an easy time. I'm less certain about the S1 Mk2 being 86db @4ohms. But it would tick all your boxes otherwise.
 
I agree with David that your A70 might not do the job with some speakers.

Vivid/Wilson Benesch are a lot easier to drive than TAD speakers.

I can't speak for series 2 Giya, have only experience with series 1 Giya
 
Thanks all for your inputs.
I've tried the TAD+Accu combo. The A70 can handle the TAD CR 1 with ease
I've never tried with the G3.
I will see if I can find Wilson Benesch at a decent price here .
Giya Series 1 might hopefully be discounted with the forthcoming series 2...


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Alex, there is also a Chario Distributor in Kowloon, HK. They also bring in Accuphase, so a local Dealer might be able to setup an audition with Accuphase gear. Those speakers fly under the radar, but are well worth an audition along with WB. Here is a link.
 
I've had the G2, G1, and G1 Spirits on home demo in the last 2 weeks, and am currently listening to a pair of Wilson Benesch Endeavours. I've also got got a pair of YG Haileys too. Amp-wise, have been trying Vitus SS-103, Berning Quadrature Z, and Wells Audio Inamatura.

The Vivids are very impressive - very coherent across the frequency range given they use the same materials from tweeter to bass, and the design of the drivers really pays off, particularly in the way that the treble doesn't "ring" and the bass provides amazing slam. Interestingly the motivation for doing the G1 Spirit was the recognition that the quality of bass on the G3 surpassed that of the G2 and G1 (note quality rather than outright extension), due to the oversized motor relative to the driver size.
They are pretty easy to drive too.
The comparison to WB couldn't be more different - WB major on the mid / treble being incredibly transparent and lack the outright extension and slam in the bass.
 
Bonjour Alex,

I'm a Vivid Audio lover, but I would suggest to listen to Magico also.
The TAD CR1 is very good, but not quite on the same level as these 2 brands, that have practically no distorsion and are extremely transparent, but in a agreeable way.
 
I have absolutely no experience with Vivid Audio speakers so cannot comment.

I do love my TAD CR-1's though, which replaced eight years of Avalon use in my system.

They do like a lot of current and the 66 amps provided my my CJ Premier 350SA is certainly sufficient!

I have previously read Joe's experience with TAD CR-1 ownership and his belief that the treble was "too hot" for his liking. I have never found this to be the case. Perhaps it's because I am the wrong side of 60 ore perhaps it's because I have spent a lot of time "voicing" the system by careful evaluation and choice of cabling and ancillary components. They also have plenty of room to breath in my 22' X 18' room. Plus, I also sit about about 15' away from them when listening!

The TAD CR-1 is a very detailed and transparent speaker and is sensitive to upstream components, faithfully reproducing any flaws or attributes in equal measure. They have a wonderful bass performance which belies their size and provide a clear window into the music.

I think they are hideously expensive (in the UK) but chose them after evaluating Avalon Compas and Estelon XA speakers which I had on extended home demo over many months.

fullsizeoutput_8cb by Steve Coward, on Flickr
 
Steve,

I am so happy for you and extremely ecstatic that you are not experiencing what I did with the speakers. Your setup is absolutely beautiful. I still love the look of the CR-1 and they can perform amazingly well.
 
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