TAD Grand Evolution One Loudspeaker: Musicality’s a Thing

Andrew Quint

Even the hardest of hardcore audiophiles will allow that there’s a difference in the way he or she listens at a live performance as opposed to the experience at home in front of a meticulously calibrated stereo system. At a show—in a concert hall, sitting up close in a jazz club, standing in the rain at an outdoor venue—the focus is on the music. Do you approve of the conductor’s Mahler interpretation? Is the vocalist singing in tune? Is the band really cooking or just going through the motions on a Thursday night at the latest stop of their 50-city tour? There’s rarely any mention of imaging, soundstage, tonal neutrality, detail, microdynamics, or air. This distinction was very much on my mind as I auditioned the latest floorstanding loudspeaker from the respected Japanese brand Technical Audio Devices Laboratories, better known as TAD.

The TAD Grand Evolution One ($65,000/pair) debuted at the 2023 Capital Audio Fest and has been inventoried and ready for shipping in the U.S. since March of this year. It employs technology developed for TAD’s Reference Series products—though it’s more of a spigot-wideopen sort of borrowing than what might be called “trickle-down.” Like the $160k flagship R1TX speaker, the GE1 sports a largish (1.38") beryllium dome tweeter, produced with the company’s long-researched vapor-deposition technique. It’s mounted concentrically within a 5.5" magnesium midrange cone and operates out to 100kHz, the point-source combination patented as the CST Driver (Coherent Source Transducer). The aramid membranes of the two 7.1" woofers feature a five-layer construction, a shell-shaped diaphragm that incorporates the dust cap into a single structure. The crossover points are centered at 250 and 1.8kHz.

The GE1’s cabinet is fabricated from MDF with internal birch-plywood bracing, a construction that TAD has dubbed SILENT for Structurally Inert Laminated Enclosure Technology. To reduce unwanted cabinet vibration, there is a system of acoustic tubes inside the box plus judicious application of a sound-absorbing material to suppress internal standing waves. Also derived from the R1TX is an isolation methodology (ISO Drive Technology) that prevents the tweeter/ midrange unit from exciting the enclosure. The GE1’s downward-firing port sends LF energy both forward and backward; a thick aluminum baseplate further assures the stability of the enclosure as the dual woofers do their thing. The speaker leans back ever so slightly to improve time alignment of the drivers.

Beauty is only skin deep but…well, call me superficial: The TAD GE1 is truly a thing of beauty. I have confirmation of this from the toughest critic of audio aesthetics I know. My wife has seen stereo equipment come and go for a long time and can count the number of loudspeakers she has found attractive on one hand—and still have enough fingers left over to order us hot dogs at a Phillies game. She was actually effusive in her praise for the looks of this one. The pleasingly proportioned GE1 has a gorgeous hardwood veneer applied to the top and front surfaces, highly polished to give “the illusion of a wet surface” and emphasize the grain pattern. The remainder of the enclosure is painted a gloss black except for an aluminum plate in back, from which two pairs of substantial binding posts emerge, connected by robust spade-terminated jumpers (if you’re not bi-wiring or bi-amping). The loudspeaker proper is raised a couple of inches above the plinth to let sound freely exit the port. There are disklike structures atop each of the four corners of the plinth that look like they might function to raise and lower spikes but, in fact, are merely decorative. Instead, one finds threads on the bottom surface of the plinth, two in the front and one in the rear that accept the supplied spikes; large machined and plated brass cups are provided to receive the spike points and thus avoid damaging tiled or wood floors.

There are grilles for the woofers, which I didn’t use, and a microfiber polishing cloth, which I did, frequently, to keep those mirrored surfaces pristine. The build-quality of the TAD GE1 is pretty extraordinary, and unless you’re one of those curmudgeons who doesn’t believe any loudspeaker should command the price of a Mercedes CLE-Class sedan, you may well conclude they’re worth every penny before you’ve heard a note.

In my 15' x 15' room—ceilings are 10' to 12', and a hallway leads off to the right near the front, which averts acoustic mischief due to the symmetry of the space—the TAD GE1’s formed an equilateral triangle with the main listening position, eight feet to a side. The speakers were positioned 18" out from the wall of CDs and GIK diffusers behind them. For power amplifiers, I used only the Tidal Ferios monoblocks that are one of my long-term references. Digital sources—material streamed with Qobuz or local files stored on a Synology NAS—were managed with a Baetis Audio music computer, the data sent on to my Tidal Contros processor. LPs were played on a Vertere MG-1 turntable, with an SG-1 tonearm and an Acoustical Systems Archon cartridge. The Pass Labs XP-27 phonostage sent signal to an Anthem AVM70, which fed the power amps without digitization. The primary cabling was Siltech 880 Series and a Wireworld Platinum Starlight AES/EBU connected the Baetis to the Contros.

Although the content is constantly evolving, I maintain a Roon playlist for equipment-review purposes, a wide range of music that helps focus my attention on specific sonic parameters. There are two requirements. The first is that I’ve heard the selection a lot, with numerous components and systems. The second is that I actually like the music— if you’re going to be listening intensely to something over and over, you’d better not get sick of hearing it. (This, of course, isn’t the only material I use for testing but serves as a good starting point.) At the moment, there are 54 tracks on the playlist; the GE1’s reliably honored the sonics of the revered audiophile recordings and rendered the less remarkable ones to their best possible advantage. These are exceptionably “listenable” loudspeakers, a characterization that I don’t feel should be necessarily viewed as a dumbing down of the audiophile pursuit.

Overall, the GE1’s had a somewhat laid-back character without ever becoming dull or boring. This made them especially suitable for listening to recordings that didn’t require an in-your-face immediacy to make their musical points. With those that did, I found myself “leaning in” (literally) toward the speakers and listening at a higher volume level than usual. If the recording was more relaxed—say, an orchestral performance presented with a mid-hall perspective (the esteemed Shaw/Atlanta Firebird Suite on Telarc is a good example)—the sound was deeply engaging. Likewise, the blend achieved by the twelve singers of Stile Antico on “Never weather-beaten sail” from 2012’s Tune Thy Musicke To Thy Heart was exquisite. If the recording was more aggressive or overtly hi-fi-ish, the TADs might politely decline to play ball.

An aspect of audio performance where the GE1s benefit from a relatively easygoing sonic signature is their treble which, paradoxically, is very extended yet exceptionally nonaggressive. Too many audiophile speakers (and, let’s face it, recordings) are overly bright and, in this regard, the Japanese loudspeakers are a breath of fresh air. There’s no better example than the enduring audio-show demo track “Keith Don’t Go,” an exhilarating live solo performance by guitarist/singer Nils Lofgren that’s just played too often. It’s been recorded with an ultra-hot top end that reliably brings audiophiles into an exhibitor’s room at a show, especially if the speaker being played has a tipped-up treble. I’ve never heard this cut sound as non-fatiguing as with the GE1s.

Related as well to the upper octaves, the TADs acquit themselves well with sibilants, a challenge with recordings of vocal groups of all sizes. These are the high-frequency “fricative consonants” that result in “s” and “z” sounds that can seem disconnected from the main part of the word they start or end and thus call attention to themselves. On James Levine’s recording of the Brahms Requiem with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a large chorus, the sibilants were there, of course—the work is sung in German, a language loaded with sibilants—but played back through the Grand Evolutions, they weren’t nearly as distracting as they often are.

Bass reproduction is a strong suit. With “Is That The Best You Can Do?” from the album Thicker Than Water, the scope of Brian Bromberg’s astounding electric bass technique— snaps, pops, hammer-ons, pull-offs, harmonics, chords—was on display with striking clarity. Low-frequency extension was impressive, as well. The open B string of a 5-string bass, a synthesizer bass line, the lowest stops on a pipe organ energizing a large space—all had a center-of-the-earth authority. There was a minimal reduction of bass heft, a low-frequency characteristic related to slam, likely a reflection of the overall laid-back character of the GE1 noted above.

Likewise, in the setting of critical listening, dynamics could seem subtly softened with an associated reduction in coherence at the loudest and most complex moments of immense orchestral scores (The Rite of Spring from Esa-Pekka Salonen leading the LA Philharmonic) and big band blow-outs (“Hit the Ground Running” from Gordon Goodwin and the Big Phat Band). On the other hand, there’s a great deal of atmosphere—spaciousness and “air”— to be savored with recordings that possess that potent reality trigger.

Timbral quality of both voices and solo instruments was seductive and natural, if not quite as richly characterized as with some other loudspeakers: I’m thinking of the differences in the “woodiness” of Anthony McGill’s clarinet tone as he shifts between registers in his readings of the Brahms clarinet sonatas, or changes to the center of gravity of Joni Mitchell’s voice over the 20 years between the Blue and Night Ride Home albums. Soundstage creation and imaging are quite good but not necessarily to the degree of some transducers that can generate an environment that extends well beyond the walls of ones listening room and localizes musicians with surgical precision. I did listen to the GE1s for several days in a biwired configuration, with two sets of T+A Speaker Quad cables, and other than a slight increase in detail, the speaker’s basic character didn’t change.

Looking over the last few paragraphs, I see that they might be read as criticism of the Grand Evolution One. Believe me, that’s not my intention. Rather, they are meant as an acknowledgement of my own biases, which tend to prioritize dynamic immediacy throughout the frequency spectrum, spatial specificity, and a tonal leanness that may not be to everyone’s taste. You might think that as you ascend to the realm of the “best” (and most expensive) loudspeakers, these products might sound increasingly similar to each other as, after all, their talented designers are all aiming for sonic verisimilitude. But that’s not the way it is. One man’s palpable presence is another’s over-analytical offense. Which leads to what may be the key point of this review.

As described above, my critical listening playlist holds more that 50 selections. Typically, I’ll utilize a couple of dozen in the course of a review—that’s what it usually takes to get a decent measure of an unfamiliar component or system—but with the TAD GE1s, I listened to every one. Not because I was having difficulty sussing out what the speakers could and couldn’t do, but because I was enjoying myself. From Bach and Handel to Ruff Ryders and Dr. Dre (and a decent representation of everything in between) these loudspeakers always communicated the musical meaning of whatever they were asked to play.

There’s some skepticism, even among audiophiles who characterize themselves as subjectivists, regarding the term “musicality” as a useful metric for judging audio gear. For them, that descriptor is just too nebulous, too much of an opinion. But for some products, the whole seems to be very much more than the sum of its parts. In his editorial for Issue 347, Robert Harley advocated for the central importance of musicality, calling it “the raison d’être of high-end audio.” A system that has it, Robert concluded, “Makes you abandon any other thoughts and encourages you to jump aboard the thrill ride the musicians are about to take you on.” I couldn’t agree more.

Although I had nits to pick with a few aspects of the GE1’s sound, I felt that these loudspeakers consistently served the musical ends of any and all material they were presented with. There’s a lot a serious competition at this price point, including estimable products from Wilson, Focal, Von Schweikert, Stenheim, YG, Rockport, Tidal, Estelon and—my own reference— Magico. The TAD Grand Evolution One should also be on your radar if this is the territory you’re investigating. Yes, musicality’s a thing.

Specs & Pricing

Type: 3-way bass reflex

Driver complement: Coaxial 5.5" magnesium midrange cone and 1.38" beryllium dome tweeter; two 7.1" aramid fiber woofers

Frequency response: 27Hz–100kHz

Crossover points: 250Hz, 1800Hz

Impedance: 4 ohms

Sensitivity: 88dB/2.83V/1m

Dimensions: 15½" x 47½" x 21½"

Weight: 141 lbs.

Price: $65,000/pair

TECHNICAL AUDIO DEVICES LABORATORIES, INC.

Professional Audio Design (U.S. Distributor)

199 Winter St., Hanover, MA 02339

technicalaudiodevices.com