Introducing a natural successor to the fabled TAD Model-1 meant preserving that speaker’s superior sonic attributes while refining details that allow the new TAD REFERENCE ONE to truly live up to its name. Building on the success of its redecessor, whose reputation gained the Model-1 accolades with professional sound engineers and the critical audio press alike, the Reference One breaks new ground by delivering even greater musicality and unmatched build quality. Director of engineering Andrew Jones and his team have applied lessons learned during the exhaustive development of TAD’s Coherent Sound Transducer (CST), key to the sonic success of every TAD loudspeaker. This unique driver, which covers the frequency range from 250 Hz to a staggering 100 kHz, employs a midrange cone and tweeter dome configured concentrically. A concentric solution radiates both upper and critical mid-frequencies from a single point source, and results in rock-solid imaging and a seamless soundstage, essential to accurate sound reproduction. But more than concentricity sets the CST apart from other speakers.

IT’S ABOUT THE BERYLLIUM

Both the midrange cone and tweeter dome of the CST are made from the lightest and most rigid metal applicable— the rare element beryllium—offering strength and damping characteristics unequalled by any other diaphragm material. TAD is the only speaker to employ vapor deposition. Created under vacuum, the pure crystalline structure of TAD beryllium is audibly superior to other drivers. Contributing to the purity of sound is a crossover network using the finest custom manufactured components, built on glass-epoxy PCBs housed in a dedicated, mechanically isolated compartment apart from transducers. Highest-quality binding posts allow the Reference One to be bi-wired or bi-amplified to achieve the purest possible sound.

A STRUCTURE THAT STANDS ALONE

A pair of proprietary 10-inch bass drivers reproduces frequencies from below 25 Hz to 250 Hz with stunning authority. Cones are a tri-laminate of woven aramid fibers sandwiching a foamed acrylic core, resulting in transducers possessing enormous rigidity and speed that reproduce the very loudest bass passages without distortion. Bass drivers are enclosed within a thick multilaminate structure, engineered to eliminate standing waves and resonances through careful cabinet design and construction. ISO-Drive technology mechanically isolates the CST driver within a dedicated enclosure, reducing transfer of mechanical energy that can smear imaging and detail. The teardrop shape of the Reference One minimizes front baffle- and rear-diffraction anomalies, while its 330-pound mass contributes to the authority and weight of bass fundamentals that can only be achieved through such uncompromising design.