![]() Review component retail in Europe: €31.000 Resonance control: Finite Elemente Ceraball under CD player, Audio Revive RAF-48 platform under CD player and preamplifier, Pro Audio Bono PAB SE platform under Leben CS300 XS Stand: Base IV custom under all components Power strip: Acoustic Revive RTP-4eu Ultimate Power cables (all equipment): Acrolink Mexcel 7N-PC9300 Interconnects: CD/preamp Acrolink Mexcel 7N-DA6300, preamp/power amp Acrolink 8N-A2080III Evo Headphones: Sennheiser HD800, AKG K701, Beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro 600Ω vintage, HifiMan HE6 Loudspeakers: Harbeth M40.1 Domestic + Acoustic Revive custom speaker stand Integrated amplifier/headphone amplifier: Leben CS300 XS Custom Preamplifier: Ayon Audio Polaris III Signature with Regenerator power supply Phono preamplifier: RCM Audio Sensor Prelude ICĬartridges: Miyajima Laboratory Shilabe & Kansui EdĬD player: Ancient Audio Lektor Air V-edition All images contained in this review are the property of High Fidelity or TAD. As is customary for our own articles, the writer's signature at review's end shows an e-mail address should you have questions or wish to send feedback. We publish its English translation in a mutual syndication arrangement with publisher Wojciech Pacula. You can also read it in its original Polish version here. Prices for the UK and Australia have not yet been set, but that's around £10,000 and AU$16,000.This review first appeared in the July 2012 issue of hi-end hifi magazine High Fidelity of Poland. I used a dCS Puccini CD player, SME 15 turntable, Parasound JC-3+ phono preamp, Pass Labs XP-20 preamp and Pass Labs XA100.5 power amps for all of my listening tests in this review.Īs you might have guessed by now, the TAD ME-1 is a very expensive speaker. The ME-1 is the better speaker, but to be fair the 805 D3's retail price is half of the ME-1's! The ME-1 was easier to listen to, and with the best recordings the ME-1's sound was more "coherent," so the bass, midrange and treble blend were more seamless than what I heard from the 805 D3. The ME-1 sounded like a bigger, tonally richer and more organic speaker which appears to put more substance to its sound. The ME-1 felt less energetic than the 805 D3, which seemed more dynamically alive. Stereo imaging is excellent on both speakers, but the ME-1 is more precise and has superior soundstage depth. It has a very high-resolution to be sure, but laid-back at the same time. The ME-1 is a warmer, more "relaxed" speaker. They sounded very different than the 805 D3s, that much was apparent once I started comparing the two. ![]() I had a pair of Bowers & Wilkins 805 D3 speakers on hand, but held off comparing them for a couple of weeks as I just wanted to live with the ME-1s on their own. When I (briefly) played the music loud enough to annoy my neighbors, these small speakers handled power with ease. ![]() The CD amply displayed the ME-1's dynamic range stamina with the album's all-percussion symphonies. That was true with my " Percussion Music" CD with classical composers Edgar Varese, Henry Cowell and Charles Wuorinen's works. The stereo imaging was the best I've had at home, as the ME-1 liberates the music while bringing it back to life.Ī lot of what distinguishes high-end speakers from merely excellent, more moderately priced speakers is the way they "separate" each instrument and vocal in recordings - creating a sound closer to the way you would hear them if you were in the studio with the artists. Starting on the third day of getting to know the ME-1, it dawned on me how amazingly natural the sound was, that it wins by doing less and lets more of the music's essence through its speaker. I liked it, but it's not the sort of speaker that screams detail, resolution or dynamics. I have to admit the ME-1's sound didn't bowl me over at first.
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