Stand Loudspeaker Reviews

While Shake Sugaree was playing, a retired audio dealer friend came over to pick up an amplifier. The moment he walked into the room, he stopped and said "Whoa! What are those speakers?" He told me that he knew instantly, "That was how that recording was supposed to sound." And like me, he'd never heard of Elizabeth Cotten.

I asked him how many Japanese-made speakers he had sold back in the day. He couldn't remember any but said, "This here is a different type of sound than most Americans are used to." "In what way?" I inquired. "It's more finely balanced," he opined.

First Watt SIT-3
After playing the 4 ohm–rated CE1TXs for two weeks using the Parasound A 21+, which can deliver 500W into 4 ohms, I connected the gleaming TADs to my Nelson Pass–designed, single-ended, no-feedback First Watt SIT-3 amplifier—just to see what would happen. The SIT-3 is specified to make 18W into 8 ohms and 30W into 4 ohms. I was curious whether it could drive the TADs at all, and if it did, whether it would add some of its special air and tone flavor to the CE1TX's almost dry (but not dry) presentation.

I did not anticipate how much more vibrant and stereoscopic the sound would become. The change was dramatic, such that I felt like I was like listening to a different speaker and a different amplifier. The SIT-3 has never sounded this dynamic before.

Playing Thomas Oliemans singing the Charles Aznavour song, "For Me Formidable" from the album Formidable! (French Chansons) (24/192 FLAC, Channel Classic/Qobuz), the sound was more color-saturated and appealing in a wish I were in Paris way. More than the mighty Parasound, the SIT-3 emphasized the spirit, flavor, and rich tone of chanson Francaise. Powering the CE1TXs, the SIT-3 did not feel like a small amp nor a big amp: It simply disappeared.

If you like bathing in thick, feel-it-on-your-skin harmonic energy, you must dip your toes in Tobias Klein: Chambery (16/44.1 FLAC, Attacca/Tidal). This collection of performances by Dutch clarinetist Fie Schouten of compositions by countryman Tobias Klein is built on a framework of harmonic surprise. It is an intense sonic spectacular, and it expanded the TAD's soundfield considerably, in every dimension, while issuing deeper, more dramatic bass than the CE1TXs had shown on any previous tracks. Actually, this was the first time I paid any attention to that question: How is the bass? I've played this album many times on the Falcon Gold Badges and more recently on the Heretic AD614s, but sound textures never touched my skin and entered my mind as they did with the First Watt SIT-3 driving the CE1TXs.

I listened to violinist Sara Off playing "Alone" from her assertively dynamic album of the same name (16/44.1 FLAC, Sara Off/Tidal). With the First Watt driving the TADs, I was averaging 84dB SPL at 2m, C-weighted, with 100dB peaks—and no discernable clipping.

I always regard the SIT-3 as a darkish-sounding amplifier that, with the wrong speaker, can sound clogged. With the CE1TXs, it was sharp-focused, winter-sky clear, and darkness-free. What sane person would have predicted that a low-power, no-feedback amplifier with 11.5dB of gain could play this explosively into a speaker specced at 85dB sensitivity and 4 ohm nominal impedance? Not me.

All the observations above, with both the Parasound and First Watt amplifiers, were made with Kangai-level Ikigai speaker cables ($6500/2m, review in progress), which an old friend had begged me to try. I never expected to like them, but I did. I thought they added energy and musical intensity to the sound, and they were in the system when I installed the CE1TXs.

After a few days of just listening—no comparing—I was convinced that the Ikigai wires were helping the CE1TXs sound livelier and more vivid. Before the TADs arrived, I imagined, from looking at their picture, that they would sound clean and tight, but possibly too tight. With the Ikigai cable, they sounded plush and relaxed, succinct, and vibrant. I left the cables in because I liked what I was hearing.

Because they are my #1 reference, I eventually re-installed my organic-earth, deep-space reference Cardas Clear Beyond speaker cables. The first thing I noticed was how tall, dense, and cathedral-like the sound became. Massive. Deep. More tone saturated.

Nevertheless, to my ears, the lighter-sounding Ikigai cables let more harmonic energy through. They added a touch of extra clarity and a tangible, small-bubble effervescence. I kept them in because I liked how harmonically expansive the Ikigai made Jérémy Hababou's piano sound on Il Était Une Fois (24/96 FLAC naïve/Qobuz). I especially liked how satisfyingly full and resonant the lower registers sounded. Bass-region reverb tails were miles long and luxuriantly textured.

With either brand of cable, the SIT-3 powering the CE1TXs generated what felt like the most fully resolved and musically communicative sound I've encountered since I began playing records in my parents' house so many years ago.

Pass Labs XA25
Pass Laboratories' wide-awake, wide-bandwidth, super-transparent XA25 is rated at 25Wpc into 8 ohms and 50W into 4 ohms. But John Atkinson, Stereophile's technical editor, measured 80Wpc into 8 ohms and 130Wpc into 4 ohms at 1% THD+N, his usual clipping standard. He measured the output impedance at less than 0.1 ohm. Playing Tobias Klein: Chambery, I found this to be the cleanest sounding of the three amps I tried.

This was not surprising. Power and drive-wise, the XA25 felt the opposite of fettered. The TADs never felt like they were loading the Pass amp down; in turn, the XA25 never seemed to diminish the clarity or responsiveness of the CE1TX. But something intangible was missing. With the XA25, something I could not identify made music through the TADs sound incredibly clean but less emotionally connective. Something I was unable to identify felt slightly off. The XA25 would not be the amplifier I'd choose if I owned this speaker.

Elekit TU-8900
On a perverse whim, with no expectations, I connected the TAD speakers to Elekit's 8Wpc, single-ended TU-8900 300B amplifier. As with the SIT-3, I wondered if the Elekit would work at all. It worked right away. After successfully playing Shake Sugaree, the Roon-bot led me to Folk Songs and Blues by Mississippi John Hurt (16/44.1 FLAC, Mississippi John Hurt/Tidal). That's when I fell in love. On "Candy Man," it was crazy how good the tone and texture were. Hurt's voice sounded like it came from a real person. His tricky guitar licks supported his satiny voice in a manner that made this album feel like the most genteel acoustic blues ever.

I am not recommending this 8W triode amp as an ideal choice for the CE1TXs, but I am saying that when operated within its 8W limits on low-energy program, the TU-8900 delivered more natural tone and textural magic than any other amp I tried.

Conclusion
My definition of the word "best," as applied to audiophile speakers, would include expressions like "extremely well-sorted" and "exposes everything" and "flawless tone." This thought struck me now because exactly these words passed through my head over and over during the hundreds of hours I spent listening with the TAD CE1TX's. These luxuriously appointed standmounts specialize in converting tiny signal currents into moving air with atomic-clock precision—all by itself, a captivating phenomenon to witness. But what elevated these new TADs to a level of performance I've rarely experienced from any speakers, anywhere, at any price is the coexistence of that atomic-clock precision with an innate ability to present instruments and voices in a most agreeable, seductive manner.

This TAD is the finest example of speaker engineering I've ever encountered. Absolutely Class A.