All
TAD
Website:https://www.technicalaudiodevices.com/
Est. year: 1975
Location: Japan
TAD, short for Technical Audio Devices, is a Tokyo-based Japanese producer of high-end loudspeakers and electronics. It began in 1975 as a Pioneer project to build professional loudspeaker drivers, and its compression drivers went on to be installed in more than 300 recording studios in 20 countries by 2000. Since 2002 the brand has also built loudspeakers for the home, and today it pairs them with its own amplifiers and disc players.
Range & what it's known for
The home range is organised into Reference and Evolution series, with a Professional series kept alongside. The Reference One, launched in 2007, opened the Reference line, and the Evolution family includes the floorstanding TAD-E1AX and the compact Micro Evolution One. Electronics are designed as partners for these speakers, for example the TAD-A1000D integrated amplifier with digital inputs, built with fully symmetrical, balanced circuits. The central engineering idea is the CST (Coherent Source Transducer), a coaxial driver that places a dome tweeter inside a midrange cone so the two act as one source. TAD uses beryllium diaphragms for these drivers and has done so since its 1978 TD-4001 and TD-2001 compression drivers, which remain in production.
Who owns it and where it's made
Pioneer, founded in 1937 by Nozomu Matsumoto, ran the TAD project internally for three decades. On 1 October 2007 it was spun off as Technical Audio Devices Laboratories, Inc., with its head office in Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo. American engineer Bart Locanthi worked with the original project team. The company is led by president Shinji Tarutani, and TAD hand-builds its range at home in Japan.
The lineup in this catalog
Loudspeakers and electronics are listed, from roughly USD 20,000 up to well over USD 200,000 for the Reference-series systems at the top.
Who it's for
TAD targets buyers looking for a complete Japanese system in which speakers and electronics come from the same engineering team with a long studio background. The Micro Evolution One is the smallest entry into the CST driver design, the E1AX floorstander and the A1000D amplifier form a matched mid-level pairing, and the Reference series is where the line ends. It is aimed at large budgets and at owners who value a direct link to professional monitoring history.
Range & what it's known for
The home range is organised into Reference and Evolution series, with a Professional series kept alongside. The Reference One, launched in 2007, opened the Reference line, and the Evolution family includes the floorstanding TAD-E1AX and the compact Micro Evolution One. Electronics are designed as partners for these speakers, for example the TAD-A1000D integrated amplifier with digital inputs, built with fully symmetrical, balanced circuits. The central engineering idea is the CST (Coherent Source Transducer), a coaxial driver that places a dome tweeter inside a midrange cone so the two act as one source. TAD uses beryllium diaphragms for these drivers and has done so since its 1978 TD-4001 and TD-2001 compression drivers, which remain in production.
Who owns it and where it's made
Pioneer, founded in 1937 by Nozomu Matsumoto, ran the TAD project internally for three decades. On 1 October 2007 it was spun off as Technical Audio Devices Laboratories, Inc., with its head office in Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo. American engineer Bart Locanthi worked with the original project team. The company is led by president Shinji Tarutani, and TAD hand-builds its range at home in Japan.
The lineup in this catalog
Loudspeakers and electronics are listed, from roughly USD 20,000 up to well over USD 200,000 for the Reference-series systems at the top.
Who it's for
TAD targets buyers looking for a complete Japanese system in which speakers and electronics come from the same engineering team with a long studio background. The Micro Evolution One is the smallest entry into the CST driver design, the E1AX floorstander and the A1000D amplifier form a matched mid-level pairing, and the Reference series is where the line ends. It is aimed at large budgets and at owners who value a direct link to professional monitoring history.
