TAD Labs has released their new CE1 standmount speaker first shown at the High End in Munich. Designed and developed entirely in-house, the CE1 inherits technology from the R1 (Reference Series), and even at its £15,995 asking price this is TAD’s least expensive loudspeaker.
Features include a coaxial driver with beryllium tweeter and magnesium midrange. The design provides a point source sound from 250Hz to 100kHz, with the aim of matching the arrival time of mid and high frequencies. Vapour deposited beryllium is employed for its highly rigid and extremely lightweight properties. TAD’s vapour deposition process is designed to ensure the tweeter produces audio that is well controlled and that extends well above the range of audibility. The magnesium diaphragm provides a “superb” combination of stiffness, low mass and durability resulting in “low coloration and astonishing accuracy”.
The CE1 woofer has a one-piece dust cap/cone construction. The technique was chosen to increase the strength and virtually eliminate weak points on any part of the cone. The cone construction is further strengthened by the TAD developed MACS process, using multiple layers of aramid fibres to provide low mass with high rigidity to resist back pressure from the cabinet. On either side of the cabinet a bi-directional slit-shaped port (duct) is covered by an aluminium side panel. The openings are horn-shaped to achieve a smooth airflow. This design reduces port noise, even at high amplitude, and prevents leakage of internal standing waves. The bi-directional (forward and backward) and symmetrical (left to right) layout of the port openings further offsets the driving force to the port to “guarantee a responsive and natural bass sound”.
The enclosure features a framework of high rigidity birch plywood combined with MDF for high internal loss, achieving an enclosure that combines high strength with low resonance. Ten millimetre thick aluminium panels are attached to the left and right side of the speaker cabinet to further reduce resonances. Standing waves inside the cabinet are combatted with specially adapted acoustical material inside the enclosure. The central section of the cabinet is finished in a tropical olive wood veneer with a highly transparent protective layer. The side frames with integrated aluminium panels allow the future introduction of cosmetic variations.
TAD is brought into UK by NuNu Distribution.