Pioneer Taps Professional TAD Studio Monitor Technology for High-End Home Audio Reference Loudspeakers

Pioneer Corporation has announced that it will introduce a TAD brand speaker system for the first time to the consumer market later this year.

Described as “a new reference speaker system of the 21st century for consumers in the high-end audio market,” the new TAD-M1 loudpseaker will go on sale in Japan, with a projected price of 3,000,000 Yen (approx. $25,000 US), in October 2003.

Pioneer’s TAD (Technical Audio Devices) professional speakers are recognized as a leading brand of studio monitors. Since they first appeared in the US in 1978 (1981 in Japan), TAD speakers have been used in many of the world’s major recording studios. And over these past 25 years they have earned respect and rave reviews from many top artists and engineers, who appreciate their reliability and quality as monitor speakers for recording and digital remastering.

Pioneer says the TAD-M1 will be optimized for performance with advanced high-resolution audio sources, such as DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD (SACD). The TAD-M1 speaker system is the first TAD brand product aimed at the consumer market.

Main Features of the TAD-M1

CST Coaxial Unit
CST (Coherent Source Transducer) is a coaxial speaker technology that controls the phase and directivity of the drive unit across a broad frequency spectrum. By employing a tweeter that is mounted concentrically within a shallow midrange cone, the phasing and off-axis response problems of conventional drivers are eliminated.

16cm Beryllium Diaphragm
Beryllium has been used for both the mid-range and tweeter diaphragms. A light yet rigid metal, Beryllium performs with strength and damping characteristics unmatched by any of the materials currently used in high-end audio speakers. This produces near-perfect piston behavior in the speaker, resulting in cleaner sound and greater accuracy of reproduction.

OFGMS Magnetic Circuit for the Woofer and Mid-range Bass
A short-voice-type OFGMS (Optimized Field Geometry Magnet Structure) magnetic circuit has been newly developed for these speaker units. The density of the magnetic flux in the long gap of 37 mm (in the woofer) has been made uniform, and a voice coil has been placed inside the consistently uniform magnetic gap (patent pending) to ensure stable operation, even during large amplitude, and to reproduce the waveform correctly without limitations imposed by the amplitude. A tri-laminate composite cone diaphragm has been newly developed to obtain ideal physicality, including structural strength, for the woofer and mid-range bass. This enables clear, rich bass and a gentle mid-range bass reproduction, with free of coloration.

SILENT Enclosure for Beautiful Sound as well as Beautiful Style
The enclosure is a vital element in shaping the sound image and sound space. TAD’s structurally inert, laminated enclosure technology (SILENT) refers to a bass enclosure uniquely constructed from more that 50 individually machined layers of high-quality laminated Birch. This complex design and integrally cross-braced construction eliminates flexing and is immune to the high forces and pressures exerted by the bass drivers.

ISO (Isolation) Drive, to bring out accurate, precise strength in sound
TAD’s proprietary ISO Drive technology enables the vibration energy produced by the midrange driver to be isolated from the cabinet. This results in significantly decreased contribution to the sound field from the undesirable vibration of the cabinet, and improves the resolution of fine detail.

Specifications

TAD Loudspeakers Web Site