[spacemanspliff]

No. My emotions are fine. I take pride in my honesty and integrity. Hence my offense that I am ANYTHING but trying to enjoy my ridiculous good fortune.

I really just want to tell you this and that and this again but I am not going to do that.

It is a personal attack when you even suggest that I am doing this for $$. Why is that a hard concept for you?

How about this. Turn the table around. See how you feel.

Thanks again for the apology.

 

[SilverTrumpet999]

Spaceman Spiff (incidentally, Calvin & Hobbes is also a personal favorite of mine): I am curious about the musicality of the sub.

I see you have Stax cans, often regarded as some of the most transparent / musical transducers here on Head-Fi... Stax (and planar drivers in general) are often cited as faster than everything possible in the dynamic world.

How does the musicality of the sub hold up in comparison to your headphones, and when integrated with the rest of your system? What speakers are you using with it? I will also second InfiniteSymphony in asking if there is any possibility of in-room frequency response measurements (perhaps the manufacturer has them)?

Extension down in the the mid-20 Hz range would be nice, but I am primarily interested in musicality, not the deepest extension or thundering output if meeting the latter two categories sacrifices the former. Particularly interested in classical bass and/or jazz (string bass). I realize you just got the unit and asking for some of this could take a decent review period, but any answers will help!

Thanks.

 

[spacemanspliff]

I intend to do a review. From first listen it appears to be much faster and more musical than the old Velodyne I had. I might add it blends almost seamlessly with my SR-Lambdas so far. I think it may be a little slower than the stax but not enough to bother me. Besides, this is really for a 2.1 setup anyway. Just for fun though using it with the Stax gives the low end a bit more presence that I was wanting. I am getting the matching 805 speakers (used off of Audiogon for $165 shipped!! another great deal from an individual who is not affiliated in ANY way with TAD btw Gnome) in a week or so too. I really would like to have a HSU or SVS sub to be able to compare this too. I know that Paul(the Tube Audio Design guy) has a GREAT review of his pre-amp dac so I am interested in that too. From my emails with him he is really funny and very responsive.

Just for the $$ I can say this is the best sub deal I have ever seen. It is just an incredible deal which is why I am so ENTHUSIASTIC about it lol.

I know it seems too good to be true but it turns out to be a real deal. I put up my $$ on faith alone and was not disappointed. It really is not enough money to worry about getting ripped off anyway. If it was some $5k miracle dac I would understand being skeptical but *** it is just $139 lol. I spend that on dinner sometimes.

http://www.audioreview.com/cat/digit...8_2738crx.aspx

 

[infinitesymphony]

Can anyone comment on the construction quality or parts selection of the internal electronic crossover / power section?

I see two 8,800uF capacitors for the power section, which is at least one good sign.

 

[Jon118]

Sounds good, but I wish there was full picture of the back, that would be nice.

 

[grawk]

I hate to say it, but 2000 posts on headfi doesn't mean anything. There are lots of people who have 2000+ posts who I wouldn't trust in a $20 transaction. There are people I've dealt with with <50 posts who were completely reliable. Post count means nothing.

That said, I just ordered one. Buying my money order tomorrow for the free shipping.

 

[SysteX]

Please let us know what you think, grawk. I'm in the market for a <$250 sub and was about to pull the trigger on an av123 x-sub when I saw this thread. I plan on holding off until I find out more about this sub.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SysteX /img/forum/go_quote.gif I plan on holding off until I find out more about this sub.

Hopefully we'll all learn more information about it in the coming five days, considering that's how long we have to make a decision.

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

Looks very nice, I want to see some measurements and a little more about the cross-over design.

 

[m11a1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grawk /img/forum/go_quote.gif I hate to say it, but 2000 posts on headfi doesn't mean anything. There are lots of people who have 2000+ posts who I wouldn't trust in a $20 transaction. There are people I've dealt with with <50 posts who were completely reliable. Post count means nothing. That said, I just ordered one. Buying my money order tomorrow for the free shipping.

Agree 1000%

 

[spacemanspliff]

Post count means nothing and I guess feedback is useless too?
See my feedback in my sig and this heatware too.
http://www.heatware.com/eval.php?id=34797

Here are some more pics. Notice the imperfection of the cutout for the woofer. The seal is properly done though. I need to re-assemble my stereo as I had to move everything around and it is still not together. However, this sub is WAY more tuneful and powerful than my 2 12" Eclipse subs in my Acura. Those subs get 250 watts apiece from a Precision Power amp so they are not crappy boomers by any means.

Again, thanks for the accusations and complete lack of faith in me. I know that this will all come back around when someone more trustworthy than my slimy, scheming self gets one too. I am not letting this go until my enthusiasm is justified by someone else.

I am excited by this product b/c it was such a good deal for the $$. I am sure there are sonic and obviously cosmetic issues with this sub but for the price? Come on.

 

[spacemanspliff]

Oh yeah, the port is on the bottom. I will get pics of that later today. Sorry about that.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Thanks for the extra pictures, spacemanspliff.

The lowered price for these might be a clearance of b-stock merchandise, which would explain the woofer cut-out and possibly the lack of a serial number.

Here's a conversation that I found from the Polk Audio forums that covers some of the equipment we're discussing:

Quote:

Originally Posted by SCompRacer The Aural Ersatz TAD-803 speakers are imported by Paul Grzybek at Tube Audio Design. He is local to us here in Wheaton, IL. He also sells the wonderful TAD-60 tube amp that Norm, Victor and I have owned and Ricardo brought to the fest. The Aural Ersatz speakers do not have a crossover. They don't have quite the low end extension of large speakers, but the bass is articulate and sounds tonally right. They throw a decent soundstage, and the midrange/highs sound detailed and coherent. I think they lack a bit of extension at both frequency extremes, but the midbass through the lower treble region is on a par with many higher price speakers. It might have been me or the room, but they seemed bright in the basement rig. Paul actually uses a pair along with the Aural Ecstasy sub in his system. I had one of Paul's Aural Ecstasy TAD-SW150 subs for a while and used it in a two channel rig. For what is cost, it worked pretty good. A friend of mine ended up with it and uses it in his first home theatre setup.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HTrookie The TAD-803's are not rock speakers, and as Rich says they lack extension at both estremes, but they have very pleasing mids and have a nice soundstage; with the right music they can be very enjoyable (and for $159 definitely a good buy IMO).

Quote:

Originally Posted by SCompRacer IIRC, the basement room was reflective and echoey. Nearfield was where it was at to best hear what the speakers were capable of. Paul has what some call an odd marketing plan. He doesn't advertise, and sells his products for less until it gains in popularity. I have met him and he is solid. He has top notch customer service if you experience a problem. I had an intermittent problem with my subwoofer amp and he didn't have any in stock to replace it. He removed the plate amp from his sub and swapped it for mine. It turned out to be just a bad solder joint.

Keep in mind that the TAD-803 discussed by these guys is from a few years back. The newer 805 should have some improvements.

 

[spacemanspliff]

I will get a pair of 805s next week. I agree that Paul is probably just getting rid of some b-stock but still the product is way beyond anything under $300 sonically. He is excellent to deal with and I believe that based on what he sells and how he describes his products that he is just trying to offer solid deals. His pre-amp/dac looks very promising as do the prices on his I/Cs and the fact that he sells Iron Lung Jelly power cords. This seller appears to be worth at least looking at for budget minded folks like myself. So far so good. I can live with cosmetic defects like the cutout. The rest of the sub is flawless and the grill covers the woofer anyway.

 

[Jon118]

Why do you have to tempt me with something like this. If it had some sort of high-level output this would be irresistible. As it stands it still is very tempting. Quite a good price.