R1 382 200,00
The TD4.2 marked a genuine turning point in how the high-end audio press viewed Raidho. Positive Feedback’s David W. Robinson was candid about it: before designer Benno Meldgaard (also chief designer at sister company GamuT) took over Raidho’s engineering, he’d found the brand’s earlier speakers somewhat analytical and hadn’t personally connected with them at shows. The Meldgaard-reworked TD4.2 changed that entirely — Robinson called the transformation “Bennofitting,” awarded the TD4.2 one of his 2020 Brutus Awards, and gave it his very highest recommendation.
The TD4.2 is a tall, slender 3-way floorstander measuring 1550mm high (1580mm including feet) and weighing 65kg, built on the original cabinet design by Michael Børresen and substantially reworked by Meldgaard. The driver array consists of one sealed TD ribbon tweeter, two 110mm Tantalum-Diamond midrange drivers, and four 115mm Tantalum-Diamond bass drivers, all fed through a completely redesigned crossover with a stepped slope tuned for accurate phase and impulse response — a hallmark of Meldgaard’s engineering approach. According to Raidho, adding a tantalum coating to the already diamond-coated driver cones created an even stiffer, 5-layer cone with higher internal damping, while an upgraded magnet system with a new SD-cap, stronger magnets, and an improved voice coil brings much of the TD4.8 flagship’s performance into a more room-friendly package. The rear porting system and cabinet woodworking drew specific praise from Robinson as genuinely gorgeous — Danish craftsmanship on full display.
Robinson’s review, based on hundreds of hours of listening across LP, SACD, and DSD sources (including DSD512) through two different reference systems — Pass Labs Xs 150 Class A monoblocks and Audionet MAX monoblocks — found the TD4.2 immediately distinctive. He was struck by the “incisive” nature of the Tantalum-Diamond drivers, describing an audio speed especially evident during dynamic passages, combined with detail that never tipped into analytical harshness. Compared to the pre-Meldgaard Raidho speakers he’d heard at shows, he found the TD4.2 far more musical, with better harmonic wholeness and a well-balanced tonal structure free of forwardness or edge.
Both reference amplifier systems mated well with the TD4.2, handling everything from pure Class A to high-power Class A/B without issue, and Robinson found the ribbon tweeter’s sense of spaciousness especially notable — combined with the driver array’s height, the speaker avoided any sense of “beaminess” or the ability to pick out individual drivers, regardless of source format. His summary borrowed the same language he’d used for Meldgaard’s GamuT Zodiac reference speakers: “truly and deeply organic, always musical, terribly seductive.”
Rated frequency response spans 25Hz-50kHz with sensitivity of 89dB and impedance above 6 ohms — genuinely amplifier-friendly specs on paper, with Raidho stating usable results from as little as 20 watts (Robinson noted good results even with small tube amps). That said, Robinson’s practical recommendation was to not go below 100 watts per channel to let the TD4.2 fully “feed the beast.” The ported enclosure and stepped-slope crossover are tuned specifically for linear phase and impulse response across the full range, and the cabinet is available in black piano, virtually any custom paint color, or walnut burl veneer.
At roughly $120,000/pair (100,000 Euros), the TD4.2 sits deep in flagship territory. Robinson’s assessment was unambiguous: these are “truly world-class reference loudspeakers” that fundamentally changed his perception of what Raidho was capable of — strong praise from a reviewer who had specifically not connected with the brand’s earlier designs.
Pros: Exceptional speed and detail from the Tantalum-Diamond driver array without analytical harshness; genuinely musical, organic tonal balance; excellent soundstage spaciousness and driver integration; gorgeous Danish cabinet craftsmanship; works well with both Class A and Class A/B amplification; Brutus Award-winning performance from a respected reviewer.
Cons: Flagship pricing around $120,000/pair; tall, substantial cabinet requiring real room commitment; while technically drivable from 20W, genuinely rewards 100W+ amplification to show its full potential; niche availability through Raidho’s dealer network.
Bottom line: The TD4.2 represents Benno Meldgaard’s transformative reworking of the Raidho sound — a speaker that converted a previously skeptical reviewer into an enthusiastic advocate, delivering genuinely world-class musicality, speed, and soundstaging in a comparatively more room-friendly package than Raidho’s largest flagship models.
R1 382 200,00
R1 382 200,00
