TAGA Harmony is a Polish audio manufacturer that started in the early nineteen nineties. Besides creating a large range of loudspeakers, it also has a sizeable catalogue of electronics and accessories. The name comes from the first letters of the company's tagline, which is 'To Achieve Glorious Acoustics', no less. It is gradually building its presence in Europe as an affordable audio brand, winning awards and expanding internationally. The products are designed in the European Union and manufactured in China.

This company sells bookshelves, floorstanding, surround sound, subwoofer speakers, and a custom install range that includes in-wall, in-ceiling, and outdoor. The striking, retro-styled Nostalgic TH-12 reviewed here features a 305mm woofer in a three-way configuration. It's a chunky bass-reflex design with the port in the front panel. The 25mm tweeter and 50mm midrange driver are hidden behind black domed metal covers. Also on the front panel are pads to control the levels of the tweeter and midrange drivers relative to the bass driver. There are three settings, -3dB, 0dB, and +3dB, centred on 800Hz and 3kHz.

All drivers are designed in-house and appear to be of high quality. The tweeter is made from an exotic titanium and magnesium alloy with a polyester surround and a 25mm aluminium voice coil with CCA wires for accuracy. It has an oversized magnet design. The midrange driver uses an aluminium dome, also with a stiff yet flexible polyester surround with an oversized magnet. The bass driver sports a paper/polyester cone with a U-type rubber surround, a Terylene dust cap and an aluminium injection-moulded frame.

The crossover has been designed to use as few components as possible. High-quality polyester capacitors and premium inductors are utilised, along with silver-clad 4N (99.99%) single-crystal copper wiring. Stated crossover points are at 800Hz and 2.5kHz. The published frequency response of the speaker is 30Hz to 20kHz (±3dB). It has a claimed nominal impedance of 6 ohms, and sensitivity is 92dB, so this speaker should be a reasonably easy load for most modern solid-state amplifiers. Maximum input power is 250W.

The cabinet measures 740x420x340mm [HxWxD], making it wider than most modern designs. Each speaker weighs 29.6kg and is made from 18mm thick MDF. The supplied removable grilles are unusually solid and feature a high-quality vintage-style cloth. Around the back is a single pair of multiway speaker binding posts of decent quality. The available cabinet finishes are natural walnut and oak.

Each pair of Nostalgic TH-12 speakers comes with a standard pair of dedicated speaker stands, which are the correct height and size to isolate the speakers from the floor and provide firm support. The stand is tilted backwards at 5 degrees to time-align the drive units, and is made of thick, 6x6cm steel frame that's painted matt grey. Mounting bolts are provided to solidly affix the speaker to the stand, which is very heavy at around 12.5kg.

I found these speakers worked best on their dedicated stands, positioned with the mirror-image tweeters facing inwards towards one another. The user manual suggests that the speakers will sound even better after proper running in, and I concur with this. I positioned my review pair well away from the front and side walls, to achieve the best balance of bass weight and clarity, and toed in slightly. I used a Yamaha R-N2000A amplifier rated at 120W RMS per channel into 8 ohms for my listening tests.

THE LISTENING

This loudspeaker has an attractively balanced sound, yet is still capable of generating real excitement. It has a big character to match its physicality, and can sound great at low listening levels – and then go loud with very little sign of stress.

I enjoy listening to Chad Crouch's compositions playing softly as background music while I'm researching and writing. I sit well off-axis, to the side of the room where my desk is located, and even there, I can enjoy the realism of the naturally recorded birds and instruments on the track Part 17. Even when the track has no bass content, the Nostalgic TH-12 still sounds smooth and uniform in the treble and midrange, and shows a seamless transition between its drivers. There is a fine sense of fluidity, evenness, and composure to voices and piano, in particular, which is very enjoyable and leaves me wanting to listen longer.

With the ability to tweak treble and midrange levels, the TH-12 is capable of delivering a reasonably even frequency response – certainly one that should be to most people's tastes. Listening to The Rhythm Divine by Yello and featuring the amazing voice of Shirley Bassey, I can hear a satisfying sense of detail, speed and air. The music sounds atmospheric, with well placed backing vocals and sparkling cymbal work. It's a warm and friendly sound, with no harshness or irritation whatsoever.

Rachets by Hedegaard is a track with strong rhythmic bass, and this TAGA Harmony speaker delivers room-filling energy, plus a thump in the chest from the kick drum. All the same, it doesn't go quite as low as other designs I've tried in my listening room – the recently reviewed PSB Imagine T65 speaker felt quite a bit deeper, for example, despite being physically smaller. All the same, the tuneful bass is fun to listen to. You certainly would not call this an old-school party boom box, but it's a pleasure to hear all the same.

Such refinements are put to good use on New York City by The Peter Malick Group, featuring Norah Jones. Tonally, the mix is virtually perfect, which is quite an achievement for an inexpensive loudspeaker. I especially like the impeccable timing of the guitar and percussion work. One particular highlight is the doubling-up of Norah's voice in the chorus, with the keyboard in the background. If you listen intently for small details in your favourite tracks, the TH-12 will ingratiate itself to you.

The soundstaging is very good indeed. I loved how the speaker practically disappears from the room at higher volumes, letting the listener focus in on the music playing. In this respect it is more convincing than many other speakers I've heard, even at multiples of the TAGA Harmony's asking price. For instance, the blues-influenced Evil Memory by Crystal Shawanda has a broad spread of sound that pushes well beyond the speaker boxes, with the vocal line clearly set forward of the instruments. This speaker recreates the recorded acoustic convincingly, helping to fully impart the realism of the performance.

THE VERDICT

TAGA Harmony's Nostalgic TH12 is an interesting-looking loudspeaker with real sonic ability and charm, especially on well-recorded programme material. Whether you like the styling is a personal matter, but there's no denying that a pair of these will quickly become the focal point of your listening room. Overall, it's a solid thumbs up for this design, which offers very good value for money—especially when you factor in the bundled stands. Do try to audition a pair if you get the chance.

For more information visit TAGA Harmony