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Tannoy Owners

bonzo75

horns, planars, tannoys
Hi, Who are the Tannoy owners here, and what drivers do you have? Anyone with Black, Silver, Reds?

15 inch Monitor Golds?

HPD 385 and 315?

etc

I have tried searching but too many threads and cannot make out drivers

Blame Montesquieu for exposing me to Reference Fidelity HPD 315a in Canterbury cabs with Silvercore 833c 20w amp and TD 124 with Ikeda 407 and 9TT
 
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I have 15” Monitor Golds in early-60s Lockwood Universal Major studio cabs.
 
I wouldn't get too hung up on 'colours' or sizes. All vintage Tannoy DCs with pepperpot will give you that Tannoy magic. Cabinet size and design is very important, as is crossover design, and also amplification (e.g. HPDs will benefit from an amp with higher damping factor than earlier models). In my experience however, the most important thing to do first is source a pair of drivers that are well-matched sonically, that's half the battle. :)

PS - I'm currently using 1960s Monitor Gold 12s in 1980s Edinburgh enclosures, but I also have Monitor Gold 15s.

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bonzo,

I've used Tannoy GRF rectangulars with 15-inch early Monitor Reds since 2008. Here's a picture taken mere moments after they arrived.

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(small child denotes scale)

I'm still running the same sources (Rega P9 and Naim CD2) but the Naim tower of power (102, Hi-Cap, NAPSC, 250) has been replaced by a manly Manley Stingray.

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Joe
 
Only currently using 12" Monitor Golds, but have stashed/awaiting projects 15" HPDs, 15" Monitor Golds, 15" Monitor Reds, a few more 12" Golds, some pairs of 3134s and a pair of the rare Blue 12" Monitor Silvers, made by Tannoy for Decca and PYE. I use their Silver crossovers with the 12" M Gs (butyl surround), and rate that combination highly.
 
Mk1 Ardens (HPD385) here.

I used to have 15" Monitor Golds in corner Lancaster cabinets too.

HPD's are underrated if you ask me.
 
12" Monitor Golds here. The rubber surround version in sealed Chatsworth cabs with RFC crossovers.
 
Strongly disagree the 'magic' is dependant upon pepper-pot driver-the only vintage ones I'd entertain are the 12"R MG or HPD/K series, the hard edge rest are almost certainly out of spec.....last pair I measured had a Fs of 70hz rather than low 20's, re-cone time as tired spiders and stiff surrounds are a dogs dinner in T&S terms.

System 15 DMT 2 monitors here(Arden Legacy type clones here too), Tulip WG and best enclosure Tannoy have ever made,

Mk1 Ardens (HPD385) here.

I used to have 15" Monitor Golds in corner Lancaster cabinets too.

HPD's are underrated if you ask me.

Your Monitor Gold recone/rebuild restored them 'like new'. +1 on HPDs.
 
Strongly disagree the 'magic' is dependant upon pepper-pot driver-the only vintage ones I'd entertain are the 12"R MG or HPD/K series, the hard edge rest are almost certainly out of spec.....last pair I measured had a Fs of 70hz rather than low 20's, re-cone time as tired spiders and stiff surrounds are a dogs dinner in T&S terms.

System 15 DMT 2 monitors here(Arden Legacy type clones here too), Tulip WG and best enclosure Tannoy have ever made,



Your Monitor Gold recone/rebuild restored them 'like new'. +1 on HPDs.

Which driver did you measure that had an Fs of 70Hz? I haven't measured the Fs of any of mine, but I suspect my hard-edged MG12s and MG15s aren't anywhere near as high as 70Hz, otherwise they wouldn't excite my 41Hz room mode as much as they do. My 3149 drivers are another matter, their in-room response begins to roll-off from 100Hz!

I haven't heard the Tulip WG on any comparably-sized DCs (just my Autograph Minis with their pint-sized 4-inch drivers!) but from discussions on the Tannoy group the pepperpot apparently has a distinctive character to it. That's not to say it's better or worse, just different. (I'm very open to the idea of the Tulip WG being superior to the pepperpot but would like to hear it with my own ears to confirm!). The pepperpot is however what the OP heard when he auditioned the HPDs, so if he were to go down the route of the DMT etc, I'd suggest he auditions before buying. :)
 
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Me, me, me...

HPD385s formerly belonging to cooky1257. Rubbish pic, sorry. I was between speakers at the time (see BC1, front right.)

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Which driver did you measure that had an Fs of 70Hz? I haven't measured the Fs of any of mine, but I suspect my hard-edged MG12s and MG15s aren't anywhere near as high as 70Hz, otherwise they wouldn't excite my 41Hz room mode as much as they do. My 3149 drivers are another matter, their in-room response begins to roll-off from 100Hz!

I’ve no idea how to even assess it! My untouched 15” Golds sound great to my ears; warm and weighty, just as good Tanoys should. If there was a guaranteed upgrade to be had I’d happily recone them, it isn’t a lot of cash in the grand scheme of things. I’ve heard a lot of big Tannoys over the years and I’d rate mine close to the top of the pile in that sample-group, so I’m certainly not aware of any issue. Anything I’ve tried so far (third-party crossovers etc) have made them worse to my ears, so I’m reluctant to meddle too much, but I’d certainly not rule it out. I’m actually half tempted to buy a pair of cones just to have some spares even if I didn’t fit them, though by saying that I’m still a little curious about Reds and could be very tempted by a mint pair at the right price (they are what should be in my Lockwoods).
 
I’ve no idea how to even assess it! My untouched 15” Golds sound great to my ears; warm and weighty, just as good Tanoys should. If there was a guaranteed upgrade to be had I’d happily recone them, it isn’t a lot of cash in the grand scheme of things. I’ve heard a lot of big Tannoys over the years and I’d rate mine close to the top of the pile in that sample-group, so I’m certainly not aware of any issue. Anything I’ve tried so far (third-party crossovers etc) have made them worse to my ears, so I’m reluctant to meddle too much, but I’d certainly not rule it out. I’m actually half tempted to buy a pair of cones just to have some spares even if I didn’t fit them, though by saying that I’m still a little curious about Reds and could be very tempted by a mint pair at the right price (they are what should be in my Lockwoods).
I bought a spare pair of 15" Gold cones last year to store away in case I ever need them in the future. I'm a bit paranoid though as I'm not sure what's the best way to store them to prevent cone warpage and/or spider sag. I've just left them the way Lockwood shipped them to me.
 
I bought a spare pair of 15" Gold cones last year to store away in case I ever need them in the future. I'm a bit paranoid though as I'm not sure what's the best way to store them to prevent cone warpage and/or spider sag. I've just left them the way Lockwood shipped them to me.

Are the cones or box date-stamped at all? I’m curious as to how current/what degree of NOS the ones in circulation are. Did you buy them from the eBay seller who usually has them or direct from Lockwood?
 
Are the cones or box date-stamped at all? I’m curious as to how current/what degree of NOS the ones in circulation are. Did you buy them from the eBay seller who usually has them or direct from Lockwood?
I bought them from Lockwood via eBay (not from the "mainlytannoy" seller). I'm not sure if the box is date-stamped, I'll need to check, which means digging them out from the top shelf of my wardrobe! Perhaps @cooky1257 knows as I believe he's purchased re-cone kits?
 


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