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Falcon LS35a to Tannoy Eaton

amazement

pfm Member
Two very different speakers but both of interest to me.

LS35a’s for:heritage, small size, midrange, look lovey, build, overall sound quality, already have suitable stands, easier to place in a room, imaging.

Against:would I find them dynamic exciting enough, small scale sound, lack of real bass, power handling.

Tannoys for: dynamic, bass depth/quality, imaging, point source, easy to drive.

against: size not so easy to position, may not suit smaller rooms, would need to get suitable stands, wife acceptance factor, price.

So based on these few observations what to get?

It would be nice to have both but in the real world.

What would the minimum room size be for the Tannoy? Room size 5mtr x 4 mtr

Naim nac 272/nap 250dr before you all shout valves, I like and have no need to change from Naim. Been there done that.
I’m really venturing towards the Tannoys for a more organic real life breathable sound that so many small or slim speakers just don’t give.

So thoughts please?
 
How close do you plan to listen? If far-field go big, if nearfield go small. Listening level plays a part too. Close up at moderate levels the LS3/5A are astonishingly good. Good enough not to want more, but loud and large room-filling they are not (though they do better than one would expect).

PS FWIW I don’t think your amplification would be a great match for either. Nothing wrong with it, I’d just choose different speakers to match with it. I briefly tried some old-school Naim with my Tannoys and didn’t like it at all. The combination did neither what I like about Tannoys or Naim! By saying that if this is a direction you want to pursue speaker-wise you could easy flip the Naim for say a Sugden (which will be a great match with either) and sick a fair wedge of cash away in the process.
 
I suspect ls3/5 will have better perceived bass (hump) than Eaton’s. Even though there’s a 10” woofer there wasn’t much impact.

Ive moved onto Chatsworth Golds and am still umming about about amp being the best match ( I’ve got Avondale Voyages)
 
How close do you plan to listen? If far-field go big, if nearfield go small. Listening level plays a part too. Close up at moderate levels the LS3/5A are astonishingly good. Good enough not to want more, but loud and large room-filling they are not (though they do better than one would expect).

PS FWIW I don’t think your amplification would be a great match for either. Nothing wrong with it, I’d just choose different speakers to match with it. I briefly tried some old-school Naim with my Tannoys and didn’t like it at all. The combination did neither what I like about Tannoys or Naim! By saying that if this is a direction you want to pursue speaker-wise you could easy flip the Naim for say a Sugden (which will be a great match with either) and sick a fair wedge of cash away in the process.

I thought you may say as much, I’ve been following your thread in classic re your Falcons with interest. They do seem very appealing. My usual listening distance is around 2.2 mtrs, what would be regarded as near field less than or more than?
There’s a chap on the Naim forum using Eatons, very satisfied by reading his threads. Another problems is my tastes are quite wide ranging from rock to jazz to pop to fusion and everything in between.
The slim tall floostanders just don’t appeal to me and seem to have more in common with interior design than audio.
 
I agree fully about floorstanders!

To my mind the LS3/5As are exceptional on acoustic stuff; jazz, string quartets, vocal etc. Powered with a neutral to warm amp they really shine and can image like few other speakers. Tight and surprisingly dynamic too, the drums on properly dynamic stuff (ECM jazz etc) is very impressive for such a small speaker, they have some real kick. They still sound really good on rock, pop etc, even reggae and electronica, though obviously you have to be careful with the volume.

Given you larger room and current amplification I’d be inclined to look and some fairly similar speakers that have a good bit more headroom on tap, e.g. the Spendor S4/5, ProAc D1 etc, and I suspect these would match the Naims a bit better.

I can’t comment on the Legacy Etons as I’ve never heard that range so have no idea what amplification matches, though I’d have though something fairly warm and weighty would be an advantage with smaller Tannoys. It certainly is with the vintage models.
 
I suspect ls3/5 will have better perceived bass (hump) than Eaton’s. Even though there’s a 10” woofer there wasn’t much impact.

Ive moved onto Chatsworth Golds and am still umming about about amp being the best match ( I’ve got Avondale Voyages)
yes the falcons are very good. A friend who is organ mad came hear the eatons, very pleased. They go pretty low and can shake the room if you want
 
Of all the speakers I have owned (and I am talking in excess of 30 pairs over around 25 years) the Falcon LS3/5a's that I had for a while last year are one of only 3 that I miss the most. They are really special if your musical taste and volume proclivities dovetails with their skillset. They are organic and very real sounding but in a romantically, idealised way if that makes any sense?

Having said this I agree with Tony in that the Naim amps you have are probably not the best match. Not heard the Tannoy's so cannot comment.
 
Tannoy eaton leg have great waf factor , go near walls, made some stands for 100 quid , very versatile. Friend on the wam uses tannoy same size in room about 25% of mine which is 17ft by 13ft

Sound superb with many amps including valve and class d . So far have used silbatone hybrid, thrax valve , msb, class d ice power , sugden, naim , lavardin , all good. Thrax was 70 watt valve and just spellbinding but it cost 10 k.

Now I use 300 pound ice power with bc pre 3 and it's good too
 
At the last Bristol show the Falcons impressed me more than pretty well everything else there. They were using Sugden amps I believe and I didn’t feel short changed in the bass, although, to be fair, they weren’t playing thrash metal or Mahler.
 
Could you manage to try a pair of Tannoy's in your room, you may just love them: If they weren't the greatest match with your Naim amps it is possible to change to another brand or you can get valve amps that are not over 'valvey' in sound
 
Could you manage to try a pair of Tannoy's in your room, you may just love them: If they weren't the greatest match with your Naim amps it is possible to change to another brand or you can get valve amps that are not over 'valvey' in sound

I’m sure I would love either speaker to be honest, I suppose it comes down to price and assimilation into the room, which the Falcons are an easier call.
 
Tannoy eaton leg have great waf factor , go near walls, made some stands for 100 quid , very versatile. Friend on the wam uses tannoy same size in room about 25% of mine which is 17ft by 13ft

Sound superb with many amps including valve and class d . So far have used silbatone hybrid, thrax valve , msb, class d ice power , sugden, naim , lavardin , all good. Thrax was 70 watt valve and just spellbinding but it cost 10 k.

Now I use 300 pound ice power with bc pre 3 and it's good too


Where did you obtain the timber for your stands? What about cutting accurately?
 
As average I listen at between 60db and 70 db, occasionally a little higher are these figures possible with the Falcons without over driving them?
 
I think a very basic thing to consider is what sort of music you listen to, small monitors like the Falcon are really the preserve of small scale music, I wouldn't bother considering them for anything else.

I’d say it was listening distance and volume more than genre. The LS3/5As are a nearfield monitor, if you are listening more than say a max of 2m away or want high volume you clearly want something bigger. I’ve been playing a lot of electronica, even reggae (I bought a Bob Marley box) through mine and in their intended usage context they do a really good job and sound surprisingly full and have scale and punch that you’d not believe possible from such a tiny sealed-box speaker. As ever if you want to fill a big room with sound and have headroom to spare you need a big speaker. There is never any exception to this rule!
 
I’d say it was listening distance and volume more than genre. The LS3/5As are a nearfield monitor, if you are listening more than say a max of 2m away or want high volume you clearly want something bigger. I’ve been playing a lot of electronica, even reggae (I bought a Bob Marley box) through mine and in their intended usage context they do a really good job and sound surprisingly full and have scale and punch that you’d not believe possible from such a tiny sealed-box speaker. As ever if you want to fill a big room with sound and have headroom to spare you need a big speaker. There is never any exception to this rule!

Do you think they can play to a similar volume as my current Tablette 10's? I'd probably get along with them if they can.
 
Where did you obtain the timber for your stands? What about cutting accurately?

yes timber was Wickes hemlock staircase bannisters , easily available and easy to cut to correct size

then 4 argos chopping boards again , cut to size . these were actually made for the shl5plus but i adapted them . all you do is screw in the legs to the chopping boards and several layers of briwax and elbow grease

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