Rug Doc
pfm Member
In which case I must not hear a pair as I have a similar hoarding nature!!
So which ones should I buy??!!
best sound I have ever heard from hifi
- Thread starter audiojoy
- Start date
In which case I must not hear a pair as I have a similar hoarding nature!!
So which ones should I buy??!!
I must say that my GFR Corner is by far the best sounding. Even then that needs internal damping and specially chosen feet for support to get the best from. So yes I have to agree with others,the larger the cabinet the better the sound. It just becomes far more relaxed and easy going, the sound is allowed to breath and decay more naturally. with a presence and size of sound stage to die for! Not that the smaller cabinets are not fun to listen to. However, the sound varies greatly from cabinet to cabinet and the crossovers are also an important part of the overall clarity of the sound. Also support is important. I would never plonk any tannoy speaker directly onto the floor, you lose a lot of bass and mid range definition, you need a stand to bring the treble coax to ear level and a quality stand from 'something solid' or Target. Furthermore unless the crossover is at its best or the cone at its best, a supertweeter such as the Tandy/Genelec will be needed to add detail and extend the sound stage, opening up the sound- forget all those expensive supertweeters, even tannoys own versions, they just do not integrate well with the old Tannoys- All I can say is that to my ears the 15" versions are the most musically -emotionally- communicative. The original crossovers are probably more musical sounding but less transparent than the ebay newer crossovers you can now buy.. The caps need changing and the treble boost pots need deoxidising - that is just a simple liquid spray job into the pot. Amp wise I have used solid state and valve. The larger the cabinet the better the speakers respond to valves.
I have owned the newer versions of the Tannoy Canterbury and would not go back to them. The 100-200l cabinets need working on e.g the Berkeley port holes need taming to get tight bass and some rockwool at the base, then you will have a less dull sounding speaker with over blown bass. The crossovers also need servicing to get more clarity. Re conning will allow a cleaner and slightly more extended top end to emerge but 4-500 quid is a lot to pay. Once you get to the GFR Corner, the less the crossover and driver condition becomes an issue for high quality sound. I have enjoyed all the Tannoy 15" drivers, from the HPD's to the versions from the 80's but I guess i prefer the HPD or golds for musical enjoyment.
However what you will get from all of those 15" drivers is a realistic full blown picture of a musical event that very very few other speakers manage, with a musically involving joy from them. But you will need to work on them to get them not to sound dull , veiled or transistor radio like, as some have described them. Also careful of high frequency prominence if you have a non original crossover, those original transformers may have more to do with the sound than you may be led to believe when it comes to musicality and tonality but not necessarily detail and transparency. The newly made boards are brilliant for clairty and detail and still quite musical sounding too, but again careful matching needed with speaker enclosure. I personally at this time prefer the originals.
I have owned the newer versions of the Tannoy Canterbury and would not go back to them. The 100-200l cabinets need working on e.g the Berkeley port holes need taming to get tight bass and some rockwool at the base, then you will have a less dull sounding speaker with over blown bass. The crossovers also need servicing to get more clarity. Re conning will allow a cleaner and slightly more extended top end to emerge but 4-500 quid is a lot to pay. Once you get to the GFR Corner, the less the crossover and driver condition becomes an issue for high quality sound. I have enjoyed all the Tannoy 15" drivers, from the HPD's to the versions from the 80's but I guess i prefer the HPD or golds for musical enjoyment.
However what you will get from all of those 15" drivers is a realistic full blown picture of a musical event that very very few other speakers manage, with a musically involving joy from them. But you will need to work on them to get them not to sound dull , veiled or transistor radio like, as some have described them. Also careful of high frequency prominence if you have a non original crossover, those original transformers may have more to do with the sound than you may be led to believe when it comes to musicality and tonality but not necessarily detail and transparency. The newly made boards are brilliant for clairty and detail and still quite musical sounding too, but again careful matching needed with speaker enclosure. I personally at this time prefer the originals.
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eastone
pfm Member
Great post that, lots to digest there vis-a-vis my own Tannoy project. I think my next step will be to do a like-for-like capacitor refresh on the crossovers.
Are these the supertweeters you mention?
https://www.ebay.com/i/222715717580?rt=nc
Are these the supertweeters you mention?
https://www.ebay.com/i/222715717580?rt=nc
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NO the ones I am talking about are very cheap but of superb quality and match for the Tannoys they are bipolar realistic/ tandy super tweeters no longer made but can be had from ebay for 30 quid or so mostly sold in the US.
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
When my speakers went for repair I built a very solid set of 1' thick MDF cabinets, all braced and screwed, stuck some average car drive units in them and I was shocked at how good they sounded, the mass production stuff is often built to a budget or manufacturing constraint.
I still have my 25 year old speakers and whats changed technology wise?
I often hear good results from older British made speakers before the bean counters and share holders shipped production to a large factory employing box shifters who have no interest in the final product.
A forum members signature is on the back of my speakers as he inspected them and was no doubt proud of them when they left the factory.
I still have my 25 year old speakers and whats changed technology wise?
I often hear good results from older British made speakers before the bean counters and share holders shipped production to a large factory employing box shifters who have no interest in the final product.
A forum members signature is on the back of my speakers as he inspected them and was no doubt proud of them when they left the factory.
That's been my experience too.
Very risky to use MDF for loudspeakers.
It just doesn't let the midrange/upper bass breathe very well and can all too often bleach the sound. The resonances have to go somewhere or they'll come out back through the cone itself or creep up into the midrange.
Composites are better, so is chipboard. Happily many of the worlds loudspeakers still use it in midi and micro systems. As did all the classic Tannoys.
It just doesn't let the midrange/upper bass breathe very well and can all too often bleach the sound. The resonances have to go somewhere or they'll come out back through the cone itself or creep up into the midrange.
Composites are better, so is chipboard. Happily many of the worlds loudspeakers still use it in midi and micro systems. As did all the classic Tannoys.
Tony L
Administrator
FWIW I’m very much liking my Decca Kelly DK30 ribbons as supertweeters. I have the crossover at 15khz on a simple 12db slope and no correction for efficiency so the Deccas really are very quiet indeed compared to the Tannoys. They are tilted back a little too so really just add a little extra dispersion up top, which traslates to a little more air and openness and a far better off-axis response.
eastone
pfm Member
Any chance you could link to an example of these?
ToTo Man
the band not the dog
I think these might be the ones audiojoy is referring to:
I bought a pair around 12 years ago to try to improve a pair of KEF Concertos but the pair I bought must have been duff because one was silent and the other was very quiet and distorted sounding!...
Yank
Bulbous Also Tapered
I think these might be the ones audiojoy is referring to:
I bought a pair around 12 years ago to try to improve a pair of KEF Concertos but the pair I bought must have been duff because one was silent and the other was very quiet and distorted sounding!...
Those are the same ones that were in the eBay auction.
these are not the ones i am referring to though, you need to search for the title as given above, they can come integrated with a full range speaker or seperately, I have no references at the moment to direct you to. So the key words is 'LInaeum dipole supertweeters' that you need to look for.
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not quite the actual name is as above and they are dipole unlike the photos. They stopped making them years ago so finding the references on ebay are not easy. However leave it as a search on ebay and a pair in the US will come up every few months or so.
beammeup
pfm Member
Vintage Tannoys and the like have been mentioned - and with speakers being the most significant contribution to the overall sound of your whole system (if using modern digital sources and technically competent amps). Focusing here on speakers because they are the most influential - has anyone in this thread tried speakers without box enclosures and woofers such as panels like Magnepans? Have vintage Tannoy owners with 15" drivers tried Maggies (or similar) in their own home? Do bear in mind that Maggies tend to require lots of power so amplification does matter here (in terms of 'grunt') - which may not appeal to hair-shirt lovers of vintage / valve amps that tend to be generally low powered. But again, because the speakers matter most I've been told that a Behringer EP4000 at just £250 is more than up to the job (because a Behringer is a competent but most usefully a powerful amp - shame about the fan though).
eastone
pfm Member
Thanks for that.
Yank
Bulbous Also Tapered
Vintage Tannoys and the like have been mentioned - and with speakers being the most significant contribution to the overall sound of your whole system (if using modern digital sources and technically competent amps). Focusing here on speakers because they are the most influential - has anyone in this thread tried speakers without box enclosures and woofers such as panels like Magnepans? Have vintage Tannoy owners with 15" drivers tried Maggies (or similar) in their own home? Do bear in mind that Maggies tend to require lots of power so amplification does matter here (in terms of 'grunt') - which may not appeal to hair-shirt lovers of vintage / valve amps that tend to be generally low powered. But again, because the speakers matter most I've been told that a Behringer EP4000 at just £250 is more than up to the job (because a Behringer is a competent but most usefully a powerful amp - shame about the fan though).
Aren't Behringer class-D amps notorious for having fairly obtrusive output filters?
beammeup
pfm Member
The EP4000 is Class H. For something better looking without a fan, somewhat cheap but not as cheap, and powerful - the Emotiva range would be better (their latest amps use Class H too - Arcam use a spin-off of class H using Class G). Of course I am only highlighting the use of a powerful amp because panels seem to like them.