advertisement


Better than Tannoys...?

Tony L said:
That just has to be a bargain!
Click to expand...
I know...but I haven't even heard the damned things yet and won't for a week or so hence shhhhh! They'll be gone by then, sods law.
Anyone about to say 'buy them anyway, you can't lose' is welcome here to persuade Mrs Rock of your argument. I'll provide free bandages:)
 
Rockmeister said:
I have a thread open about powering Tannoys and another about building some, so it's not hard to predict this one coming.
Mostly because I have only ever heard one set of Tannoys that I loved and those were Pete's (I should Coco, from the Wigwam) at Scalford one year driven by a valve amp he had made. They were BIG (about Canterbury sized IIRC) which I can't repeat. I briefly heard the Legacy Ardens at a dealer some months back and enjoyed those, and to replace my Harbeth sHL5+ Anniversaries, I am seeking something more 'present', with a softer top end, an amazing mid and with whatever bass there is well defined which should = Tannoys, but before I commit either a large wad of cash, or some serious months work building on Tannoys I wanted to ask...
That kind of sound, for that kind of money (used included) what else should I be hearing?
Click to expand...

That's a big ask, not sure what kind of money you have in mind. I have, and enjoy listening to, a pair of Tannoy MG 12" built when relatively poor in about 1973. Bought the drivers direct from Tannoy, made cabinets 2.4 cu ft. infinite baffle, they sound superb with many of the attributes that Tony and others describe, outstanding on Getz meets Mulligan.
In 1997 Wilmslow Audio sold me a set ATC drivers and crossovers for a clone of ATC 100's , they now have ATC active amps aquired a year later, they still please me after all these years, very different sound to the Tannoys, on balance more versatile and immersive over a wide range of music, from Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush to The Planets by Holst. Although no longer available with ATC drivers, Wilmslow still sell the Prestige series with drivers by Volt and Scanspeak, about £3/4000. Perhaps worth a look if your thoughts turn in that direction. Although my modification days are done... might change the twèeters to Scanspeak. later this year.....
That's them either side of the fireplace.
 
Rockmeister said:
I know...but I haven't even heard the damned things yet and won't for a week or so hence shhhhh! They'll be gone by then, sods law.
Anyone about to say 'buy them anyway, you can't lose' is welcome here to persuade Mrs Rock of your argument. I'll provide free bandages:)
Click to expand...

I'm sure Audio Emotion will let you have them on home dem.
 
Fatmarley said:
Being a studio monitor, I'm pretty sure they'd have a flat response down to where the low frequencies start to roll-off. As I've been trying to explain recently in the DIY and Classic room, If you change the enclosure size and / or port tuning frequency, the frequency response will no longer be flat (assuming it was in the first place). The enclosures of the DMT series are pretty much bomb proof and it's highly unlikely to improve on them.
Click to expand...

Joe Petrik, of this parish, introduced me to a Tannoy designer who was partly responsible for the Churchill's. I spent a few back and forth's with him when I was considering doing a build for some Monitor Gold 15's that I subsequently sold on. He felt that the driver aforementioned was the best 15 they ever had, but more importantly in those discussions, talked about the fact that you can absolutely change volume, it depends on port size, length, etc to balance out frequency response. He had no trouble designing a 100 litre cab, but ultimately felt that a 160-180 liter cab for the same driver was what would make it sound best.
 
westsea said:
That's a big ask, not sure what kind of money you have in mind. I have, and enjoy listening to, a pair of Tannoy MG 12" built when relatively poor in about 1973. Bought the drivers direct from Tannoy, made cabinets 2.4 cu ft. infinite baffle, they sound superb with many of the attributes that Tony and others describe, outstanding on Getz meets Mulligan.
In 1997 Wilmslow Audio sold me a set ATC drivers and crossovers for a clone of ATC 100's , they now have ATC active amps aquired a year later, they still please me after all these years, very different sound to the Tannoys, on balance more versatile and immersive over a wide range of music, from Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush to The Planets by Holst. Although no longer available with ATC drivers, Wilmslow still sell the Prestige series with drivers by Volt and Scanspeak, about £3/4000. Perhaps worth a look if your thoughts turn in that direction. Although my modification days are done... might change the twèeters to Scanspeak. later this year.....
That's them either side of the fireplace.
Click to expand...

Funnily enough, the one woman who might seduce me away from a Tannoy.....her name is ATC.
 
yuckyamson said:
but more importantly in those discussions, talked about the fact that you can absolutely change volume, it depends on port size, length, etc to balance out frequency response. He had no trouble designing a 100 litre cab, but ultimately felt that a 160-180 liter cab for the same driver was what would make it sound best.
Click to expand...

Only if it had a hump in the low frequency response to start with (unlikely being a studio monitor), or maybe if you use boundary gain to bring up the low end. Otherwise, it's impossible without changing the crossover.
 
if I go quiet here, it's because I have now reverted to the idea of buying and making, which is in the DIY bit. Thanks for all the chat here.
 
yuckyamson said:
Joe Petrik, of this parish, introduced me to a Tannoy designer who was partly responsible for the Churchill's. I spent a few back and forth's with him when I was considering doing a build for some Monitor Gold 15's that I subsequently sold on. He felt that the driver aforementioned was the best 15 they ever had, but more importantly in those discussions, talked about the fact that you can absolutely change volume, it depends on port size, length, etc to balance out frequency response. He had no trouble designing a 100 litre cab, but ultimately felt that a 160-180 liter cab for the same driver was what would make it sound best.
Click to expand...

The 3833/36 driver used in the (Tannoy North America) Churchill was designed from the ground up to address studio engineer requirements and had to fit standard soffit openings performing at it's best in a 150L enclosure(System 15). The System215 was a 300 L full soffit enclosure made up of 2 separate 150L compartments-it used a 3833 minus its HF for the second bass driver. The same driver(with a weather proof cone treatment) was used in the 75L CPA15 with a non DSP response down to about 55 hz. Domestic applications(Legacy Arden is close enough) allow a larger box, more extended LF but with the lower power handling that can entail.
 
cooky1257 said:
The 3833/36 driver used in the (Tannoy North America) Churchill was designed from the ground up to address studio engineer requirements and had to fit standard soffit openings performing at it's best in a 150L enclosure(System 15). The System215 was a 300 L full soffit enclosure made up of 2 separate 150L compartments-it used a 3833 minus its HF for the second bass driver. The same driver(with a weather proof cone treatment) was used in the 75L CPA15 with a non DSP response down to about 55 hz. Domestic applications(Legacy Arden is close enough) allow a larger box, more extended LF but with the lower power handling that can entail.
Click to expand...

Nice info regarding the 3833/36 driver!

Found this bit of info recently regarding the history of Tannoy DC loudspeakers.

http://ukhhsoc.torrens.org/makers/Tannoy/Reference/Tannoy_History.pdf

It doesn’t cover the System 600, 800, 1000 or 1200 Studio speakers which I think came out in the late 90’s. I believe the drivers were similar to what was used in the previous System 8, 10, 12 but with a different cabinet. System 1000 was my first Tannoy purchase which I still use today, lovely sounding speakers that put the nail in the coffin for my Quad ESL’s.
 
John said:
Nice info regarding the 3833/36 driver!

Found this bit of info recently regarding the history of Tannoy DC loudspeakers.

http://ukhhsoc.torrens.org/makers/Tannoy/Reference/Tannoy_History.pdf

It doesn’t cover the System 600, 800, 1000 or 1200 Studio speakers which I think came out in the late 90’s. I believe the drivers were similar to what was used in the previous System 8, 10, 12 but with a different cabinet. System 1000 was my first Tannoy purchase which I still use today, lovely sounding speakers that put the nail in the coffin for my Quad ESL’s.
Click to expand...

For years and years, Vuk couldn't find anything he liked better than his System 800's. He was always referring to it's sense of scale. For me the 800/1000/1200 etc. were a bit dry...and....I guess "nearfield" for my tastes compared to some of the gushier domestic models of DC but they were great and certainly overlooked all the time for (what I felt was) their best use; home theatre. Time aligned,limited dispersion patter, flat and tight response which would integrate wonderfully with a sub (or 2, or 3) etc. Plus pretty much bullet proof.

Anyway there is something consistent about the Tannoy sound, it's a great recipe. It's funny because the 3833/36, while I understand that the designers and many of you firmly believe it's the best 15 they ever made.....I just prefer what comes out of the (whatever it's technical name is) the pepperpot version with the single AlNiCo magnet as opposed to the tulip waveguide/dual ferrite. Just my preference.

Probably "much less accurate" but so is Jeff Cronenweth's cinematography compared to Conrad Hall's.
 
yuckyamson said:
Funnily enough, the one woman who might seduce me away from a Tannoy.....her name is ATC.
Click to expand...

Way off thread, my seduction took place in the house of ATC's MD, in 1984 arranged to hear AVI amps into ATC 10's (long story), at the end of an interesting session... musically... he said would you like to hear the ATC100's...you won't be able to afford them 'being an engineer', but you will enjoy them. As said in a previous post it was 1997 before I could buy anything Wilmslows's clones; at that time base and mid range were ATC as were the crossovers.
So be careful about seduction, such desires are expensive and hard to fulfil, at the high end I think you get more bang for your buck choosing the DIY route, it is definitely a bit more challenging. You can make your own analogies!!
 
I looked on Wilmslow just for curiosity's sake and notice that they have fatter "double 12" stand-mount 3-ways in their studio monitor section, but in the home audio kits they don't have any kind of ATC knock off kit anymore. Kind of like the end of an era. If I was to ever go ATC (which would only ever be 2nd hand) it would be one of the stand-mounts. I really prefer both the aesthetic and the presentation of the 50's and 100's as you've done.
 
I have a pair of Tannoy System 12 DMT ii, but sadly last week one of the LF drivers seems to have failed (I’m assuming).

I contacted Lockwood and their parts are obsolete, apparently.

Anyone got any thoughts on what to do?

The cabinets themselves are brilliant, so I was wondering about whether I could replace with alternative drivers.
 
If you haven't already, swap drivers over to check its not a crossover issue.
The 3142 i12 driver is superb, uses the same HF driver as the System 12 but is useless below 55hz so you'd need a sub to flesh out the bottom end.
 
Mr Pig said:
The guys behind Fyne would disagree with you. They are ex Tannoy designers and engineers who left because of the takeover by Beresford. They've been able to build on what they knew at Tannoy and implement ideas that didn't fit I with the Tannoy brand image. I've only heard one pair of Fyne speakers but they were darn good! Incredibly good for the money I fact.
Click to expand...

I didn't think much of the Fynes. The newer Tannoys are not a patch on the older models of the 1960s/70s. The best sound from a Tannoy design that I have heard were the big ones Paul at RFC made a few years back with proper refurbished drivers and a special crossover. I could live with those. I think a couple of members on here might have a pair of them too.
 
As well as modern legacy speaker I enjoy very much the rfc modded impulse taus, superb sound from these and his magic has worked on them
 
Joe P said:
Rock,

I'm afraid nothing is better than Tannoys. The choice is simple — you either buy a ginormous pair or you live in misery until you shuffle off this immortal coil.

Joe
Click to expand...
In 2000 I bought an open box pair of Klipsch KLF20's for $300 (going out of business sale)....two of my friends spent big money for Tannoy speakers at the same time....they are both still envious and amazed. In the right room with the right gear....magic happens.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top