Kevin Deal
Member
Hello folks I saw my name and video mentioned and wanted to add some clarity. Tannoy is distributed by Rythm Distribution. They are located near me because those two fellows are ex-employees. My distribution company is Harmonia Distribution, managed separately from Upscale Audio.
As you know, the Tannoy factory in Coatbridge is closed. They are assembling speakers somewhere. Last I heard, it was a space they leased that was part of a transport terminal. People have asked for transparency because to old-school fans, they want the heritage. In Asia it's even more important. The drivers are made in China. So are the cabinets for Eaton, Cheviot, Arden, and the three new SGM models. I was told the SGM are the exact same except they moved the controls. If you look at all the specs, you will see that they look the same, but I noted the SGM15 has a presence control, and the Arden does not.
The Stirling III LZ SE is a Kensington driver in a slightly modified Stirling cabinet. I saw a prototype of it at Coatbridge in 2019, and the crossover was designed by Graham Hendry, as I was told. We took a "Gold Sample" of the new speaker to show for the first time at Axpona 2023 and tried for hours to get it to sound good. It sounded like the What HiFi review—horrible. We gave up and showed Kensingtons instead.
I have another pair here, and they do sound better. But I wouldn't buy them myself because you can get a pair of Stirlings and a pair of subs for the same price. Or a pair of Fyne Classic XII...which will leave the Stirling III LZ in the dust to my ears. Why the difference? Could it be break in? Or inconsistent QC? I cannot imagine them sending a pair that was not broken in to What HiFi...it was the very first and most important review.
I poured my life and millions of dollars into Tannoy. We had to QC every speaker after finding out that the QC not not just bad...but beyond anything. We even shipped a pair of Cheviots to a dealer and it was missing the back panel with speaker terminals. We had Kensingtons that required prying off the grills with a screwdriver once installed. I have a pair of Westminster we're selling now as B stock, and the buyer will not be able to use the supplied grill on one of them. In fairness, they gave us credit to our account for repairing, but that didn't cover our man-hours for inspection. And I have a ton of product that could not be made A stock so must be discounted.
They say they have now improved QC, and I hope that's true. They have the money to do it. They are owned by Behringer. I'm sure some of you know that company. Uli Behringer has a massive factory in China (and elsewhere I suspect), and he is very smart. Hi-end audio is a drop in the bucket compared to what he does in pro audio.
As you know, the Tannoy factory in Coatbridge is closed. They are assembling speakers somewhere. Last I heard, it was a space they leased that was part of a transport terminal. People have asked for transparency because to old-school fans, they want the heritage. In Asia it's even more important. The drivers are made in China. So are the cabinets for Eaton, Cheviot, Arden, and the three new SGM models. I was told the SGM are the exact same except they moved the controls. If you look at all the specs, you will see that they look the same, but I noted the SGM15 has a presence control, and the Arden does not.
The Stirling III LZ SE is a Kensington driver in a slightly modified Stirling cabinet. I saw a prototype of it at Coatbridge in 2019, and the crossover was designed by Graham Hendry, as I was told. We took a "Gold Sample" of the new speaker to show for the first time at Axpona 2023 and tried for hours to get it to sound good. It sounded like the What HiFi review—horrible. We gave up and showed Kensingtons instead.
I have another pair here, and they do sound better. But I wouldn't buy them myself because you can get a pair of Stirlings and a pair of subs for the same price. Or a pair of Fyne Classic XII...which will leave the Stirling III LZ in the dust to my ears. Why the difference? Could it be break in? Or inconsistent QC? I cannot imagine them sending a pair that was not broken in to What HiFi...it was the very first and most important review.
I poured my life and millions of dollars into Tannoy. We had to QC every speaker after finding out that the QC not not just bad...but beyond anything. We even shipped a pair of Cheviots to a dealer and it was missing the back panel with speaker terminals. We had Kensingtons that required prying off the grills with a screwdriver once installed. I have a pair of Westminster we're selling now as B stock, and the buyer will not be able to use the supplied grill on one of them. In fairness, they gave us credit to our account for repairing, but that didn't cover our man-hours for inspection. And I have a ton of product that could not be made A stock so must be discounted.
They say they have now improved QC, and I hope that's true. They have the money to do it. They are owned by Behringer. I'm sure some of you know that company. Uli Behringer has a massive factory in China (and elsewhere I suspect), and he is very smart. Hi-end audio is a drop in the bucket compared to what he does in pro audio.
