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Ebay lunacy - Tannoys, or am I just behind the times?

S

stevec67

pfm Member
A mate rang me last night for advice, his wife has a workmate selling some Tannoy Corner Lancasters. Ooh, thought I, perhaps they want to sell them to me. No, they are on Ebay, but they are up to £2k with a day to go, and is this a fair price? Eek. I've just looked and they are north of £3k, 5 hours left.

Now the pair in question are mismatched, one is a 12" silver, the other a red. The cabs are good. Are Tannoys *really* up to £3k for a mismatched pair?:confused::eek:

I know early ones are sought after, but £3k? No rebuild details, the guy's owned them from new and they are prob original.
 
Yes - you can see that for yourself. :)

Or no - obviously. :)

If you already owned a mismatched "pair" then...
 
Reds and Silvers do command stupid money now. Were these ever even sold as pairs in the first place? Reds would have been pre-'67 so mono would still have dominated. Anyway, I guess they're worth what anyone is prepared to pay for them. Personally, I'd stick with Golds or HPDs and spend the money on some better cabs.
 
DMT generation drivers with the tulip waveguide are apparently regarded by Tannoy engineers as better than the old classics and can be had very cheaply. Personally, I'd try and pick up some of those.
 
I think what we have is a meeting of the gullible and chancers.
Silly prices even for Golds now.
Better boxes are a must whatever you pay for vintage.
HPD and DMT are at least sensible money for now.
 
DMT15s are nice.

I suspect as others say this is a collector market.

The older one is a silver, 1958 and was indeed pre stereo. He added the red in the early 60s when presumably he got a stereo amp. There's a valve amp too, I've expressed an interest but I suspect that having seen the speakers go for the price of a decent used car they will want the world on a stick for whatever amp it is. My money is on a TL10, 12 or Quad 2, but if they want another £3k they can try elsewhere.
 
Steve,

Having followed a few auctions my advice is to avoid any Tannoys with Monitor Blacks, Silvers or Reds, unless you happen to get a deal on a pair.

I've not compared them, but it seems unlikely that each newer iteration of Tannoy's DC driver would be worse than the previous, so what we're seeing is a confluence of rarity and collectors willing to spend a bundle for a classic speaker pushing prices ever more stratospheric.

Joe
 
Joe Petrik said:
Steve,

Having followed a few auctions my advice is to avoid any Tannoys with Monitor Blacks, Silvers or Reds, unless you happen to get a deal on a pair.

I've not compared them, but it seems unlikely that each newer iteration of Tannoy's DC driver would be worse than the previous, so what we're seeing is a confluence of rarity and collectors willing to spend a bundle for a classic speaker pushing prices ever more stratospheric.

Joe
Click to expand...
I have compared them and wouldn't agree. Many, many years ago, I bought a pair of Lancasters from the original owner. He told me that he bought the original with a Red (direct from the Norwood factory), adding the second one some years later (again direct from Tannoy). He couldn't tell the difference in years of use and neither could I. They were sold to a friend, after 3 years, who still has them and is still delighted with his "pair".

After selling the Lancasters, I bought a pair of corner Yorks, again with the Red / Gold mix, yet again, from the original owner who purchased them from Tannoy direct. Used them for a few years as a normal stereo pair and was perfectly happy with them ..... until a very large amount of dosh persuaded me to move them on. There may be subtle differences of course but in normal use they are not noticeable.

Prices are still going up, as Joe says, but they are not going to get cheaper anytime soon so if you want some and get the chance, buy them.
 
What I don't understand is that GRF's are supposed to be more desirable than Lancasters, according to this from Haden Boardman:

http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk/hfw/oldeworldehtml/tannoyspeakers.html

And yet there's a pair of GRF's available for worldwide shipping at a BIN price of £2999 at the moment on eBay whilst the Lancasters are currently at £3700 with 2 hours to go.


One way of looking at it is that if LS3/5a's are worth £2k on ebay, the GRF's have got to be worth £3k.

However, there are a number of other interesting vintage speakers that sell for under £1k...
 
Lindsay,

What I don't understand is that GRF's are supposed to be more desirable than Lancasters, according to this from Haden Boardman:

http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk/hfw/oldeworldehtml/tannoyspeakers.html

And yet there's a pair of GRF's available for worldwide shipping at a BIN price of £2999 at the moment on eBay whilst the Lancasters are currently at £3700 with 2 hours to go.
Click to expand...
If it's the corner GRFs I saw on eBay UK they are, according to the ad, a "recently constructed pair of tannoy corner GRF" so the cabinets are not original.

Not that it should matter much -- a well-made current enclosure should be every bit the equal of a vintage cabinet* -- but part of the inflated price is having everything from the period.

Joe

* Or even better enclosures, like the Lancaster clone cabinets that Tony bought.
 
lindsayt said:
What I don't understand is that GRF's are supposed to be more desirable than Lancasters, according to this from Haden Boardman:

http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk/hfw/oldeworldehtml/tannoyspeakers.html

And yet there's a pair of GRF's available for worldwide shipping at a BIN price of £2999 at the moment on eBay whilst the Lancasters are currently at £3700 with 2 hours to go.


One way of looking at it is that if LS3/5a's are worth £2k on ebay, the GRF's have got to be worth £3k.

However, there are a number of other interesting vintage speakers that sell for under £1k...
Click to expand...
Original corner GRF's sell for an absolute bomb. a pair with Reds will retail for between £10K and £15K in Japan. I did have a pair once, with Golds and the buyer paid £7K.

The repro ones don't find buyers so easily, despite being beautifully made. Rectangular GRF's are also slow sellers.
 
Thanks for that Joe and Canonman. I never realised that so much of the price of vintage Tannoys was down to collectability / originality / rarity as opposed to sound quality per pound.


In a geeky hobby it seems that there are even geekier hobbyists than myself. People who will pay a £7k premium just so that they can have an older and more original wooden cabinet.
 
Lindsay,

Bigger is better with Tannoys, both the drivers and cabinets, but the going price of old pairs reflects all sorts of things, including rarity, collectibility and current desirability. And, in general, the horn-loaded cabinets are more valuable than the infinitely baffled and bass-reflex boxes, but a big bass-reflex cabinet might be more desirable than a small horn.

Best to do some research before bidding or buying if you're interested in landing a pair.

Joe
 
£3K!

BigEars Audio have a few pairs for less than that. And you're buying from a legit dealer.
 
Ermm....I wish I could tell you more about my experiences with Bigears but I better keep it private lol!!!
 
Joe Petrik said:
Lindsay,

Bigger is better with Tannoys, both the drivers and cabinets, but the going price of old pairs reflects all sorts of things, including rarity, collectibility and current desirability. And, in general, the horn-loaded cabinets are more valuable than the infinitely baffled and bass-reflex boxes, but a big bass-reflex cabinet might be more desirable than a small horn.

Best to do some research before bidding or buying if you're interested in landing a pair.

Joe
Click to expand...

Anything's more desireable than a small horn, Joe!:p
 
Currently on Ebay at the moment, is this the going rate (£2350) for Lockwood refurbished 12" Reds?

140.jpg


P.S - I have no connection to the sale.
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
FWIW If you don't need large power handling the Reds sound beautiful. From there the Golds then HPD have a flatter balance and more bass, but don't have that wonderful lively, almost etched, midrange quality that suits lush sounding valve amps so well.

Don't know about values for 12" Reds though.

James.
 
lindsayt said:
Thanks for that Joe and Canonman. I never realised that so much of the price of vintage Tannoys was down to collectability / originality / rarity as opposed to sound quality per pound.


In a geeky hobby it seems that there are even geekier hobbyists than myself. People who will pay a £7k premium just so that they can have an older and more original wooden cabinet.
Click to expand...

it's the same with EMT decks.
 
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