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New amplifier for Cheviot

Pff

Member
Hi,

I am an happy owner of vintage Tannoy Cheviot. I drive them with a JVC SA-31 and this is the best match Ive ever heard so far.

I bought an expansive Sansui a couple years ago and it sounded muted. After this I bought a Sonos system 1 in order to stream music to my old amp. It sounded aweful too…

I still want to improve my system but I don’t know where to go… Maybe an all-in one like the Naim Atom or a vintage amplifier and a streamer. Any ideas ?

best regards
 
If you love your Cheviots you're perhaps unlikely to get on with the Naim sound. Worse IME Naim and vintage Tannoy are a truly unhappy combination that brings out the best in neither. The Tannoys want to be rich, fluid and a little loose, Naim will feed them hard dry cardboard. And will drain your bank account into the bargain.

If you like vintage gear you could always try other seventies receivers or amplifiers. Many sound very good, there's lots of choice and they nearly always have good phono stages.

Your Cheviots are very efficient speakers so there's no need to chase the big expensive TOTL models. This is a huge advantage for you because the smaller versions usually sound the same but can often be had for £50 or less. And there are loads to choose from because they sold in such vast numbers. If you really are considering a Naim Atom then you can afford to experiment here and you'll learn far more buying and running a few examples that than you will trying to use forums to shortcut a selection process that is unavoidably personal and subjective. You can always sell on those you don't get on with.

If you're not keen on the Sansui house sound there is every chance you'll find another you do like. JVC, Hitachi or Pioneer might suit you. Or, if clarity is your thing, for a little more a Yamaha CR620 or even a CR820 might be had for or a hundred pounds or so. An extra ace up the sleeve of this particular range is sophisticated tone control (including the fantastic variable loudness knob) which might help you get a sound you like. Though I haven't myself tried Yamaha's with Tannoys. Someone has to be first :)

A more leftfield and very stylish choice might be the Norwegian brand Tandberg. I've found they work quite well with vintage Tannoys. Not the last word in clarity or neutrality of course but very dynamic. They squeeze more bass and more life from big Tannoys than many other amps manage. And their radios are up there with the very best. Try the TR1000 if that appeals.

As for streaming there are a bunch of good ways of doing this. You could get a bluetooth DAC like the iFi Zen Blue (£160) . and simply stream from your phone using whatever apps you like. My daughter does exactly this into a seventies receiver and loves it. Or buy a second hand usb dac (say a Dacmagic at £90) and drive it from a laptop. Or assemble your own streamer from raspberry pi stuff.

There are a bunch of bad ways of streaming too and buying an Atom (or any other factory made streamer) would be one of them.

The problem with factory streamers is not the sound (they usually sound as good as the options above) it is that they are pointlessly expensive, they date very quickly, you can't change the user interface and you're reliant on the factory for software upgrades and repairs.

The simple fact is that equally good sound can very easily be had for far less £££s and in more flexible, adaptable longer lasting packages.
 
Thank you for all your answers!
For starters you have to know that I am french (my english is far from beeing perfect) so it will be hard for me to buy the stuff sold on this forum.

I decided to sign in because Tannoy Cheviot have been sold a lot more in the UK than in France. French people sadly don’t really know them. I’m only talking about Eatons Cheviot etc… They do know this awesome brand through the « big ones ».

I love these speakers BUT I would like something more detailed, more clear, especially when I listen to my turntable (Thorens 126 mkII, Schure V3). Maybe my little JVC has not a good preamp phono stage…
I plugged my iphone with RCA to lightning on aux and started the same song on the turbtable to switch while playing and the quality difference was quite clear (it sounds a bit muted with less details).

I mainly listen to electro and pop, some classic from time to time.

Messengerman I think you are right about the planned obsolescence of all these new all-in-one products and yes I do love vintage gear. I just don’t know where to look at ;) I checked the 2 amps you’re talking about. They look gorgeous but I am not fond of tuners.

I would need a stage for streaming and a better vintage amp. Cheviot have top notch medium, are pleasantly warm but their bass need to be firmly driven !
 
Ok so your question is can you get tight powerful detailed bass out a Tannoy 12"DC without losing the magic elsewhere?

Powerful bass is definitely on the Tannoy menu but super clear and super tight maybe not. The right amplifier (whatever that is) might get you a little more of that but really it depends on how much more you want. Ultimately the DC driver /box is going to bump up against what it can physically do with low notes without compromising everything else and that would be true of the 15" drivers too.

Many who chase that live bass sound but don't want to go full disco choose speakers like big JBLs which might be modified to allow the use of two or more different amplifiers. Something tight and crunchy like a Crown D300 on the woofer and something more delicate and soulful - maybe a valve amplifier - on the horns. But that approach is probably not going to work with a DC driver.

The alternative that could take you to a similar destination is the sub woofer. Brings its own complications of course but has the potential to let you tune the bass to your liking without interfering with those other vintage DC qualities you love.
 
Obviously I can only speak from my own experience, but my favourite amp when I had Cheviots was a Unison Research Unico. I had also tried various others including Leak Stereo 20, Quad II, Copland CTA 401, Sugden A21a.
 
I just noticed that I activated an equalizer on Deezer (Spotify like) so my comparision between the Thorens and the stream was false. The equalizer on « rock » setting opens the sound up !! Maybe should I get a real equalizer to have the same sound through the Thorens ? I need to adjust frequencies to match with my living room (big windows and tiles on the floor).

Besides the equalizer, I love the knobs on my vintage amp which allow me to set bass and treble !

I’d prefer to stick with 2.0 without a sub, particularly if I buy another vintage amp! Concerning JBL I prefer Tannoy’s poshness sound :D
@Jono_13 Beautiful setup!
@calorgas How was the Sugden ? The other one is too expansive
 
Last edited:
Hi,

I am an happy owner of vintage Tannoy Cheviot. I drive them with a JVC SA-31 and this is the best match Ive ever heard so far.

I bought an expansive Sansui a couple years ago and it sounded muted. After this I bought a Sonos system 1 in order to stream music to my old amp. It sounded aweful too…

I still want to improve my system but I don’t know where to go… Maybe an all-in one like the Naim Atom or a vintage amplifier and a streamer. Any ideas ?

best regards

What is your budget and what are you trying to achieve soundwise?:)
 
I just noticed that I activated an equalizer on Deezer (Spotify like) so my comparision between the Thorens and the stream was false. The equalizer on « rock » setting opens the sound up !! Maybe should I get a real equalizer to have the same sound through the Thorens ? I need to adjust frequencies to match with my living room (big windows and tiles on the floor).

Besides the equalizer, I love the knobs on my vintage amp which allow me to set bass and treble !

I’d prefer to stick with 2.0 without a sub, particularly if I buy another vintage amp! Concerning JBL I prefer Tannoy’s poshness sound :D
@Jono_13 Beautiful setup!
@calorgas How was the Sugden ? The other one is too expansive
@Pff Thanks, it's taken a while to get here, but it's been worth it. The room is 5m x 3.5m and the speakers are firing across the short axis, not ideal but still really good sounding.
 
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I drive my Cheviots with a Pioneer A27. Sounds good to me. It has bass and treble controls but I very rarely find myself using them. Sources are WT Amadeus/XX2 and Sony X77ES CD player.
 
@Tarzan I would like to be able control the frequencies when I use the Thorens, through an EQ or something like that.
Then I would like to get a better amplifier (more précise and detailed sound)and then a streamer.
I will look for Sugden or pioneer A27 to stay vintage.
 
Obviously I can only speak from my own experience, but my favourite amp when I had Cheviots was a Unison Research Unico.

My favourite too. I've been using the Unico Pre/DM for many years now as all my valve amp flirtations have been and gone. Currently with Eatons.

A recent surprise was an Exposure 3010s2d - the tonal naturalism is very good for a solid state integrated; an overall very balanced sound.
 
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The Bakoon amps combine superbly with vintage Tannoys.I have had a lot of Tannoys and a lot of amplifiers .Bakoon/Tannoy is just one of those special combinations. Other than that a decent EL34 push pull valve amp will work well.Most SS will not because they will overdamp Tannoys.You need something with highish output impedance and lowish damping factor.Which tends to be push pull valve amps.The Bakoons are electrically more like valve amps.As are Dartzeels.
 
I'm a bit late to this thread but I own a pair of Tannoy Cheviots. I use a Radford STA25 and a passive preamp
Im very happy with the results and won't be changing that combination. I use a Thorens TD124 MKII and an Eastern Electric Minimax Phonostage.
Radford Revival make a very very good STA25.
 


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