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Tannoy Canterbury Corners

beathunters

beathunters

Tamalpais high-at about3
hi everybody
:cool:first post here and i hope you'll like it.
after a long acoustic journey with Rogers LS7 and Kef 105.2 i finally reached Tannoy shores. i fell in love with this reunited pair at first sight.
the fabrics are slightly different but equally beautiful in their off-sixties way. the brass logos and positioning of the drivers are similar, which makes up for this cosmetic twist.
the older one comes from england, the younger from switzerland and were reunited by the former owner. a few pics for starters.











they both miss their proper 3 "compass" feet which is a shame but i'll have some crafted from original pictures if i don' t find any 50's similar feet sooner. they could use some thorough wood restauration but already look great in their current, cleaned-up condition and fit perfectly in my early sixties environment.
 
They look stunning! How would you compare this vintage Canterbury with the modern one in the current Prestige series.
 
They look excellent - it would be nice to get a pair knocked up one day to park my Golds in.
 
hi
thanks for the thumbs up for my pride and joy!
let's dig deeper into these beauties and have a look at vintage 1958/1961 red monitors 12"s with orange dust caps.
the "swiss" sister was unopened and actually sealed by the importer


this pic was sent by the seller to advertise. how could i resist?







 
beathunter,

Those drivers must be among the mintiest orange-capped Monitor Reds I've seen.

Very spiffy.

Joe
 
yep... it was love at first sight and a smart move. :D to tell a story short, a few months ago, i had bought lancaster corners (kinda ugly but still) with Gold 12"s but by the time i arranged transportation, the seller prefered to sell them AGAIN to a local chap for an xtra 50€... it happened to be a blessing in disguise (xcept for the ridiculous price...) otherwise i wouldn't have picked these beauties. then i became aware of nice tannoys when i see one.
 
you all probably know out there why it is technically impossible to find a "real pair" of early tannoy speakers: simply because stereo was still in limbo, so people enjoyed mono recordings and acquired mono units (amp, preamp, speaker). the corner enclosure seemed the best "imaging" configuration then and was called " the dual throated port principle - that made optimal use of the additional acoustic loading offered by walls and floor".
back in the days, a speaker had to blend in yer homestyle and furniture hence the nice enclosures and creative craftsmanship of wood and fabrics.
when stereo spread in the midsixties, Tannoy created new designs and dedicated pairs of speakers, mostly mounted with gold monitors.

so red monitors are very special one of a kind birds. the red writing on the brass logos indicates we're dealing with reds.
actually, the fact that mine aren't similar add to their charms: i can enjoy two different styles of fabric: a beautiful 50's pattern for the earlier one and the late "tygan plastic fabric covering - acoustically superior to cloth or metal - and easily cleaned with a damp sponge" - as claimed in tannoy's ads.
more from the 1961 unit:



 
beathunters said:
so red monitors are very special one of a kind birds. the red writing on the brass logos indicates we're dealing with reds.
Click to expand...

Not so I'm afraid. Tannoy merely changed the colour of the badge enamel and for no particular reason. Similarly, the colour of the voice coil mesh is acoustically irrelevant. It was used for no reason other than than Norwood's suppliers temporarily were out of stock of the black material; don't be fooled by eBay chancers pretending there is something special about these. There isn't.

The badges were specific to a cabinet type, as far as I can remember, only in the case of the Autograph but they never related to the speaker unit inside. In any event, Tannoy did not refer to Blacks, Silvers, or Reds; these terms were coined by others long after the demise of the original South London company.

Of the non horn-loaded cabinet designs, the York and Canterbury unquestionably are the best and there is very little to choose between the performance of either although it has to be admitted that the York by virtue of the larger box and 15" driver does have a small advantage at the very bottom. The Canterbury is a lovely speaker and you are indeed lucky to have a pair. Enjoy them for what they are - very nearly the best!

Richard.
 
beathunters,

so red monitors are very special one of a kind birds. the red writing on the brass logos indicates we're dealing with reds.
Click to expand...
Really? I have early orange-capped Monitor Reds in my Tannoys and the writing on the badge is white.

2wfpu7n.jpg


Maybe I have the über rare Monitor Whites. ;-)

Joe
 
i stand corrected... and i thank you for that. if i recall well, i read something about these metal tags meaning more than just the trademark but maybe i didn't get it right...
 
arthur said:
Now these would be quite cool if they were piano black.
Click to expand...

Or black ash with foam grilles.
(you were joking, weren't you?)

There is a pair of these on EBay right now for £2000. I'd love to hear a pair.
How would you describe their character?
They look beautiful. I really could go this route, I really good.

Edit: It isn't a pair - it's a single
 
::cool:yeah, a single... but mounted with a legendary silver monitor, they're even scarcier and fetching silly prices in hong kong (and china now)
 
Has anyone done much comparative listening between the various Tannoys? I've not had the opportunity having heard only my own (15" Golds) and various other later Tannoys, e.g. HPD, LRM, LGM, SRM, SGM, FSM types and some more modern domestic ranges e.g. GRF Memory, Canterbury SE over the years. Always in isolation, never against one another, and never in locations or systems I know well. I've never heard Reds or Silvers at all.

I get the impression from reading the Japanese sites (and it is they who know such things) that the 12" Silver is the sweetspot of them all. Apparently it runs the bass cone full-range, i.e. has the best behaved bass driver / simplest crossover combination and has a life and vibrancy the later models dilute to some degree. There certainly seemed to be a progression to heavier more rigid cones, increased crossover complexity and increased power handling as new ranges were released. Would be interesting to hear views from those who have heard many. I'd also be interested in views of 12" vs. 15" - I'd love to compare them and it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if I didn't end up preferring the 12" - I'd expect the mid to be a little clearer, I'm amazed a 15" cone works at all at 1Khz!
 
Tony

I have heard 3 old Tannoys and 2 new ones but I cannot even now remember the amps that were on them etc. The Tannoys were all either 12 or 15 inch DC.

The two new ones sounded better and certainly looked better but havinng said that, one old set of speakers that was powered by a valve system certainly had a unique sound that could grow on you.

You can buy a well made set of Turnberrys for around £2k and I think they would go well on my NAP300s.

I am just waiting for the Briks to give up the ghost.

Mick
 
Mick, I'd not wait for the Bricks to give out, they'll almost certainly outlive you! FWIW as an ex-Isobarik owner there's no way I'd go back to a pair after living with 15" Tannoys for a few years.
 
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