Tannoy Chesters- what do I need to know?
- Thread starter JTC
- Start date
John
Rack’em Up!
Look forward to seeing the pictures and how they're placed in your room. Have you sorted out stands for them? Are most of these Tannoy's designed for placement near walls? I think the one's I have are but I can't be bothered to move the quads out of the way to try them there. I also don't want to get too used to them being in the living room in fear that the quads get too jealous.
John
Rack’em Up!
The bracket is suppose to arrive today. Made the opening in the wall larger to accomodate the speakers. Purchased some new trim for the opening along with a carbide drill bit and four screws to secure the bracket to the wall. Question is ports up or ports down? I'm leaning towards ports up to keep the center of gravity down.
John
Rack’em Up!
This little project has gone well and I think I have something here that is appropriate for the room and it's giving me a sound I can live with for a very long time. The speakers fit between the studs in the wall with just enough play where I was able to toe them in where there is a 2 inch difference between the right and left cabinet position in relation to the wall. Cutting them into the wall allowed me to mount the wall bracket to the more solid poured concrete foundation. I beefed up the wall bracket in the back with a steel bar which I attached between the plate that the speaker rests on and the "L" bracket which attaches to the wall.
It was also recommended that I use a product made by Auralex Acoustics called Mopad Monitor Isolators under the speakers to isolate the speakers from the stand. This product really came in handy as it comes with a separate wedge piece that I was able to use between the top of the cabinet and the opening in the wall to really stabilize the speaker and make it significantly more rigid.
Here's a couple of pictures that might give you an idea of their position in the room. It's a rec room with a pool table which is why I need to have them up and out of the way. I messed around a bit with putting foam bungs in first one and then both ports and found they sounded most natural without any. I also did some listening with and without the sub and currently have it out of the circuit. The pictures came out kind of dark as there's little light and I tried to avoid using a flash.
It was also recommended that I use a product made by Auralex Acoustics called Mopad Monitor Isolators under the speakers to isolate the speakers from the stand. This product really came in handy as it comes with a separate wedge piece that I was able to use between the top of the cabinet and the opening in the wall to really stabilize the speaker and make it significantly more rigid.
Here's a couple of pictures that might give you an idea of their position in the room. It's a rec room with a pool table which is why I need to have them up and out of the way. I messed around a bit with putting foam bungs in first one and then both ports and found they sounded most natural without any. I also did some listening with and without the sub and currently have it out of the circuit. The pictures came out kind of dark as there's little light and I tried to avoid using a flash.
John
Rack’em Up!
In the October Stereophile, Art Dudley writes about selling off his Lowther drivers because the lower treble peak and the lack of bass finally got to him.
Being a new Tannoy owner, I thought this bit was quite interesting:
He mentioned that the "Lowthers did many things brilliantly well. Only a Quad electrostatic panel is faster. Only a Tannoy dual-concentric driver has a greater sense of percussive impact. Only a horn is more sensitive."
Being a new Tannoy owner, I thought this bit was quite interesting:
He mentioned that the "Lowthers did many things brilliantly well. Only a Quad electrostatic panel is faster. Only a Tannoy dual-concentric driver has a greater sense of percussive impact. Only a horn is more sensitive."
DSJR
Between us and them
John, you've already got the TAP wall brackets from Tannoy, but I've just discovered that Target Audio is back online with a small range of stands and brackets. I believe you have some TAP3 brackets. The ones I thought you should have are the S8 ones, with small feet on top rather than top spikes.
www.targetaudio.co.uk
They have online ordering too - just in case anyone else wants a superb and rigid wall speaker bracket...
www.targetaudio.co.uk
They have online ordering too - just in case anyone else wants a superb and rigid wall speaker bracket...
John
Rack’em Up!
Dave,
Your link didn't work for me. Found this one. The TAP5 gives me more depth than the S8 and also allows me to toe the speaker in quite a bit. The Mopad isolators gave me the extra rigidity I was looking for. If I knew about the S8 availability earlier I might have found a way to implement that one as well. The S1000's are almost 12 inches deep which might be a problem with the S8's which are 10 1/4" deep.
Thanks,
John
Your link didn't work for me. Found this one. The TAP5 gives me more depth than the S8 and also allows me to toe the speaker in quite a bit. The Mopad isolators gave me the extra rigidity I was looking for. If I knew about the S8 availability earlier I might have found a way to implement that one as well. The S1000's are almost 12 inches deep which might be a problem with the S8's which are 10 1/4" deep.
Thanks,
John
SRM12X _ Well I think I just clinched and agreed on a pair of these with the 3149's. Coming from a studio I expect they will have 'exhausted' crossovers but the drivers and dustbags are intact and fine, scrubby cabs and dont know about the pots but am in line with forum hype ( thanks robert and Tony et al ) Im looking forward to this new phase - I have a external active crossover - if a crossover is dead I wonder what freqs' to set this at by way of testing etc.
I hope a Lockwood trip wont be necessary for them. Fingers crossed
I hope a Lockwood trip wont be necessary for them. Fingers crossed
P=IV
Member
Recently joined and just come across this thread, as a fellow Chester owner I can only agree with you and other !0" plastic dc speaker owners. They are superb imo. I run them via a pair of restored Dynatron PP Monoblocs. Funnily enough a friend of mind dabbles in used vintage hifi as part of his hobby. He came across a Pair of Little Red's and asked me if I would like to cut a deal? Tempted I hooked them up and started the comparison? Only after 5 minutes - the quickest time I had ever taken I declined his kind offer.
I much preferred the more rounded performance of my own over the frequency range, Piano in particular sounded sharp in comparison? I moved from electrostatics to the chesters, so maybe just prefer the damping the plastic cone affords. The Reds were fast though and slightly more detailed if a bit uncouth at the top at times. Just my experience and not a criticism? Incidentally my friend who runs a pair of huge Tannoy Westminsters found the same thing when I returned them? I use mine on a slightly shorter stand in order get the WAF
JTC
PFM Villager...
Digging this thread up as I bought, enjoyed and then - for some bizarre reason - sold my Chesters, and I'm curious who I sold them to. It was via PFM, so maybe they're still around? Would love to know where they are and how they're getting on, now that I'm considering going back to Tannoys as either my main speaker (on the end of a 20w valve push-pull) or as a second system speaker.
messengerman
pfm Member
I appreciate this an ancient thread but Robert I do like your speaker cloth and wonder if you remember where you got it?I got bigger ones, though still not huge by Tannoy standards.
Found a pair of Little Gold Monitors which use 12" drivers.
They needed some cabinet work after the courier had thrown them around but ended up looking really nice. I made them look a a little more retro with new grill cloth and brass badges:
kendo
Prussian bot
I have a pair of Tannoy Chesters on loan with a view to buying them.
I have been really impressed with them as they seem to handle everything I throw at them with ease. They are in original condition, neither modified or reconditioned with some water damage to the tops of both cabinets where the owner has been watering pot plants kept there???
My question is - what would be a fair price to pay for these? I've seen them as low as £230 and well over £1000 for rebuilt ones. (all on the net)
I'm using an NAC 72 and an on loan "Avondaled" CB NAP 250 with HiCap to drive them but would revert to my own NAP 140 as I've heard this combination in a previous loan scenario and thoroughly enjoyed that.
Any comments/advice would be welcome.
I have been really impressed with them as they seem to handle everything I throw at them with ease. They are in original condition, neither modified or reconditioned with some water damage to the tops of both cabinets where the owner has been watering pot plants kept there???
My question is - what would be a fair price to pay for these? I've seen them as low as £230 and well over £1000 for rebuilt ones. (all on the net)
I'm using an NAC 72 and an on loan "Avondaled" CB NAP 250 with HiCap to drive them but would revert to my own NAP 140 as I've heard this combination in a previous loan scenario and thoroughly enjoyed that.
Any comments/advice would be welcome.
TonyScarlett
pfm Member
Bought a nice condition pair last May off a fellow fishie for £350, sold them this Feb on that auction site for £495 although they did take a couple of months to sell.
They were in nice working condition with some age related wear & tear but still perfectly presentable. Hope this helps.
I thought they were great speakers & if I didn't have neighbours to consider would certainly have been looking at bigger Tannoys to upgrade to. As it is I've taken the LS3/5a route.
TS
They were in nice working condition with some age related wear & tear but still perfectly presentable. Hope this helps.
I thought they were great speakers & if I didn't have neighbours to consider would certainly have been looking at bigger Tannoys to upgrade to. As it is I've taken the LS3/5a route.
TS
kendo
Prussian bot
Thank you Tony, that's a helpful evaluation. I was thinking around the £500 +/- mark would be a reasonable offer to make given their condition. My partner likes them too which is a help although she came back in earlier whilst I was blasting out "In Ferneaux" by Blanck Mass, a rather unsettling album based on Dante's Inferno and...err...asked if I could play something else.
Luckily, no immediate neighbours so at least that's not an issue.
These would replace my MkII Rega Elas if I land them.
I'm a little unsure about the adjustment controls and what purpose they serve.
Thanks again, Kendo.
Luckily, no immediate neighbours so at least that's not an issue.
These would replace my MkII Rega Elas if I land them.
I'm a little unsure about the adjustment controls and what purpose they serve.
Thanks again, Kendo.
TonyScarlett
pfm Member
The adjustment controls subtlety alter the treble output. Iirc there are 2 positions + or - either side of "flat". I had mine set on position +1.
TS
TS