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Tannoy Monitor Golds

Ooooooo, these new crossovers look interesting.

Do I need some?

Joe
 
How do they sound now you've had a chance to listen for a while?

Very good, though everything is in a bit of a temporary state at present (no damping on cabinet back doors, back doors only held on with a couple of screws etc). I'm waiting on a delivery from Wilmslow to finish things off.

Tony.
 
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I think they are now finally done! The newer pair of drivers are loaded up, all mounting hardware replaced with better quality allen bolts (including some nice nylon washers behind to protect the baskets), the back panels of the cabs are damped with a mix of lambswool and BAF wadding sheets from Wilmslow loaded up in some pillow cases and stapled on, I've tweaked the new crossovers to taste, fitted some decent quality binding posts on the back of the cabs and the backs are firmly screwed on again. They are sounding mighty fine so I shall now leave them alone! Maybe one day I'll take them apart and get the cabs professionally veneered, but I've kind of got used to them now - they ain't especially pretty, but that's not the point really.

Tony.
 
Fellow Tannoy experts,

Upon a recent acquistion of a pair of Tannoy Gold 15", I would like to know if there are any good empirical ways to measure the speaker unit and crossover, to see if they are fairly matched. In case if there is any inbalance observed, what are good ways for me to determine if there is a mismatch in the driver units or the crossover units?

Thanks.
 
Excellent news Tony. All now is right with the world. Some people get upset about world peace and all that, but just knowing that pfm HQ has been re-Tannoyed gives me a sense of well being.
 
Upon a recent acquistion of a pair of Tannoy Gold 15", I would like to know if there are any good empirical ways to measure the speaker unit and crossover, to see if they are fairly matched. In case if there is any inbalance observed, what are good ways for me to determine if there is a mismatch in the driver units or the crossover units?

If you think you have a problem, e.g. the image is over to one side / one side sounds brighter / crisper than the other or whatever, then try swapping the crossovers over, if the issue moves with them then they are almost certainly to blame, if not then it's the drivers themselves (and most likely the compression drivers, which are thankfully pretty easily replaced). You can also measure the voice coil resistance with a meter (put the probes in the two pairs of holes that make up the 4 pin socket) though this doesn't tell you much IMO as it doesn't seem to correlate to a good sounding speaker. The horns should read about 11 Ohms, the bass drivers about 6 Ohms, IIRC these figures are about +/- 1 Ohm, so not too tight anyway.

Another potential source of imbalance in Golds are the switches for level and roll-off, certainly worth squirting some switch cleaner in and giving them a good jiggle about.

Tony.

PS Jonathan, pop round for a listen next time you are passing.
 
Tony

Just a thought. I have 15" HPD's in a large custom cabinet. They have always lived on the floor like yours, but on top of a slate slab.
Ive just recently fitted stainless steel spikes and was very pleasantly surprised with the improvement - better focus/cleaner sound overall. One of those occasions where the hassle of doing it resulted in a worthwhile improvement.

Steve.
 
Is it possible to actually buy a new 15" tannoy driver now?

Alan

I think so. Tannoy still sell 15" drivers. Eg. Westminsters, Canterbury, Glenair. So replacement drivers must be available. Probably sound as good as the vintage drivers.
 
As far as I'm aware Tannoy haven't sold drivers to the DIY market for decades, the last I can bring to mind were the HPDs which used to be available from Wilmslow Audio etc.

Tony.
 
As far as I'm aware Tannoy haven't sold drivers to the DIY market for decades, the last I can bring to mind were the HPDs which used to be available from Wilmslow Audio etc.

Tony.

Now I see what Alan meant. I thought he meant as spares. A few years ago I bought a non-DC bass driver directly from Tannoy (only to learn afterwards that I could've bought it cheaper from Lockwoods:().

Official answer from Tannoy's website:-

http://www.tannoy.com/FAQ.aspx
 
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I think they are now finally done! The newer pair of drivers are loaded up, all mounting hardware replaced with better quality allen bolts (including some nice nylon washers behind to protect the baskets), the back panels of the cabs are damped with a mix of lambswool and BAF wadding sheets from Wilmslow loaded up in some pillow cases and stapled on, I've tweaked the new crossovers to taste, fitted some decent quality binding posts on the back of the cabs and the backs are firmly screwed on again. They are sounding mighty fine so I shall now leave them alone! Maybe one day I'll take them apart and get the cabs professionally veneered, but I've kind of got used to them now - they ain't especially pretty, but that's not the point really.

Tony.
Why not design and make some funky grills to brighten them up a bit?
 
Dev
Thanks for that link, this is what they say

Unfortunately not. We at Tannoy realise that some of our customers like building their own speaker cabinets as a hobby, and even though several years ago we were happy to supply individual components, we have recently experienced problems when genuine Tannoy parts have been purchased, custom fitted into homemade cabinets and then sold on improperly as genuine Tannoy products. We can not supply schematic drawings or design information relating to our loudspeakers. If you already own a genuine Tannoy speaker that has been damaged then we will of course endeavour to supply spare parts in order to repair your speakers for as long as the parts are available. :( never mind, another dream blown.
Id love a pair of those 15" golds if anyone has a pair for sale?

Alan
 
Hello All-

In respect to my wanted advert for a pair of Monitor Gold or HPD crossovers I would be interested in a pair of XOs like Tonys. These are obviously spec'd with high end components - Is there a bill of parts available for these? What is the circuit used?

I currently have my 12" HPDs (reconed at Lockwood last week) in Mansfield cabinets with the Monitor Gold crossover networks. I believe early HPDs (these are 201 and 204k serial numbers, or 1974 very early HPDs) used the Monitor Gold XO arrangement - can anyone confirm this? In any case it works fine and the sound is better than the Golds. They only have a few hours on them so are still breaking in, so the bass is a little restrained compared to the Golds, but the overall balance is less peaky. This is a part of the charm of the Tannoys, however the resolution of the reconed HPDs is better. The extra power handling too is apparent (Chord SPM1000 power amp is still rather under-utilised!). I will try to get some photos done at some point.

Cheers, James.
 
Congratulations Tony on completing the Project. They are fabulous beasts.

But is someone going to buy those FSM at Audio Republic? Does anyone know what they sound like? I wish I was going to Leeds soon to hear them.
 
Can anyone shed any light on the difference between Tannoy Monitor Red and Gold 15” crossovers? I understand the Reds are 15ohm and the Golds are 8ohm but wonder if this is more to do with the driver than the crossover. Is it possible to use the LSU/HF/15/8 crossover from the Golds with the Red drivers?
Cheers, James.
 


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