Gromit's music centre...

[brian2957]

Interesting . Please keep us posted on these Richard .

[Gromit]

Interesting . Please keep us posted on these Richard .

Will do Brian.

My folks popped up for a visit today, bringing 'my' old Super Tablettes with them. Sadly, one of the tweeters hasn't survived - purely by accident obviously, I think on picking one of the speakers up, dad has put a thumb or finger into the grille and pushed the tweeter in. I ran a few tunes through them, swapping channels to ascertain any imbalance between each side, and can't really detect any real problems. However I will order up a new Scanspeak D2010 (still available than heavens!) as despite my best efforts with the sellotape/vacuum cleaner etc the dome just won't pop out. It's only 50 quid or so for a new one from Falcon Acoustics, in fact it may be worth getting a matched pair.

How do they sound? Bloody marvellous. Bass has real pitch, there's virtually no room reaction from them nor overhang. They're rich, yet perky and bright and vocal clarity - what the SuperTabs are famed for - is wonderful and so natural.

There's a very faint buzz from one speaker though, when music is played quietly (most noticeable on piano) but it can be cured by a quick but gentle 'flick' with a finger on the cone, after which it's clear as a bell. I'm putting this down to the fact that the ProAcs haven't had much use over the past few years, and certainly not at any volume to exercise the cones. If it doesn't clear over the next few weeks it'll be a quick trip to Wembley Loudspeakers to have the driver cleaned/checked out.

[brian2957]

My friend had a pair of tablettes a few years ago. Wonderful speakers , which really came into their own when used with the partnering stands . BTW do you still have the Royds Richard . I'm a big fan having owned a pair of Minstrels . I now have a pair of A7s which I swap periodically with my Rega EL8s in my system .How do the 2010is compare with the Royds ?

[Gromit]

BTW do you still have the Royds Richard . I'm a big fan having owned a pair of Minstrels . I now have a pair of A7s which I swap periodically with my Rega EL8s in my system .How do the 2010is compare with the Royds ?

<sucks through teeth> That's a really hard question to answer Brian. Many speakers came and went through chez Gromit when I had the Merlins (including Minstrels) and not one get near to what they could do with the musical message. Minstrels naturally came close, but sounded less couth - bags of fun of course - but still only 9/10 to the Merlins' 10/10.

The 2010's, despite their lowly price, are more serious - perhaps even grown-up sounding. Having sold the Royds some months ago it'd be very difficult to compare them like for like in terms of tonality etc but in how they play music I feel our sonic memory is quite accurate. In this instance the Q's don't have that effervescent bounce - that feeling of listening to music with the brakes off - that good Royds give. However, for just over a £ton they're fantastic.

[brian2957]

'That feeling of listening to music with the brakes off ' is a very interesting way of describing the character of the Royds , but very accurate methinks . That's the characteristic which attracted me to them , When I sold the Minstrels I owned several pairs of speakers but was ultimately unhappy with them all because I was looking for that elusive sound which you describe . The only speakers which came close were the Regas . I believe that there was a historical collaboration between Joe Ackroyd and Rega in the production of their speakers . Do you think the 2010is still need some running- in where things might improve ? incidentally I see Richard Dunn is offering a Royd speaker repair service over on the HFS .

[Gromit]

'That feeling of listening to music with the brakes off ' is a very interesting way of describing the character of the Royds , but very accurate methinks

Brian - the analogy really comes from playing a musical instrument, but I think it's possible to draw parallels with hifi. When I was having Clarinet lessons many years ago at the Royal College of Music, my teacher (Colin Courtney - God rest his soul) used to stress the importance of playing melody/dynamics with as little resistance as possible. Fight them with tension, and they will sound strangled, and be reflected in the final sound. Imagine the sound you are creating is a ball, hanging in the air, but it has zero mass. You can move it around at will - simply a thought will do it - and it will respond with no inertia. Now, imagine that ball is heavy - it needs a lot of effort to make it respond. It still looks the same as the massless one, in fact it will do the same things, but it isn't able to react in the same way.

Guess which one the Royds were?

So many speakers (and hifi systems) are the heavy ball - sure they sound ok, but they're musically clumsy, hard work and ultimately unrewarding. There's way too much tension in the musical muscles.

For years I've tried as much as possible to implement the above criteria when listening to kit - it doesn't always work, but it brings real joy when it does all click into place. When folk have heard my systems (mostly at Scalford really) it's been chosen and set up to fit the above description.

[Alex_UK]

Could be an interesting new find for folks!

Well if you lot were regular readers or subscribers to What Hifi? like me - you would have known about these for a good few years! They're certainly well received elsewhere as well, and they look lovely too.

[Reid Malenfant]

Well if you lot were regular readers or subscribers to What Hifi? like me - you would have known about these for a good few years!

Don't believe anthing you read, & only half of what you see...

Then you'll be ok

Just because some rag says they are good doesn't mean didley... Trust your ears, in fact I'd much rather trust any member on here than a magazine

[brian2957]

Yup , I think I know what you mean Richard . Unfortunately every piece of hifi equipment is a compromise .

[hoopsontoast]

Richard, be interested to see how the tablettes compare to the kolts considering they have the same mid-bass driver. They are on my to do list at some point in the future.