Interesting news - Tannoy to start (re)making Arden, Cheviot and Eaton

[Macca]

Yeah, lovely... Are they as cheap as that brand new? If so, I'd say that was a bargain. But as you say, they wouldn't work right in my room.

The point I was making though, which I'm sure you'll agree with is that for the £4k I've spent on them, the Lockies are ridiculously good!

Marco.

They were £10K before Brexit, not sure now. I still think that is expensive, unless it is by comparison to some other high end speakers, at which point you realise JBL are basically giving them away.

15'' inch MG in Lockies for £4K is a stupid bargain, You'll get no argument from me there.

[Reffc]

I suspect that they'll possibly use the drivers re-developed for the GR range, where they reverted to AlNiCo, because they thought that's what people wanted and made claims about the "sound" of the magnet. I met with Tannoys Technical Director a few years ago at the Bristol Show and we had a long chat about the new range but also, I wanted to clear some of what I do with them, which they seemed happy to support. I mentioned the popularity of a few heritage models, and it was agreed that whilst the tulip wave-guide in principle has advantages over the pepperpot, people still associate the HPD and MG pepper pot design as the best, whether it is or not, so they were provided within the range (Kensington upwards).

The real reason for the incorrectness of the sound of some the TW drivers isn't due to the principles of the Tulip waveguide itself, but to the time alignment. The older MG and HPD drivers were perfectly time aligned and required no electrical compensation at crossover, plus used well designed notch filters to reduce horn resonance at around 3.3 KHz on the horns. As a result, the clarity, when cabs and crossovers are well sorted, can be amazing. The old drivers still have the edge here because whilst you can add a time delay in the crossover, the one adopted by Tannoy never really seemed to do the trick sonically and that region at crossover to 3.5KHz was always grating with me when listening to the K series, and later tulip waveguide drivers, including the first and second prestige series range of TW 'speakers. It also affected the GRF Memory and other large 80's and 90's designs.

To make this legacy series a success, I'd hope to see these issues properly addressed (and crossover designs) and a time aligned HF horn/magnet arrangement which means getting the correct length of horn/magnet and having the phase correction sorted without the time delay circuits. Consideration of horn resonance/notch filters would also be welcome, but in these days of marketing, profits and overheads, I wouldn't be surprised if crossovers were kept rather simple to cut manufacturing costs. To be fair, they may have considered all of this and designed the things with this in mind. I sincerely hope so.

To manufacture something of the quality of the older units (and they did with the GR series) I would expect the new drivers to be priced somewhere around the £1K to £1.5K each for retail. I would expect the new legacy Cheviots to be sold possibly around the Turnberry SE price. Otherwise, I can't see how they can provide the quality of driver, crossover and cabinet and make their distributor and dealer margins otherwise and still offer a high quality true legacy product.

I do think that going the vintage route and buying a pair for restoration and upgrading will still work out cheaper, a LOT cheaper if retaining the existing Cheviot cabs and having those worked on rather than commissioning new cabs. Tannoy won't be offering anything like the quality of some custom cabs doing the rounds but I'd expect the new ones hopefully to better the older Chevs and this time round, be properly tuned! (the old ones weren't...the port was way too long for the cab volume for a decent response). How the new models compare, we have yet to learn, but I wish Tannoy every success and hope that they do a good job and that their models are well received.

[Yomanze]

My guess for the Ardens is around £4.5k... My exact guess is £4,995...

[walpurgis]

My guess for the Ardens is around £4.5k... My exact guess is £4,995...

Higher!

[Yomanze]

Will be very interesting to see if they position these above the Prestige series in price or not...

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[anubisgrau]

Why no Berkeleys? To my ears they performed cleaner than Ardens.

[Macca]

I think Tannoy need to exploit their brand with the BRIC markets where a famous legacy made in the UK product is a prestige item; become like Aston Martin or Ferrari where demand outstrips supply and is kept that way. With that in mind I'd hope they are quality items (even if they are, and have to be, highly priced) and not a cynical cash in on the reputation.We will find out in due course.

[Marco]

I get that... Actually, if some of the proposed prices I've heard are correct (£10k for the Arden), less for the rest, then I consider that reasonable. I suspect that they'll deliver a goodly dose of the performance of Prestige models, for a fraction of the price....

We just need someone with discerning ears to have a listen!

Marco.

[walpurgis]

if some of the proposed prices I've heard are correct (£10k for the Arden), less for the rest, then I consider that reasonable.

Marco.

That would make the classic vintage HPD and Monitor Gold models look an even bigger bargain at their current asking prices.

[Reffc]

That would make the classic vintage HPD and Monitor Gold models look an even bigger bargain at their current asking prices.