Audio Note AN-E and Tannoy Canterbury GR (battle)

[farflungstar]

Just to add specifically on the original question, E's vs Canterburys I think the Canterburys are a absolute no-brainer.

Agreed Tom but the original poster needs to know they may have to do some system changes to get the best out of them.

[Rait]

Thank you Tom. I see from your list that you have Canterburys. Do you think EAR 861 (2x32w) is ok for Canterburys?

[montesquieu]

Agreed Tom but the original poster needs to know they may have to do some system changes to get the best out of them.

Totally agree with that.

Thank you Tom. I see from your list that you have Canterburys. Do you think EAR 861 (2x32w) is ok for Canterburys?

My speakers are RFC Canterburys which are a modern speaker (with all the appropriate damping and bracing and modern tuning/vent calculation) based on the original 1960 Tannoy Canterbury corner cabinet, but custom built and designed by Paul Coupe of RFC Audio, around the 12 inch HPD driver from the early 1970s. (I previously had 1960s 15in Monitor Golds with various cabinets including Lancasters, R-GRFs, Lockwoods and Autographs)

I did own an EAR 861 and it's a fantastic amp with Tannoys, absolutely perfect configuration for them, for me it was pipped only very slightly by my vintage Radford STA100 which is currently away for restoration at Radford Revival. An owner of modern Tannoy Canterbury on this forum, Petrat, had an EAR 861 driving his speakers and was full of praise for it. Great choice I would say.

[Jazid]

Well I have had three pairs of Tannoys come and go and I do not miss them at all. I bought them at high-priced because I so wanted them to work. None were Canterburys though. My AN-E have remained throughout as they are so much easier to listen to for extended periods, less coloured, and more lucid to my ears in my room.

In this room the alleged 'pseudo bass' is just extended, it is nice to get to 28Hz flat, and down to 20Hz at - 7dB, Tannoy 15" never came close, tailing off nearer 50Hz, not even pseudo full range although crisper and more tuneful, so this makes them a better choice for eg. Bass players and rock music fans. And some like the tweeter, it certainly has a way with cymbals, but again I find the AN-E soft dome more natural and far better integrated with its bass unit (I always seem to prefer soft dome tweeters, not just an AN thing)

. Both suffer from crossover artifacts, in different ways, so sometimes Tannoys sound just alive on violins and vocals, other times shouty, and have a 'papery' metallic treble. AN-E can sound fab on piano, mine are not too good at violin tone which is sad for me as an ex-violinist, and someone on here criticised the treble as being plasticy. Horses for courses.

I agree with far-flung star that 20W helps with AN although my 300b SET is fab as well, but amps do make a significant difference, even if they are an easier drive than Tannoys.

What can I say, it's your ears and your room, you owe it to yourself to hear both in that room before making your decision, the room may well prove to be the most important part. I sometimes wonder if AN aren't tailored almost model by model for different room sizes they are so variable, and provoke such divided responses from different folk. If they work in your room there's not much that will beat them.

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[Marco]

Could we have some paragraphs, pretty please?

...after which I might be a teeny bit more inclined to read what you've written

Marco.

[montesquieu]

Well I have had three pairs of Tannoys come and go and I do not miss them at all. I bought them at high-priced because I so wanted them to work. None were Canterburys though. My AN-E have remained throughout as they are so much easier to listen to for extended periods, less coloured, and more lucid to my ears in my room.

In this room the alleged 'pseudo bass' is just extended, it is nice to get to 28Hz flat, and down to 20Hz at - 7dB, Tannoy 15" never came close, tailing off nearer 50Hz, not even pseudo full range although crisper and more tuneful, so this makes them a better choice for eg. Bass players and rock music fans. And some like the tweeter, it certainly has a way with cymbals, but again I find the AN-E soft dome more natural and far better integrated with its bass unit (I always seem to prefer soft dome tweeters, not just an AN thing)

. Both suffer from crossover artifacts, in different ways, so sometimes Tannoys sound just alive on violins and vocals, other times shouty, and have a 'papery' metallic treble. AN-E can sound fab on piano, mine are not too good at violin tone which is sad for me as an ex-violinist, and someone on here criticised the treble as being plasticy. Horses for courses.

I agree with far-flung star that 20W helps with AN although my 300b SET is fab as well, but amps do make a significant difference, even if they are an easier drive than Tannoys.

What can I say, it's your ears and your room, you owe it to yourself to hear both in that room before making your decision, the room may well prove to be the most important part. I sometimes wonder if AN aren't tailored almost model by model for different room sizes they are so variable, and provoke such divided responses from different folk. If they work in your room there's not much that will beat them.

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Hi James you and I have had this discussion privately and I certainly find the divergence of opinion interesting. My experience the last time a pair of E's were here (when I was evaluating where to put my £5k speaker budget, a big outlay for me, after I sold my Autographs) was quite dramatic.

After days of trying to get along with them I plugged in my cheap, stop-gap Tannoy 12in Golds in borrowed but rather battered Chatsworth-dimension boxes, roughly wired to some borrowed HPD crossovers. Loosely positioned in front, I just burst out laughing ... The Tannoys were so much better. This with the 300b WAD amp at the time which you'd think would favour the E's.

Having said that the reason I wanted to hear the E's (and persevered though multiple trials) was that I have heard them sounding good, so it's no surprise that to some ears in some rooms, they should work well. (At the time had a bunch of Audio Note/Kondo source components as well and actually really, really wanted them to work - I was being offered what I thought was a super deal on them as well). Even at their best though I was never sure about the quality of that low bass, which is certainly there but to my ears, far from convincing.

I actually agree with you on Tannoy bass, in certain cabs vintage Tannoys (which is what you had) in particular can have extremely variable performance .. in some boxes including some factory ones, either they can have little or no deep bass regardless of the size of the cone (if the box is too small), or sound boomy, uncontrolled and under-damped (if the box is large and insufficiently braced). Vintage crossovers and wiring that need attention can degrade the treble. Tannoys of any era are also very sensitive to being used with the wrong amp - the bigger cones in particular don't generally get along with SET amps (not enough control). And then there are room interactions of course.

All that's fixable though and Tannoys sounding well can be absolutely glorious.

The original question though was specifically E's vs modern Tannoy Canterburys which is arguably the best of the factory Tannoys (without the efficiency of the horn designs like the Autograph and Westminster, but without the compromises either). For me that really is a no-brainer though as you say no-one could advise spending that amount of cash without hearing all the options, in your own room if possible.

[Pharos]

Couldn't agree more with the recently expressed view that paragraphs are important.

Nothing is more daunting than a great expansive block of writing, especially when it is not particularly well written.

Paragraphs break thoughts into convenient 'chunks' to process, and allow one to keep one's place more easily in the processes involved in following thought lines.

[walpurgis]

A big 'block' of unbroken writing seems to cause me at least, to do an almost sub-conscious 'double take' at the end of each line to make sure I go onto reading the correct next line.

It's a pain, which puts me off reading it in the first place.

[hifinutt]

following this thread closely . over past few weeks have used a variety of amps with tannoy eaton legacy and they are certainly very different to harbs which i think the op has . the big thrax valve was incredibly controlled sound and focussed and very enjoyable with all genres . used also the modwright valve pre /class A ss which gave amazing imaging , really holographic . and currently have the eatons with a naim supernait 2 in a different room . not quite as good as previous amps , very slightly clinical sound but only a bit [ the naim and harbs sound extremely good]

good to read thoughts re audionote from all

[Jazid]

I find writing from a small phone is difficult but I wanted to get my view across as the OP asked for a direct comparison of Tannoy and AN-E speakers. This what I gave, this delivered on the back of seven or eight years relevant experience.

If my view diverges from the prevailing view espoused on AoS surely that should not be relevant. Of course it is right that the content of my post should be criticised by those who have also made direct comparisons of these speakers in their own systems. I do not see any of that.
Apologies to all grammar and punctuation fetishists, you are wonderful and necessary. Do remember that, in a smart phone age, you may stifle debate if you prioritise delivery over content. Or was that the idea?

Also apologies to anyone hurt that I have an alternative view to the primacy of Tannoy DC speakers: It is not intended as a personal affront, it is just one person's view on a forum.

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