Tannoy Westminster Royal HE Upgrades

[tannoyman]

Hi Guys


I recently modified all of the internal and external connectors on my Westminster Royal HE's and replaced the standard support system. The results were truly awesome. The standard model sounds dull and a bit vague and gets worse with age. Post modification the performance of the speakers is transformed. They retain all of the traditional Tannoy strengths of musicality, great imaging and bass but in addition the have now acquired near electrostatic levels of clarity, huge dynamics (which were impressive to start with), extended bass and even better imaging.

I recently helped A Westminster Royal SE owner in Canada through these upgrades and he was blown away by the extent of the improvement.

I have written a paper on this work and would be happy to supply a copy to anyone who is interested

David :)

[chelsea]

Good that you got them sounding better.
Have to say on a speaker which i'am guessing costs multiple thousands i'am surprised that they have to be tampered with.

[The Black Adder]

Hi David. I would be very interested to read it.

I've been doing some serious R&D in the crossovers of the Golds and would be interested in seeing what's what with the westies because one day... (looks at the sky) I'll get some made by Simon.

Please PM when you have it ready.

Cheers

[tannoyman]

Good that you got them sounding better.
Have to say on a speaker which i'am guessing costs multiple thousands i'am surprised that they have to be tampered with.

Hi Stuart

The figure you are looking for is at current prices £23000 (ish) at the last count, and so was I surprised. I had very serious face to face discussions with the MD of Tannoy on just that subject - enough said

David :(

[tannoyman]

Hi David. I would be very interested to read it.

I've been doing some serious R&D in the crossovers of the Golds and would be interested in seeing what's what with the westies because one day... (looks at the sky) I'll get some made by Simon.

Please PM when you have it ready.

Cheers

Hi Joe

Please PM me your personal e mail and I will get it across to you. I would appreciate your comments on it

David :)

[chelsea]

Hi Stuart

The figure you are looking for is at current prices £23000 (ish) at the last count, and so was I surprised. I had very serious face to face discussions with the MD of Tannoy on just that subject - enough said

David :(

Yes pretty poor really.
Saw a pair a few months ago and was impressed with how big they are.
Still not heard a pair of them yet.

Fantastic size room you have.

I tried a few valve amps with the tannoys i had,and found the only ones that worked really well were a pair of wad mono blocks.

Because of high db i expected a low watt valve amp to power them.

[tannoyman]

Hi Stuart

Conventional wisdom would indeed suggest that low power valves are the right option but with well set up, well matched system solid state has it all - power, delicacy, detail across all genres.

Don't get me wrong I love the sound of valves but they just don't pass the even handedness test in my system.

Some people take the view that they should tune their system to handle their preferred music type. I would strongly disagree. If a system will not handle all genres it is clearly doing something wrong.

David :):)

[Puffin]

I would think that your paper should be added to the section "The Knowledge"

http://theartofsound.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=28

It is likely to be of interest to some, including me even though I don't own a pair (Geek alert)

[Audio Al]

Hello David

I have read your paper on the Tannoy upgrades

Very impressed with the procedures you have undertaken

I was surprised by the plinth movement being so important ,

I do agree that a sound footing for any speaker will reap rewards , is you floor in the listening room timber floorboards, tung and groove floor panels or concrete.
With the SS feet you had made do you use them sitting on the points directly into the carpet or sitting on the washers as well ?

Very surprised by the internal component quality on a speaker system of that value , When soldering direct did you use lead solder or silver ?

Happy listening :D

[Jonboy]

I have been told the same story by my mate Mike who has recently hard wired a pair of Westies up your way for someone and told me about the poor quality crimped type spade connectors on something of such high cost, made me wonder a bit if my Sterlings are wired like that inside and perhaps all their other models in the Prestige range

[tannoyman]

I have been told the same story by my mate Mike who has recently hard wired a pair of Westies up your way for someone and told me about the poor quality crimped type spade connectors on something of such high cost, made me wonder a bit if my Sterlings are wired like that inside and perhaps all their other models in the Prestige range

I think you can be totally confident that the Stirlings will be pretty much the same in terms of internal component quality and build quality. In accordance the spirit of this forum I will refrain from commenting further.

The good news is that it will be easy to recify on the Stirlings because they are much simpler inside.

D :steam:

[tannoyman]

Hello David

I have read your paper on the Tannoy upgrades

Very impressed with the procedures you have undertaken

I was surprised by the plinth movement being so important ,

I do agree that a sound footing for any speaker will reap rewards , is you floor in the listening room timber floorboards, tung and groove floor panels or concrete.
With the SS feet you had made do you use them sitting on the points directly into the carpet or sitting on the washers as well ?

Very surprised by the internal component quality on a speaker system of that value , When soldering direct did you use lead solder or silver ?

Happy listening :D

Hi Al

Apparently minor changes can have a telling effect. The plinths are a good example

The floor is concrete. The shims (washers) are effectively spacers which go between the feet and the cabinet and the feet go directly through the carpet.

The solder used was standard Ersin Multicore which I think is lead based.

The really sad bit is that on a product of this class such basic improvements should produce such dramatic improvements

David :)

[tannoyman]

I would think that your paper should be added to the section "The Knowledge"

http://theartofsound.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=28

It is likely to be of interest to some, including me even though I don't own a pair (Geek alert)

Hi Rob

Not sure whether I can do that. I will have a word with Marco.

Glad you liked it

David :D

[The Grand Wazoo]

David, if you'd like to see it enshrined as part of 'The Knowledge', then perhaps you could let me see it & I can discuss it with Nick & Barry, who also organise that part of the forum. Is it in pdf format?

Thanks to Rob for making the suggestion.

[Reffc]

Thanks to David for providing his document which made very interesting reading. It spurred me onto checking the internals of the Turnberry SE's and I'm pleased to report that Tannoy appear to have got part of their act together (lets just say that the accountants haven't had it all their own way). Crossovers are all hard wired with high grade components and all wiring appears to be VDH silver plated high purity copper. The cheap and nasty spade connectors have gone and from the high quality (which hey are) binding posts to the crossover, the cable is terminated in a very high quality and very firm fitting gold plated spade connector so no real benefits IMHO from soldering this connection. I was going to remove the drive unit fully, but partial removal and the obvious pull of some very string magnets made me think twice as there's precious little play between crossover wires and driver wiring!

From what I have seen though I'd say that for the Turnberry SE, the crossover quality and internal wiring plus binding post quality is very good and best left well alone. Can't comment on the connectors for the driver itself but they sound pretty good as is so I didn't tempt fate by going any further.

[tannoyman]

Hi Paul

If you are happy that is all that matters. As to the detail of your comments I will not reply publicly but suffice it to say things are not always as they appear superficially.

I have sent you an email with a more detailed response and I hope it is helpful

Kind regards

David :):)



Thanks to David for providing his document which made very interesting reading. It spurred me onto checking the internals of the Turnberry SE's and I'm pleased to report that Tannoy appear to have got part of their act together (lets just say that the accountants haven't had it all their own way). Crossovers are all hard wired with high grade components and all wiring appears to be VDH silver plated high purity copper. The cheap and nasty spade connectors have gone and from the high quality (which hey are) binding posts to the crossover, the cable is terminated in a very high quality and very firm fitting gold plated spade connector so no real benefits IMHO from soldering this connection. I was going to remove the drive unit fully, but partial removal and the obvious pull of some very string magnets made me think twice as there's precious little play between crossover wires and driver wiring!

From what I have seen though I'd say that for the Turnberry SE, the crossover quality and internal wiring plus binding post quality is very good and best left well alone. Can't comment on the connectors for the driver itself but they sound pretty good as is so I didn't tempt fate by going any further.

[daveskis]

Hi Stuart

Conventional wisdom would indeed suggest that low power valves are the right option but with well set up, well matched system solid state has it all - power, delicacy, detail across all genres.

Don't get me wrong I love the sound of valves but they just don't pass the even handedness test in my system.

Some people take the view that they should tune their system to handle their preferred music type. I would strongly disagree. If a system will not handle all genres it is clearly doing something wrong.

David :):)
Not another David that owns Westies. David I was inspired after reading your paper to apply some of those mods to my cabinets and drivers.
Thanks BTW
Dave

[tannoyman]

Not another David that owns Westies. David I was inspired after reading your paper to apply some of those mods to my cabinets and drivers.
Thanks BTW
Dave

Hi Dave

If you would like any further information about this do please feel free to contact me and I will be delighted to help if I can.

Kind regards

David :):)

[Beertenor]

Hello,
I was hoping to pick this thread up as I am in need of assistance upgrading my Westie HE crossovers. Are there resources available?
Thanks for any assistance.
Oliver

[Wakefield Turntables]

Speak to Paul @ Reference Fidelity Components