Vintage Tannoy Lancasters 15"

[tommyb21]

Hi all,

I am selling my dads Lancaster 15” for him, they are in extremely good condition as he has been the only owner and has taken great care of them.

I have pictures available, please PM me if anyone is interested, I have received an offer for £2000 already outside this forum but they are taking a long time to sort out a date for collection.

I am based in the midlands and I am happy for serious bidders to come and view/listen to them.

Thanks
tom

[The Black Adder]

I'd say snap his hand off... £2k is around the top end.

The mods will probably move this to the Private Exhibitions sales page btw.. :)

[tommyb21]

I know but he is playing silly beggers and keeps putting off to come and look/collect. I thought they went between £2000-£2500/ Saw a pair on ebay that went for £2,500 about a month ago.

[The Black Adder]

Ah, well in that case I'd say he's not serious.

A lot of the Tannoys go abroad and so they pay a bit more of a premium. I bought a pair last week from a dealer in the uk and not paid anything like that.

By all means stick them on ebay, you will most likely get what you suggest for a really nice pair. £2K is tops for the UK I'd say... Saying that, you never know. It's who ever is there and wanting them at the time.

[Wakefield Turntables]

I'd say between 1500-1800, £2K on a very good day with head winds, £2.5K now thats very very optimistic, good luck with that one. ;)

[The Black Adder]

Well.. these are going very well indeed with 9 days!!! to go...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Tannoy-lancaster-15-inch-gold-Speakers-/181187653814?pt=UK_AudioVideoElectronics_HomeAudio HiFi_HiFiSpeakers&hash=item2a2fa030b6

I could be eating my hat... Hey ho! Shows how much I know.. lol

I'd get them on NOW... Get some of those bidders involved.

[Yomanze]

Well Rexton I know who to turn to for vintage speaker valuation now!

[tommyb21]

Rexton I think your estimates are a bit on the low side, a pair have just sold on eBay for just over £1900. Black adder those are mine that you pointed out:)

[Wakefield Turntables]

Well Rexton I know who to turn to for vintage speaker valuation now!

:nocomment:


Rexton I think your estimates are a bit on the low side, a pair have just sold on eBay for just over £1900. Black adder those are mine that you pointed out:)


:goodluck:

[tommyb21]

Thought I would let you all know how I got on in case any of you were interested. Very happy with the result ended up going for £2250 but what is best is that it was to a uk buyer so no hassle and hopefully they will enjoy the quality and beauty of the speakers:)

[The Black Adder]

Good going.. These speakers never fail to amaze me. But I guess they are just going up in price all the time.

So yeah, well done matey! :)

[Rare Bird]

Aye they never fail to amaze me too :D

[synsei]

Thought I would let you all know how I got on in case any of you were interested. Very happy with the result ended up going for £2250 but what is best is that it was to a uk buyer so no hassle and hopefully they will enjoy the quality and beauty of the speakers:)

Nice one Tom, an excellent result. T'is good that they have gone to a UK buyer as well ;)

[Audioman]

That buyer wanted them bad and put in two even higher bids to make sure he got them. I think the fabulous condition (well above the norm) ensured a higher price.

[tommyb21]

Cheers guys, Paul were you following them then? Found out today that my nan has a pair that are in pristine condition as well, don’t think she wants to sell them though even though they are sitting there never being used.

[The Black Adder]

Could be a nice bit of cash for her though... :)

[Wakefield Turntables]

Great result. £2K+ Looks like they could be a good investment. I paid less for mine for I'm happy with the way that they are going up in value ;)

[tommyb21]

So has it only been recent that they have been in this price range, by recent i mean in the last year or two?

[Wakefield Turntables]

Yep. It used to be the 12" monitor golds but the 15" monitor golds have started coming out the woodwork and prices seem to to be going only one way at the moment.

[The Black Adder]

As Andrew said.. They have been reaching prices like that for a while now. A lot go overseas to what I've seen and they generally pay more for them but saying that these speakers may be having a more serious renascence in the UK now as news keeps spreading regarding their sonic qualities over more modern speakers.

But they do still have a bit of a love/hate stigma but mostly because people hear (and wrongly compare them with a more conventional speaker design) running them in their totally original state, that is to say mostly in the smaller cabinets and un-modified crossovers using the original switch gear which really saps the life out of them.

They have a magical sound, one that really gets under your skin but it takes some work to really enjoy them in a more tastefully yet sympathetically and up-to-date way. That's only one side of the coin though as some really enjoy them in their original state. For me the cabs are the biggie, eg. 15" in Lancasters is simply not letting the speakers be heard at their best, secondly the crossovers. Also because they use Electrolytic caps and for safty reasons should be changed anyway. But once done the original ones can be made to sound O.K with not much money. Again, with better components or even a full re-build (done properly of course) can make them sound quite astonishing.

In the 60's and 70's studios like Abbey Road, CTS and studios all over the world used these speakers for monitoring but the majority were in Lockwood cabinets such as the GRF and Universal's etc. Big studios today still use them for monitoring too.

Here is a pic of studio 3 at CTS studios in the 60's. Note the four GRF's along the top. All of which will be loaded with either Reds or Golds depending on the studio's usage.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/229577_174749762581631_7646134_n.jpg

[tommyb21]

Wow you know your stuff The Black Adder, interesting to read about them, will be interesting to see how their value goes over the next year or two.

[cooky]

Wow you know your stuff The Black Adder, interesting to read about them, will be interesting to see how their value goes over the next year or two.

Them's ain't GRF's they's Lockwoods.:)

[The Black Adder]

lol. sorry yes, Lockwood Majors in the pic...

Yeah. The Monitor Gold and Reds are a very special speaker.. They have lot's of history behind them that's directly linked with some of the worlds most influential music from the most influential era, namely (and most prominently) the 1960's.

[Reffc]

They are a great speaker, as are the much under-rated HPDs which are also gathering value this past year. Last year, you could buy a pair of 12 inch refurbished HPDs with crossovers for £450. Try doing that now...no chance. Average price for drivers on their own is £650. Nice as they are, the prices have become hyper-inflated by the Far East market who value big drivers and big boxes for their (very) small rooms! Also, MG's didn't use Electrolytics as a general rule. They were specified with industrial grade (ie not very tight tolerance) metalised polyester capacitors. My original 1974 pair used these too. Never seen one with electrolytics but hey, this is Tannoy we're talking about and consistency was never their strong point with the internals!

Great price by the way Tommy, and way above what I would have expected (£2K as has been said is pretty much the top of the UK market but that's for a good pair rather than a mint pair).

[The Black Adder]

Yeah, Tannoy did have bad days on the assembly line. Some caps were even marked up as 16uf when they were 30uf..! So even the manufacturer of the parts were probably pushed so much even they made slight mistakes.

But I can say for certain that Monitor Golds did use Electrolytics on the LF. They were made by TCC, Plessey. The HF ones by Arco to which I think were poly ones, made in the USA.

Pic:
http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq295/musical_submarine/DSC08011.jpg