Is the Tannoy D100 any good?

[rossman]

I have seen a pair of Tannoy Definition D100 stand mount speakers for sale in a second hand shop a few miles away from me. Unfortunately I can't get to listen to them as the shop won't set them up for me so I would have to take a punt on them.

The price is too high in my opinion at £250 although I would try to get them down quite a bit as the speakers have been in the store for a few months now.

A web search has produced very little information and a request to Tannoy was quite helpful but couldn't really give info on listening impressions.

So, does anyone have experience of these speakers and if so are what sort of value would you put on them?

Thanks.
Paul

[Reffc]

Way too much imho. £150 nearer the mark. They were produced between '94 and '98 and weren't particularly expensive then but at the higher side of the budget end of things. Decent enough speakers, with good bass response for their size (better than the equivalent Mission 760s and other similar ilk speakers of the day) and nicely made, but £250? :no:

They have to make a living but I'd not want to pay any more than £100 to £150 max and would budget for a few cap upgrades as the crossovers were nowt special. Dual concentric Drivers were ok. Quite an efficient design (tested at close to 89dB efficiency and slightly better for sensitivity which was good for their size).

Personally, I prefer the later sixes series, or even the little Mercury stand mounters.

[DSJR]

Can't remember particularly, but the tweeter could be set rather high on these. We had some D300's, retail at £500 but with a huge 50%+ buying margin, and the treble could take your fillings out and strip paint at the same time! A 1.5 ohm inline resistor brought things back under some control, but put it this way, the sound was nothing like the much bigger D700 from the same range, which was soft and spongy toned comparison I remember. We found them impossible to sell in comparison with their peers from TDL and Musical Technology and when I left in mid '98, they were still there on special offer IIRC!

[The Barbarian]

Paul
I used to run a pair of Tannoy 'Jupiter' years ago, i really liked those, can't say i see many these days tho..

[Floyddroid]

I am using the D900's and they are flippin lovely.

[PaulStewart]

I sold a pair of D100s in 2008 on eBay for £300, the buyer was delighted to get them at that price and to honest I always regretted selling them :( Great little speaker.

[rossman]

Thank you all for those brilliant replies. Lots of contradictory opinions and experiences :lol:

I do think £250 is too high but there will be nothing lost by making an offer if they are still unsold next time I go in. If this goes further I will report back.

[walpurgis]

Just noticed this thread. Having owned a rather large variety of Tannoys I have an opinion. The D100 is not the most revealing of Tannoys, the old D200 is even worse, both are comparatively two dimensional and veiled, with some cone colouration coming through. Don't get me wrong, they still sound like Tannoys, but there are better options. For instance, on eBay at the moment is a pair of Tannoy System 600 speakers at £252.98 asking price. These sound lovely and will run rings around the D100.

[rossman]

The Tannoy 600 looks interesting.

I should have taken the opportunity to buy a pair of DC2000 from a friend a couple of years ago but it didn't happen.

However, I won a pair of JPW P1 on ebay last night so I'll be trying them out. The seller also has a pair of Atacama SE20 available, which I will probably buy from him, and some Kelvin K19 as well. I'll post about these later.

[DSJR]

The AP1's should be great fun if the bass drivers are ok still. The Atacama's need part or full filling otherwise they ring like bells.. If the Kelvin is the speaker cable, should be fine as long as there's no exposed copper to go off after fifteen years or so.

I LOVE DC2000's and 3000's. They look dire, but my Gawd they're huge funky bassy fun and pretty smooth with it - no sting or shrillness at all I remember.

[walpurgis]

The Tannoy 600 looks interesting.

I should have taken the opportunity to buy a pair of DC2000 from a friend a couple of years ago but it didn't happen.

However, I won a pair of JPW P1 on ebay last night so I'll be trying them out. The seller also has a pair of Atacama SE20 available, which I will probably buy from him, and some Kelvin K19 as well. I'll post about these later.

The System 600 is more neutral and transparent than the DC2000, which is quite an old model now and was not as natural sounding as its smaller brother the DC1000.

If you could find a pair (they're scarce) the System 800 is even better than the 600, but the few that come up for sale seem to ask silly money these days. I had the System 1000 too, but found the 800 the best for imaging and neutrality.

[rossman]

In the 20 years or so that I have been listening to Hi Fi I don't know if I have ever heard a Tannoy DC speaker. I did hear one of the 6 series when I was shopping around for my very first system but it might not have been a DC and I didn't like the sound. Oh I did hear a floor standing model in Richer sounds for less than 5 minutes last year but something must have been wrong because it sounded awful, it was bright and shrill, although that might have been because the salesman was using his phone as a source.

The DC concept seems like an excellent solution to some of the problems presented by most speakers. Seeing the DC100s in the shop just set off a desire to hear them but I will just be patient now and wait until I can get to listen to a pair of DCs.

[walpurgis]

Shame you're not a bit nearer. You'd be welcome to listen to my big Tannoys. Maybe an AOS member near to you can offer a listen to some DC100s or System series models.

[rossman]

Shame you're not a bit nearer. You'd be welcome to listen to my big Tannoys. Maybe an AOS member near to you can offer a listen to some DC100s or System series models.

Thanks Geoff, that's a generous offer but as you say I'm a bit far away.