Advice on vintage Tannoys?

[bwr827]

Hi, new to the forum, and pretty new to the audio hobby.

Just got a pair of Tannoy Orbitus 1 speakers from a relative, who bought them he thinks in the late 60s, possibly very early 70s.

They look like this (http://soundup.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4129:tannoy-orbitus-speakers-12-gold-lsuhf128&catid=8:columns&directory=21), but with slightly different grills.

I've hooked them up to my vintage Marantz 2245 receiver and they sound very good, but I don't have a proper spot for omnidirectional speakers in my living room (only spot I have is right along a wall), so I'm thinking of selling, or perhaps getting some custom cabinets built.

What is the best approach to selling vintage speakers like this? From what I've read, the Tannoy Monitor Gold drivers themselves should be worth a fair bit, but I am assuming the units are worth more as a complete original package? The only thing missing on these is the feet. Is that a big deal? Where might I buy replacement feet?

[Wakefield Turntables]

WOW never seen a pair of those before!

[walpurgis]

I've seen something similar a long time ago, using the Silver drivers firing upwards. Whether they were called Orbitus, I don't know. I certainly don't recall a speaker system from Tannoy named that. Those Golds would be mounting in conventional cabinets. Plenty of older Tannoy 12" cabinets cropping up on eBay for a cheap solution.

[bwr827]

Here's a pic (http://m.imgur.com/1dwYJXq) of the label on the bottom showing the model name, Orbitus 1.

[bwr827]

I'll check out the Tannoy cabinets on eBay, thanks!

[walpurgis]

Here's a pic (http://m.imgur.com/1dwYJXq) of the label on the bottom showing the model name, Orbitus 1.

Well it looks authentic, but that's definitely a new one for me.

[bwr827]

They do seem to be pretty rare. Very little info online. A couple of past eBay auctions, one ending at $1,500 USA, the other at about $2,800.

[Reffc]

The drivers are MG 12 inch and if you split them from the crossovers you can expect circa £250 to £350 for original crossovers and around £1100 for the drivers if in good shape. Cabs on their own may have curiosity value only and that wont be much. As a whole package, I'd say you'd probably not do any better than splitting them up. There's one exception though and that's if you were to consider selling them to the Far East, that's where the big money for authentic and rarer vintage Tannoy stuff is found. The Japanese market especially is big on Tannoys, so you may get lucky and have a bigging war on them but top whack I'd estimate at perhaps £1500 to £1800 plus the shipping if you opened them up to worldwide purchase (on a fair day with a following wind). You'd then have the hassle of having custom built shipping crates for them made (some specialist cardboard packaging specialists can also help here). It's because they're unusual and not mainstream that you'll narrow your target market right down as a complete package.

[walpurgis]

It may be tempting to cash in on the Tannoy drivers, but they could be the basis of a great sounding system in decent cabinets. Tannoys require good amplification, but don't need a vast amount of power, so it need not cost a fortune. I use 25 watts of Class A and that is more than enough. I've had very enjoyable sounds with just 5 watts of small Class T/D amps, so an economic system is possible. If it's possible try tilting the cabinets over and listen to them with the drivers facing you, you'll be amazed at the clarity and imaging. There's certainly nothing else that sounds like them.

[bwr827]

Thanks very much for the input!

This is probably a silly question, but do you think the tops of the cabinets are removable? I'd like to try tilting them as walpurgis described, but didn't want to start prying on the tops and damage them.

Reffc, I read somewhere that for buyers it's best to find the drivers with the original crossovers. Since you advise splitting them up to sell, I'm assuming that it's not a big deal?

[walpurgis]

Sorry Tom, I didn't realise they had covered tops. Having said that, I doubt the original cabinets, although rare, would be worth a huge amount. If you were to utilise the drive units in forward facing cabinets, obviously they should be kept with the original matching crossovers. I'd encourage you to keep these drive units, as they are superb and getting hold of an original, mint pair of Monitor Golds is a very lucky find. You can bring the crossovers up to date with more modern components in due course, but likely they'll sound excellent as they are to start off with. Treat them with care.

[BTH K10A]

They are likely to be Tannoy USA / Canada cabinets.

It was significantly more cost effective to export the drivers & crossovers only and have the cabinets built in the "colonies"

They produced some cabinets similar to the UK and some quite different. The same applied to the model names.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f120/emttsd15/1968d_zpsf62e13f9.jpg (http://s46.photobucket.com/user/emttsd15/media/1968d_zpsf62e13f9.jpg.html)

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f120/emttsd15/1968c_zps18c2374f.jpg (http://s46.photobucket.com/user/emttsd15/media/1968c_zps18c2374f.jpg.html)

The Cornetta was an amazing little speaker for it's size.

[bwr827]

Sorry Tom, I didn't realise they had covered tops. Having said that, I doubt the original cabinets, although rare, would be worth a huge amount. If you were to utilise the drive units in forward facing cabinets, obviously they should be kept with the original matching crossovers. I'd encourage you to keep these drive units, as they are superb and getting hold of an original, mint pair of Monitor Golds is a very lucky find. You can bring the crossovers up to date with more modern components in due course, but likely they'll sound excellent as they are to start off with. Treat them with care.

Thanks again for the input, walpurgis. I'm beginning to think I may just want to hold on to these drivers, but I'm held back by the fact that I'm not a good DIY type of guy, and I'm guessing purchasing custom cabinets won't be reasonable.

[bwr827]

I wonder if there's a way for me to determine the actual year and place of manufacture for these speakers. Perhaps by serial number?

[walpurgis]

There's a mass of Tannoy info and history on the net Tom.

Here's a link to some: http://www.hilberink.nl/codehans/tannoy52.htm


If you have doubts about taking on carpentry and see the cost of custom cabinets as too expensive, I'd look for used 12" Gold or HPD cabinets on eBay, they'll fit your drivers OK. They are common enough and can be internally braced to modern standards easily. These are likely to be available worldwide.

[The Black Adder]

I wonder if there's a way for me to determine the actual year and place of manufacture for these speakers. Perhaps by serial number?

Hi Tom.

Here is a sticky I posted a while back.

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?21425-Tannoy-speaker-serial-codes-dates-of-manufacture

Should give you an idea of the dates of the drivers. Of course the cabinets could have been made later.

There may be a serial number on the cabs but these are not traceable.

For cabinets try and get some Lockwoods.. I would steer clear of the Lancaster cabinets if you have 15" drivers but if they are 12" the Lancasters are a good match. Just make sure the front ports are open.

If you go for another tannoy or lockwood cabinet and if your drivers are 12" drivers you will need some adapter rings that attach to the drivers, then they are fixed to the cabinets. Easy to make too.

If you decide to sell them I'd sell them in their original state. Make sure you get lots of nicely lit pics, internal shots of the drivers and crossovers too inc. serial numbers.

Hope that helps.
Joe

[The Barbarian]

I love vintage equipment but for some reason i totally ignore Tan's, i dunno why, just thought i'd pop in & tell you all that

:eyebrows:

[bwr827]

You guys are a big help! Thanks again. I'll update the thread with some pics and choice of action when I have something -- just to add to the scarce Orbitus info that's online.

[BTH K10A]

Hi Tom.



For cabinets try and get some Lockwoods.. I would steer clear of the Lancaster cabinets if you have 15" drivers but if they are 12" the Lancasters are a good match. Just make sure the front ports are open.

Hope that helps.
Joe

I'm not sure Lancaster or Lockwood cabinets are that common in Canada but a robbed out pair of Chatsworth or Dalton cabinets might be a possibility.

[The Black Adder]

I'm not sure Lancaster or Lockwood cabinets are that common in Canada but a robbed out pair of Chatsworth or Dalton cabinets might be a possibility.

Some Chatsworths or Daltons should be fine. - Or have some cabinets made, it will be well worth it. :)

[Reffc]

Thanks very much for the input!

This is probably a silly question, but do you think the tops of the cabinets are removable? I'd like to try tilting them as walpurgis described, but didn't want to start prying on the tops and damage them.

Reffc, I read somewhere that for buyers it's best to find the drivers with the original crossovers. Since you advise splitting them up to sell, I'm assuming that it's not a big deal?

In the case of Tannoys, no, its no big deal because they rarely if ever custom matched crossovers to drive units. They all used the same crossovers (ie MGs used MG crossovers, Silvers used Silver crossovers, HPDs used HPD crossovers etc etc). They did have one or two circuit updates over the years but the circuit was much the same for each type of driver.

[bwr827]

Just an update: Tannoy's UK head of engineering has confirmed that these Orbitus speakers were made in the UK. They had very little additional info to add, and clearly the Orbitus did not take off in popularity, given the sparse information around online.

[The Black Adder]

No doubt they were made in the UK... They are a strange looking cabinet I must admit but sound wise I can see them sounding great. Omni speakers are great for those awkward shaped/sized rooms.

A lot went abroad, could have have been a fashion thing as a lot went to the states/canada. They do have a colonial design style so maybe this was part of that reason?

Have a chat with Lockwood if you can. They might be able to throw some more information on them for you.