My Tannoys.

[walpurgis]

As I was asked to give an evaluation of the Tannoy speakers I've owned in another thread. I thought maybe I'd post it here for scrutiny.

This is just my view of what I've owned, used and heard.



OK.

3 pairs of IIILZ (two bought new). I liked them until I heard bigger models. They don't do deep bass and are a bit 'in yer face' higher up. Sounded ridiculously incisive with the Decca blue I was using at the time.

5 pairs of Eatons. Lovely! (that's why I've had five pairs) Good bass for the size, great imaging.

Chatsworth MGs. Nice!

Cheviot I. Not as nice.

Devon. Worse.

System 1000. OK, big sound, bit of 'plasticky' cone colouration.

3 Pairs System 800. Miles better, no cone colouration, great imaging, clean sound with depth.

2 pairs System 600. Similar on a smaller scale. Damn good though.

V12. Big sound, no low bass.

Lynx. Same (much better driver though).

DC6i. Crap.

i6 AW. Great driver & X/O in rubbish plastic box. Rehouse the unit & X/O in good box (I did) and you have a System 600 (sort of).

DC1000. Great fun. Not the most revealing and a bit coloured, but images great and goes ridiculously loud!

Cheviot II (3128 driver). Current main speakers. The best so far by miles. Fabulous sound. Totally different to the previous HPD 315 model and far superior.

Ascot. Latest acquisition. Sound good (a bit similar to the Cheviot II), a bit of 'plastic cone' effect. SRM 10B paper pulp cones obtained and will be fitted, plus other upgrades. Very promising!

Oxfords. I don't count those as they are not DCs. Sounded reasonable though.



I've also heard a huge amount of other 'proper' Tannoy DCs. Just about every regarded classic, Including the Holy Grail the GRF Autograph.

The worst I've used were the DC200. Flat, dull, two dimensional and coloured.

[DSJR]

Interesting regarding Eatons and Devons, although I must admit I never heard them under 'single speaker' conditions. Used the way we had them, the Devon's used to sound better, the little 'un squeaking a bit. Mind you, Cheviots sounded awful in the (multi-speaker) dem room and a lot better in clients' homes and all of that era needed the treble backing off a notch - the mk2 series had a total re-think I recall and I believe paved the way for the current prestige thinking (I think).

I wonder how many other speakers I once regarded with faint praise or even derision could be transformed for the better today with more modern setup?

[Reffc]

Good summary Geoff.

Annoyingly for anyone who owned Cheviot Mk1's and sold them on thinking they were crap....they weren't; neither is that superb 315 HPD (to my mind it remains the pick of the bunch). They had two massive design flaws from the factory, both easily solved to make them into Mk2 beaters:

1. Tuning was massively out. They tuned them way too low from the factory with ports of 120mm ish which made them start dropping bass response from 100Hz and also over-extended the cone with deep bass making it both work inefficiently and ineffectively. The cabinet needs tuning way higher (around 45 to 50Hz) and the answer for any Cheviot Mk1 owners reading is to remove the cardboard port tubes and cut them to exactly 55mm and replace. This restores bass to optimum response for the cabinet giving them much more punch, less overhang, improves lower mid resolution too.

2. Cabinet front and rear panels are only half as thick as they need to be so a quick fix is to add a front to the back brace just below the main driver cut out. The cabinets should then have all the old mattress foam removed, bitumen damping sheets applied to the relatively thin rear panel and 40mm acoustic foam (coeff: 0.7) to replace the old mattress foam.

Trust me, this transforms them into a speaker that rocks and sounds way cleaner through the mids. It is also inexpensive.

[walpurgis]

Your comments on the 315 are interesting Paul.

I've heard them old and even new (when they were making them) and in various cabinets big and smaller, but have yet to hear a pair that sound as good as the 3128 that superseded them.

If I recall these only appeared in the Cheviot II, Chertsey and Balmoral systems, so they are not common.

The 12" LRM and SRM units are I believe similar apart from the hard corrugated edge cones (although they may have uprated voicecoils for professional use).

I suspect that much of the difference in sound between the 3128 and 315 is due largely to the truncated and more quickly flared treble horn used with the ceramic magnet assemblies, as opposed to the longer horn on the alnico versions.

[Reffc]

Your comments on the 315 are interesting Paul.

I've heard them old and even new (when they were making them) and in various cabinets big and smaller, but have yet to hear a pair that sound as good as the 3128 that superseded them.

If I recall these only appeared in the Cheviot II, Chertsey and Balmoral systems, so they are not common.

The 12" LRM and SRM units are I believe similar apart from the hard corrugated edge cones (although they may have uprated voicecoils for professional use).

I suspect that much of the difference in sound between the 3128 and 315 is due largely to the truncated and more quickly flared treble horn used with the ceramic magnet assemblies, as opposed to the longer horn on the alnico versions.

It's a little more complex Geoff. They were touted as an HPD driver but really were quite different. Time alignment was different between voicecoils of HF and midwoofers, BL rating different, cones different, acoustic response different and crossovers different. All these things have an impact on SQ and cabinet design.

Both can sound very good indeed, granted; but they got it right with the HPD which represented a pinnacle of Tannoy driver design in the early 1970's. As AlNiCo became ever more expensive to produce and rarer in terms of depleted raw materials and as it could be bettered in many respects ( magnetic strength and hysteresis qualities had been bettered by the 3128 and AlNiCo if suffering mechanical shock or high temperatures could cause gauss strength loss, as could over-voltage). Yet, AlNiCo was optimal in other respects. It allowed perfect alignment of voicecoils (at least phase corrected by the pepperpot) and the gaussian strength was optimal for the cone design for the larger cabinets. The time alignment issues alone meant reducing crossover complexity in some respects as it did away with time compensation networks of later Tannoy designs. It's partially for this reason that I think Tannoy have now returned to AlNiCo for their latest GR series Prestige range. That and issues with previous QC on cone production where Hemp seeds were found on some cones forcing a change in cone material manufacturer!

All I know is that I've meddled with many Tannoy designs to date over the years, but the very best results for domestic hifi have been had with the humble 315. I think Tom (Montesquieu) might attest to his experiences over the years culminating in a "best compromise" solution being the 315 as might the chap who ended up with the Fidelios to partner his £200K system :stalks:

[southall-1998]

Geoff, did you ever hear the Autograph Mini?

S.

[walpurgis]

Geoff, did you ever hear the Autograph Mini?

S.

Very briefly in a showroom years ago if I recall. Not long enough to gain any real impression. I believe I was actually looking at some rather nice Elacs at the time. Can't even remember where that was. People ask silly money for them though.

[Ninanina]

I love the look of them they are so cute.. :D

[walpurgis]

I love the look of them they are so cute.. :D

All the girls say that to me. :lol:

[Ninanina]

All the girls say that to me. :lol:

:rfl::rfl:

[montesquieu]

Fascinating list here, quite a few on these I haven't heard, though I have been through quite a few cabinets as well as a mix of 12in and 15in MGs and HPDs. (GRF, Lockwood, HPD, Lancaster and assorted custom jobbies). I have heard MKII Cheviots though and they are lovely!

For quite a while, I really pushed back against Paul's insistence that the 12in HPD is the pick of the bunch, sticking with MGs out of habit, but I must say the Tannoy Canterbury-derived speakers he designed for me changed my opinion. In the right cabinet with the right crossover the HPDs really are the best of the lot, and they still punch their weight against current Tannoy Canterburys.

[walpurgis]

There would have been 15" Tannoys on that list, if I'd ever had room to do them justice. However, in my environment the 12" is just fine. So have the 10" models been actually.

[hornucopia]

There would have been 15" Tannoys on that list, if I'd ever had room to do them justice. However, in my environment the 12" is just fine. So have the 10" models been actually.

a bit like getting right size TV screen. Too big is not always right.
My Ocellias are 8 inch; the 12 inch coax was tempting, but I'd need a bigger room (still dreaming of a barn near Med.....).