Hi Tannoyers and sound lovers

[BenParis]

Hi everyone,

Just joined the forum, glad to be part of the Hifi adventure.
I listen to a lot of acoustic music, of any kind. As long as the record is well pressed / recorded, then I like it

I am based in Paris, France
System wise, I love tannoys, I made my own cabinets with HPD385, sound great. I have recently bought a genuine pair of Tannoy Gold monitors in York rectangular cabinets.
I am trying to improve the sound of the latter, it's not as clear as the HPD. I am working on upgrading the crossovers and the cabinet.
I drive them currently with a Sansui AU555A (really good) or a Luxman L10 (really good also).
Source is Node 2i (very good) and a chord qutest DAC (amazing)

I am not much into cables, I am not sure they bring something. For now, more into optimizing what I got.

Regards,
Benoit

[Roy S]

Hello Benoit, I also drive Tannoys with a Luxman amp (Legacy Ardens / L-509X), sounds excellent :thumbsup:

[BenParis]

Hello Roy, this Luxman L509X looks like a great amplifier ! Did you have the opportunity to compare it with other Luxman gears ? Or other amps ? What are your thought with your Ardens ?

[Roy S]

Hello Roy, this Luxman L509X looks like a great amplifier ! Did you have the opportunity to compare it with other Luxman gears ? Or other amps ? What are your thought with your Ardens ?

I'd been using Quad amplification for a number of years (77, 303, 405, 606, Elite & QMP monoblocks), I also dabbled with valve monoblocks, these were all used with separate phono stages & pre amps. Ultimately I got a little fed up with my room looking like Frankenstein's lab & wanted a 'one box' solution. I liked the look of the Luxman & reviews were favourable so I got one in for a home demo. To say I was blown away would be an understatement, I'd literally never heard anything so lucid! (I should say at the time I was using vintage Arden IIs). So long story short I traded in a stack of gear & parted with a large amount of cash to become the proud owner of a shiny new one. Sold the vintage Ardens as, to be honest, the crossovers were probably due some attention, had a pair of Goldenear Tritons for a while but then returned to the Tannoy fold when a cheeky ebay offer won me the Legacy Ardens, which further improved the sound, & that's me sorted :)

[BenParis]

Hehe, nice
I had Quad 2 monoblocks and I understand your point, it can look a bit messy and having a nice looking system with a good sound is important !
Don't have the finance for a Luxman 509X.
Any idea about the Luxman M200 sound ?

[Roy S]

Hehe, nice
I had Quad 2 monoblocks and I understand your point, it can look a bit messy and having a nice looking system with a good sound is important !
Don't have the finance for a Luxman 509X.
Any idea about the Luxman M200 sound ?

Sorry, not familiar with the M200, don't even know if Luxman has a 'house sound' as this is the first one I've had. Did have one of their turntables which I stupidly sold for peanuts :(

[hifinutt]

welcome benoit , great to have you .
My legacy eatons just love class D , and class A . the former is cheaper though and very engaging and affordable

[BenParis]

I almost bought a Luxman M200 yesterday for a good price, but after talking with the seller, we both agreed that it might not drive the gold 15 very well, honnest seller, with respect for Tannoys :)

[BenParis]

Sorry, not familiar with the M200, don't even know if Luxman has a 'house sound' as this is the first one I've had. Did have one of their turntables which I stupidly sold for peanuts :(

I almost bought a Luxman M200 yesterday for a good price, but after talking with the seller, we both agreed that it might not drive the gold 15 very well, honnest seller, with respect for Tannoys

[BenParis]

welcome benoit , great to have you .
My legacy eatons just love class D , and class A . the former is cheaper though and very engaging and affordable

I have heard eatons sounds totally amazing, with a lot of energy and very beautifull sound. I reckon I have way too big speakers for my appartement in Paris, but not ready to downsize yet :)
Your point on amps for Tannoys is very interesting, I have tried a Sugden A21SE Signature (class A), it's ok but I found it way too expensive for the sound. And it was getting too hot also, not good for summer... I don't like class A for this reason. The sound is nice, but AB works well too.
I never tried class D but I have always been tempted. Lot of people say class D sounds too numerical / surgical, but the best is to try by myself.
I have tried a Devialet once... it was stunning !! But I don't have a 5K€ budget yet for an amplifier.
Which class D amp do you have ? A bel canto ? or DIY ice power amps ?

[walpurgis]

The original HPD295A Eatons are really nice, I've had five pairs over the years. The classic 'pepperpot' compression driver speakers appear to have a little extra magic, that to me, seems to elude the later Tulip Waveguide models. There's not much in it, but it's there.

If you want to play with Class D on the cheap for a bit of fun, You could try the tiny Breeze Audio TPA3116 amp. It drove my Tannoy Cheviots just fine and sounded remarkably good. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Digital-Power-Amplifier-TPA3116-50Wx2-HIFI-2-0-Stereo-Output/281537861307?epid=1588690996&hash=item418cf6d6bb:g:Xa4AAOSwfZtbC5ic There have been good reports from members.

[BenParis]

The original HPD295A Eatons are really nice, I've had five pairs over the years. The classic 'pepperpot' compression driver speakers appear to have a little extra magic, that to me, seems to elude the later Tulip Waveguide models. There's not much in it, but it's there.

If you want to play with Class D on the cheap for a bit of fun, You could try the tiny Breeze Audio TPA3116 amp. It drove my Tannoy Cheviots just fine and sounded remarkably good. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Digital-Power-Amplifier-TPA3116-50Wx2-HIFI-2-0-Stereo-Output/281537861307?epid=1588690996&hash=item418cf6d6bb:g:Xa4AAOSwfZtbC5ic There have been good reports from members.

Thanks, I have never tried those. I tried a SMSL AD18 on Tannoy Devon, it was okish. Really impressive and clean sound, but from mi-volume, the sound was getting horrible. I guess it was due to an average power supply, as it's often the case in amplifier.
Would you recommand any powersupply with the Breeze Audio ?

[hifinutt]

The original HPD295A Eatons are really nice, I've had five pairs over the years. The classic 'pepperpot' compression driver speakers appear to have a little extra magic, that to me, seems to elude the later Tulip Waveguide models. There's not much in it, but it's there.

If you want to play with Class D on the cheap for a bit of fun, You could try the tiny Breeze Audio TPA3116 amp. It drove my Tannoy Cheviots just fine and sounded remarkably good. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Digital-Power-Amplifier-TPA3116-50Wx2-HIFI-2-0-Stereo-Output/281537861307?epid=1588690996&hash=item418cf6d6bb:g:Xa4AAOSwfZtbC5ic There have been good reports from members.


I am told by a certain Tannoy reproduction engineer well known to you all that

the newer waveguide models such as tannoy eaton legacy have more immediacy from their tulip waveguides not less, due to raised and more linear HF output which extends well beyond those of the older pepperpots which roll off at circa 18KHz.

he pepper pots used a magnet which was deeper allowing the horn to be long enough so that the inverted signal from the compression driver (inverted via the drilled phase cap to form a virtual signal propagation point within the horn mouth) lined up phase correct with the LF voicecoil. This was only possible with the older drivers shared magnet AlNiCo motor and the newer pepperpot 15 inch models. The new ones could have employed a similar horn length and phase relationship with the tulip waveguide but chose not to....for what reason I don't know, so the new ones are not phase corrected despite the blurb. If only Tannoy had employed a physically phase corrected tulip waveguide, it would have bettered the older ones by quite some margin in every respect!

Interestingly, neither are time aligned. The older pepper pots and newer pepper-pot ones ARE phase aligned though...two separate things.

[Scorps]

Hi Ben
Welcome to AOS ams sure you will enjoy your time here
regards
Pete

[walpurgis]

the newer waveguide models such as tannoy eaton legacy have more immediacy from their tulip waveguides not less, due to raised and more linear HF output which extends well beyond those of the older pepperpots which roll off at circa 18KHz.

Believe what what you like. I trust my ears and not what's written in marketing blurb.

[hifinutt]

Ah Geoff, that's not marketing blurb , it's a well known engineer we all know

[walpurgis]

As I said, believe what you like.

[hifinutt]

Ah well Geoff, one thing we do agree on is they love class D ! :)

[Barry]

Welcome to AoS Benoit,

There are many Tannoy fans here, so you will find yourself in good company. :)

Enjoy the Forum
Barry

[Alex_UK]

Welcome to AoS, hope you enjoy the forum. :)

[Bass Slap]

I'm back with Tannoys too so welcome Benoit, i've had a few pairs in the past including all HPD sizes 385,315 and 295 so felt relatively confident about ordering some new Arden Legacy's which arrived a couple of days ago and it's great to be back with the Tannoy aura!

My main point here is to report they sing incredibly well with my Ayon Triton III valve amp as I was confident they would, initially i've plonked them down, turned em' in to crossfire just in front of my listening position.

No regrets here, I expect there's a bit of 'breaking in' going on so can only get better, really enjoying the scale and the sound stage seems almost to wrap around me, more than a few times i've turned to left or right, and behind even, startled by where sound is coming from. I had 93db speakers of a different brand for a couple of years and got used to being able to listen clearly at a lowish volume later at night and then more recently my last speakers were 87.5db and preferred a bit more welly.

Good to return to the higher sensitivity at 93db again with the Ardens and i'm keeping my foot off the throttle for a few days to allow a bit of grace in their possibly forever home.

I'll get round to tweaking soon, adding the spikes, i've also had thoughts of some kind of low stand to lift them a bit although I can't say i'm experiencing a feeling of looking down on the stage that i've read mentions off. More of a convenience so I can reach adjustments and bung holes more easily, we'll see.

Full marks for the workmanship and finish on these Legacy series as well as an excellent experience with the supplying dealer Audio Emotion.