Guys, help me with a British System.

[TheOctavist]

My system currently consists of

Audio Kinesis Jazz Modules>>>Mastersound Due Venti>>>custom made all tube phono stage>>>sota table.(Sumiko Blue point special)

ATC SCM20>>>Bryston/Emotiva>>>Mytek DAC>>>foobar


heres the deal!

Second big system coming. I really want a nice vintage British one. Help re pros/cons

So.. My wife and I are buying a house. Around March or so I will have the means to purchase a second system. Being a big admirer of Decca Records and the Associated History, (and seeing the stuff posted here) I have a serious Jones to put together a nice Tannoy(GRF/Westminster, or my preference- Canterbury)/Quad(or similar)>>vinyl system.

My question is. What model would you all go with? I really suck at building things, so unless I can get a carpenter/sparky to help me, I will most certainly be purchasing(and actually there is a mint pair of Canturburys FS in Columbus at a HiFi shop there, being driven with a Mac amp.)

my next question... are there any amps that were made with those speakers in mind(or, pardon me.. are there any Tannoys designed to be synergistic with a certain amp make/model/topology??) Tony Faulkner(UK Recording Engineer Legend, won like a million grammys or something and engineered more albums than I could count has become a good friend/mentor to me and is always talking about Quad Amps(and EAR--which I have no interest in) has always said great things about Quad.. so I assume a certain model mates well with the Tannoys?? I dont want any goddamn solid state, no thanks!

My last question... Most all of my equipment is decidedly "modern" (ATC, B+W, Audio Kinesis, K+H, Geddes Abbey) (Mastersound SET, Jolida, Bryston, emotiva) and DACs, etc.... and it has a certain "in your face" quality that while, at times I really love it.. most of the time I just want to enjoy the music, not be beat over the head with it..(my mastersound and jolida are not that way but still..are more up front than say... a dynaco)

what I want is a really nice smooth, Pipe and Slippers sound that suits older recordings well. My main system and my studio monitors do the in your face thing well but sometimes I just want to float away, you know?

Please advise me. Oh yeah... do Quad amps work in the USA??

So hit me with it, oh dear ones...

BTW.... when the time comes to make a purchase and throw all this together(around March/April) I will need a UK person's help as this Tannoy Land is uncharted waters for US Yanks(outside of the Pro Audio Line anyway). I will of course pay good money to my consultant/kit finder... right now I am just trying to sort out what I want to purchase so that I can have my eyes open..I will be over there sometime next year...Jan-June(dont know the exact dates) so maybe I can go around to you guys and have a listen. Over here the big speakers that are comparable are the Klipsh and what not...and they sound fucking horrid. I mean really bad. Every Klispsch ive heard sounds like ass...

Ive been wanting to put together a nice Vintage British system for a very long time, and come next year, I intend to do just that, with the help of you great folks.

Sock it to me, fellas.

[Barry]

Hello Teddy (or do you prefer Ray, or is Ray your family name?),

Firstly I should, I suppose, feel flattered that you are an admirer of British-built audio gear. This is a little unusual, usually Americans seem to be vehemently patriotic when it come to loudspeakers and amplifiers. Before I continue, I should perhaps say that I have a somewhat broader view and will choose components that are right for me, regardless of country of origin. As such, my system is made up of British, Danish, German, Swiss, Japanese and American components.

It is important to understand why, for example, British speakers and amplifiers are not universally popular in the US. Here in the UK the vast majority of homes are built of brick and have rooms that are considerably smaller than those of your, often, timber-built homes. Our speakers are designed to be used in these environments and will often sound 'wrong' in another. Also UK amplifiers tend to be of lower power, appropriate and sufficient for UK sized listening/living rooms, but not for the larger sized rooms you enjoy in the US.

So having got that out of the way, what of your suggested Tannoy/Quad combination? Well I have no direct experience of Tannoy, though I do of Quad. There are a few members here who use Tannoy speakers, either as complete designs or with Tannoy drivers fitted into Lockwood cabinets. Some of them will, no doubt, be along shortly to offer their advice. Until then a couple of bits of information to keep you going.

First, you might like to have a look at the AOS Library article on Tannoy and links therein: http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=3835.

Second, I can tell you that Tannoys were used extensively in UK recording studios, such as EMI and Decca, for monitoring purposes in the past. Most of the larger models were used; Decca certainly used Tannoy Canterbury's in some of their studios.

Now to amplification: the larger Tannoys are relatively sensitive, so an amplifier of say 50W/channel ought to be quite sufficient. Recording studios in the UK use/used a wide variety of amplification. EMI use/used Quad amps, usually the 50W monobock, the Quad 50E, as do/did the BBC, and for all I know Decca as well. I would thus recommend either this model (you will of course need two, however I suspect they are quite rare in the US) or the 45W/channel Quad 303. The latter was often paired with Tannoy speakers for UK homes. If you have a large listening room, perhaps the 100w/channel Quad 405 amplifier might be a better choice.

All this gear is readily available both on eBay and, I'm sure, in the classified advertisments of your own audio press. Again there may be other members who might be able to recommend one of the more recent amplifier designs from Quad. My direct experience of Quad is with their early valve model and with the 50E, 303 and 405.

Quad have a service department, staffed by friendly, helpfull and knowledgable people - in fact Quad's reputation for service is legendary. Again I can speak from experience, though I should point out that Quad gear is well known for its dependability and reliability; one of the reasons why recording studios, the BBC and a number of commercial and scientific organisations use their products. It is only due to the fact that I have a large number of Quad products that a couple of them have had to be returned for attention, and that has been after 25 - 30 years of use!

Pipe and slippers? Possibly - but don't worry, my system is 'pipe and slippers' and I just love it. Tannoys will play all kinds of music and can 'boogie' with the best of them!

Trust this is of some help, or at least enough to get you started. As I say, I'm pretty sure others will be along in due course to offer their help and advice.

Regards

[Macca]

Hi Teddy Ray

There's a couple of things I would add from my own limited perspective and experience:

Tannoy Canterburys are incomparable to other 'speakers - If you can get alisten to those being sold near to you then do so - put it this way if I could afford them I would buy them no hesitation. But they do not sound 'vintage' so if that is really what you want then you should maybe look at the versions from the 1960's and 1970's instead. You could buy vintage Tannoy DC drivers and ship them to the USA and get your local chippy to knock you up the cabs - be a lot cheaper and less hassle than shipping two 40kg cabs across the Atlantic.

I think Barry missed the bit where you said amplfication must be tubes, not solid state - Quad do (or used to do) valve monoblocks which were/are about £3k new if I recall. But lots of quality choice in the tube amp market especially if price is no problem - sure someone with the relevant experience will give you some pointers in that area if you want them.

As far as 'finders fees' go I think we are all enthusiasts here and will try and help out a fellow nut case without charging for our time, that's what it's all about, I hope.

Best Regards

[anthonyTD]

hi teddy,
as for speakers,,, i have experienced a few of the Tannoy models you mention, and my prefrence from those [if you have the space] would be the canterburys, these have huge scale, impact and are just a joy to listen to with all types of music, my experience is based on using good valve equipment though.
hope this helps.
regards,Anthony,TD...

[spendorman]

Perhaps for classic British valve (tube) amplification, a Radford STA25 would fit the bill. Almost 40W RMS per channel into vintage Tannoy Dual Concentrics, would likely provide a fabulous sound, loud enough to fill a pretty big room.

[Welder]

Hi Teddy Ray :)

Every forum one visits seems to have its own particular brand of favorite components; here it seems to be Tannoy, Technics, and Beresford.
I feel these preferences are more to do with what some of the more vocal forum participants have or have had experience of rather than the components out and out merit ;)
I’m not sure why one would want a “British” Hi Fi; it’s how it sounds rather than who makes it that’s important isn’t it?
Anyway, I would suggest that instead of seeking advice on what to buy on a forum, you wait until you get to England and go and listen to some systems. There will always be plenty of people to help you spend your money….after all, they don’t have to live with the consequences of their recommendations well intentioned though they may be :rolleyes:

Just a thought.

[DSJR]

Can I add that old Tannoys will need their crossovers doing and, sorry, just replacing old bits with fancy ones without measuring what's changing isn't really enough..

The modern prestige Tannoys are voiced far less agressively than Tannoys of old and you'll get the "pipe and slippers" PLUS impact and scale.

Bearing in mind the ATC's you have (are they the SL version? If not bet the bass units changed and prepare yourself for a pleasurable surprise ;)), what about Harbeth 40.1's? They're truly wonderful and do a fantastic disappearing act, once set up right. They have a benign load and will work on any amp you care to mention, valve, transistor or a hybrid such as the Croft Series 7 (favourably reviewed in HiFi news a couple of months ago). Of course the dear old Radford valve amps are good examples of their type, but they'll need fettling and the preamp should be a modern valve one as this component has been the item most developed in recent decades. You'll need to be wealthy now, as Radfords are for rich collectors who adore them on a display shelf these days, sadly.

Hope this helps a bit

[Techno Commander]

As an ex Tannoy owner, I would expect one of the larger Tannoys mated with Croft amplification would sound subloime.