Tannoy Eaton

[Edward]

Been mulling over my Tannoy Eatons and if they can usefully be improved.

Having recently recapped a few speakers (Kef, Radford, Goodmans etc) and being amazed at the improvements gained I wonder if I should do the same with the Eatons.

The Eatons sound wonderful as they are so as they ain't broke they need no fixing, but the itch to gain even more is there.

Looking at the xover diagram (as below) the cap values are all easy to obtain.

Any opinions if recapping is worth doing? If so what caps would be worth getting? If I were to go ahead it makes sense to get high quality caps (within reason).

Also would it be worth doing the resistors? Suspect not.

Another thing I would like is better bass. The Eatons go down to about 60 hz (so far as I can read) but having played some big Radfords over the past few weeks I've become addicted to more bass. What subwoofer will work well with the Eatons?

tia

Edward

[Boyse6748]

Well, I can’t speak about what benefits would be possible for the Eaton’s but I’ve just recapped my Tannoy Windsor’s and the difference is astonishing.

Obviously the caps and resistors were some 40 years old and in need of replacement.

The Windsor’s are not everybody’s cup of tea, but for me, they just do it.

The Crossover’s were completely rebuilt (Caps and Resistors) on the original boards. Much deliberation went into what to use and the final choice to keep quality and cost to an optimum, I used precision Mills 1% tolerance resistors and Solen Caps 2% tolerance. I could well have spent three times the amount, with no real benefit in audible difference. (i.e Mundorf Etc, Etc)

I thought the speakers were pretty decent before the modifications, but now they are stunning.

So.... my answer would be yes, go for it. The difference is well worth while.

Mind you, it can take a bit of time for the modifications to burn in and initial disappointment can be expected.

At the end of the day, it’s up to you, but in my opinion..... worth while!




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[smangus]

Contact Paul at RFC , super helpful and will give you good unbiased advice.

He built me new xovers for my 285 hpds but can overhall xovers too.

[Edward]

Well, I can’t speak about what benefits would be possible for the Eaton’s but I’ve just recapped my Tannoy Windsor’s and the difference is astonishing.

Obviously the caps and resistors were some 40 years old and in need of replacement.

The Windsor’s are not everybody’s cup of tea, but for me, they just do it.

The Crossover’s were completely rebuilt (Caps and Resistors) on the original boards. Much deliberation went into what to use and the final choice to keep quality and cost to an optimum, I used precision Mills 1% tolerance resistors and Solen Caps 2% tolerance. I could well have spent three times the amount, with no real benefit in audible difference. (i.e Mundorf Etc, Etc)

I thought the speakers were pretty decent before the modifications, but now they are stunning.

So.... my answer would be yes, go for it. The difference is well worth while.

Mind you, it can take a bit of time for the modifications to burn in and initial disappointment can be expected.

At the end of the day, it’s up to you, but in my opinion..... worth while!




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Ah thanks Peter, that is very encouraging. Yes I can imagine that it may take some time to bed in. So Mills and Solen you reckon. Did you do the inductors as well?

Actually I'm wondering if it is easy just to build totally new crossovers and give that a try - especially as I can revert back to the existing ones if needed. Mind you if I did I would need to revise the circuitry to get rid of the treble energy and roll off bits.

Did the Westminsters have similar controls and did you delete them?

Contact Paul at RFC , super helpful and will give you good unbiased advice.

He built me new xovers for my 285 hpds but can overhall xovers too.

Thanks Andy. You may recall we spoke about Eatons several months ago when you told me how impressed you were with Paul's xovers for your Eatons. Definitely very high quality stuff he does and I've seen his work as well for Adam and Tom of this parish. For now interested in looking at doing this myself - for the fun and learning (and cost). I did chat with Paul ages ago about the Eatons and he did suggest a recap or he could take it even further with full external xovers. I think those are what you have if memory serves.

I've never opened up my Eatons - it is just possible that recap work was done on them by the previous owner. Certainly the speaker posts have been updated.

[martian sunrise]

Paul did my Eatons too. They had obviously had a hard life in the studio I purchased them from as they measured all over the place and had miss matched parts. I thought they sounded pretty good! The difference when they came back from Paul was nothing short of astonishing.

A bit like fitting upgraded suspension to a car with knackered existing set up. Of course it will improve it, but it could be that a sortted stock pair are just fine.

I’m in SE London too (around the corner from Andy (and another Andrew with RFC sorted Eatons) if you want to have a listen.

[Boyse6748]

Ah thanks Peter, that is very encouraging. Yes I can imagine that it may take some time to bed in. So Mills and Solen you reckon. Did you do the inductors as well?

Actually I'm wondering if it is easy just to build totally new crossovers and give that a try - especially as I can revert back to the existing ones if needed. Mind you if I did I would need to revise the circuitry to get rid of the treble energy and roll off bits.

Did the Westminsters have similar controls and did you delete them?



Thanks Andy. You may recall we spoke about Eatons several months ago when you told me how impressed you were with Paul's xovers for your Eatons. Definitely very high quality stuff he does and I've seen his work as well for Adam and Tom of this parish. For now interested in looking at doing this myself - for the fun and learning (and cost). I did chat with Paul ages ago about the Eatons and he did suggest a recap or he could take it even further with full external xovers. I think those are what you have if memory serves.

I've never opened up my Eatons - it is just possible that recap work was done on them by the previous owner. Certainly the speaker posts have been updated.

Edward,
No I didn’t touch the inductors.
The crossovers are very similar to yours (energy/ roll-off) control. I think perhaps the problem with a complete rebuild, you have to be happy with a particular setting and then live with that setting with no chance to easily change it! Repopulating the original board is an easier option for the DIY project and gives you the same flexibility as before.

I to would have also liked Paul (RFC) to do mine but my budget didn’t match the asking price.

Just be careful when your chose what caps/resistors to go for, the exotic versions can be super expensive.

Obviously, the internal wiring was also changed (from the original bell wire). I think that improved things as well.

Anyway, good luck with what ever you do.


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[Macca]

Been mulling over my Tannoy Eatons and if they can usefully be improved.

Having recently recapped a few speakers (Kef, Radford, Goodmans etc) and being amazed at the improvements gained I wonder if I should do the same with the Eatons.

The Eatons sound wonderful as they are so as they ain't broke they need no fixing, but the itch to gain even more is there.

Looking at the xover diagram (as below) the cap values are all easy to obtain.

Any opinions if recapping is worth doing? If so what caps would be worth getting? If I were to go ahead it makes sense to get high quality caps (within reason).

Also would it be worth doing the resistors? Suspect not.

Another thing I would like is better bass. The Eatons go down to about 60 hz (so far as I can read) but having played some big Radfords over the past few weeks I've become addicted to more bass. What subwoofer will work well

Tannoy claim -6 dB at 40 hz and boundary reinforcement will add to that a little so they should be fine in the bass for most music, unless you play a lot of stuff with synth sub bass or pipe organs. Most so called subs don't go much below 40 Hz either. One of the big old subs from REL like the Strata or the Stadium would do the job, or a modern Velodyne or Paradigm sub (but check the specs first, only the more expensive ones will do sub bass). Failing that: Bigger Tannoys are required!

[walpurgis]

Tannoy claim -6 dB at 40 hz and boundary reinforcement will add to that a little so they should be fine in the bass for most music, unless you play a lot of stuff with synth sub bass or pipe organs

Having owned five pairs of Eatons, I agree with Martin. They deliver tight, solid, bass of decent enough depth. In fact not far short of the abilities of my current Cheviots. The bass system resonance can be tuned slightly lower by reducing bass port size, although if you overdo it you can raise the roll-off point.

The inductors in the crossovers should still be fine and the treble controls can be cleaned with switch cleaner. The best update/upgrade would probably be just changing the capacitors. Replacing the internal wiring with a good audiophile speaker cable may be of benefit (use something not too thick), as would replacing the nasty spring grip terminals with modern high quality 4mm banana sockets.

[Edward]

Thanks Richie, Martin and Geoff. So just a bog standard recap seems the order of the day. I'll make a parts list and price up different kinds/makes and go from there. One thing that Paul (RFC) did mention when I spoke with him is to have a look at the internal damping, typically that can be improved.

As to the bass I have considered getting bigger Tannoys (Martin and I already chatted a bit about his upcoming ones being built as I may one day go down that route). Will look at a subwoofer but nice as it would be to get down very low into sub bass territory unfortunately I do have neighbours. Still hoping for that big lottery win for a large detached house.

[Macca]

Bass and our perception of it can be an odd thing. Smaller speakers usually have a bass hump centred around 100Hz to give the impression of copious bass, which is why people rave about the 'bass' on dinky speakers like the KEF LS50. Also improving amplification can sometimes give the impression of less bass because the better amp is not adding as much low frequency sludge to the sound. So a bass guitar now sounds like a bass guitar instead of just a bass sound, but overall the impression is that the bass seems 'leaner.' That can take some adjusting to.