Too much time on my hands, now pondering new Speakers.....

[Weeman1973]

With a bit more time on my hands than I usually do, I've been scouring the various forums and listening to more music.

This lethal combination has got me interested in speakers where I've been quite happy up until now.

My amp is an Alamarro A318B which I am more than happy with and paired with my WLM La Scala Floor Standers, again a fantastic speaker and a match made in heaven for the Almarro.

But...

I got reading about old Tannoys and wanted to give them a go so picked up some Chesters (T165) with the 10" Plastic DC drivers to see how they'd go.

Whilst I love the transparency and separation of them (which is better than the La Scala's), they don't go as low as the La Scala's which is surprising being as the WLM have 8" drivers.

The Chester's are great with Vocals, strings etc but not particularly with Rock or Pop music which is my staple listening so I got to thinking about a speaker than can offer the depth of the WLM's with the articulation / separation of the Chesters.

Am I looking at some 12" / 15" HPD Tannoy's or something completely different?

I also have a hankering for some Shahinian as heard some Arcs a little while back with Dynavector amps and it was exquisite. I worry about Arcs however with my modest output (18w) Almarro.

Any suggestions???

[Pharos]

I would go, after 50 years of this, into a 'clean sheet' approach.

Avoid incremental changes which cause churn and money wasting in the process, do research and rethink things anew.

[walpurgis]

If you're handy, build the Tannoy drivers into larger reflex cabinets or even transmission lines.

[Weeman1973]

If you're handy, build the Tannoy drivers into larger reflex cabinets or even transmission lines.

Are the 10" drivers on the Chesters worth keeping then? Do you think it's more than cabinet then that is not going as low as I'd like more than the driver itself?

[walpurgis]

The ten inch Tannoy 2528 units are capable of delivering deeper bass in the right cabinets. They are underrated by many.

[Weeman1973]

Our band uses Tannoy CPA 12 for our Top PA speakers - tempted to give them a try in my set up if I can rig up some speaker cables with Speakon connections

[Weeman1973]

The ten inch Tannoy 2528 units are capable of delivering deeper bass in the right cabinets. They are underrated by many.

Any suggestions Geoff for alternative cabinets?

[hifinutt]

remember hearing the 318b with some tannoy westminsters at a bake off , very enjoyable . a chap had bought along some class d and it sounds even better !!

[walpurgis]

The drivers will actually work happily in Tannoy Cheviot cabinets if you can find some, they do appear on ebay. You'd need to fashion a baffle adaptor to accept the smaller driver, but the extra volume would be useful and you can tinker with the reflex port to suit your needs. A bit of additional internal bracing can be beneficial.......And of course, they'd still look and sound like Tannoys.

Having recently sold my Mk.II Cheviots, I'm actually tinkering with some Dorsets myself. I've blanked off the ABR opening and am experimenting with ports. I also have a set of SRM 10B paper cones to fit into the 2528 drivers.

[Made in 1968]

Im very dangerous with spare time on my hands. I think too much.