Which Tannoys, folks?

[The Black Adder]

agreed.. I feel the 12" MG'S in my room are just on the cusp for the firing area, so quite perfect I feel. Although I do have some standing waves but hey... lol

Did you get your crossovers sorted, Tom?

[tannoyman]

On your post Paul, I do agree the bass from the 10in driver low and solid - possibly less of a drop-of than with my 15in GRFs - though that's a cabinet issue, with the GRFs you gain mid-horn punch but trade it for a steeper than normal drop-off in low bass response below. Cabinets like the Lockwood Major would definitely get more bass out of 15in cones than a 10in. (As do the cheapo Lancaster cabs though 'more' bass is not necessarily 'better' with such a poor cabinet design).

Overall I feel the smaller Tannoys are very good but I prefer the big ones as they just have a greater sense of scale and authority. The tricky thing to get right with the big vintage drivers is the crossovers, I've found the originals to be a bit ragged around the crossover frequency of 1khz, a very tricky zone, a combination of using premium components and enough current from a good PP design gets rid of all that.[/QUOTE]


Hi Tom

I agree. The other point to bear in mind with the large DC units is high efficiency. One of the reasons for effortless sound is that the amplifier does not have to have an arm-wrestling contest with the speaker to get it to comply. Efficient speakers like the DC's will produce the tiniest nuance of sound with the same ease that they will produce the triple forte of full orchestra, organ and chorus or rock band. This is also is also reflected in way that it moves between those two extremes - the dynamics.

David

[Reffc]

I think we're all pretty much in agreement with this. For (most) uk medium sized rooms, the 10 inch is all you'd likely ever need as IME (having owned larger drivers) controlling larger units becomes the main problem, they can dominate and the room then needs to be heavily treated. In a large room (such as Toms and most likely yours too David) the larger units just seem to work better. The 10 inchers are also very sensitive, so they don't require very much amp power either. A few watts gets them going. What large and small units need though to control the bass is a good amount of current on tap and (preferably) lowish output impedance with decent damping factors. I say preferably because I have heard well controlled bass from an 8w SET amp on my Tannoys but where, very oddly, the main problems occurred in the mid range.

I did speak to Lockwoods about their 15 inch HPD units mounted in the Major cabs but decided that it would have been overkill for my room, which is not a heavily treated studio (which can get away with being quite small) but decided after hearing the 10 inchers, they were ideal size wise. The thing that has opened my eyes, and I'm not sure if it is the same with the vintage Tannoys, is that amp matching is pretty critical. Not any amp will do and you have to try a fair few before finding one that will suit the Turnberrys in your own particular listening room. Folk who say that any well designed amp will sound the same may have a point on paper, but the reality of testing many very respectable amps is that each gave different results, some markedly so. The Turnberrys demand very refined amps to get the best from them.

[walpurgis]

I have a small, but well damped listening room and use 8", 10" and 12" Tannoys with no problems, even the bass extension seems natural.

I think some people miss the point completely with Tannoys. I'm well aware of the treble horn colourations and the sometimes 'woody' tone from the bass regions, they don't bother me, as you just tune into the sound. What no other speaker does as well that I've ever heard, is to produce that pinpoint positioning and the degree of image depth through the midrange. You really feel that you're hearing through the speaker rather than to the speaker!

[Reid Malenfant]

I think some people miss the point completely with Tannoys. I'm well aware of the treble horn colourations and the sometimes 'woody' tone from the bass regions, they don't bother me, as you just tune into the sound. What no other speaker does as well that I've ever heard, is to produce that pinpoint positioning and the degree of image depth through the midrange. You really feel that you're hearing through the speaker rather than to the speaker!

I agree with that entirely, though they'd be even better if they were 'coincident' rather than just coaxial

The different distances between the two voicecoils & the listener prevents this however If you do some research you'll see that Tannoy did a lot of R&D into delay lines to attempt to get round this.

They are still awesome drivers though, designed on sound () principles, you can't fault the engineering & what it brings to proceedings music wise

[lewis]

My Tannoy Turnberry's are very well suited to my medium sized 5m x 4m lounge, and i really enjoy their lovely musical bass quality. What nobody has mentioned yet is how ideal Tannoy dual concentrics are when watching movies. I no longer use a centre speaker, just my Turnberry's, and vocals seem to fill the screen of my pioneer 508xd plasma tv. I also find i no longer need a sub, because the Turnberry's provide plenty of low end rumble, making them an ideal speaker for music and movies.

[Marco]

Hi Paul,

I think we're all pretty much in agreement with this. For (most) uk medium sized rooms, the 10 inch is all you'd likely ever need as IME (having owned larger drivers) controlling larger units becomes the main problem, they can dominate and the room then needs to be heavily treated.

That isn't my experience of using 15" Tannoys in Lockwood cabinets. See below, later. I just use them in an ordinary (pretty small) room, and they sound fantastic! 10" drivers just sound 'small' and lacking in heft, in comparison.

I did speak to Lockwoods about their 15 inch HPD units mounted in the Major cabs but decided that it would have been overkill for my room...

That's a shame, not that your Turnberrys aren't great, but I'm almost certain that the Lockies (with 15" HPDs) wouldn't have been overkill in your room, as they aren't in mine - and my room's smaller than yours!

The Lockwoods work best right up against the rear wall, and you can put them into corners too, with no bass boom whatsoever; in fact they will boom if you place them out into the room - it's the way that the cabinets are designed.

Lockwoods (with 15" Monitor Golds) in situ, chez-moi (not a big room, by any means. Incidentally, behind the white door is a cupboard, it's not the entrance to the room):





...yet, although the room is small, they sound stunning in there. My listening position is only about 3m away from the speakers!


And in situ at the Wigwam show at Scalford Hall, as part of the AoS system:








That was a big room, and even in there, they sounded best placed in a similar position as I use them in at home... Trust me, you must try a pair some time, Paul, as I guarantee that you'll love them and they'll work just fine in your room. You don't have to restrict yourself to 10" drivers

Marco.

[lewis]

I agree with that entirely, though they'd be even better if they were 'coincident' rather than just coaxial

The different distances between the two voicecoils & the listener prevents this however If you do some research you'll see that Tannoy did a lot of R&D into delay lines to attempt to get round this.

They are still awesome drivers though, designed on sound () principles, you can't fault the engineering & what it brings to proceedings music wise

My previous speakers were Kef Reference 2.2's, which used the uni-q coincident drive unit, and although in theory a coincident drive unit should be better than a coaxial drive unit, in practice, and imo, the tannoy 10" driver in my Turnberry's was preferable, providing superior imaging.

[walpurgis]

It works the other way around too!

My little System 800 Tannoys can fill a fair sized room with a pretty authoratative sound. No shortage of welly at all.



And yes, that is a pair of i12 drivers on top of my Eatons if you're wondering.

[southall-1998]

With out a question, those 800s are good!