Which Tannoys, folks?

[DSJR]

Old big IMF's used to use walnut grained formica and looked good until excessive sunlight caused the edges to lift

Nowt wrong with MDF as long as the designer knows what it does and can deal with it accordingly. I believe Harbeth now use it - thin and with copious added damping - and their boxes are incredibly "dead" and with just a tiny amount of resonance at 900Hz or so, well down in level and around the modest distortion levels I believe. Speakers are the worst and most distorted part of any HiFi system, together with the listening room, so do what you need to do and do it carefully and well

[Reffc]

Old big IMF's used to use walnut grained formica and looked good until excessive sunlight caused the edges to lift

Nowt wrong with MDF as long as the designer knows what it does and can deal with it accordingly. I believe Harbeth now use it - thin and with copious added damping - and their boxes are incredibly "dead" and with just a tiny amount of resonance at 900Hz or so, well down in level and around the modest distortion levels I believe. Speakers are the worst and most distorted part of any HiFi system, together with the listening room, so do what you need to do and do it carefully and well

Precisely David. It's not so much about what is used but why it's used and about the care that's put into the work. The proof should be in the listening.

[Reffc]

Progress: All done now except for fitting refurbished drivers. Today's progress:

Silver plated copper binding posts fitted to Oak Backed Board and cross over wires soldered into place:



Rear of cabinet showing the new Oak backed board fitted with new binding posts:



New Cross-overs...wiring being prepared for soldering:



First Cross-over fitted into place on the rear cabinet panel. Rubber grommets installed between PCB and cabinet panel to help dampen PCB:



Long Lambswool wadding fitted into place...just puched into corners in between existing foam joints. Not too much to start with...this may be an aspect that needs fine tuning by the addition or removal of more wadding:



2nd cross-over fitted into cabinet. Wadding was added to this one after the photo was taken. Just need to install the drivers which should be with me this week and all's finished:

[Reffc]

Guess what arrived today?




...and insitu currently dwarfing the Turnberrys, and remember these are Turnberrys raised up on 10 inch stands:



With new rejuvenated grilles fitted:



I plugged them in, and let the amp warm up a little before putting on a CD and sitting down with a coffee....the coffee almost ended up in my lap...a bass drum kicked in with such force and realism it could have been in the room...what followed was 10 minutes trying to pick my jaw up off the ground.

These are without a shadow of a doubt the most dynamic sounding speakers I've probably ever heard...at any budget...anywhere. Utterly astonishing scale, effortlessness, timbral accuracy which I simply was not expecting...and that BASS! The Mansfield cabinets are superb and must rank as one of the best sounding vintage Tannoys I've heard. less pipe and slippers than even the Turnberrys! (and they're no slouches!).

I'm blown away and these have yet to be run in so will only get better. I can' take the credit for this as most of the performance is due to the original cabs (design), Lockwoods for making the HPDs better than new, and finding a crossover that has brought these bang up to date in terms of resolution and even handedness without a single hint of Tannoy honk...and I mean nothing, anywhere in the frequency range that I can detect. I'm glad now that I put the effort in on the cabs, hardwiring and detail. I'm blown away.

[Marco]

I could say I told you so, so I will: I told you so!!

You can't beat the vintage drive units in proper cabinets, modified with new crossovers. No modern Tannoys can produce the same magic!

Enjoy, Paul. I predict that you'll not be going to bed very early tonight.....

Marco.

[Reffc]

I could say I told you so, so I will: I told you so!!

You can't beat the vintage drive units in proper cabinets, modified with new crossovers. No modern Tannoys can produce the same magic!

Enjoy, Paul. I predict that you'll not be going to bed very early tonight.....

Marco.

It'll be a late listening search tonight as Verdi beckons. They sound awesome driven by the big Luxman. I have another driving force in the wings courtesy of a specially modded Croft pre (on its way) mated to some VAC PA60 KT88 monoblocks. That combo with these Tannoys could just make me re-evaluate hifi.

[Marco]

I think you could be right - Croft stuff is awesome and KT88 amps with vintage Tannoys is a marriage made in heaven (although 120s are even better)!

Marco.

[Tarzan]

Paul- talented people such as yourself really give the ump!

The " new Tannoys" look awesome! and l am so glad they are working out for you- and they are not even run in yet, a real labour of love

[Reffc]

Paul- talented people such as yourself really give the ump!

The " new Tannoys" look awesome! and l am so glad they are working out for you- and they are not even run in yet, a real labour of love

Thank you Andy although I don't know about the "talented" bit

If anything, after playing a load of albums now, they're a little toppy, most un-Tannoy like but I reckon its the drivers needing loads of hours yet to bed in. I played Massive Attack's "Angel" track pretty loud and the bass rattled the light fittings on the ceiling and the door to the living room which wasn't properly closed appeared to be sucked open then shut again That was a bit of a giggle...they certainly move air. As they settle, I'm sure that the bass will loosen up a little and even out things more. As it stands, they sound better than any of the newer Tannoys I've heard.

Happy to pass on the design and dimensions of these cabs if anyone fancies a go at some DIY Mansfields. Also happy to have these cabs made (or any other Tannoy designs come to that) for folk who may have some 12 inch HPDs that they're wondering what to do with!

[The Black Adder]

I think you could be right - Croft stuff is awesome and KT88 amps with vintage Tannoys is a marriage made in heaven (although 120s are even better)!

Marco.

+1+1+1+1

I can't believe how this KT88 amp sounds with Tannoy MG's...

Fookin monstaaaah!

__

Paul, they look top matey... Great to see the pics too!