Tannoy Lancasters

[Ammonite Audio]

I would always replace old and suspect components with new ones of the same value; not necessarily 'boutique' components, but at least ones with a reasonably tight tolerance.

[vencel]

I've now ordered the parts from Falcon Acoustics for a pair of new crossovers for the Lancasters, so things are moving on! To keep costs down, the main LF section series inductor is a high-power iron-dust cored component, which prior experience tells me is usually nice sounding, with very good dynamics. The HF section inductors are air-cored. Capacitors are Claritycap ESA, chosen more for their modest cost than anything else; resistors are cheapo wirewounds, which may get changed for something more exotic if the overall voicing etc is OK with the values chosen. Internal wiring will use Audio Note AN-D, again largely because of its modest cost.

Hello Shuggie,

How did you get or make a 16uF ClarityCap? I only see 15uF.
Did you use Vishay MKP1837 to bypas any capacitors?

Thanks,
László

[Ali Tait]

15uF will be fine and within tolerance.

[The Black Adder]

OK - some pictures:





And a view of a Stillpoints Component Stand supporting the Lancasters:



Lifting the Lancasters up a bit has improved the sound, but there is clearly much more to be had. When stoked up (they are relatively inefficient compared to the Avalons) there is quite a lot of heft to kick drums etc but the whole lacks musicality against the Avalons. It feels like they don't "breathe' particularly well. The Sinatra LP that I took over to Martin's last week is not particularly engaging played through the Lancasters and I have an unpleasant feeling that the Monitor Golds really need a bigger enclosure like Marco's Lockwoods or Tom's GRFs - greater size is the one parameter that I cannot accommodate.

Hi Hugo.

I have a great tip for you. I've just got my something solid stands today and the sound is different again. I had them made for a decent price too. They fit and suit the lancasters like a glove.

You have to remove the small 5cm plinth bit it's well worth it. I ordered them from Deco Audio, great to deal with.

The sound is now more open since the center of the speaker is now at ear level. The bass is much more rock solid, although it was pretty good before.

I totally recommend these stands. I'll get some pics together when I have time too.

Cheers
Joe

[vencel]

Hi Hugo.

I have a great tip for you. I've just got my something solid stands today and the sound is different again. I had them made for a decent price too. They fit and suit the lancasters like a glove.

You have to remove the small 5cm plinth bit it's well worth it. I ordered them from Deco Audio, great to deal with.

The sound is now more open since the center of the speaker is now at ear level. The bass is much more rock solid, although it was pretty good before.

I totally recommend these stands. I'll get some pics together when I have time too.

Cheers
Joe

Hello Joe,

I would also be interested in these stands. WOuld it be possible to share the photos and its dimensions or a construction drawing?
I would really appreciate that.

Thanks and regards,

[vencel]

15uF will be fine and within tolerance.

Thanks for your support!

[Ammonite Audio]

Hello Shuggie,

How did you get or make a 16uF ClarityCap? I only see 15uF.
Did you use Vishay MKP1837 to bypas any capacitors?

Thanks,
László

I bought a 15uF and 1uF to go in parallel. They are not bypasses, but this is something that I may look at, once I'm happy with the overall crossover configuration.

Hi Hugo.

I have a great tip for you. I've just got my something solid stands today and the sound is different again. I had them made for a decent price too. They fit and suit the lancasters like a glove.

You have to remove the small 5cm plinth bit it's well worth it. I ordered them from Deco Audio, great to deal with.

The sound is now more open since the center of the speaker is now at ear level. The bass is much more rock solid, although it was pretty good before.

I totally recommend these stands. I'll get some pics together when I have time too.

Cheers

I'm not going to lavish a great deal of money on these Lancaster cabinets; however I will get some elegant little tripod stands made up from strong ply. The Stillpoints Component stands don't really lift the Lancasters up enough, but it's clear that being off the floor does help. I will incorporate some OEM Stillpoints feet into the tripod stands.

I've learnt a bit recently about aperiodic vents such as those in the Lancasters - they should be resistive, not fully open, so I must try securing some thick felt over the vents. The speakers do sound truly awful with the vents completely open, so I'm hoping that they will behave like much larger cabinets if I get the resistive element right. From what I've read about aperiodic cabinet design, getting the vent right may mean that I could remove a great deal of the internal damping, replacing it with simple felt layers to control the worst internal reflections. Whatever I do, I'm keen not to carry out any surgery on the cabinets, just in case I do decide to move them on!

[The Black Adder]

I would be very interested in hearing what you come up with. It makes sense that they should be resistive with the early cabs with 15" drivers as they were not ported (or shut off) and so could be a very good experiment to try a resistive baffle of some kind.

The stands cost me £250.. not a lot to throw at these superb speakers!

What I'm finding with mine is that the bass is making the front cloth vibrate... lol...

[The Black Adder]

Hello Joe,

I would also be interested in these stands. WOuld it be possible to share the photos and its dimensions or a construction drawing?
I would really appreciate that.

Thanks and regards,

Yep, I'll get some photos done soon together with the dimensions.

Cheers

[vencel]

Yep, I'll get some photos done soon together with the dimensions.

Cheers

That'd be highly appreciated :-)