Which Tannoys, folks?

[julesd68]

Hi Paul, that Mastersound looks sweet as a frickin' nut!
I imagine it will send you into delirium paired with the Tannoys.

Should also hasten your recovery if your mrs can get it wired up for you!
Got any decent interconnects? Only kidding

All the very best to you.

[Reffc]

Major surgery? Hope all goes well man.

I've never experienced agony like having to wait for bits and pieces to be delivered

You not interested in the SS route then? I've never heard a valve amp in action; one day I'll get round to it, I'm intruiged seeing as so many people love them on here!

I had thought about a Sugden A21se which would have done the job well, and did hear a nice mk2 Quad 405 (fettled) on the end of the croft pre that was very nice. I can't put my finger on it and spec sheets are pretty meaningless to me when it comes to the acid test of listening, but a really good SET amp has always managed to strike the emotional chords and recreate music with startling realism, despite what the specs say, better than anything else for my tastes. That and the fact that Mastersound amps are so beautifully made made it a no brainer for me.

The surgery is particularly nasty and involves removal of a fair amount of bone from a hip joint (long story) along with some damaged cartilage, so I'm under no illusions about how painful it is going to be...

[jandl100]

Hi Paul - I'll be happy to pop round and set the system up when the 'compact' beastie arrives, if you like.

[Reffc]

Hi Paul - I'll be happy to pop round and set the system up when the 'compact' beastie arrives, if you like.

Thanks Jerry

very kind!

[Reffc]

Hi Paul, that Mastersound looks sweet as a frickin' nut!
I imagine it will send you into delirium paired with the Tannoys.

Should also hasten your recovery if your mrs can get it wired up for you!
Got any decent interconnects? Only kidding

All the very best to you.

Thanks Jules! I'd usually have reservations about using SE amps after previous experience and the output impedance issues but this one has a fair amount of grunt and the Turnberrys are a very easy load.

[Audioman]

Why buy new, when the older models are so good. Even now at their madly inflated and rising prices they offer amazing sound quality. A pair of 15" Lancasters or Berkleys may be getting dear these days, but they are easily refurbished if need be and will, in their own Tannoy way vastly outperform anything new you could buy at the price.

If you look at the prices of tat old Tannoys and not the most sort after on Ebay I would go with a new pair any time or those 'new' Lockwood models! You are looking c£3K plus considerable refurb costs. Not cheap even if have knowledge to do it yourself. Ironicaly I have seen near new Turnberrys for less than the looks like it needs a rebuild 'classic' stuff.

Paul

[walpurgis]

If you look at the prices of tat old Tannoys and not the most sort after on Ebay I would go with a new pair any time or those 'new' Lockwood models! You are looking c£3K plus considerable refurb costs. Not cheap even if have knowledge to do it yourself. Ironicaly I have seen near new Turnberrys for less than the looks like it needs a rebuild 'classic' stuff.

Paul

Paul, I don't think that was quite what I was trying to say.

I'm not recommending anyone should lumber themselves with "tat".

A pair of Berkleys (if that's what appeals) still sounds superb even by modern standards and a good pair can be found for around £1000, which makes them a bargain in comparative terms even though they have doubled in price in the last five years.

You may have seen my thread on refurbishing a pair of Tannoy Cheviot 3128 speakers. I anticipate the whole project will end up costing between £650 and £700 and give me a pair of speakers which will sound and perform as well as say a pair of Tannoy Kensingtons at a tenth of the price.

I can understand somebody wanting to buy new though.

[Reffc]

Paul, I don't think that was quite what I was trying to say.

I'm not recommending anyone should lumber themselves with "tat".

A pair of Berkleys (if that's what appeals) still sounds superb even by modern standards and a good pair can be found for around £1000, which makes them a bargain in comparative terms even though they have doubled in price in the last five years.

You may have seen my thread on refurbishing a pair of Tannoy Cheviot 3128 speakers. I anticipate the whole project will end up costing between £650 and £700 and give me a pair of speakers which will sound and perform as well as say a pair of Tannoy Kensingtons at a tenth of the price.

I can understand somebody wanting to buy new though.

Hi Geoff

I've heard a pair of re-furbished Cheviots and the newer 10 inch Kensingtons. The two are poles apart IMHO. The Kensingtons have much improved resolution over the Cheviots (even with new x-overs in the Cheviots), better (tauter and cleaner) bass which also seems to go deeper. I know that your drivers are a pretty rare breed but I wonder what difference there'd be from standard Cheviots?

The only two Tannoys (of the newer variety) that do it for me are the 10 inch models probably because of that taught bass and resolution. The Kensingtons seem to have a slight midrange edge over the Turnberrys in resolution and have a little more bass extension. I like some of the refurbed Tannoys I've heard but even 15 inch MGs in large cabinets just don't have the agility of the newer prestige 10 inch models.

People often listen to DC10s and DC20's and draw conclusions on new Tannoys by them but they're inferior by quite some margin IMHO compared with the Prestige range (with the exception of the 15 inch Glenair which is let down by the cabinet).

When we're looking at cost, a good used pair of Turnberry's fetches around £2k. That wouldn't buy a refurbed set of Reds or silvers these days. Given that the new prestige cabinets are also very well designed and (finally!) big enough for the drivers, it's a no-braner IMHO to go down the newer route. I priced a set of 12 inch MGs with a new cabinet and crossovers. I'd have had no change from £5K. Thats not great value compared to a new pair of Turnberrys. I wouldn't use the old cabs (Cheviots are an exception) as most, like Lancasters etc were woefully inadequate. The only exception that I can think of today are the Lockwood Majors at £2800 per pair (that is a stone cold bargain).

[walpurgis]

Well Paul,

The Cheviots are now up and running (though not finished).

Honestly, they probably exceed my expectations. They sound as smooth as any 'pepperpot' Tannoy I've heard, which I know isn't saying much, as many I've heard sounded a bit coarse towards the top end, but these sound really lovely, there's the typical Tannoy midrange lucidity and the bass is really clean and tight, the whole sound is very tactile and alive. I've no doubt the 3128 driver has the edge over the HPD 315 and the cabinets look to have extra interior bracing over the original Cheviot.

I can't compare comparitive bass extension as my small listening room won't accurately reproduce the last octave or so of deep bass.

These days, apart from collectors, I'm not sure why somebody would seek out Monitor Silvers or Reds. As you indicate, prices are becoming pretty serious and if you refurbished them you'd actually affect their value due to non-originality. An updated set of 12" or 15" Golds in the right cabinets (and right system and room) can sound beautiful. Sympathetic amplification is of course mandatory (not many people would choose Naim here for instance). The Gold series cabinets respond well to a bit of intelligent internal bracing to cut the panel thrum.

People should not dismiss the HPD series out of hand. The 12" is one of my least favourite drivers, but the 15" is just about indistinguishable from the Gold and the 10" is my favourite of the lot. It sounds lovely, I'm on my fifth pair of Tannoy Eatons since my first new pair years ago. The 295A driver is one of the sweetest sounding of all Tannoy duals and does not have Girdacoustic cones or rotting foam surrounds. its also a very good choice to use in home built larger cabinets.

The Turnbury is a nice speaker, but the tulip waveguide tweeter just does not give that last bit of midrange depth that the compression driver does compared to the Kensington or the older vintage models.

[Reffc]

Hi Geoff

I think we're both of similar mind. You've done a splendid job on the refurbishment buy the way, it's a credit to you . I totally agree RE the HPD comments as I've found the HPD's to sound fabulous with decent cross-overs in place. I can't altogether agree about the Tulip waveguide as I don't believe the difference is that great at all as long as the amp match is done with great care. In this respect, the Kensingtons pip the Turnberrys as they apparently are an easier amp match and there's no denying that their drivers have greater ultimate resolution. I know where you're coming from though. What I have found is that the amplifier choice makes a HUGE difference. I tried a Mastersound KT88 integrated hooked up to the Turnberrys and it altered the mid presence noticeably compared with the Croft power amp I'd been using. The mids gained that depth and smoothness as well as improved detail and it was all very even handed with none of the upper mid lift that I've found with other amps hooked up to the Turnberrys.

This is the interesting part. Some believe speaker first and some believe source or amp first. If you decide before all else to sort the power house out first and spend a great deal on a very good high quality Class A valve amp, then you're likely to get a good match with the Turnberrys, but the amp has got to be good. If you buy any old amp rated to drive most speakers of reasonable sensitivity (and by that I don't mean a budget amp) and then decide on Turnberrys then you are more than likely to be very disappointed . If you like what Tannoys do well (ie scale and imaging) and like the sound Turnberrys make, then taking care with amplifier choice isn't just desirable, its a must to get what they're capable of. Some may call this a flaw with the speakers and maybe they have something there, (nothings perfect in hifi) but you simply cannot judge or compare them unless first you know that the matching amp is the right synergistic (if you'll forgive the term!) match to deliver that tonal and dynamic balance.

I've managed to have quite a few amps hooked up to mine now, ranging from high end Class A valve amplification to 20 year old classics from Quad (405Mk2) and even an ION Obelsik (which was surprisingly good!). All were different. The speakers seem to allow a window on the upstream components like little else, but at the same time obviously have a funny response somewhere around the crossover point which may explain the upper mid issues with some amps. Get it right, and I can assure you there's no problems with that Tulip Waveguide. Several of us sat utterly captivated by the magical sounds emanating from the Turnberrys when Mastersound Integrated was hooked up to them...utterly sublime.