Which Tannoys, folks?

[walpurgis]

I have valve amplification Paul, but at the moment I've been driving my various Tannoys with Monarchy Audio SM-70 and SM-70 Pro, Class A solid state power amplifiers. The little beggars only have 35 watts, but grip the Tannoys very well, giving an extremely clean and sweet sound. I regard the Monarchys as an absolute bargain in sound terms, they offer amazing sound quality at the price and in some ways at any price.

[Jonboy]

Having now tried them with an OTO SE it's very clear they're not a good match

You do surprise me a bit by saying that as they sounded good to my ears, Dave at Heatherdale audio sold quite a few OTO-Tannoy based systems, just hope your next purchase lives up to what your expecting as i found SE 845's a bit lacking myself on the end of Tannoys having tried the Ming Da variety on mine.

I see have tried so it should all be good

Best of luck anyway

[The Black Adder]

I had a PP OTO... Sounded great with the Tannoys. For my taste in music (Rock, Electronica) PP is the way to go imo.

[wiicrackpot]

My experience is PP as well Joe, drove my factory re-coned Devon's with a Maxxed out WAD KIT88 amp (massive Sowter UO82s trannys and boutique parts inside)
and it gave nothing away to my newly acquired 12'inch Monitor Gold Chatsworth's, infact on the kind of genre you mentioned,
it was better but kept the MG's for posterity reason.

[Reffc]

You do surprise me a bit by saying that as they sounded good to my ears, Dave at Heatherdale audio sold quite a few OTO-Tannoy based systems, just hope your next purchase lives up to what your expecting as i found SE 845's a bit lacking myself on the end of Tannoys having tried the Ming Da variety on mine.

I see have tried so it should all be good

Best of luck anyway

Hi John

The OTO SE is only 8 or 10W/channel and there's a pronounced mid range lift around the crossover point on 8Ohm taps which I found unlistenable to with voices and piano especially. Not worried by what other dealers pair them with but to my ears, the OTO and Turnberrys are not happy bedfellows. On the 4 ohm taps, the bass vanishes and the amp has to be driven too hard so its clearly not a good match.

845 has effortless drive by comparison and none of the mid range weirdness. I haven't tried the Ming Da 845, the one I've ordered is the Mastersound 845 Compact and as with nearly all Mastersound amps, the power supply and output transformers quality is superb, it's this to my mind which makes all the difference. No harm to Chinese amps as there's no doubt a few good ones out there, but I've yet to come across one that compares favourably with the Mastersound amps.

[The Black Adder]

Hi John

The OTO SE is only 8 or 10W/channel and there's a pronounced mid range lift around the crossover point on 8Ohm taps which I found unlistenable to with voices and piano especially. Not worried by what other dealers pair them with but to my ears, the OTO and Turnberrys are not happy bedfellows. On the 4 ohm taps, the bass vanishes and the amp has to be driven too hard so its clearly not a good match.

845 has effortless drive by comparison and none of the mid range weirdness. I haven't tried the Ming Da 845, the one I've ordered is the Mastersound 845 Compact and as with nearly all Mastersound amps, the power supply and output transformers quality is superb, it's this to my mind which makes all the difference. No harm to Chinese amps as there's no doubt a few good ones out there, but I've yet to come across one that compares favourably with the Mastersound amps.

Well we shouldn't compare.. totally different beasts. The 845 looks like a lovely bit of kit.

[Reffc]

A few of you had previously PM'd me regarding some Tannoy stands that I had designed for the Prestige Range (Stirling and Turnberry). At long last I now have a pair completed and have some photos posted below. These have been made in solid European Walnut and I have taken a few design cues from the speaker cabinets. See what you think:









I have just to add the bushes for the adjustable cones that will be used (not the supplied spikes) but for now, they are resting very solidly on my laminate flooring and are rock solid with the speakers coupled very well to the stands. Sound has improved too with a little extra clarity and cleaner bass as well as a noticeable improvement in detail due to the tweeters having been raised to ear height.

[lewis]

Hi Paul,
The stands look great, but i'll have to come back to you later as my wallet has just taken a hit on a new phonostage and cable!

Hope you are not feeling too poorly, wishing you a speedy recovery.

[Reffc]

Some better pics:






Having had a chance now to properly evaluate the changes in presentation, it's been quite an eye opener for me to note just how improved (in my room with my kit at least) the Turnberrys now sound. I tried them back off the stands again but they didn't stay there long!

The thing that seems most improved is mid range clarity. If you have Tannoys and haven't got them properly grounded or raised to the proper level, do it! Try anything to start with even if it's a bunch of old telephone directories! Of course for those with wardrobe sized Tannoys, that won't be needed unless you like standing/using a step ladder when listening!

[tannoyman]

[QUOTE=Reffc;369328]You've hit the nail on the head David, the modern Prestige range are simply too expensive compared with the (better) vintage equivalents.

The reason they are so expensive is because the margins are obscene.(I have the numbers to prove this) The really devastating thing is that still even with margins at extortionate levels they are still happy to skin customers by using connectors that would be more at home in a washing machine, even on their flagship models. Welcome to the cynical world of high end audio. By the way their cost cutting cynicism even extends to selling their cabinets unsealed unpolished cabinets so in a short time they are looking well below par.

Apologies for outburst but imho this is one of the main reasons that high end audio in the uk is dying on its feet.

David