Never liked the 15's personally... Sold a pair for £1.20 a while back, should have waited for the eBay prices to rise
Senior Member
Location: South downs
Posts: 3,477
I'm James.
Never liked the 15's personally... Sold a pair for £1.20 a while back, should have waited for the eBay prices to rise
Site Owner/Administrator
Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK
Posts: 110,520
I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.
Lol... Then you haven't heard them properly, dude, or perhaps not driven by a good valve amp. The 15s I have sound fantastic on the end of my system!
Marco.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & regulator mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat with Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight. Isonoe feet & boots. Ortofon RS-212D tonearm with Denon DL-103GL, in a Denon PCL-300 headshell, fitted with Funk Firm Houdini and Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp and Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp, fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Site Owner/Administrator
Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK
Posts: 110,520
I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.
Indeed, which is exactly why they work very well on the end of a good valve amp, and likely also why they sounded pants partnered with the grainy sounding transistor amps that were around when they were born - hence why people who heard them in that context are not their biggest fans!Originally Posted by walpurgis
Marco.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & regulator mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat with Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight. Isonoe feet & boots. Ortofon RS-212D tonearm with Denon DL-103GL, in a Denon PCL-300 headshell, fitted with Funk Firm Houdini and Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp and Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp, fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Moderator & Terminator!
Location: N E Kent
Posts: 51,618
I'm Geoff.
That's true, they are very revealing of coarse sounding amps. Due to the HF1300 tweeter which can sound hard and ruthless with the unsympathetic amplification.
Driven by sweet sounding valves, they really open up and come to life, delivering seriously good depth and ambience. The bottom end wallop and extension is rather surprising too.
It is impossible for anything digital to sound analogue, because it isn't analogue!
Site Owner/Administrator
Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK
Posts: 110,520
I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.
Don't I know it brovva! That's why I always jump on the pish that folk write about these speakers who haven't heard them with the right kit...
Trust me, if they weren't any good, I wouldn't own them!!!
Marco.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & regulator mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat with Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight. Isonoe feet & boots. Ortofon RS-212D tonearm with Denon DL-103GL, in a Denon PCL-300 headshell, fitted with Funk Firm Houdini and Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp and Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp, fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Senior Member
Location: South downs
Posts: 3,477
I'm James.
Hehe, on the end of some very fine [IMO] transistor amps they sounded boxy, coloured & harsh with no treble. I never tried them with valves myself but I do agree, valve amps can & often do make poor speakers more palatableLol... Then you haven't heard them properly, dude, or perhaps not driven by a good valve amp. The 15s I have sound fantastic on the end of my system!
Marco.
ELP Fanboy
Location: Yorks
Posts: 16,643
I'm Nobody.
Does coloured mean the tweeters don't fry eardrums
Moderator & Terminator!
Location: N E Kent
Posts: 51,618
I'm Geoff.
That doesn't sound like 'agreement' James. They're not "poor speakers", they're just particular, bit like Decca cartridges (and if anybody describes those as poor, I hate to think of the repercussions).Hehe, on the end of some very fine [IMO] transistor amps they sounded boxy, coloured & harsh with no treble. I never tried them with valves myself but I do agree, valve amps can & often do make poor speakers more palatable
It is impossible for anything digital to sound analogue, because it isn't analogue!
Senior Member
Location: South downs
Posts: 3,477
I'm James.
I realise I'm more than a little outnumbered here but all I'm trying to say is £10 at a carbootsale = perfect / £100 at current eBay prices ? There an awful lot of choice at that price...
Senior Member
Location: South downs
Posts: 3,477
I'm James.
I'm not fussed & if folks enjoy them thats all that matters but to see them universally lauded as amazing is very misleading for a casual reader on the lookout for some speakers... Surely "they can sound good if your source is predominantly vinyl & your amp is valved" would be more appropriate ? Because I know from my own experience if you rig them up to a cd player & tranny amp they sound pants.
Edit: your avatar is distracting!
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