Marco's journey to Tannoy-land

[pure sound]

However, it's interesting that you should bring this up as I have noticed some minor issues with certain material played, which through speaking with Anthony, is attributable to the characteristics of high impedance speakers regardless of whatever type of amplifier is used with them (or what taps are used, athough this helps slightly). Therefore, in order to address this I intend to give the 15" Monitor Golds, which are rated at 8 Ohms, another shot at home in the same cabinets to see what happens.

Can you be more specific? I haven't heard Reds but have read that they can have a little too much sizzle (2-3KHz) which some later crossover modifications attempted to address on some of the models.

[aquapiranha]

Hi Marco
I am pleased you love your Tannoy's , i have noticed though a certain person on PFM keeps making little digs .
I now begin to understand what you mean , please Marco no need to say anything further on this i don't want to spoil this thread ' enjoy your new speakers ' .

Care to point that out to me? I have not noticeed anything but tbh I rarely go on that site now except to laugh at parry.

[Marco]

Guy,

Can you be more specific? I haven't heard Reds but have read that they can have a little too much sizzle (2-3KHz) which some later crossover modifications attempted to address on some of the models.

There's no "sizzle" whatsoever - the top end is open, extended and sweet sounding. I should point out that the crossovers used with these Reds have been modified by Chris with high quality caps, etc, and are not the original ones from Tannoy.

What I'm referring to is a slight lack of body in the upper midrange with certain material, notably more processed rock and pop, which can distract from their otherwise excellent handling of music. It's not a massive issue, but it's there all the same, and probably to do with what Clive and Dave referred to earlier.

I suspect that the 8 Ohms Golds, when I use them, will not exhibit this trait due to being a better impedance match for my Copper amp, however they may miss out on some of the magic of the Reds in the midrange with vocals and acoustic instruments. Like I said, it's all about choosing the best compromise for the majority of music I listen to, and that's what I hope to ascertain when Chris gets hold of some Golds (he's since sold the pair I heard at his place) in a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, there's plenty of fun to be had listening to the Reds and getting a really good handle on what they do with music

Steve,

The person Chris is referring to is 'he of NVA'. I do find the attention flattering and more than a little amusing

See here: http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=63998

Post #10 from 'Dave', Linn/Naim fanboi par excellence, is even funnier!

Marco.

[aquapiranha]

well well. Looks like his attempted hatchet job has backfired big time! In an attempt to ridicule, he has in fact managed to turn half of the forum, or at least those with good hearing, against himself! oh dear... not the response he was hoping for I'll wager.

[Marco]

The resident 'Tannoyista terrors' sorted him out!

Meanwhile, I was just reading this month's HFW and came across this quote from Ingvar Ohman of Guru loudspeakers:

My ambition has never been to make loudspeakers that create sound for people chasing spectacular experiences, but to recreate the music caught on the recordings. I'm driven by my own curiosity towards these originals. It simply does not get more spectacular than opening up an uncoloured window to the world of the recording.

That kind of sums up what big Tannoys do. The latter is very apt and exactly what Lockwoods achieve with Monitor Reds in

Marco.

[anthonyTD]

Marco,

What crossed my mind is that it would be worth asking Anthony to check the curves for the operating points of your amp.

The output valves will be seeing a different reflected impedance to what Anthony intended

, this means the impedance of the primary OPT winding will not be as intended in the original amp design. This does mean the amp won't be performing 100% at its best. The difference could be tiny or if rectified you might add useful performance. It needs Anthony to check the specs. For sure as the Tannoys are efficient it makes all this less critical though you will be loosing a fair number of watts.

At worst it means new OPTs, at best it's not worth worrying about. Only the designer can advise.

hi clive,
you are indeed correct in quoting the above, and as stated the only way to rectify this would be to change the output transformers to get a perfect match with the "reds" however, i have discussed this with marco and we have decided that the mismatch is well tolerable in comparison with what marco is getting in return from the reds, the transformers on his amp were hand wound bespoke items and therefore would be very difficult to replace today, so best left alone for now me thinks.
regards,anthony,TD...

[Marco]

Yep, that's the current state of play

Chris suggested that I build a system around the Reds, by changing my amp, if I feel that the current combo isn't optimal. However, as I love what the Copper amp does (and what it does it truly special) I quickly booted that idea into touch!

No, whatever speakers I use must compliment the Copper amp (and the rest of my system, too). After all, this slight 'issue' of incompatibility only exists because of the 15 Ohms rating of the Reds, which is not exactly normal, so it doesn't make sense to make the compromise in the wrong area.

It'll be very interesting to hear what the Golds bring to the party in a familiar environment, but in the meantime I'm enjoying the Reds so much that such things can wait to take their natural course

Marco.

[Marco]

Guys,

These aren't the best pics, but as promised, here are the Lockwoods as taken from Ian's mobile phone - cheers, Ian







It'll give you a rough idea of what they're like. As I said, they're not the most beautiful designs in the world - typical of what I would call 'BBC studio aesthetics' (I will be having them re-veneered, though), but they sound f*cking awesome!

To give you an idea of how much bigger the Lockwoods are than the Spendors (which weren't exactly small), observe the solitary (extra-wide) Mana Soundbase under each speaker, which is now dwarfed by the Lockwoods on top, and compare to how it looked before with the SP100s:



As you can see - quite a difference! Also, the Lockwoods are the same height from top to bottom (when flat on the floor) as the Spendors were on four phases of Mana and also speaker stands...

When Steve visits with his mega-pixel camera thingy I'll try and get some better pictures done

Marco.

[Barry]

Guys,

These aren't the best pics, but as promised, here are the Lockwoods as taken from Ian's mobile phone - cheers, Ian







It'll give you a rough idea of what they're like. As I said, they're not the most beautiful designs in the world - typical BBC studio aesthetics (I will be having them re-veneered, though), but they sound f*cking awesome!

To give you an idea of how much bigger the Lockwoods are than the Spendors (which weren't exactly small), observe the solitary Mana Soundbase under each speaker, which is now dwarfed by the Lockwoods on top, and compare before to how it looked with the SP100s:



As you can see - quite a difference! Also, the Lockwoods are the same height from top to bottom (when flat on the floor) as the Spendors were on four phases of Mana and also speaker stands...

When Steve visits with his mega-pixel camera thingy I'll try and get some better ones done

Marco.

Hi Marco,

Until I saw the third photo, I had assumed the door between the speakers was the only door into your listening room, rather than (I assume) providing access into the loft. As such, it makes the speakers look absolutely massive - no doubt appropriate to their sound!

Enjoy
Barry

[Marco]

Oh, and in the third picture above, you can see the proper entrance to the room (from the side)... Some dafties used to think that you entered via the door (cupboard) between the speakers!

Aye, maybe if you were 4ft nothing!!

Marco.