Marco's journey to Tannoy-land

[Beechwoods]

Fantastic Marco! I'm looking forward to your full write up. And hearing them too, sometime soon hopefully!

[symon]

Fantastic Marco! I'm looking forward to your full write up. And hearing them too, sometime soon hopefully!

I might have to stowaway in your car if you end up driving up to the wilds of North Wales

[Marco]

Hey that would be really cool, guys - I'm sure we would have a few larfs!

We should thrash out some possible dates

Unfortunately work has got in the way of doing the write-up - that and I can't drag myself away from listening to the Lockwoods long enough to sit down and type anything!!

One thing I will say is that I'm *so* glad that I persevered with the Golds... Quite frankly, if I hadn't done so I'd have missed out on how staggeringly good they can sound with the right crossovers (and cabinets).

As usual, it's a matter of combining the best of old and new technologies to get optimal results

More later!

Marco.

[Marco]

Guys,

Well, I decided that if the crossovers Chris from Big Ears Audio supplied were a pretty big improvement on the original ones from Tannoy, what would some über-high quality ones be like, using some of the best components available? I just had to find out!

As it is my birthday tomorrow (which is now, actually - LOL!), my lovely wife funded the purchase of said components as a very useful and thoughtful birthday prezzie!

So, with Clarity Cap MR-range polypropylene capacitors, Mundorf air-core foil coil inductors and Duelund Graphite Silver resistors installed on the crossovers, all hard-wired with silver solder, keeping signal paths as short as possible, and the drive units hard-wired with VDH CS-14 Hybrid cable throughout (thanks again to the 'two Daves' for all their hard work! ), I sat down later this evening and listened........

Bloody hell, this is got to be one of *THE* biggest upgrades I've ever achieved with hi-fi - period!!! I'll go into more detail later on the sonic and musical differences upgrading the crossovers to this level has made, as I'm just about to hit the sack now, but suffice to say that it's nothing less than a total transformation!! The Golds were superb before but this is now a completely different ball game...

What has become patently obvious is that vintage Tannoy drivers such as Monitor Reds and Golds are extremely high quality designs, but are quite simply sleeping giants until you match them with modern crossovers using the best components available. A special word must go to the Clarity Cap MR capacitors - these are absolutely fantastic and probably largely responsible for the huge sonic improvement I've obtained, and they're made by ICW in Wrexham! For any of our D.I.Y-ers here I'd recommend them without hesitation. Some interesting technical info about the CC MRs here: http://www.hificollective.co.uk/pdf/claritycapmr.pdf

The thing is, the original Tannoy crossovers appear as being perfectly adequate for the job, but that state of affairs only exists until you hear just what they are capable of when released from the shackles of ageing, long past their sell-by date, capacitors and resistors - when they then turn into something truly and utterly stunning, giving music a breathtaking clarity, scale, and realism that really has to be heard to be believed. Quite honestly, I am utterly gob-smacked!

Anyway, it's nighty-night for the moment chaps. I will return soon (in a couple of days) to write the full report I've promised, but which has unfortunately been delayed by a bathroom decorating project that is now resolved but at one point had turned into a bloody nightmare (long story!)

Laters

Marco.

[Barry]

Many happy returns of today Marco.

Glad to hear of the acoustic improvements wrought about by the new crossovers (or is it the same crossovers but with upgraded components?)

Just two questions:
What did you listen to?

and

What did you drink?

Regards

[Marco]

Hi Barry,

Thanks for your birthday wishes

Crossovers are just a collective series of components, therefore when upgrading all the component parts of the design you are essentially creating new crossovers.

I'll answer the other questions tomorrow - if I get a chance to while I'm sober!



Marco.

[Barry]

Hi Marco,

I should have said is the 'Big Ears' crossover circuit unchanged? That is, the component values remain unchanged, the components having been replaced with ones of better quality.

Regards

[Marco]

Hi Barry,

I see what you mean now... No, the original circuit used in the crossovers Chris supplied remains the same (it's a very good one), but all the components that were used originally have been upgraded as described above

You know, the more I dabble in the modification route with hi-fi, taking equipment that is already fantastic in its own right and then releasing its full potential by upgrading key components in the design (such as I've already done with the Techy, Sony CDP/DAC and Croft), the more I realise that this, out with of hard-core D.I.Y, is the best way of obtaining the highest sound-per-pound, and truly remarkable performance from a hi-fi system.

I would urge people to try building a system this way, as the rewards are quite considerable and, most importantly, it kills constant 'box-swapping' and 'upgraditis' stone-dead. Effectively, the component parts of your system are 'sorted' at ground-roots level, so you aren't on a constant merry-go-round trying to 'fix' something that is often fundamentally broken by covering it up with a sticking plaster, saving yourself in many cases thousands of pounds that would've otherwise gone into the pockets of (some) unscrupulous dealers.

Some dealers of course are good guys, and we have a few represented here, but others are, well, you all know where I'm coming from! 'Bargain-buying' on Ebay, trying to patch together disparate bits of equipment to create a musically rewarding system doesn't work either, unless you know exactly what you're doing. This is rarely where true satisfaction lies.

Anyway, chaps, if you'll excuse me the sun is shining so we're off out for the day

Much later!

Marco.

[aquapiranha]

Happy Birthday Marco. Have a good day.

[Marco]

Cheers, Steve - you'll need to come round for a listen

Off out now!

Marco.