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Tangent Acoustics - ???

lungin

lungin

Member
I came across these today in a junk shop - paid £3 sterling for them - seem really lush sounding hooked up to a Sansui AU101 - anyone know anything about them? - the model number is TM3 and they are marked as made in England and have consecutive serial numbers
Love to have what ever info anyone may have
Cheers!
J
 
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They were sold in Canada, too!

The following Tangent information is taken from AudioScene Canada magazine (1980). Tangent was an English company.

Tangent Speakers
System Crosover Weight
Model Tweeter Woofer Response Power Freq. (kg) Cost / pr.

TM3 KEF T-27 KEF B110 55-32k +/-3 100W 3k 17.7 $450.00
TM1 KEF T-27 KEF B110 37-32k +/-3 150W 3k 34 $675.00
RS2 KEF T-27 Audex 55-32k +/-3 200W 3k 16.3 $650.00
RS4 KEF T-27 Audex 37-32k +/-3 200W 3k 31 $900.00
RS6* KEF T-27 Audex 35-32k +/-3 200W 300, 3k 40 $1,300.00
Audex
RS8** Audex Audex (4” mid) 35-25k +/-3 200W 300, 3k 54.5 $1,995.00 Dalesford (10” woofer)

* RS6 are three way speakers. Both mid and bass are the same Audex driver.
** RS8: No KEF parts are used.

Tangent had their own crossovers (dividing networks).

TM = Tangent Monitors
RS = Reference Series

There were also a series of Tangent speakers with model names SPL-1 ($275.00 / pair), SPL-3 ($500.00 / pair) and SPL-5 ($725.00 / pair). I have never seen these models. They may or may not have KEF parts.

These are Tangent speakers sold in Canada and the USA before they declared bankruptcy. The name Tangent was revived at a later date and separate companies existed in England and Canada. Although the speakers were generally excellent, the company appeared to have sunk too much money into research and development of their pre-amp, amp (a good design but poorly built) and turntable – “Circus Lupis” (which was a disaster).

What else do you desire to know?
 
Actually. some say that the TM3 speaker sounds quite close to the LS3/5A made by Rogers and some other companies.... I've never seen or heard a pair. :(
 
GaryP, THANKS for the link. I have a pair of RS-4 that I got for $15, and always thought they sounded pretty good. No wonder.
 
Got 'em before I showed up here, and didn't really know they were a huge score, until you posted the MRSP. I have just always liked them. A lot! But my taste runs to the 'British' sound, which evolved, I guess, into the 'New England' sound. Have 4 pair of EPIs as well.
 
Way back when, around 1979, I invested in a pair of Tangent SPL-3 speakers at the price of 500.00 for the pair. They did boast the excellent KEF T-27 tweeter and a plasticized mid/bass driver. The little speakers were finished beautifully in teak. But they could not handle much power. I had a roommate then, and while I was away one night, he decided to throw a party, playing the little Tangents at room shaking volume. They blew up before I got home. I learned my lesson. I did not buy another pair of Tangents.
 
Yes, you're right. Tangents were more about sound quality, not "earth shaking" sound. One must take care of their Tangents!

I don't suppose you remember the brand of mid driver? I'd presme they were KEF....
 
hhhm,
A couple of months ago a pair of Tangent speakers showed up at the local thrift. They were 2 way, with an 10" heavily coated woofer (with inverted dustcap) and a tweeter. The tweeter was not a T27, as I know what they look like, but it was a cloth dome. Large box (14x12x24?), but not very heavy. Foam surrounds were rotted, so I could tell the basket was stamped steel. Wonder what they were? (They had a Tangent logo on the grill)

I passed (sorry) as I had just purchased, the day before at the same place, a pair of Energy ESM-1s (late 70's model, Canadian make). ahhh, regrets......
 
Many thanks for the info GaryP
They really are lovely sounding speakers so I will hold onto them - do you have any idea if they are worth much now or is it possible to value something of this sort? And have you heard of any coming up for sale?
Once again, thanks for the info
Cheers mate
J
 
Sorry, Lungin, I have absolutely no idea of the value of these! I bought Tangent TM1's (larger than the TM3) about 10 years ago for $500.00 CAD.

If I hear of anything coming up for sale I grab 'em.... :D :D :D

Like I said before, I've never seen the TM3 speaker. They are pretty hard to find around here - I'd presume, since they were made in England and imported into Canada, there'd be more of them over there.

The original Tangent company made speakers, one preamp, one amp and one turntable but they overextended themselves on R&D so they went broke. From the ashes came Tangent UK and a Tangent company based in Canada. This company changed their name a few times and they are still around today. :)

Packrat, did they say "Tangent UK" on the grill?

A soft dome tweeter (if original, of course) comes from the second "Tangent" companies in England and Canada as they replaced the T27 with an Audex tweeter unit. They had already used the same Audex tweeter in the Tangent RS8 speaker. I'd presume that both tweeter and woofer were Audex units as I have never seen anything other than KEF or Audex drivers in Tangent speakers.

BTW, Tangent made their own crossovers (dividing networks).
 
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Oh - at the risk of sounding like a Tangent Fanatic - the original Tangent company was working on the RS10 speaker system when they declared bankrupcy. It was never produced - no matter what those Tangent Fanatics say!

Gary, Tangent Fanatic.

:D
 
I do believe the mid/bass driver was also KEF, but I am not as certain about this as I am about the T27 tweeter. The Tangents were very good sounding speakers. I loved every minute of owning them. But my time with them was very brief. Less than a year, probably. It was after the Tangent disaster that I decided to try another British sleeper, the Chartwell PM110 with a polypropylene mid/bass driver and a tweeter of unknown origin. This was also a very fine speaker. But it ended up getting fried as well by the volatile Quatre Gain Cell power amp, one of the most notorious of all amplifier designs of the late 70s. I was witness to the disaster. It looked like the old scoreboard at Chicago's Comiskey Park, with all sorts of fireworks going on behind the transluscent mid/bass cone. I learned my lesson and bought DCM Time Windows next. They survive to this day, still making great sounds.
 
GaryP said:
.........
Packrat, did they say "Tangent UK" on the grill?

A soft dome tweeter (if original, of course) comes from the second "Tangent" companies in England and Canada as they replaced the T27 with an Audex tweeter unit. They had already used the same Audex tweeter in the Tangent RS8 speaker. I'd presume that both tweeter and woofer were Audex units as I have never seen anything other than KEF or Audex drivers in Tangent speakers.

BTW, Tangent made their own crossovers (dividing networks).
Click to expand...

GaryP, They said 'Tangent', in a silver emblem, cast. The font was like a handwriting script. The speaker connections on the back were spring loaded push in style, the kind with two concentric cylinders and a hole drilled across both. The tweeter may have been an Audax, definitely not a T27 as there were no exposed lead wires on them. The woofer was heavily coated, or doaped, with something. I spent a good 5 to 10 minutes looking them over and thinking about what to do - and decided I didn't have the time for fixing them (3 young children at home) and less time to even listen to them. Keeping the drivers, and chucking the boxes is always an option, but is that really a good thing to do with vintage speakers??
 
GaryP
This hopefully should work!
The following are some pics for your perusal
Note that there are no logos on the grills
Cheers
J
 
Great pictures! Thanks!

The original face plate was a retangular tab in gold, with "tangent" sort of "written" on it. I guess yours fell off - it was only glued on (to the lower left side of the cloth).

The wood boxes are exactly the same thickness. The RS series has thinner "sides".

Packrat, they sound like they would be the Canadian version of the next generation Tangent company - the UK second generation had "Tangent UK" in silver script.
 
By "small British bananas" do you mean that North American bananas won't fit?

I've "North American" banana plugs in my RS6's, TM1's RS8's and I know you have "North American" banana plugs in your RS4's (because my friend has "North American" banana plugs in his RS4's and RS2's).

We should start up a Tangent club. There's five of us now.... :D
 
Some of the NA bananas are a little too large and stiff to fit in my Tangents. The Monsters, for instance, with the cage around the post. These wouldn't fit. The plugs I use have a centre shaft, with a wire, shaped like a staple, down one side of the shaft. It is spring-loaded, so it pushes the shaft against the side of the jack. NAD, I think, needs something like this. I can't seem to find a pic of this little guy.
It does measure less than the std 4 mm OD banana.
 
Those really look nice, and the vintage KEF drivers look really good too, and all for 3 pounds! excellent buy.

GaryP - you're probably right about them being the later version - if I had seen a made in England sticker on them anywhere I might have made a different decision....ah well, someone else into vintage gear has them and is repairing them as we chat (I hope) ...
and thanks for sharing all the Tangent info with us GaryP!
 
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