any good Tannoy?

[chris_9]

I own the following gears:

CD player: Kenwood RK711
preamp: Transcendent Sound Grounded Grid
poweramp: Aragon 4004 MKII
speakers: KEF c30

Though I love the midrange, I find the KEF lack of bass, dynamic, and most importantly transparency. It sounds quite veiled while playing modern pop music.

Any suggestion for Tannoy, especially the floorstanding ones? I love Tannoys for their extremely attractive high pitch, openness and natural sound.

Chris

 

[bare]

Agreed KEF's are generally 'not very good'.
Tannoys generally are.
Tannoys Need a current capable amp for best realism /dynamics those are Big heavy cones. Your Aragon should do well.
Best of breed would be the Monitor Golds.
Although any DC with a pepperpot ( preferred over the later tulip wave guide bodge) HF horn throat.. will impress.
Sound Quality variations betwixt the various DC models, while real, are well within sound quality expectations.
Even the less well regarded, by aficionados, versions will impress, rewardingly so.
Suggest 12' sizes? 15's do go deeper but at the expense of some midrange subtlety. And the 12's bass capability remains as impressive, in the least.

Only problems are with the pricings.. Resale prices are often 'silly/ludricous'
Try the DMT series ? Pro types in industrial enclosures (less popular with the 'collector' types.. ergo cheaper )
But Very nice sounding if you don't mind their 'Roadie Gear' appearances

Ooops: Assumed you were looking for Drivers?
Buying Tannoys in boxes has 3 basic problems
a) All DC Tannoys require a substantial box.. Wife factor becomes a concern.
b) they are typically overpriced
c) most of their OEM boxes are inadequate / inappropriate to best sounds efforts
Tannoy was/is a Driver maker First.. as opposed to box makers First.
Encolsures were usually an afterthought.. to meet market demands.
One can DIY significantly better sounding ones.. Ample DIY info available as well to that end.

 

[Brian]

My vote is for a set of Churchills. One of the first dynamic driver speakers that convinced me there was a potential future for dynamic driver speakers in my life.

 

[bare]

Really? The Ones with the Goofy V porthole?
Not a good choice IMO, an ebarrassment to the Brand is a common view.

 

[Brian]

Do not remember a v porthole, just they competed with the Bozak Concert Grand easily in size, even bigger and with a restored QUAD system on them made wonderful music.

I have limited experience with Tannoys so if these are an embarrassment I can be embarrassed if anyone wants to drive theirs off.

 

[leesonic]

Agreed KEF's are generally 'not very good'.

Says who? Have you ever heard any KEF speakers? I could list a laundry list of the good ones, but I can't be bothered, because there aren't really any bad ones, maybe just some average ones.

Tannoy are in the same boat. Some are very good, especially the vintage ones with the big woofers with the tweeter in the center. Others, toward the late 1980s had conventional drivers in cheap particleboard cabinets.

Lee.

 

[mad shadows]

The HPD line of the dualconcentric element is often reasonably priced.
I have had a pair of Tannoy Arden for 6-7 years. Very nice speakers. They are probably a very good match to the Aragon amp (the Arden needs quite a lot of raw power to control the 15 inch element, imho).

 

[GordonW]

Really? The Ones with the Goofy V porthole?
Not a good choice IMO, an ebarrassment to the Brand is a common view.

Anyone who says this has obviously either never heard one, or was in some sort of altered state when they did hear one. Especially if we're talking the Churchill Wideband.

IMHO, the ONLY speakers that Tannoy made that are clearly better than the Churchill Wideband, are the current Kingdom Royale, and POSSIBLY the Canterbury. Between the Canturbury and the Churchill Wideband, I'd still probably pick the Churchill Wideband, since it's actually more accurate...

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[GordonW]

Back to the original question (since they're are only 12 pairs of Churchill Widebands in the world, and I don't think anyone is selling)...

IMHO, in the current Tannoy lineup, there is a real gem- the Definition DC8T. They punch WAY above their weight class. They're about $5500 a pair new, but you may be able to find a used pair for considerably less (assuming anyone who had a pair, would actually be willing to sell them, of course ). Their balance is impeccable, they are very dynamic, they go quite low in the bass (cleanly and well damped, but still powerful), and they look like a million bucks too...

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[GordonW]

Says who? Have you ever heard any KEF speakers? I could list a laundry list of the good ones, but I can't be bothered, because there aren't really any bad ones, maybe just some average ones.

The coaxial KEF speakers just never floated my boat at all. Limited dynamics, and some weird pattern-control dispersion issues, in the frequency range near the crossover point and above.

OTOH, I am a very big fan of the 104/2. What a speaker. If you were willing to give another KEF a try, the 104/2 would be a great match to those electronics. Be sure the drivers (especially tweeters and mids) are original, and they've been restored with the proper woofer surrounds and caps, though... some of the parts for these are VERY SPECIFIC, and you don't want people "experimenting" with non-standard replacement parts...

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[Brian]

Just looked up photos on the net and the set I saw and heard were the Churchill Wideband.

 

[chris_9]

The HPD line of the dualconcentric element is often reasonably priced.
I have had a pair of Tannoy Arden for 6-7 years. Very nice speakers. They are probably a very good match to the Aragon amp (the Arden needs quite a lot of raw power to control the 15 inch element, imho).

Hi, thank you for suggestion.

Could you tell me about the acoustic characteristics of your Arden? I need a pair with good dynamics and bass - for listening to pop sometimes. I also listen to female vocals and orchestra.

THanks

 

[bare]

Here are the erm "suspect' Churchill Speaker things.
Pricey and not nearly good enough to warrant their price.
Wasn't even aware they made some odd alternate pro use variant with the same name.. but then I'm not alone in that .

Arden is a Good middle of the road design. It works well. Tall enough to almost place the driver centre at listening ear height.
Like anything though It can be improved on.. Tannoys often get fitted into DIY boxes for improved sounds.
Usually ONLY the design of the enclosure differentiates one DC Tannoy from another.. beyond poorly considered design changes in the drivers.. that I mentioned earlier.
Claims of one being better than another is typically a Box issue and definitely arguable. Also easily upgraded
Electronics quality has a very large and immediately audible effect.
They also Need their crossovers recapped (2 hour diy) as the Electro caps are at 40 years old definitely 'iffy' by now.
All other xover bits need No fooling with. Been there, done that. for years, the learned result: pointless.
Good luck.. Again don't be forgetting the DMT series, they can be 'relatively' bargain priced

 

[sax6]

Churchill does not begin with the letter '' v '' ? Doesn't even have a '' v '' anywhere.

:scratch2:

 

[twiiii]

Don't forget Altec 604E or 8G. Look at Great Plains Audio web site and compare the Classic 604E reissue Alnico with the 604 with Ceramic magnets and Urei's horn. Either will give you great sound and give you a clue which used ones to buy and recondition if necessary.

 

[Sam Cogley]

Churchill does not begin with the letter '' v '' ? Doesn't even have a '' v '' anywhere.

:scratch2:

Retake mid-20th Century History.

 

[chris_9]

Do not remember a v porthole, just they competed with the Bozak Concert Grand easily in size, even bigger and with a restored QUAD system on them made wonderful music.

I have limited experience with Tannoys so if these are an embarrassment I can be embarrassed if anyone wants to drive theirs off.

Hello Brian,

Could you tell us what you mean by 'wonderful' for the churchill?

Thanks