• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

Tannoy Lynx Restoration

Great detective work on the formers.

If you can loosen up the surround a bit it would be interesting to get some T/S parameters for them.
That brochure says they're -3db at 50Hz in that cabinet which may be creative marketing.
If you had the T/S data, I bet a bigger box would be a good thing.

"Specially adapted Duals were designed that had more power handling and greater sensitivity than had ever been produced before by Tannoy."

This usually results in a restricted low end which is OK for vocals hence the Leopard sub for a full range system.
 
I re assembled everything and setup the Tannoys so that I could give things a further listen. To the setup I added a dual voice coil 15" subwoofer, EQ and amp to drive it. The Tannoys are setup to run full range and the sub comes in at 60hz. I'm not sure what the slope is on the EQ; I should look it up.

Anyway, with a sub these sound absolutely fantastic. It is finally setup close to how it was intended to be. My thoughts on my initial listen still apply in that the Tannoys are very detailed and revealing with an incredible stereo image. The sub rounds things out and being dual voice coil has both channels adding to the Tannoys.

Even played loudly the Tannoys hold up very well and do not loose any of their detail. This setup is growing on me fast.

My thoughts now are about the surrounds and whether or not it would be worth the effort to remove the original dope and re apply something else. Given that these are the 3169G series PA drivers in a small cabinet I don't know how much I would gain in the bottom end by changing things.

I'd be curious to know what else these drivers were used in as part of the Tannoy line up. There is a YouTube video that shows much larger cabinets with similar looking drivers but is only described as Type 3169.


The Little Gold Monitors are from the same era but do not appear to have the same drivers.
 
Here's my opinion from owning a few of these drivers over the years.
I don't think there is anything wrong with your surrounds, all of the ones i've handled with the accordion type surround have been the same, you could wrap a knuckle on the cone and it sounds...like a thud.
The Little Red monitors use a very similar driver but it has a foam surround, much more excursion and likely the reason for more bass.

I have a pair of the mini lynx speakers somewhere, 8 inch version of these in small angled cabinets, sound incredible but not as nice as my Devons.

I do think the PA tannoy drivers are slightly less refined than the hifi versions.
 
Dazaa said:
Here's my opinion from owning a few of these drivers over the years.
Click to expand...

Did you own any in the 1980s?
Were the surrounds sticky then?

I'm interested for the same reason that people test T/S parameters on old drivers and say the driver is OK when there are no T/S specs for them when they were new.
 
Dazaa said:
I do think the PA tannoy drivers are slightly less refined than the hifi versions.
Click to expand...

In what way? I am curious to learn more about these drivers and where they were used beyond PA applications. Were fabric surrounds used in monitors as well as the PA versions? Does the flat vs round voice coil affect the sound in addition to power handling?
 
Last edited:
Hi gents, I own a pair of these drivers, built into larger custom made reflex cabinets by a friend. As I have never heard them in the original cabinets I don't really have a reference, but I can assure you the low end in these is magnificent, presuming the drivers and surrounds are in good order I can at least confirm you can get excellent low end from these out of bigger cabinets.. Not overdone, just hard and incredibly accurate and detailed, felt as well as heard.

If there is anything I can contribute to the discussion beyond this let me know. The friend who built the cabinets found these, has stuck with the original crossover design (believe the crossover frequency is relatively high 2Khz, which as I understand was mainly to protect the HF unit from cooking in PA applications by stearing more power to the LF driver), he indicated we could consider changing the crossover benefitting the midrange but to be honest I am happy with the way they sound today. Unrivalled in detail soundstage.

4CM thick wood used throughout the cabinet so they are a beast to move around.
 
mcrick85 said:
If there is anything I can contribute to the discussion beyond this let me know.

4CM thick wood used throughout the cabinet so they are a beast to move around.
Click to expand...

Do you have any pictures of the cabinets? I'd be curious to see them. I think that the stock cabinets are probably limiting the drivers in LF response capabilities. They are an interesting speaker for sure and I'd like to eventually go down the path of getting them to sound right stand alone without a subwoofer.
 
got here by accident, searching for some data ......
anyway - surrounds on your Tanns are hard as rock, 3169 having Fs from factory no higher than 60Hz

even if you use them as is, with subwoofer, you're loosing so much in mids, all the way up what bass cone must produce

I gave recipe how to remove old goop from cloth surround, now all you need is courage and patience

after 10minutes of procedure, you'll see that courage isn't needed at all ........

later, after removing old goop, apply whatever sort of new goop you want, just ask for sort staying tacky

goop treatment is exact thing which is making cloth surround soft and pliable, so speaker is as new - spider being major factor for Fs, and surround being just guide, not spring
 
I can't help you with that, certainly not living in same locality as you

Call any reachable speaker parts Vendor and ask for their most pliable ( when cured) and permanently tacky solution

If they have that - go for it

If they don't know what you're speaking about - they're just damn sellers

These goops are cheap - few greenies for bottle covering several pairs of 12" or 15" surrounds, but I couldn't get conformation from any Vendor I could think of, had dealings with several smartdumbs, so that's why I came with my own solution - having some help from a guy being good in chemistry - he said - rat glue is made with organic base, I know the stuff, it must be stable for years and years
 
Saw an interesting set of Tannoys on ebay and though it would be good to include them in this thread. The seller describes them as "1984 Tannoy Lynx Studio Monitors" with 3169G drivers. They appear to be just like the PA version with the same size cabinets and same crossovers just in a veneered cabinet. So there appears to be a few variations of these. These look like they have been modified so they could be biamped.

Photos lifted from the auction site:

index.php


index.php


index.php


index.php


index.php


index.php
 
Well this was an interesting read, thanks, I got here because I have just acquired a few pairs of these older siblings, 2 pairs of i8's and a single i12, three of the i8's are good and the i12 is fantastic but no good on it's own so am on the look out for another of maybe a pair and use mine as a back up for spares.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom