proper Tannoy Canterbury room set up

Don't put them against the wall. The manual even advises against this. You'll see Tannoy speakers in wacky locations (like right up against the wall) in ad/product photos, but that's silly. Your listed distances sound like a reasonable starting point, though with a 14' front wall you'll observe that the bulk of the speakers themselves will start cutting into your optimal spacing. It's still quite workable, though. You were wise to scale back from the Westminster in this case!

I like a nice midfield triangle myself (6.5-7' x 8-9' x 8-9'), with a healthy dose of toe-in -- close, but not *quite* directly pointed at the ears, and certainly not crossing over in front of me (a very questionable manual recommendation there).

The tweeter height is an issue with the Canterbury SE. Get pedestal stands or pucks to tilt them up. Perhaps the GR has more treble energy to allow for the right amount of off-axis energy, but then that would become dependent on seating distance -- so hopefully the GR also sounds best with tweeters and ears level, and it remains up to us to achieve that.

Raising Canterburys -

A friend with Canterburys was advised by Jim Smith to experiment elevating them and found that did improve upper frequency info. Pay attention to Mulveling!

Thank you guys so much for you thoughtful insight. I certainly is great to have such a fine community to help support our fine hobby.

So sounds like a good starting point will be to position them in the place the Quads were and go from there, along with elevation to reposition the highs to about ear level. Maybe I will fashion a stubby-stand for them to elevate them - maybe like a sealed furniture grade box to sit them on and fill with sand or some other mass filler.

As far as wiring goes -- should I connect my cable to the bass inputs and then use jumper to go to the high input /or/ connect my cables to the high inputs and jump to the bass inputs /or/ should I biwire? Now, I have not biwired before -- if bewaring is the proper and best way to do it -- would I just use two cables and connect both to the 'only' outs on the amps and then the other ends to the highs and bass on the speakers (like a 'Y')? Does doing this change the ohm resistance that the amp sees???

Congratulations for not following typical audio herd mentality and choosing something you feel will deliver music. They will!

First rule: NO RULES!

Distance from the rear wall will depend on where you find your preferred listening position after experimentation, where the speaker ends up to get the best bass in your room, how far apart you can get away with and still like the imaging, and other sonic factors you note.

Start with the speakers where ever you want, you'll be moving them anyway just to test your reaction to the sound at different positions. Start with your last speakers were, but do not be afraid to move them around, marking each position and making notes about how you felt about the sound in that position.

Remember, the woofers will change a lot during break-in, so you might have to revisit prior positions. Likely you will very quickly find sonically "acceptable" positions quickly, so you will be enjoying music while testing the different possible positions. Don't rush it, enjoy the sound and don't be afraid to leave them in acceptable positions for a few days before you go onto the next location. This will make differences easier to hear.

Don't forget toe in: you can tune the upper end this way. If they are too soft aim them more at your ears, if they are too present toe them out so they fire at a position behind you.

Enjoy!

I wire to the tweeter inputs and use the Tannoy jumpers to the bass inputs. Originally I tried biwiring and did not find it any better.