Tannoy Stirlings on the way!

Well I haven't un-boxed the speakers yet. Have one at home, picking up the other soon (small car). I will share my thoughts after a solid listening session. My Tannoy dealer is 200 miles away. I have in the past listened to much larger models, however thought the Sterlings were the best fit for my room. Have always liked and currently use stand mounts. The Sterlings do not take any more floor space and I was looking to go in a different direction. The Tannoys are more that a great sounding speaker, they are beautiful.

Currently I am using a BEL 1001 MK5 amplifier, itself driven by an Aric Audio Special all tube preamp. I am considering the purchase of a tube amplifier or possibly going back to an integrated. If I were to stay with a SS amp and needed to replace my BEL, I would look into the Pass XA25. I believe I would not need any more power than 20 class A watts. My room measures 14.5x12.5x8.5'. It is well treated. I intend to get more familiar with the Sterlings prior to changing anything. I auditioned them with a 20wpc Luxman class A integrated amplifier. That combo sounded wonderful. 

I am curious if anybody has compared the Stirlings to the Turnberrys, and if so, were the Turnberrys worth the extra two grand.  I was at Upscale Audio(I believe they are the Tannoy distributor for the U.S.) about a year ago and was able to view the Prestige line craftsmanship up close.  As others have mentioned, they are beautifully made speakers; old fashion looking however in a wonderfully comfortable way.  Didn't have the time to listen to them, but look forward to that day.  I'm hoping one of those models will be my next speaker purchase, and possibly my last.

@bond-san,

Much of the specification is the same as that of the Stirling, however the Turnberry features a more substantial, taller cabinet with larger internal volume. So you’re likely to hear a slightly better bass response. Turnberry’s are also 2db more efficient. You can’t go wrong with any of the speakers in Prestige series. 

Whichever you decide on, they can be easily your last speaker purchase. I won’t trade my Canterbury’s for anything out there! 

@mesch 

I'm not familiar with your gear.  I'll have to look into those pieces.  I looked pretty hard at the XA25 (or XA30), too, but ultimately went a different direction.  At the time I upgraded my electronics, I was still thinking I'd probably be going with a low-efficiency monitor, like the Dynaudio Special 40 or maybe a Focal, so I went for more power.  The XA25 would be plenty for the Stirlings, though.  The needles on my MC152 rarely get past 1.5W.

@bond-san 

I was not able to compare to the Turnberry.  As I understand it, in addition to the larger cabinets that @lalitk  mentioned, the driver(s) are an upgrade from the Stirling as well.  Still a 10" woofer and the tulip waveguide, but the magnets or voicecoils or something are improved.