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Tannoy Westminster amp matching question.

Hello again everyone. Its been a while but I'd like your advice if possible.

I'm waiting for a pair of Tannoy Westminster royal SE's to arrive ( end of dec ). And I'm wondering what to amps to match them with. I have very limited funds at the moment(budget of 3k or so), having lashed out on the speakers, and I'm thinking I'd like to go SET power amps again. So looking at second hand bargains. At the moment I'm thinking Sophia Electric 300b or Art Audio symphony II. Alternative suggestions please !!!!

To give you an idea of my tastes. The system I've put together, that I enjoyed the most, was Avantgarde Duo's and Yamamoto A08s. Loved it. I listen to all sorts of music: Rock, choral, opera, jazz. Love well done female vocals :-)

Thanks for your time.
borg7x9
art80342
65 posts
 
gentlemen,

i tried tubes within the BAT vk55 monoblocks 110w pc and all tube vk32 and found that the sound got muggy and dark when playing classical and orchestral pieces. vocals are as usual nice.

i then tried various solid state combos, then vocals sound cold and edgy but complicated classical and orchestral pieces sound nice.

my conclusion - then no single set up for all music generes.
i owned (still owining) - besides the tannoy westminister se also : vandersteen quattro + harbeth m30 + tannoy autograph mini all quite different in their type of music style / presentation.

for the westminister se, the best combi i have till date are: LFD mistral with a Musical Fidelity tube buffer front end + anti-cables IC. Speaker cables, i gave up on the anti cables (which would otherwise have been an excellent choice) becos of its difficult hadling ...

Any one tried the quad mono blocks with westminister ... all true british synergy...

rgds
jburidan
803 posts
 
I use the Art Audio Jota HC monoblocks with my Tannoys. Bi-amping with a quad of Jotas is ideal, but expensive. Also, it took a long time for my Tannoys to break in. Didn't sound good for several months. Now all is glorious.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,662 posts
 
Art80342, I've heard that the BAT and the Tannoys are not the best combination. Overall though the speaker is very tube-friendly.
art80342
65 posts
 
Gentlemen,

I was wrong about previous judgement on BAT / Tannoy Westminister compatibility!

Changed the Nordost Flatwyre - biwire version out , replacing with normal audio shack grade wires and the sound substantially opened up.

BAT can complement Tannoy!
flyboyb76
3 posts
 
Art80342, I have Tannoy Canterbury SE'S and was driving them with an older LFD Mistral, which I still use for my TV setup.It's a nice little integrated. I recently hooked up a pair of de Havilland Aries 845 monos and the difference is shocking.I'm now getting thunderous bass along with a rich midrange and even a more detailed treble than with the LFD.The dynamics are in another league altogether. You should try to get a listen to one of the deHavilland's and see for yourself.Of course, the price differential makes this an unfair comparison.
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