Tannoy Speakers

Hi, my comments are in the context of an owner of 12" Tannoy red monitors, as well as auditioning the big 15" red GRF Autograph monitors and the huge dual 15" red GRF Autograph Professionals in friend's systems I'm familiar with. I also owned dipolars, Apogee ribbons and conventional ported and sealed box speakers.

The better Tannoy dual concentrics are more about the "big picture" of music reproduction because they capture the flow, emotion and human qualities. They also sound very alive at low volume levels, a common trait of horns, where other topologies tend to sound sleepy and compressed in comparison at low levels. They can boogie at high levels too, if that's your thing. They work with different genres of music - classical, chamber, jazz and rock. And they do some of the best "tone color" I've heard. These qualities come with a trade-off in less transparency, detail and accuracy compared to other speakers. I hear better sound with the other speakers, but I'm reminded of living people performing music on the better Tannoys.

Scott

I have owned and enjoyed Tannoy Dual Concentrics since the 1970s.

I currently own three pairs from the Tannoy Professional line, none of them, unfortunately, current models: the System 15 DMT II, the System 10 DMT II and the (rather rare) active model, the AMS-12A.

I have also owned Monitor Golds, Monitor HPDs, and the System 12 DMT I.

Sensitive, dynamic, detailed yet supremely musical--all the good adjectives are applicable, plus the special something that only full range drivers and DCs can deliver--except DCs don't compromise frequency extension and dynamics they way single full range drivers do.

I have auditioned and owned many other fine (and not so fine) speakers over the years, but have always gone back to Tannoy DCs (Tannoy makes regular non-dual concentric speakers as well, but they are budget models and do not compare to the dual concentrics).

One day, when I get the money and the space, I will get a pair of fully horn loaded Tannoy Westminster Royals.

P.S.: Altec's long-time competitor to the Tannoy DC, the 604 series (once again available from Great Plains Audio in the U.S.) are also very fine speakers. I owned the 604-8K until recently, and enjoyed them immensely, but they are somehow not as engaging as comparable Tannoys.

A good friend has a new pair of Glenair's, they sound fantastic and look beautiful......I love em!
He runs them with Pass Labs Mono Blocks, Linn pre, SOTA Cosmos with SME V arm, Again they just sound great and effortless.

My reference speakers are a pair of Tannoy 215 DMT II professional studio monitors with two 15" drivers per channel, one of which is the famous dual concentric (DC) --
same speakers as found in professional mastering studios throughout the world.

These are extremely coherent and musical speakers, with beautiful instrumental timbres and the best dynamic swing I've heard. Excellent for large-scale orchestral music. Also, lots of detail and nuance at low listening volumes.

Efficiency is 101dB, and I drive them with 300B SET amps.

My praise applies only to Tannoys with large doped-paper DC drivers, not to the smaller plastic drivers.

My A/V surround sound system has the following Tannoy's
Front L/R - Mercury F4
Centre - Mercury FC
Rear L/R - Mercury F1

My Bro-in-law has Sensys DC2 - which I auditioned with him.

None of these are "Real Tannoys", since they are all made in China and not the UK, but they are all extremely good value and great performers

The Mercury line is timbre matched and I can say that they do have extremely similar sound attributes - the bigger the speaker the better the bass, but there was also a slight improvement in treble from the F1 to the F4

If space is a limitation the F1 is a great small speaker for music also

Sonically I found these speakers to be very neutral and extremely dynamic and well controlled, compared with similarly priced competition - heck even most speakers at twice the price.

I found them to be better than Rega, which I found were much too harsh.

When driven with a good amp they are excellent value for money.

One complaint is the cheap terminals do not clamp spades very well (stripped the threads) so I had to switch to bananas (not a big deal)

Being front ported they can be placed close to the rear wall

Correct speaker placement from the side wall makes for a much better sound - either 1/5th, 1/7th or 1/9th the width of the room in from the side walls and toe-in to focus the sound just behind the listening position.

On the F4's I made feet to take the spikes outside the footprint of the speaker cabinet in order to make them rock steady - improved the sound a lot too!

The Sensys DC2 - are a completely different story -
- Nicer finish
- Far superior drivers
- absolutely amazing value for Money.

Once again, you have to drive it with a quality amp and cables to bring out the best qualities....

I have heard them with...
- a Cambridge Audio Azur 640 - which could not control the speaker at all well - very boomy bass
- an Exposure 2010s - had excellent control

They are very detailed with
- excellent response from deep-deep low's to the highest highs
- very neutral - little, to no coloration
- not too easy to drive - takes a bit of power
- highs are very smooth and extremely detailed
- very nice imaging
- extremely accurate respoduction
- very "fast" response from bass drivers

I would venture to say that these two lines represents what Tannoy has always stood for - Great Music

What suprised me was the price - excellent value!

Hope this helps