Tannoy Speakers

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

I have been around live music and studios for 25 years. Along with ATC and Harbeth, Tannoys are really a "pro" standard from which many songs have been mixed and edited. I frequently see them in visits to the UK and know many professional musicians who use them. Pete Townsend of the Who uses them in his private studio for demo playback and recently wrote a nice article about them two months ago which you should be able to "google". World class stuff all the way. I myself use ATC and Blue Sky Audio gear for my music rooms and am very happy. Blue Sky is an up-and-coming company and offers the best value for cost. ATC is well known, very expensive for the top gear, and are used by many respected engineers and Pink Floyd. I have two engineer friends who work for the BBC and Abbey Road and they swear by Harbeth 40s as the best neutral speakers. If you have the time, you should check all of them out. It is really a matter of personal preference and money.

I'm incredibly happy with my Tannoy D-700's. Have added the supertweeter and a good subwoofer to complete the range. Running LOTS of power with bi-amping and Bi-wiring for 350 watts to each DRIVER as a result.

Highly recommend them, and they come cheap on the open market. Nice pieces of furniture/wood finished for the wife factor.

Well i'll post the first contrary opinion. I have heard a TD12, and a few Tannoy Prestige speakers, including a Westminster Royal. Each of these speakers was fitted with the Tannoy super tweeter. I did not like any of them.

Just a note - the owner of the Westminster Royal indicated to me that he had the crossover settings wrong on the day that I visited. So I will exclude it from my comments until I get a chance to listen again. My comments are based on the Glenair, Turnberry, and the Kensington.

Tannoy Prestige speakers produce a very pleasant sound - warm, inviting, and comfortable. It is a very easy sound to listen to, a bit like an old wine which has lost its aggression.

However, when you want to really hear what is going on, the speakers fail. They simply fall over when asked to present complex orchestral works. Suppose I want to analyze what the cellists are doing in a Wagner piece. The Tannoys will not allow you to do that.

The romantic coloration of all pieces does not work with most types of music. The speakers have the effect of slowing the music down and giving it a bit more bloom. I wonder if cone breakup is the culprit - being such a large dome, and being asked to handle such a wide frequency response.

wrt the 3 speakers above - the Glenair seems to have the most coloration, and the Kensington the least.

12-03-07: Amfibius
Well i'll post the first contrary opinion.

Good for you! - However, it would be interesting (for me at least)to know what amp was driving them.

I have found that in many instances - when someone reports that a good pair of speakers are not performing to expectation, it is probably the amp & speaker combination that is the culprit and not the speaker alone.

e.g.
Living Voice are dull and lifeless with the Raysonic SP120, but are improved considerably with the Raysonic SE 30

The Tannoy Sensys DC2 are very bassey and uncontrolled with the Cambridge Audio Azur 640 amp, but with the Exposure 2010 they perform extremely well

Also - the speakers you mention have an adjustable crossover, which may not have been adjusted to the optimum setting for the listening envorinment - or simply set to the owners preference!

Also - Speaker Position is crucial to good speaker performance - I've commented several times to my local hi-fi store about this one. Most listening environments are not optimally configured for good sound

Having said that - Tannoy are not to everyone's tastes - that is why there are so many other brands out there

But they are very good speakers - along with many others!

I would still be interested in knowing what amp they were paired with?

Regards...