Tannoy Westminster Royal HE

There is not one dealer in The Netherlands who has Tannoy Westminsters for an audition, so I really don't know what the Tannoy sound is and what the Westminster is capable of. My only references are the Dunlavy SC-V (which I own) and the Apogee Diva. Do the Westminsters really outshine the other speakers? I'm quite curious because the Tannoy Westminster has gained a cult status among many audiophiles (mainly tube-o-philes and followers of the late "Gizmo" Rosenberg).
If the Tannoy Westminsters are truly sublime, then I might consider to replace my Dunlavies by these speakers.

Chris

I have heard other tannoy concentrics and there is a reason so many enjoy them concentrics have a musical connection thats diferant and more involving than others more conventional designs.FYI I also see someone listed a 2 1/2 year old Westminster on audiogon today.I have used many diferant amp types on my concentrics inc SS designs if the gear is good and low noise should drive a concentric just fine.With SET these drivers do have a bit of synergy.

It's a very small data point, but about five years back I took some 2A3 monoblocks into a dealer showroom to qualify the Churchills for SET amplification. They sounded anemic--at least on 3W. In addition to the lack of dynamics in this less-than-optimal pairing, the midrange lacked smoothness and refinement I was used to with the Wilsons. In that same showroom the SETs were much happier driving Cabasse Farellas.

On the topic of the Churchill, although it has an efficiency rating of 95dB/8Ohm, the 15-inch Dual-Concentric driver does require a little more power to coerce good levels of dynamics to fill up a medium-sized room. My Churchill Wideband can be driven very satisfactorily with 7Wpc, although I must also concede to the immense dynamics and scale of the CW when they were driven by powerful solid-state amplifiers.

On the other hand, 3Wpc is a little underwhelming for the big drivers; but the real potential of an SET of such output is predominantly dependent on the actual design of its power supply section. I've come to learn that with serious efforts in equipping the amplifier with a powerful power supply, even an SET can push a lot of speakers in a medium-sized room, including the Churchill Wideband.

Constantine Soo
Publisher, Dagogo

These were Cary 2A3SE monoblocks. It surprised me that they were able to develop big bass with the Churchhills (suggesting that the 3W amps were up to the job) and yet the whole presentation was discontinuous and not very musical. It was a long time ago, however, and memory is weak. I would only suggest that Dazzdax not become too enamoured of horns viewed from afar; the Dunlavy V is a very different animal and the large Tannoys leave a large footprint after international delivery.