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just auditioned tannoy yorkminster

heard them at a dealer with moscode amp, conrad johnson pv-12 preamp, bat cd player, and unidentified vinyl gear.

the yorkminster with super tweeters were very revealing, transparent, truly full range, had great retrieval of details, but somehow not as engaging/musical as my setup. female and male voices were clear and smooth. full orchestras and small jazz ensembles sounded very natural and lively. but of the 2 piano recordings we've heard (including one of mine), none connected with me. my piano cd sounded choppy, incoherent, and harsh through the yorkminster, but never through my system.

perhaps:
1. i am too used to my system's warm and golden sound
2. my room is much larger
3. my cds were not well recorded and my system is too forgiving
4. the yorkminster is not fully broken in yet
5. the dealer's electronics were not on par

i am still a tannoy fan. i was also a bit surprised how reasonably priced the legendary westminster royal ($24k) is comparing to the yorkminster ($14k) and the likes of b&w original nautilus ($40k), jm lab grand utopia be ($70k?), acapella (rocket lift off)...

sorry for the rather inconclusive, unscientific, baseless report : )
scottie
szutinglee
quad-man's avatar
quad-man
131 posts
 
I also just heard them at a dealer in Denver and was totally unimpressed!

The sound was laid back and not open and had a sort of smeared bass, piano was poor (cluncky) vocals had good tone but wanted them to pop out a bit but never did! To be fair I believe they do require quite a long break-in but if they sound this bad un-broken-in it's up to Tannoy to burn them in a bit before shipping! Profits first I guess!
kiddman
341 posts
 
I heard them at a show in Denver (same dealer) and was put off from Tannoy by the weird presentation. Luckily, I finally, concluded it was a bad demo (associated equipment made them fat, dull, with a strange midrange) and bought some on a hunch. Never been happier.

That dealer...well, you met him, nuff said. Not talking about the original owner, may he RIP.
mulveling's avatar
mulveling
1,878 posts
 
The Tannoy Prestige Pepperpot models are *extremely* revealing of upstream gear. And, this is the rare exception where that doesn't mean the speakers themselves are sterile / analytical / bright / unmusical. Just put together great sounding gear that works well together, set them up reasonably in a decent room, and they'll sing to you. I have heard them sound bad, and it's a damn shame -- care for them appropriately.
kiddman
341 posts
 
I don't know if I would go so far as to say *extremely* revealing. As a speaker that's known to be "musical", and I agree with that, with limited top end extension, they are less revealing than quite a few speakers I've used. I don't necessarily mean that as a positive about the other speakers. The ease of the Tannoy makes them a little more forgiving of recordings or gear that might not be the absolute best in smoothness. I think of the pepperpot as being revealing enough to make valid decisions about recordings and upstream gear, but forgiving enough to give some "wiggle room" for recordings and gear that are not the absolute best.

The lousy demo I heard of them that I referred to a couple of posts above this had to be due to pretty poor setup, amps with not enough drive, and not the speaker being excessively picky about associated gear. Some dealer incompetence definitely came into play. It was not a break-in related thing for sure.
analogluvr
859 posts
 
I'm pretty sure it was the equipment. I own the yorkminsters and find myself listening to more and more classical and piano as it sounds so phenomenal! They put out quite a bit more base then most of the Tannoy line
Aside from the Westminster. This causes them to overwhelm someone's and sound fat and bloated. Room treatments are more important than ever. And I have found mine to be extremely revealing as well. This surprised me as they do this while retaining their incredible musicality.
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