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Tannoy Speaker Owners

I have Tannoy DC8Ti speakers.  I'm planning to retire sometime this year, and want to try tubes before I do. I'm wondering what amps, tubes or otherwise, other Tannoy owners have. I'm only interested in power amps.  I've tried the Tannoy's with each of my three solid state power amps: Pioneer SPEC-4 (~36 years old) ; McIntosh MC2600 (~ 25 years old); and NAD M22v2 (1 year old). The NAD sounds best in my system: wider sound stage with better instrument separation, timbre, musicality, detail, etc.  

My current system:  Herron VSTP-3A(r02) pre amp, NAD M22v2 power amp, Innous Zenith MKII media player, Small Green Computer i7 for Roon DSP, Audio Mirror Tubadour III SE DAC, Parasound JC3jr phone pre, and Technics SL-1200G TT w/ Ortofon Quintet Black.

My listening room is small ~13'x12'x8'.  I listen to contemporary jazz (no John Coltrane , Miles Davis, etc) and old school R&B (none of today's Hip Hop or Rap).  I love vocals (e.g., Gregory Porter, Diana Krall, Angela Glaupo, Randy Crawford, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Chicago); non-vocal music (e.g., The Crusaders, Arne Domnerus, Brad Mehldau, Dave Grusin, Stanley Clarke) and the combination of both (e.g., War, Earth, Wind, and Fire, Santana).

I'd like to audition whatever I buy in my system.  I'd prefer to start looking at amps that others are using. My budget is ~$7500, and I'm in no rush.

I'm not opposed to used, and there are several deals on agon at the moment. In particular a Zesto Audio Bia 120 that is about 60% below retail.  In my area, there are several high-end audio stores and independent manufactures that produce high-quality / reference grade components.  I realize there's the usual suspects (Cary, Rogue, PrimaLuna, Luxman, etc.).  I also plan to visit the local manufactures.




128x128oldschool1948
oldschool1948's avatar
oldschool1948 OP
503 posts
 
@cd318  Thank you.  I truly appreciate your comments.  I also had way too much 80's and 90's era stuff from my military days, and began giving it way last year to my nephew, godson, and goddaughter.  In the end, I can't take it with me:  NAD 7140 receiver each; original Bose 901s w/ equalizer and chrome stands, JBL L100, and Boston Acoustic T1000 speakers.  I set them up with Raspberry PI DACs so they can stream Tidal via Logitech Media Server.  

@mulveling @gadios.  If I do change to another Tannoy model, it will mostly likely be the Turnberrys.  I wanted the Ardens, but they are too wide for my listening room.  Also, the chief-of-staff (my wife) gets a say, so whatever new speakers I buy have to look "nice" and fit our home decor.  Know that I mean?

Today, I visited Linear Tube Audio and listened to their ZOTL40 Reference and ZOTL Ultralinear power amplifiers.  Both sounded really good; I liked the  ZOTL40 best.  Next step is to hear the ZOTL40 in my listening room. 

I'm anxious to hear how the ZOTL40 compares to the Pioneer SPEC-4 that I'm currently using (since I've given away the M22v2).  The SPEC-4 pushes the Tannoys with ease and sounds really nice (after I changed the Herron's gain from High to Low and set the SPEC-4's gain controls appropriately).  
mulveling's avatar
mulveling
2,005 posts
 
@oldschool1948 In that case where Legacy series are ruled out for width and/or WAF, check out Fyne Audio. A lot of Tannoy engineers started it up after Tannoy’s last ownership change (and a lot of outsourcing to China). Fyne speakers are all made in the UK and carry on the tradition of the dual-concentric, but with their own spin on things. They also have some sleek looking models that seem to have disappeared from Tannoy’s lineup. The F703 in particular look like they’d be amazing.

If I were you I'd probably have gone F703 and kept the NAD amps!
ranjan
35 posts
 
@mulveling 
heard the Fyne F702 at the Florida Audio Expo over the weekend and was highly impressed. By far the best under $10,000 speakers at the show. They were also in another room with the 502 series. Also very impressive at the $3000 range. Had never heard of the brand before but the value was very noticeable. In my opinion they were Best of Show for the price point by a large margin.
jburidan
803 posts
 
Fyne F702  looks interesting. Thnx :)
oldschool1948's avatar
oldschool1948 OP
503 posts
 
The F702's look very nice and a lot like my DC8Ti's.  They are priced about the same.  The F702's are more efficient and lack rear ports, which might be good depending on the amp I end up with.  

Going with a tube amp is a big decision for me because I've always used SS amps.  And while the NAD M22v2 sounds really nice in my system, I want to audition mono blocks - tube or SS.  There are so many choices that its mind boggling.  
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