Looking for opinions on Tannoy Prestige line.

My first speaker was a Tannoy, yes a single speaker. Loved the sound, smooth and laid back. I moved on to K-horns, Proac and am now thinking about JBL Everest. I have heard the Kensington and Everest and think the Everest better meets my needs, especially if driven by ML amps. I think the Everest is about as detailed as you can get, but as always, the room is everything. So, as soon as I come into the $60k, I will act.

I've had the Kensington SE in my system for 2 years now. I've also heard the 2 Glenair models. I fell hard for the Tannoy sound a while ago, and though I do enjoy the attributes of certain other speakers, the dual-concentric sound has become deeply ingrained in my hi-fi experiences & perspectives. It's hard to imagine going to a different speaker line anymore. An example of some attributes I've enjoyed from other speakers (in every case these setups were lovingly tweaked and used excellent upstream gear):
* Audio Physic Tempo 25 threw an incredible soundstage
* Harbeth 40.1 were awesomely musical at moderate volumes
* YG Carmels were very fast and resolving
Then on the other hand, I've heard big boys like the Wilson Maxx and McIntosh line arrays at a high-end dealer, and walked away unimpressed in all respects - hard to compare since that was an open house event and seemed to be more "right from the can onto your plate" system setups (though the upstream gear was all hellaciously expensive). The lone speaker I was impressed by at that open house: the B&W Diamond Signature mini floor-stander. It actually reminded me more of a Tannoy, sound-wise.

What Tannoy does for me is a lovely mix of dynamics, resolution, musicality, coherence, and imaging. Most importantly, they can do spectacularly with rock recordings at higher volume levels. My vinyl collection is NOT typical audiophile fare. They can play clean & loud, and give you a non-fatiguing sound that's listenable for hours. This is all dependent on the room & system of course, as I'd occasionally been fighting a bit of brightness on my Kensingtons, with stock (Russian) tubes and modern high power PPP tube gear. On the other hand, they can easily swing to the side of "too warm and thick" with vintage tube gear, and/or more than 1 set of Mullards in the chain. In that sense they're FAR more revealing and sensitive than I'd ever expected. Every tube and component change is major and extremely apparent! You have to get the overall system balance right.

The Glenairs are excellent, but the Kensingtons SE has a bit of midrange magic that wins me over every time - heard as a touch of "sweetness", ala the upper line Koetsus. The Glenairs can be considered a touch more neutral, or a touch more dry, depending on your perspective. I was really shocked at how much the 10" version improved with some real power behind it - the Rogue Apollo monoblocks brought them alive and made them sound much more powerful than their modest size would indicate. I've got a couple of friends that actually prefer the 10" model over the 15", citing the midrange as the reason (one of them has a theory that the 10" dual concentric is the sweet spot for midrange). That said, the 15" model was certainly dynamic as all hell with those same Apollos.

The other alternative of course, is to consider running SET with these speakers - an avenue I've not explored. Lowest I've gone is 25 Watt/ch vintage PP....and unless in a small room, I love having the extra power!

Oh, and I definitely prefer the Prestige to the lower Tannoy lines, no question.

Hello James,

While I have no experience with the Prestige line, my first pair of Tannoys were ca 1971. They were in DIY cabinets, and not well done, though I did own and enjoy them for 18 years. Then came B&W's, and onto Dynaudio Contour 5.4's. I got this feeling that I had unfinished business with Tannoy, so I sold the Dynaudio's, and purchased a pair of HPD 315's (12" Dual Concentric ca 1975). I had enclosures made, and custom outboard crossovers that I built, using top quality parts. I then had new woofer cones converted to the new "Hard Edge" surrounds, as used in the current Prestige line.

This project took much of my time, and nearly $5000 to complete, but the results were very satisfying, the musicality of these speakers top anything I've owned, and most of what I've heard. If you are the type that likes hands-on, your efforts will be well rewarded.

For more information, check out Hans Hilberinks Tannoy website, there is a wealth of information available on Tannoys, from the history of, how-to, etc.

Best of luck, and enjoy,
Dan

You have to, of course, check out for
yourself. At this level of equipment it's all about tailoring a setup for your own preferences. However, if you ask; I second the others owners here of Tannoy  I'm totally sold on Tannoy Kensington, if you have a mid sized room they are an end station for me.  They excel in being dynamic, coherent and sweet. With tubes, my experience is with push-pull (Manley), they can boogie, rock, be funky and play subtle and tender. They're quit easy to setup right, needs more power than you think if you want them to groove, and loves tubes. In other words, they're musical in the right setup; they portraits music as a gestalt that activates feelings and makes you wanna dance, cry or share wit others - instead of analytically decipher sounds and details in a score.

Thanks for taking the time to write the detail responses.

Mulveling,
I was looking at pictures of the Kensington on Google images today and your system came up... small world, great looking system by the way.

Anyway back to business; does the bass have enough impact when you are listening to rock at say 75db or do they need to be played loud to come alive. Would the Glenair 15" give me more bass impact over the Kensington?

Islandmandan,
Those DIY cabinets are stunning.

Cmalak,
I actually plan to use high powered solid state amps if I buy tannoys. I am open to low power sets but my gut tells me I will like these a lot better with lots of power. I am a hard rock fan turned "audiophile" but I need dynamics. I really think these large driver will be best with some real current and damping factor to make them jump when need. But it is just a guess, I will change my system as needed to optimize the speakers.

There is a pretty good write up by Doug Schroeder on the Glenair 15" some of you might like to read. He uses some high power amps in his review.
http://www.dagogo.com/view-article.asp?harticle=211

Question:
How big a difference is there be tween using a Tannoy with a 10" driver vs a 15" driver. There are a few used pairs of Glenair 15s around but I think I might be best of waiting for a pair of Kensingtons. I just have a hard time believing a 15" driver will be very detailed at its 1K hand off point. How do some of the owners here feel the hand off in on the 15", and I making a big deal out of nothing?