Tannoy Turnberry SE Imaging and Breaking In

That was my experience also w/the Turnberry's I auditioned in store. Hooked up to Rogue M120s, they were "big" and incredibly dynamic. I heard them in a small space, and there was zero image. I think these big boxes need room to breathe to image their best, but I would not expect break in to yield any improvement at all. With time, however, you may come to appreciate their sound as timbrally and rhythmically more accurate; after all, that is what music is all about.

Last year I broke my new Canterbury SE's in, took 20 hours.
The most obvious problem was pronounced shouty harshness in upper midrange, especially female voices. It would have been very discouraging if I had not had prior Tannoy experience.
I have a listening room 16'X20'X8' and I get a natural soundstage according to my live performance memories.

I have heard more distinctive imaging of instruments from Golden Ear Triton 2 and Rockport Mira speakers but believe that the Tannoy presentation is more faithful to the music.

BTW, breakin can take up to 100 hours but is worth it. If you have significant space behind your listening position you can also tell that the sound continues to expand after leaving the speakers...

Congratulations on buying the Tannoys and I hope you enjoy them for many years.

Thanks for your replies.

48 hours later: BIG improvement in imaging and even more so in soundstage! Everything is well-placed in orchestra - this may now be the most impressive type of music given the huge scale and dynamics these speakers produce. Images still aren't as focused as they were with the Auditor M, but this is possibly because they are larger and less dense. I agree with your assessment, Douger, that this feels more natural. I do feel that the SFs had greater transparency and clarity in their favor, contributing to a greater sense of realism in that sense, but in all other ways I prefer the presentation of the Tannoys.

I am also hearing some of the "shoutiness" in the upper midrange/lower treble at high volumes, but I was fully expecting this from what I've read, and expect it to tame with further break in. Adjusting the treble control -1.5 db helps. This is a great feature, I am finding. Incidentally I had it initially at +1.5 dB when things were sounding constricted.

All in all these are fantastic speakers and I am extremely happy with my decision. I will say that one thing I will miss about the SFs is the sweetness of the mids and treble where the Turnberrys (Turnberries?) are a bit dry by comparison, but there is so much more that I've gained that contributes to greater involvement and enjoyment. I need to mention bass impact and definition because that is something that literally struck me about these speakers.

The possibility of downsizing to "good enough" was what triggered the move, but now I don't want to lose anything, just add a bit MORE to make this set up the best it can be.

My room is 15x17x18? (cathedral ceiling), which I think is just big enough. These things throw huge images, so much so that I have changed out my Calyx 24/192 DAC for my Bel Canto DAC3. The Calyx also produces very large images so I needed to scale it down. The crystal clear and snappier character of the Bel Canto is also a good counterbalance to the warmer, darker character of the Tannoys. I am trying hard to resist upgrading it to DAC 3.5VB Mk II status!

Hi guys,
My first post, be gentle...... joined 5 minutes ago!
I was interested to read your thoughts on the Turnberry's, I've just purchased the Kensington SE's & my father is thinking of buying a pair of Turnberry's using his SimAudio amp & cd (he's 87!) .
My Kensingtons are still breaking in but sound great. Funnily enough, I had the Sonus Faber's you had too but enjoy the "bigger picture" that I get from the Tannoys.
I wish all you guys well and enjoy the music!
Mart

My feeling is that Tannoy speakers don't play "audiophile", they just play music. If you go to a live classical concert that's not been "worked" by mics, you really won't hear trumpets over there, behind the violins, etc. Tannoys eschew the stuff that we audiophiles look for, but somehow get to the soul of what music is. Enjoy!!