Tannoy anyone? Cheviot Legacy vs. Stirling GR


Good Morning and happy holidays,

Having just spent a day over at my friend's new listening shack/man cave with my Leben driving his Tannoy Stirlings, I fell in love and am thinking I might just need a pair myself. So, I could use a little help deciding between the Stirling GR's and Cheviot Legacy's and am curious if any of you have experience with both and what you hear/feel is the difference between the two.

If it helps, I listen to a pretty wide variety - mostly singer songwriter, alt country, some classic rock and jazz. A little hiphop, no metal and very little classical.

Thanks in advance for your insights.

 

 

budburma

I own the Legacy Arden which is in the same line as the Cheviot.

Since you already love the sound of the stirling and its point source design, that seems like the safer bet. And you'll save around $500 in the process.

The Cheviot will likely net you more bass and a more traditional looking cabinet. With either choice, I'd suggest looking into ways to get the tweeter height at ear level. It makes a huge difference in mid to high range frequencies. I have my Arden's raised 8" using steel legs.

This review that briefly compares the legacy models to a Prestige model may be worth reading:  

 

Thanks for that @yakbob - interesting quick read. Actually seemed to point me towards the Cheviot as the writer enjoyed the legacy series Arden as more expansive over the almost twice as expensive GRF! Closer to wall is helpful in my case, but not a decision making requirement....

I get the more and impactful bass, I'm particularly curious around stage/image, details/vocal and high end/extension presentations/perceptions. And maybe versatility with different music genres..

My Ardens are about 20" off the front wall and the sound is not negatively affected if i move them closer to the wall. However, the soundstage is really affected by toe in. The Tannoy recommendation of having the driver axis cross a few feet in front of the listening position is true in my experience. They sound best with cross eyed toe in. The sweet spot is fairly narrow, so the dual concentrics are not the best if you critically listen with more than a couple people.