Tannoy Stirlings on the way!

@mulveling Totally fascinating writeup thanks but I have a question, why couldn't they pair an Alnico magnet with the tulip waveguide? Or is it just tradition or users prefer the pepper pot sound?

@mulveling Totally fascinating writeup thanks but I have a question, why couldn’t they pair an Alnico magnet with the tulip waveguide? Or is it just tradition or users prefer the pepper pot sound?

I’m not entirely sure of that answer (I’m not an expert just a hobbyist trying to learn about the speakers I love), but my guess is that with ferrite magnets being stronger per mass / volume than alnico, the use of alnico necessitates a much larger & longer magnet to reach the desired flux density in the (very small) voice coil gaps. The pole pieces focus the entire magnet’s strength into the voice coil gaps. Each waveguide has been optimized to work with the lengths of magnet dictated by either type, so mixing them up would NOT produce good results.

Tulip / ferrite driver cross section - note the use of dual magnets (the medium gray rectangles) and the fact that each magnet is very short!

Pepperpot / alnico - one LONG magnet’s entire strength is focused onto both voice coils by the pole piece arrangements:

One more note on replacement driver costs - when I said the alnico drivers cost a LOT more, that is true - but only for the WHOLE driver. The replacement tweeters contain only the diaphragm and voice coil, and are quite affordable to replace (at most a couple hundred bucks each). I've had this done on my prior Kenstingtons. Since this is the most likely part to fail or degrade in a Tannoy driver (and indeed, it's happened to me), this is a good arrangement. The tulip tweeters include the waveguide and the tweeter magnet, and I think they actually cost a little more than the pepperpot tweeters. 

That all makes good sense.  Great stuff.

Only problem is now I want to upgrade to Kensingtons! lol  I have some kind of romantic attachment to alnico magnets.

Only problem is now I want to upgrade to Kensingtons! lol I have some kind of romantic attachment to alnico magnets.

@trentmemphis Sometimes I feel like I could’ve just been happy sticking with the Kensington SEs and a sweet sounding tube amp like 13 years ago lol. They are a wonderful speaker. Then I heard the Definition 10A, with same driver (oops - that one has the real alnico / pepperpot but it's not gold colored) but in modern cabinets with reflex loading that seem like they should be VASTLY superior acoustically, and they didn’t do it for me - bright, lost the charm? Something about those old English vented cabinets, I guess.

@trentmemphis I have the Kensingtons and and Canterbury, if you plan to upgrade to the Kensingtons, and you have the space and $ got with the Canterbury, they are all that much better. I like both of them a lot.

But at that price, you should look at Avantgrade, they are horn speakers but sound "+/- like" the Tannoy but much more open and dynamic without losing the coherency and sweetness of the Tannoy.

@mulveling I listen to the Definition when auditioning the Canterbury, and the truth to be told, I did not like them at all, tight, not the tight that goes away with time, very narrow soundstage. I was offered an incredible deal, but I would have not had them at any price. They just got my ears tired with their undertone ringing. 

English is not my language, sorry for bad grammar and use of words.