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Tannoy Yorkminster vs Canterbury

Hello
I am looking for opinions comparing the Tannoy Yorkminster vs the Canterbury from those who have heard them. I had hoped to get some Westminster's but looks like my room is not going to be big enough for them, so I am specifically looking at these. Now, I know that the Yorkminster has a lower bass response, which I am interested in, however, I have read that the mid is not as sweet as the Canterbury... Is this actually so or possibly a "break in" issue? I listen to a wide range of music with classic jazz and classic rock being the major majority and classical being a significant minority. I currently have Quad ESL's (up for sale) so mid clarity and detail is very important to me, yet having said that, the lack of bass from the Quad's is exactly the reason for my speaker change. I have heard smaller Tannoys in the past (and LOVED the sound) but am unable to hear either of these before purchase unfortunately. I will be using them with Atma-Sphere MA-1 OTL amps and custom Audio Note DAC, along with phono frontend.
Thank you, in advance, for thoughtful response.
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mulveling's avatar
mulveling
1,896 posts
 
Congrats man -- I was so exited to get my Canterbury SE, and it turned out very well...your GR will be even better!
mbovaird
140 posts
 
Congrats!!!
analogluvr
859 posts
 
Congrats on your speakers, you can't go wrong with any tannoy. With regards to yorkie vs canterbury I'm firmly in the yorkie camp. It's true what people are saying they can get honky but I have found that's more a function of which amp you have them paired with. They demand quality and are very transparent despite being very musical. Very few ss amps will pull it off, sugden and lfd being a few. I have found good synergy with quality 300B or 845. I found I could not live with the lack of bass the canterbury offered but to each his own.
analogluvr
859 posts
 
Just stumbled across this and figured I would post an update. Still living happily with the Yorkies and continually amazed at their ability to excell at all genres. When I here other peoples setups often I am left underwhelmed at the "thin" presentation. The bit of edge I used to encounter at the high end seems to be gone completely. When I got them I had the treble controls shelved back one but now I run them flat and never notice any honk. Maybe I've gotten deafer :) one of the hazards of being married I guess. Or maybe they are broken in further?? Either way I'm totally happy and am listening an average of almost 2 hours daily.
One thing I would like to try is buying an older pair of drivers and building a pair of custom enclosures.
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islandmandan
1,260 posts
 
Hi Analogluvr,

Since you made mention of using custom enclosures and Tannoy drivers, it gave me license to mention mine, HPD 315's in 150 liter bass-reflex, 1 7/8" thick MDF, cones converted to "Hard Edge", and custom crossovers using copper ribbon inductors, Mundorf SIO caps, and Dueland resistors.

I have used many different amps with these speakers, and have arrived at my holding point, with two completely different types of amps, an SET 300B, which matches beautifully, and Class D Audio CDA 254 amps, of which I am using two in bridged mono configuration, at 500 Watts into 8 Ohms.

The SET hasn't seen much use since I built these Class D's, the Tannoys sound spectacular with that much power (they sound spectacular with the SET 300B too, but with the additional power, there's no contest, as the Class D sounds very much like the SET on steroids).

I encourage you to pursue a project pair of Tannoys. Back when I built mine (ca 2009+-), I found my drivers on Ebay UK for around $700. They have gotten much, much more expensive since then, and will most likely continue to do so.

You should check and see what's available now, and if you're not too discouraged, get started. Done right, a vintage custom pair of Tannoys can give nearly any speaker a run for their money.

Enjoy, and regards,
Dan
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