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Tannoy Reds - Orange dust cap vs Black dust cap? Please advise

Hi All,

I'm new to vintage audio and recently came across Tannoy spearkers. I bought a pair of 12" Monitor Gold speakers and love the sound from these speakers. They are currently being driven by a tube amp. I'm happy with the sound but I'm intrigued and curious about vintage Tannoys now and want to explore more vintage Tannoy speakers. A Tannoy enthusiast and collector who lives about 200 miles away from me is selling a couple of pairs of Tannoy Red speakers.

However, one of the Reds pair has a Orange dustc ap and the other pair has Black dust cap accounting for the earlier generation of Reds(Orange dust cap) and later generation(Black dust cap). He is quoting $1000 more for the Orange dust cap. He said he is personally unable to make out any sonic differences between the two pairs of Reds but he knows that the audiophiles and collectors prefer the Orange dust cap and pay premium for it. Both the pairs also seem to have identical crossovers. Both pairs are in Tannoy Lancaster cabinets. I do understand these are 16ohm speakers and my tube amp can support that.

My question for folks who are familiar with Tannoys is:
1. Is there an actual difference between the two generations of Reds apart from the color of dust cap?
2. Which one would you buy today and why?
3. Would it make sense to get one each of the orange and black drivers and make it pair? - I don't know if he will split them but I'm just wondering.

Thanks for any inputs.

128x128vinttannoy
jorgitox's avatar
jorgitox
13 posts
 

Well, I own a pair of these drivers, Red Monitor ones, one with orange dust cap and another with a black one. They are to my eyes and ears the same sounding speakers and the same structure, although dust caps differ from colour and the colour of both woofers are not exactly the same (one pic is attached). I am looking for an orange dust cap, but it is just impossible to find the original spare, so if you know where could I find something similar, please let me know.

jorgitox's avatar
jorgitox
13 posts
 

Asking your questions:

1.- Apart from the serial number and manufacture year, they are the same speakers, sonically, I mean.

2.- If you can find the orange dust caps, the better, because they are more valuable day by day. If you want to buy it just for you, whatever you use will give you the same sound.

3.- I have one of each other, so I tell you it is impossible to find the original orange dust cap. The only thing we could do is buying a black one, put if inside bleach and later finding a spray to paint it and try to match the colour... or buying two black caps. Whatever, if you put some grills on your speakers, no matter what colour is that senseless piece.

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