Tannoy Canterbury, KEF Reference 5, Fyne Vintage Twelve, SF Serafino

The older I get, the more I start to notice how big of an influence the room makes to my sound. Don't get me wrong I love tweaks and swapping cables and such. But unless you have your room sorted with treatments, it probably makes a bigger difference than any modest gear upgrade. 

Factor in the part where you watch movies and Netflix, that room correction is going to be very helpful. Probably more so than the differences between a quality AVR versus stereo integrated. Some room correction is better than others though, I think Dirac is one of the better ones up there with Anthem. 

I would be concerned about any pair of main speakers if I couldn't get a matching center channel, or at least a pretty close match from the same brand. Not sure all the speakers on your list offer that. 

Canterburys should be fine in that room. In general, the Tannoys / Fynes are room friendly due to the dual concentric drivers and controlled dispersion. If you do run into issues, going closer (mid-field or even pseudo-nearfield) works well with these speakers, and can help. As always, bass response will come down to positioning of speakers and seating. You also get a little more control over bass with Canterbury’s adjustable venting. I guess I don’t fixate on room & treatments as much as others since Tannoys are more easy-going here.

The 15" drivers like Canterbury will have a tighter, smaller sweet spot than the 10" and 12" drivers. If you can't always sit in the sweet spot you'll be better served by a 10". Maybe even the dual 10" like Fyne 703.

The NAD "M" series class D amps are excellent. Their digital preamps however - not so much a fan of those. But then I don’t do HT or the room correction stuff - just pure 2ch.

Thank you!

I saw a McIntosh MA12000 on sale at a local dealer. Think going to get that one. 

How do you feel about SF Serafino/Amati G5 vs Tannoy/Fyne. I have a hard time finding a Tannoy dealer here in NYC, but I'll keep looking.

How do you feel about SF Serafino/Amati G5 vs Tannoy/Fyne. I have a hard time finding a Tannoy dealer here in NYC, but I'll keep looking.

Couldn't comment on the SF's - it's been ages since I heard one, and it wasn't at the level of what you're looking at. Beautiful speakers!

I wasn't sure if you were looking to buy used Tannoys - on new ones, the drivers have been made in China since 2020-ish. Cabinets made in ???. The Scotland factory was closed down. I haven't yet heard one of the China-made Prestige Tannoys. The prices didn't go down with this significant change in manufacture, either (you can get Kevin Deal's made in China scratch-and-dent leftovers at a *slight* discount). So honestly I'd stick to used Tannoys or new Fynes if going that route.

Fyne is much better value than Tannoy. I would also look at KLH model 5 and Monitor Audio https://speakerchoices.com/