Amp recommendations for Tannoy Canterbury SE


I have just purchased the Tannoy Canterbury SE speakers and am driving them with my existing Ayon Audio Triton II KT88-based monoblocks delivering 100 Watts per channel. My only source Ayon CD-5 is connected directly to the Ayon monos, since the CD-5 has got a decent volume control. I listen to mostly very fast and dynamic music including rock, techno and others.

My initial impressions are that I am not getting speed, punch and tight bass. I am wondering if this is possibly due to an amp mismatch. While the tube amp's 100 Watts seem more than adequate for Canterburys 8 ohms and 96db spec, I wish I could get better results.

I am seeking recommendations on what could be the best suitable amp for the Tannoy Canterburies. I am open to both tubes and solid state.
- What could be some of the best Tube Amps as well as Solid State Amps that could be a good match ?
- Existing Tannoy Prestige series speaker owners - what amps do you use ?
- Should I be looking at tube amps which are based on tubes other than KT-88 ?

If you have any other recommendations in positioning/configuring the Canterburies please let me know too.

Many thanks in advance
Wilfred
wilfredt

Showing 3 responses by islandmandan

Wilfredt,

The VAC Phi 200, at 100 Wpc in stereo mode, is a direct descendant of the PA 35.35. The layout of the tubes and transformers are identical. They can be used as mono-blocs as well. I bought my VAC right here on A'gon for the nominal sum of $1200. You may consider purchasing a used amp, see if you like it, then move up in the line with new models. For what it's worth, when I talked to Kevin Hayes to thank him for how my amp now sounds, I found out he is very interested in Tannoys, we had quite a discussion about them. He has been using Tannoy Westminster and the Royals ( can't remember rest of their name) at shows lately.

Best of luck, and regards,
Dan
Hello Wilfred,

I don't have Canterburys, but I do drive a pair of custom-built Tannoy HPD 315's (12" Dual Concentric, ca 1975, but with new woofers with the updated Prestige "Hard Edge" surrounds). So far, the best amp I have found is an old VAC PA 35.35, an EL 34 push-pull amp with tremendous current delivery capability, though they are only 35Wpc.

I also have a Plinius SA 100 MKIII, at 100Wpc, but the VAC is by far the better match. I listen to very dynamic symphonic music, jazz, r'n'r, and blues. This amp/speaker combination is well-suited for any type of music, the ability to deliver high energy transients is quite often enough to scare the daylights out of me.
I like the VAC so much, I sent it in to Kevin and company at the factory for a Signature upgrade, and it's even better than before. You might consider looking into VAC, this amp has done great for me.

Best of luck,
Dan
Hello Wilfredt, all,

A lot of good input on this thread. FWIW, I thought I would mention I have been using a Sonic Euphoria tranformer-based passive line stage for years, and have always been happy with the gain (or, more rightly, attenuation) provided. Since I've switched back to Tannoy and tubes, I've been curious what an active line stage would do, but resources always seem to go elswhere.

I have used from 100-300 Wpc SS amps with my current Tannoys, but the VAC PA 35.35 remains the best match of what has been avaiable to me. Actually, I take that back, Zsolt Mathe brought one of his Z-Infinity Z-100 (50Wpc) amps over (he wanted to hear it through my speakers), and it actually sounded better to me than my VAC. I don't know how the two amps would stack up now that the VAC had its factory upgrade, but I think it would be close.

Anyway, an enjoyable discussion-
Regards,
Dan