Which ones should I choose? Tannoy Kensington Gr or B&W 804 D4

@avanti1960 

There is no question that both of these venerable brands have their loyal and happy supporters. Otherwise how could both have successfully survived for decades? Certainly posters responding on this thread have leaned heavily toward Tannoy. This doesn’t make your minority position wrong. We like, what we like. 😊

Charles 

@brunomarcs 

Trust your own ears and listening impressions/reactions. It has to sound right to you. This is regardless of what others may say or believe. This approach has served me unfailingly well.

Charles

@stevevn 

Thanks. Your point is also my concern. It seems that people prefer tannoy to B&w.

You are welcome. I’m not down on B &W speakers and I know that many people like them. I have no idea what your listening bias are (We all possess them). I just tried to answer your inquiry between the two choices presented. Tannoy will offer the opportunity to use a wider variety of amplifiers more successfully. 
 

Tannoy is both higher sensitivity and have a more amplifier friendly speaker impedance load characteristics. Their implementation of concentric drivers have stood the test of time. Personally I believe that you will get a more natural sound quality with the Tannoy. I understand that others may disagree with this. This is simply my opinion/perspective. Best wishes in your decision making.

Charles

@stevevn ,

This excerpt from JA of Stereophile. Keep in mind this speaker relative to the Tannoy is a more challenging load for an amplifier to manage. You may want to take this into consideration as you decide,

Bowers & Wilkins specifies the 804 D4’s anechoic sensitivity as 89dB/2.83V/m. My B-weighted estimate was the same. The 804 D4’s impedance is specified as 8 ohms, with a minimum value of 3 ohms. The solid trace in fig.1 indicates that the impedance magnitude, measured with Dayton Audio’s DATS v2 system, lies between 3 and 6 ohms in the upper bass and midrange, with a minimum value of 2.55 ohms between 121Hz and 131Hz. The electrical phase angle (dashed trace) is occasionally high; for example, there is a current-hungry combination of 3.7 ohms magnitude and –55° phase angle at 87Hz. The effective resistance, or EPDR (footnote 1), drops below 2 ohms between 22Hz and 33Hz, 62Hz and 116Hz, and 663Hz and 886Hz. The minimum EPDR is 1 ohm from 88Hz to 110Hz and 1.6 ohms at 886Hz. The 804 D4 must be used with amplifiers that don’t have problems driving 2 ohms.

Charles

@jond 

Tannoy in a landslide not even close.

+2

Charles