Tannoy Speakers

I own Tannoy Arundels with the 15in dual concentric drivers. I could not be much happier with those speakers. They are not «hifi» (they have a little horn coloration) but just plainly musical, coherent and easy to listen. They are efficient and present a easy load to the amplifier. The only drawback is that the are big and bulky and not much wife friendly but can have some retro charm. I have completely redone the crossover (without changing the values) and refinished the exterior so I plan on keeping them for a long time.

Hi, my comments are in the context of an owner of 12" Tannoy red monitors, as well as auditioning the big 15" red GRF Autograph monitors and the huge dual 15" red GRF Autograph Professionals in friend's systems I'm familiar with. I also owned dipolars, Apogee ribbons and conventional ported and sealed box speakers.

The better Tannoy dual concentrics are more about the "big picture" of music reproduction because they capture the flow, emotion and human qualities. They also sound very alive at low volume levels, a common trait of horns, where other topologies tend to sound sleepy and compressed in comparison at low levels. They can boogie at high levels too, if that's your thing. They work with different genres of music - classical, chamber, jazz and rock. And they do some of the best "tone color" I've heard. These qualities come with a trade-off in less transparency, detail and accuracy compared to other speakers. I hear better sound with the other speakers, but I'm reminded of living people performing music on the better Tannoys.

Scott

I have owned and enjoyed Tannoy Dual Concentrics since the 1970s.

I currently own three pairs from the Tannoy Professional line, none of them, unfortunately, current models: the System 15 DMT II, the System 10 DMT II and the (rather rare) active model, the AMS-12A.

I have also owned Monitor Golds, Monitor HPDs, and the System 12 DMT I.

Sensitive, dynamic, detailed yet supremely musical--all the good adjectives are applicable, plus the special something that only full range drivers and DCs can deliver--except DCs don't compromise frequency extension and dynamics they way single full range drivers do.

I have auditioned and owned many other fine (and not so fine) speakers over the years, but have always gone back to Tannoy DCs (Tannoy makes regular non-dual concentric speakers as well, but they are budget models and do not compare to the dual concentrics).

One day, when I get the money and the space, I will get a pair of fully horn loaded Tannoy Westminster Royals.

P.S.: Altec's long-time competitor to the Tannoy DC, the 604 series (once again available from Great Plains Audio in the U.S.) are also very fine speakers. I owned the 604-8K until recently, and enjoyed them immensely, but they are somehow not as engaging as comparable Tannoys.

A good friend has a new pair of Glenair's, they sound fantastic and look beautiful......I love em!
He runs them with Pass Labs Mono Blocks, Linn pre, SOTA Cosmos with SME V arm, Again they just sound great and effortless.

My reference speakers are a pair of Tannoy 215 DMT II professional studio monitors with two 15" drivers per channel, one of which is the famous dual concentric (DC) --
same speakers as found in professional mastering studios throughout the world.

These are extremely coherent and musical speakers, with beautiful instrumental timbres and the best dynamic swing I've heard. Excellent for large-scale orchestral music. Also, lots of detail and nuance at low listening volumes.

Efficiency is 101dB, and I drive them with 300B SET amps.

My praise applies only to Tannoys with large doped-paper DC drivers, not to the smaller plastic drivers.