Well the Tannoy DC200s I got on ebay for £80 (probably gonna be the speakers for the new attic room setup) arrived yesterday and I spent the evening having a play around with them - reaction mostly positive - they'll certainly do the job for the top room I think.
Firstly - these are one ugly pair of speakers. Auntie Ants comment - "When do the band come on?" Big box shaped stand mounters covered in black vinyl - with a large 10" dual concentric driver and a bass port.
I have no stands and improvised with some metal framed chairs from ikea - not ideal I know, but they did the job. A trip to Richers on Saturday I think.
First off compared to my Kefs they are warmer.
They go lower in the bass and there is more of it. Generally the bass doesn't sound overblown (although it tended to go that way with the odd track especially the reggae - socks in the bass ports improved that). They do vocals - male and female - beautifully - much better than the Kefs.
Less detail than the Kefs though and there seems to be a strange effect where certain kinds of guitars (that sort of Indy sounding guitar - Smiths and Teenage Fanclub) seem to be a lot further back in the mix. This could be offputting and on some tracks made them sound lacking - you know tracks you know well and there appears to be a hole in their middle.
Yet despite this I also noticed that I could more easily tell the difference between vinyl and CD versions of the same album than with the Kefs sometimes better with vinyl but more noticably on a few albums the other way round.
Couldn't tell much difference regarding soundstaging, but listening positions were hardly ideal.
All together I rather like them. They sound noticably different from the kefs but they'll do
I think the Kefs are better overall, but the Tannoys do some things noticably better. Just wish they weren't so pig ugly. Certainly very listenable.
Tried em out with a variety of stuff - Radiohead, The Bends and OK Computer (both CD) ; The Smiths, The World Won't Listen (vinyl); Max Romeo, Open the Iron Gate (Vinyl); Bob Marley, Uprising (vinyl); Steve Earle, Train a Comin, The Mountain (both CD) ; Dusty Springfield, Memphis (CD and vinyl); Bob Dylan, Freewheelin (CD and vinyl); The Beatles, Abbey Road (CD and vinyl); The Beat, I Just Can't Stop It (vinyl); Teenage Fanclub, Grand Prix (CD and vinyl); Morrissey, Viva Hate (vinyl); Jeff Buckley, Grace (CD); Kraftwerk, Man Machine (vinyl) ... and other stuff I can't remember.
Mind you - going to see Steve and his amazing crossoverless speakers on Monday and taking the Tannoys to test out with some of his stash of secondhand amps. Don't be surprised if he reports back that they are awful, that I have cloth ears and never listen to a word I say, ever again
. Neighbours weren't so keen as I lived in a flat in London at the time...
