Speaker advice - £4000-£9000

I like them, but maybe thats because I know what they replaced -

 

Good idea Neil. Also, if Ganesh is prepared to buy second hand the Westminster Royal should be within his budget, if rare. Now these are rather good as you know. Pity Mike isn't here to sing about JBLs or other interesting monitors.

 

Dev

No I was not suggesting Ganesh Buy GRF`s, I was simply suggesting to him that Tannoy Designs have probably moved on since his Monitor Golds, and that if he was close enough he could grab a listen to my GRF Memory`s before having a listen to a speaker from the prestige range, Therfore showing him the full spectrum of the Tannoy 15" dc from very early days to a modern pair, with mine somewhere between the two.

Sorry for any confusion

 

No confusion Andy. I'm just sad that Tannoy don't make these any more. Glad you like yours, and to top it all you are in a tiny minority, having a wife that likes speakers of that size. Lucky so & so.

 

Dev I am luckier than that not only does she not dislike them she says they are quite a nice peice of furniture (I am expecting some king of doyle and a statue to arrive on the top of them at any moment ....snigger) But they are out of her way in my listening room which is almost a Boys only hideaway LOL. Except when i let her in to use the vac!!!

 

I know of a pair of Westminsters for sale for about £4,000 if that's what you're looking for.

'best' speaker is a big misnoma, and is a matter of selecting your favourite compromise.

Here are the westminsters..

 

WOW Good price too!!

 

Now, If i had the room and an understanding partner, I'd snap up a pair of WR's for £4K. They make most other speakers sound rather inadequate.

 

I could use a pair as computer speakers in the study (for the mp3s).

 

Westminster or Westminster Royal? Big difference.

 

I'd need to be a Royal in Westminster to afford them.

 

Hi Colin,

Very beautiful speaker but quite a scary impedence curve IIRC. Maybe the (cheaper) Cremona would give the amps an easier ride and provide much of the Amati's performance for much less dosh? One thing's for sure, regardless of sound, SF make just about the most beautiful speakers on the planet.

Incidentally, do you think it would be wise to use SDL's with a 100w valve amp? Might have a problem with too much gain. Aren't the large Hornings are 100dB+ sensitivity?

The only speakers I can heartily recommend you audition, are a little-known Canadian brand called Co-incident, and Usher Audio of Taiwan. Co-incident are imported by http://www.musicology.co.uk/codent_total_victory_ii.html. These multi-driver designs are very efficient (but not SDL efficient I hasten to add), have a very benign impedence curve. They'll go very loud with a 10w 300B amp. They are built to a very high standard and (to use a cliché) have electrostatic musical flow, but with outstanding bass and a broad, deep soundtage.

Despite the number of drivers involved, they can turn on a sixpence when it comes to timing. If I ever upgrade my Amphions and can't afford the Kryptons, the Super Eclipse will be very high on my list. Stunning loudspeakers with real-world flexibility. Aesthetics aren't anything to write home about though. Look forward to hearing these again at Heathrow, where along with those amazing Avantgarde horns and MBL's, they were the speakers of the show for me.

Usher make some very interesting designs, and appear to be great value. Good design pedigree & nice SF type aesthetics. I'd definitely check them out: http://www.hiaudio.co.uk/UA/8871.htm

Rgds,
DT

 

Big is relative Markus. We mean the Royals of course. They have been "upgraded" recently to SE. I've forgotten exactly what these upgrade are, but I think it was internal cabling and crossover component. Nice to see the "pepperpot" alive and well. The price has now gone up to about £17.5k.

 

Check out the dude at Big Ears Audio- I think he specialises in building GRF replicas and sticking vintage tannoy drivers in them.

 

The blokey who is 'Big Ears' bought my old Lancaster cabs from me - I think he said he used to build replica GRF's, which maybe suggests he doesn't anymore?

The Emporium have a pair of replica corner GRF's (no drivers) on their site for £3k, they were on ebay a while back (didn't sell) and they looked really nice. I'm sure that 15" Golds would fit the GRF cabs correctly.

 

3K. That sounds a little costly without any drivers.

 

Co-Incident Super Eclipse III

Interesting speakers DT. Have you only ever heard them under show conditions, though? Being only 92 dbl sensitive could suit certain valve amps, as there should be almost no hiss to contend with. One downside is they'd probably need a bit of space from a rear wall.

 

Can you tell me where please?

Colin.

 

No kidding, that's probably why they've still got 'em!

 

How about an ex-demo pair of Focal Utopia Alto's £7795