Tannoy DMT 215

I'll take that as a backhanded insult-surely a fukwit like me is a terrible endorsment

 

But Joel, he's got plants growing out of them!!!

 

Ready set go;
Tannoy did conduct research into the clearly audible positive effect of alnico magnets on the Gold/HPD's-they came up with a shunted coil theory and incorporated it into the 3833-a large copper cap/ring at the top of the pole piece ,never done a side by side though so it mightn't even work!.
Having owned both varieties of HF units and loved 'em both the only thing I would say is the pepperpot can bite you if you sit on axis but will throw 3d images into the room better than the tulip can-the pepperpot has been abandoned for monitoring in favour of the more accurate tulip though.Tee hee I'd have 'em both though just need a much bigger house.
F

 

Au contraire. I certainly didn't mean to be insulting.
Your choice of speakers is an indication of essential good sense and taste, despite the audiophool conditioning

 

Frank, I was kidding about a debate, notice the "", but I thought the pepperpot was abandoned purely on cost grounds.

 

Ah, Pot plants. I geddit (finally).

PS congrats to Dev on your moderator upgrade, I'm impressed at least

 

I know you were-no controversy hereThe pep does cost a bomb to machine.
I did have the number of seperate manufacturing stages but can't find it-hey Linn products used to machine them-might still.
I've heard quite a lot as to the why's but nowt conclusive except from Tannoy themselves(the accuracy quote).
You'd think studios wouldn't give a toss about cost compared to us mere mortals but someone did a comp between tw and pep models and it came out at about £5000!!!!difference.-so you may be 100% right.
F

 

Thanks Joel, but I can't handle all this attention and will demote myself once I've absorbed the newfound aura.

 

I suppose, in the final analysis, we can summise that the move from Pepperpot to Tulip Waveguide was primarily financial. But how about the change from alnico to ferrite, was it purely financial?

As I understand it, manufacturers were forced into using Ferrite through a shortage of Nickel or Cobalt in the seventies but when Alnico fell in price again, they continued with Ferrite.

Does alnico definitely sound better than ferrite?

I read once that the ferrite drivers of the DMTs (3833GG) can be made to sound just as good as Alnico ones simply by upgrading the parts in the stock DMT xover.

 

War in the 70's (Congo) dramatically increased price of cobalt due to virtually no production.

As for the sound well many manufacturers employ it, guitar amp manf's are fond of extoling its 'sound'.
Alnico is more stable at high temp but more susceptible to demagnetisation over time or as a result of mechanical shock.
The only tweek I'm aware of is that copper ring implemented by Tannoy-on both bass and tweeter .Jbl use Alnico for some bass and compression drivers too.
I'm interested in finding out about the xover mod but it really is such a simple affair.....-I'll post over on the Tannoy forum see if anyone bites.
F

 

Cool. If you manage to get any info, I'd be interested in it for sure.

 

You'll be first to hear(after me obviously)

 

I think Dario the Kiwi (?) has a lot of experience with the DMT XO including going active.

 

Yup, he's a diamond geezer-helped me lots with my 215's I've posted hoping he can give me at least his A/B of 'Golds against DMTs take on things-can't find it on a search..at the mo'...
F

 

Done a comprehensive search and I'm not comfortable pasting DJ's comments here but can paraphrase.
Basically with no mention of alnico anywhere, after upgrading his xover with Jensen coils and caps the harsh(ish) originals(215) sounded mellower, closer in tone to the Monitor Golds but with lower colouration better mid,smoother treble and better bass(!) if lacking some of the Gold's magic and the original 215's dynamics.
Unfortunately he didn't comment on any bass improvements after changing the standard inductor.
He recommended going for Mundorfs instead of Hovland cap on the hf as being close to the Jensens for a lot less dosh.Maybe the 'magic' he refers to is the alniconess-who knows.
F

 

Hi Frank,

Thanks for the info!

I think there are others, too, who recommend using Mundorfs instead of Hovland caps.

DJ's remarks about a smoother response are in line with what I've heard about losing a slight 'studio monitor' edge, which is audible from stock. Gizmo used to say that a xover upgrade was very worthwhile, too.

The comment about losing some dynamics is a bit disconcerting, though.

David.

 

Hi David,
Can't say I've found them wanting in the dynamics area-they actually make me laugh sometimes in the way they can surprise you in this regard.
At risk of starting another war-the switch to the Mundorf Supremes was very worthwhile and it goes some way to domesticating them-my baseline was Hovlands which were ok but just had a bit of a coat everything with syrup kind of effect. I didn't get the harsh thing that DJ experienced although his were MK1's.
I wonder also, because of the diy nature of mine, I could spread the xover components around the box well away from eachother unlike the stock ones. Its beyond me, maybe I just got lucky.