Vintage Tannoys

I now own a pair of Tannoy system 10 speakers. The girlfriend is going to kill me when i bring these through the door. Hope they're worth it. . . .
 
Just wanted to say that I've bought Rob's Chesters, so they'll be here at the end of the week. Also wanted to say hi, it's been over a year since I last posted here I reckon.

john

PS. Like Rob, if I get on with these puppies I'll be the market for a bigger pair real soon... :D
 
I'm really pleased with mine. Someone on fish said they 'shout' but i havn't noticed any shout with mine.

I bought the girlfriend a Tracy chapman Cd and every night this week, when i get home from work, it's been playing when i walk through the door. The effortless power and clean vocals are really impressive.
Those DMT 15's must sound 'HUGE' they are very sensitive too.
 
Dev - I'm expecting a pair of those to appear on my door step tomorrow. Expectations are high as I've been lusting after them for a few years now.

They ought to make a nice, if slightly early, birthday present.

Stuart.
 
Dev said:
I want these, but a small matter of cash ...:(
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If I had a separate hifi room, I'd snap up those 15" DMTs in an instant. Unfortunately I have to have the system in the living room and my partner has only just got used to having the 12" models in there (which are good enough really!).
 
RobHolt said:
Update as promised.

Well, Cooky said 'fire 'em up and they'll groove along nicely and image well'.

He wasn't kidding!

The imaging was the first thing I noticed. Not that enormous floaty soundstaging that makes everything sound too big, I really don't care for that; no these Tannoys pin things to where they should be in space and they have bags of presence.

I'm listening to trumpeter Don Goldie playing Gershwin on vinyl at the moment and it sounds really fresh, live and in the room.
By comparison, the little Spendor stand-mounts I have pull the performance back into the speaker and sit on it.

Same thing happened with some Les Paul and Mary Ford I played earlier. The Tannoy lifts everything out of the mix and gives it space to breathe. They seem to really thrive on honest old vinyl transfers and almost turn their nose up if you play anything with audiophile pretensions.

Onto the boxes themselves, these are far better than I expected and are good and solid. Cabinets are 3/4" particle board (say NO to MDF!! :) ) fully lined on all walls with bitumin and well lined with foam. Veneer is walnut and real tree - bit bland for my tastes but clean and very tidy. The crossover uses the most heavy duty inductors I've ever seen.
Looking at and feeling the DC driver just made me laugh - beautifully made and extremely solid.

So there you are - the best £150 I've ever spent on audio.
This range of speakers seems to sit in the no mans land between the early coveted classics and the modern stuff so there are bargains to be had.
Just need to sort some stands for them as the supplied ones are way too short.
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There are quite a few of these (& other close relatives) floating around the old radio studios here in Poland. They still sound good.

Most people miss the fact that these are effectively horn-loaded speakers and mechanically speaking they perform as such in the critical band.

If more studios were using these my life would be much easier!

Andy
 
I've bought some 12" monitor golds in Chatsworth cabinets, I'm not at liberty to say how much I paid but they are in lovely condition and finished in walnut. First impressions is just how much detail these pump out. If I drive them a little harder the sound just gets better. These have modern style plug in binding posts and date from 1974. Any opinions on stands? Some people like to elevate them by about 12" to get the tweeter to ear level, but I'm so impressed I'm wondering if just grounding them to some cheaper granite spiked plinths would pay dividends, as I love the imaging as it is. I'm just aware of how much vibration goes through those cabs. I was seriously thinking about buying Kingfishers lovely Berkeleys but couldn't get the cash together - sorry fella. I got a good PX on my old speaks which enabled me to do this deal - just. I need good music as I've just heard at work things aren't too good at the moment. I've liked Hornings and Quad ESL57's in the past, and these seem to do a similar disappearing act. Like the brochure said, once the speaker has effectively disappeared and all you hear is music you have got the crossover settings right! Loving them to bits. If you see a guy out on the street with a nice SET valve amp and some tannoys, keeping the rain off his Kate Bush albums and sleeping on copies of hifi plus - its probably SMEagol.
 
SMEagol said:
I've bought some 12" monitor golds in Chatsworth cabinets, I'm not at liberty to say how much I paid but they are in lovely condition and finished in walnut. First impressions is just how much detail these pump out. If I drive them a little harder the sound just gets better. These have modern style plug in binding posts and date from 1974. Any opinions on stands? Some people like to elevate them by about 12" to get the tweeter to ear level, but I'm so impressed I'm wondering if just grounding them to some cheaper granite spiked plinths would pay dividends, as I love the imaging as it is. I'm just aware of how much vibration goes through those cabs. I was seriously thinking about buying Kingfishers lovely Berkeleys but couldn't get the cash together - sorry fella. I got a good PX on my old speaks which enabled me to do this deal - just. I need good music as I've just heard at work things aren't too good at the moment. I've liked Hornings and Quad ESL57's in the past, and these seem to do a similar disappearing act. Like the brochure said, once the speaker has effectively disappeared and all you hear is music you have got the crossover settings right! Loving them to bits. If you see a guy out on the street with a nice SET valve amp and some tannoys, keeping the rain off his Kate Bush albums and sleeping on copies of hifi plus - its probably SMEagol.
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The Chatsworths are sealed cabinets iirc. Is the bass ok with these speakers?
Bass is obviously going to be tighter and faster than the ported Tannoys, but is there enough of it?
 
I think there's a port at the base of the front baffle. I can't tell as its behind the fabric of the grille but definitely felt a depression. The bass is not that loud, but thats not a major priority as I live in a small flat with thin floors, and sensitive neighbours! I like the bass though, I had some JBL' Ti2k's once and they were way over the top for a stand mount IMHO. The Tannoys just have a nice balance, bass is okay, very happy with the mids and treble, considering they are from 1974, its quite amazing...
 
All the Chatsworths I've seen have been sealed cabs (including the cabs I used to have), but they may have done some ported versions. A lot of the examples I've seen on ebay have been fitted with the version of 12" Golds with the butyl rubber surrounds that supposedly generate a bit more bass than the versions with the pleated surrounds, so work better in the sealed cabs..

Mine have rubber surrounds although I have them in my own diy boxes!
 
SMEagol said:
cheers guys! ...just checked, deffo ported. :D :cool:
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It may be worth checking with Tannoy because i all the Chatsworths i've seen were sealed. Mr toilet could be right that they may have made some ported Chatsworths, but i would check for peace of mind. If the drivers are designed to work in sealed boxes, you may not be getting the best performance out of them.
I phoned Tannoy not so long back about a new tweater and the guy i spoke to was a nice chap. It maybe worth giving them a call?
 
Good to see so much activity here (and on another forum ;)) regarding vintage speakers. People need to be aware of how enjoyable some of the older gear is, especially when used with more modern electronics.
 
SMEagol said:
any thoughts on whether to ground my Chatsworths to granite spiked plinths on stick them on 12" stands... kinda curious, with their vibey cabinets..
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In my last house (Victorian, stripped wooden suspended floor) I put first my Cheviots then my current speakers on very weighty Purbeck stone slabs, and I couldn't detect any difference in sound at all. I'd go for stands, as the drivers are a touch too low in Chatsworth cabs IMO and getting them at ear height makes all the difference :)....
 
There were 2 Chatsworth cabs-the standard one and the 'Chatsworth RT' the later used tanoplas roll surround Gold.
The 'RT' bit means Reflex Tanoplas. AFAIK:)
This is getting sad(thanks Andy!)
 

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