Tannoy LGMs: Do you know anything about these?

I did some 'Net searches, but really couldn't find any detailed information. Anything you know about them would be appreciated.
Here's pic of a used pair at a local used shop. They want about US$840 for them.

Dale

 

Not recommended.

 

Dale here's some specs on the 12" version of the LGM (I think there's a 10" version also):

TANNOY LITTLE GOLD MONITOR SPEAKER
LGM-12B dual-concentric studio reference monitor speakers

Specs.
Frequency Response 55Hz - 20 kHzRMS (suggesting they could be a bit bass shy, but you never know from specs alone)
Power Handling 200 Watts 8 Ohm
Sensitivity 95dB Cross Over Frequency 1.4
Connector Gold Binding Posts
Driver Complement 1 x 12" Dual Concentric
Dimensions 23" H x 16" W x 11" Weight 55 pounds

And here's some posts from the Yahoo Tannoy Forums you might find interesting:

Can anyone tell me the surround material(is it foam?)
on the 12" drivers in the Little Gold Monitors(10" version shown on
Hans' site)Are the speakers any good?what are they worth?
Thanks,Bob

Re: [tannoy] LGM/SRM 12" drivers/Surround material?

Driver is 3148 K series, surround pleated paper.
Excellent speakers, all the usual and useful crossover tweaks have
been done by Tannoy themselves, cabs surprisingly rigid but could do
with a wee little bit more internal damping.
Value in UK about £100 more then LittleReds which lack the crossover
tweaks but are otherwise identical. So on ebay ca £500 max, reputable
s/h pro dealer about £750 and private anything depending on
condition/circumstances.
LittleGolds are quite rare as they only where in production for about
18 months ('89-'91) compared to LittleReds 10 years. Never seen them
at a s/h dealer, it just that I would consider anymore a rip off
since they would have spent the last 16 years as studio workhorses
but you'd get a warranty and they'd be serviced. I paid £350 for a
pair of immaculate LittleReds on ebay 2yrs ago and £175 for re-
coiled DC4000s (same driver) 6 months later. On the other hand I've
seen some LittleReds go for £700+ a few months ago on ebay, another
pair a week later for £225. Pro audio shops invariably charge £600
+vat for LittleReds.
G

 

somebody's been trying to sell this pair for awhile

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1181247792

 

Hmm..."audio" says not recommended, the comment in DrJ's citation call them excellent. The specs seem to indicate they don't reach too far into the bass range...

Dale

 

First of all, alanb....I love your avatar. Where did you find that Lennon pic??

Secondly, dgsinner....if you're going to buy a Tannoy, go for the Gold. That's the one with the magic. That's if you want Tannoys in the first place, which is up to you...but having personally been down the Tannoy road in every possible configuration(HPD 15", Gold 12", Gold 10", DMT 12", DMT 15", HPD 12"...) I can't imagine at this point ever wanting to own them again .

 

First Audio - thanks but a'cannie remember....sorry...surfing turned it up.

Secondly- WHY? would you not have Tannoy's again?
I thought they are revered here for there great sound.
I ask as i would like to get a some "new" speakers (can be old) for my system that are more revealing and have good imaging and considered Tannoys but would consider other recommendations.

 

At one point, I loved Tannoys so much I wouldn't thought of ever considering another speaker. This was due to lack of experience, addiction to Tannoy size dynamics, scale, and coherency of their driver(they do some things WONDERFULLY right)....., and a blind acceptance of the myth regarding how good they are. But to put into simple terms what I eventually determined through more listening tests than I care to remember with probably 50 different amplifiers(SET, push-pull, and SS) in several different environments using both digital and analog software....in my experience,Tannoys are INTOLERABLY HARSH.

 

Wow. Different ears, I guess.

audio, your comment honestly makes me wonder if you were listening to your Tannoys with the treble energy knob set at the wrong setting. You probably know this but because it actually took me some time to figure it out (which I finally did with some help from the folks at the Yahoo Tannoy forums):

There are 2 treble control knobs on the back of the Lancasters (and I think a lot of other models): treble energy and a roll-off knob. The roll-off knob does what you'd expect and the "flat" setting is indeed "flat" meaning "no roll off." You want to leave it there. The "treble energy" knob, the second one, has a "flat" position too but IT IS NOT ACTUALLY FLAT. You do know that, right? I didn't and when I first got the speakers it was driving me crazy. "Flat" apparently just meant that was Tannoy's recommended setting at the time, which gives something like a 3-6 dB/watt treble boost. Probably sounded OK with older equipment that needed some help with the high end, but utterly and intolerably harsh/bright indeed with top level front end gear, even vintage amps. But one notch down from that (to the left as one looks at the back of the speaker) IS actually "flat" (direct pass through the treble adjust circuitry) and it's warm and wonderful to my ears to listen to them at this neutral setting. Harsh? Uh, no. If that isn't the issue, then I'm honestly mystified. I can see someone not liking the darn things, but harsh? Wow.

Anyway, alanb - make your own decisions, please. Doesn't matter ultimately what I, audio, or Steve say. Just try and get a chance to listen to some Tannoys and then you can decide. DO NOT do it based on things like reputation, unless you luck out like Steve did with a thrift store pair for $100! I do agree with audio that if you're gonna do it, go for the Golds and make sure they're 15" Golds. Nothin' like 'em in my opinion. "Scale" is right, and impact - everything hits you right in the gut, so much so that I can't really hang with most other speakers anymore, even if they do other things right they lack that impact (it's like they're sort of sitting there and whispering at you from a distance, I hate that).

 

thanks DrJ.
hope we haven't crapped all over this thread....

 

Not at all! No thread crap, in any way shape or form. I'm sure audio has put in a lot of quality time listening and comparing, and obviously has concluded the Tannoys aren't for him. No harm in that I can see. I only am just a bit surprised about the "harsh" comment and just wanted to make sure he knew about the treble knob issue, it is quite confusing even for someone quite experienced with speakers like myself, and surprisingly hard to find information about what the various knob settings mean/do. Thank God for the Yahoo Tannoy group!

I enjoy reading everyone's impressions around here. Fascinating to see how differently we all hear things, proving to me there is really no "objective" gold standard for good sound.

 

Back to the LGMs I started the thread with...anyone have any direct experience with them?

Dale

 

DrJ, I have tried the treble knobs in every possible position. I have tried bypassing them all together. I've also tried rebuilding the crossovers. To me, Tannoys are harsh...the high frequency unit has a metallic tonality that is annoying and fatiguing and if you turn them up, they will bite and they will shout at you. It's the nature of the driver. At first one may mistake them for warm because of the roll off, but they suffer from the same problems as any other horn system....you push them and they'll take your head off, and it hurts. I don't want speakers that beat me up. I want to hear music. When you have the chance to A/B the Tannoy with something like the Quad 57, a vintage British BBC monitor, or something like the Harbeth Monitor 30....you ears and your body's level of relaxation will reveal to you what you are sacrificing by listening to Tannoys. This was my experience, which is uniquely my own....and this was after enjoying Tannoy and spending about a year playing with them. As you pointed out...different ears.

 

Classic internet misinformation. Great, classic speakers, still widely used in studios; anyone who knows anything about audio already knows that.

$840's a good price assuming they're 12s, which wasn't indicated, and that the condition's good, as seems to be the case.

 

They're known for low ear fatigure, can be listened to for hours. How's your hearing these days?

 

That's a good price assuming they're in good condition and 100% functional. If you do some research you'll find that that's a good price, which means they can be sold at no loss if unsatisfactory.

Really the only way to know is to hear at the store, then if positive listen at home, with a willingness to resell if necessary.

Besides which, the store may have both a return policy.

Be proactive, listen, decide. That's how you get great speakers, not just on the basis of hearsay here.

 

Any recommendation is, as always, one person's opinion. At best, it gives us a guideline to go by--we get a hint as to what to listen for when we decide with our own ears, if we like them or not.

 

Go ahead and listen to them for hours. Enjoy.

 

Agreed. Gary, try some Malibu landscape wire. You can purchase a 50ft roll for $9.99 at Home Depot. An audiophile friend of mine tipped me off about this stuff a while ago. It may be the most outrageous high end bargain in the world....warm, vivid, clean, and smooth. Not the best bass, but not the worst. It's not tizzy or bright like many cables. We've done listening tests with stuff like the Naim NACA5, Audio Tekne, Cardas, CAT5, Monster, Harmonic Technology, Grover....and this Malibu keeps beating everything we throw at it.

 

Me, professional studios all over the world, film scorers and the publisher of Stereophile mag, all long-term owners of Tannoys. LOL

I understand differing opinions, but saying that Tannoys are "harsh" is so far off as to be absurd. LOL They're known for their musicality, in fact-the opposite of harshness.

I have a feeling our authority here has confused the constant ringing in his ears from high volumes with something else.

 

Yes, but as you can see here, the variances are such that unless multiple opinions are rendered with the same conclusions, the opinions can be misleading. A general concensus using a reasonably large sample can help, anything less can distort.

What's written here is a good but inconclusive starting point; actual experience will confirm or deny.

 

Feel whatever you wish. Like I said in my original post, this was simply my personal conclusion about them after long experimentation. Everyone has different ears, as we've discussed, and everyone is irritated by different things....and Rudy's point is excellent as well. I am just sharing my own observation. If you were really so sure of yourself, I doubt you would act so offended. Besides that, I doubt that you have the experience with Tannoys that I have so as to make such statements as yours in the first place. And if you're going to say that there is something wrong with my ears that I find them harsh for extended periods...then you're essentially saying the same thing to veteran forum members Leppo, Jaimie Tate, & Joe Nino-Hernes...all of whom have impressed me as knowing sound and all of whom have stated that they agree with my assessment of these vintage Tannoy loudspeakers.

 

And one other thing I might add just to show you what I really think of Tannoys. If I had the money and the space, I would most certainly own a pair of Monitor Golds to listen to occasionally for fun. For brief periods, there is nothing like them. I would never use them again in a main system, however, and that's why I bothered commenting in the first place. Anyone shopping for speakers asking for opinions needs to understand what horn systems do and what they don't do.

 

Interesting and again, I'm cool with your opinion, certainly reasoned. Don't agree though. What I'd say is that the Tannoys are incredibly unforgiving. People think of vintage speakers as having a "warm" or veiled sound. Not these. These are the first speakers for example where I can really, immediately tell if my VTA setting on my table is off by a gnat's ***, just a little too far forward and the brightness shows through immediately. Same with tubes...they revealed every flaw of modern production KT88 tubes, nothing really does it with these other than Genelex KT88s or Tung-Sol 6550s. But to me that's what you WANT from a speaker. The great stuff sounds great, the other stuff...well you quickly figure out where it falls short. That's what I'd expect from studio monitors after all, they really aren't classic home audio speakers which I think of as much more forgiving.

About the high end roll off - tone testing reveals my Tannoys go up to at least 17 kHz (probably a bit higher but I'm not sure my hearing goes up that far, at least with full strength, any more) and to be honest I don't think you want/need much more than that for the vast majority of recordings. It's telling that Sony and other modern CD player makers are starting to include variable digital filter options including some that start a subtle roll-off at...you guessed it, around 15-17 kHz! Beyond that, there may be some more music, but there's also often a lot of hash...