Steve, what about these Tannoys?

[audio]

I think you said the 15" was the one to get, but I'm not sure. What about these?


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3038180241&category=14993

[audio]

Nevermind, somebody used the 'buy it now'.:cry: In any case, I noticed your comment in the other thread regarding "the 12"s won't do". Why is that? Not enough bass or what? Do you think the price of these Mallorcans was too high or should I have grabbed them when I had the chance? Honestly? In any case, sorry for flooding the airwaves with Tannoy questions, but I wanted to start a new thread to grab your attention as soon as possible. Feel free to move this discussion to the earlier Tannoy thread. Thanks for all your help and advice, Steve!! It is very much appreciated.

[Steve Hoffman]

Wow, it had a "Buy It Now"?

Under a grand? Someone got a good deal, even if you count the extra $500.00 to ship them.

[RetroSmith]

For 1,000 , I think you could do better with new speakers. How about a pair of Paradigm Stduio monitors?

[audio]

Originally posted by mikey5967
For 1,000 , I think you could do better with new speakers. How about a pair of Paradigm Stduio monitors?


No offense, mikey5967, but personally I don't like Paradigm at all. I've got some fantastic new speakers right now. They simply don't satisfy me. They're not efficient enough for low wattage tube amps, they aren't particularly exciting, and they won't hold their value as well as an old pair of Tannoys. Most of the music I listen to is pre-1980, so I figure for the best sound, why not go with what the stuff was recorded/mastered/monitored on to begin with? I've been buying and experimenting with modern audiophile gear for over 5 years now and I'm still not satisfied. It's time to try a different route.

[audio]

Originally posted by Steve Hoffman
Wow, it had a "Buy It Now"?

Under a grand? Someone got a good deal, even if you count the extra $500.00 to ship them.


Stevarino, what gives??;)(the kids are playing the Grease soundtrack right now, so forgive the lingo) I thought yous said that the 12" speakers wouldn't do? Otherwise I would have grabbed these suckers and made some stands for them to bring them up to listening height. Could you elaborate on your earlier statement regarding the inadequacy of the 12" units as opposed to the 15" drivers?

[Steve Hoffman]

I didn't realize those were 12"'s. No big loss then. If they were the real deal the price would have been much higher.

[audio]

Originally posted by Steve Hoffman
I didn't realize those were 12"'s. No big loss then. If they were the real deal the price would have been much higher.


Steve, could you tell me specifically what is wrong with the 12" speakers or why you don't like them? What is it about them that is undesirable? Please let me know. I am wondering because I see a lot of them for sale in my price range. If it's some minor shortcoming, perhaps I could live with it, in other words.

[Steve Hoffman]

The Lord of Sound spoke in the 1930's: Invent a speaker that is high-fidelity. We must train our troops how to listen for German enemy aircraft. Thus, the Tannoy was invented. The 1939 model was a big 15" speaker with a horn in the middle that went up to 10k. This was thousands of cycles higher than any speaker in England at the time. The horn was special as well; it integrated perfectly with the 15" speaker to form a "seamless" wall of sound. This basic speaker remained essentially unchanged for 35 years, used in British studios, radio and tv stations and at home (for the rich). It was called "The Tannoy". During WWII, it was common to say, "I heard it on the Tannoy, the way one would say, "I'd like some Jello or a Kleenex". Tannoy WAS recorded sound reproduction in England.

This is the classic Tannoy of the golden age. The miserable smaller unit, designed to compete with those wacky AR3's and other low effeciency speakers sounded nothing like the mighty Tannoy to me.

Why fu*k with them? There is only one!

[Damián]

Originally posted by Steve Hoffman
The Lord of Sound spoke in the 1930's: Invent a speaker that is high-fidelity. We must train our troops how to listen for German enemy aircraft. Thus, the Tannoy was invented.

Wow-- is this for real? (I can be fooled easily this early in the morning .. thank God for the spell checker too).

[MARKM]

Originally posted by Steve Hoffman
The Lord of Sound spoke in the 1930's: Invent a speaker that is high-fidelity. We must train our troops how to listen for German enemy aircraft. Thus, the Tannoy was invented. The 1939 model was a big 15" speaker with a horn in the middle that went up to 10k. This was thousands of cycles higher than any speaker in England at the time. The horn was special as well; it integrated perfectly with the 15" speaker to form a "seamless" wall of sound. This basic speaker remained essentially unchanged for 35 years, used in British studios, radio and tv stations and at home (for the rich). It was called "The Tannoy". During WWII, it was common to say, "I heard it on the Tannoy, the way one would say, "I'd like some Jello or a Kleenex". Tannoy WAS recorded sound reproduction in England.

This is the classic Tannoy of the golden age. The miserable smaller unit, designed to compete with those wacky AR3's and other low effeciency speakers sounded nothing like the mighty Tannoy to me.

Why fu*k with them? There is only one!

Hi Steve,

The term "put it on the Tannoy" or "I heard it on the Tannoy" is still fairly common parlance in British English - the word "Tannoy" may even have a listing in the Oxford English Dictionary (but would need to look in up to be sure).

This is especially the case in offices/factories that have a PA system etc.

Cheers,
MarkM.

[MARKM]

Originally posted by Damián


Wow-- is this for real? (I can be fooled easily this early in the morning .. thank God for the spell checker too).

Slightly OT - but of interest to vintage gear fans - Tannoy weren't the only company of course to have similar roots prior to WWII. HJ Leak & Co Ltd also had quite a pedigree - check out Steve Spicers excellent webpage:

http://home.mira.net/~kiewavly/audio1.html

Steve has also written a book on the subject.

CAFEJEFF (in this forum) and I both run 40+ year old Leak amps alongside modern kit. Leak in the U.K. in the 50's were the eq. of Marantz in the U.S. during a similar period.

Lowther (also still going) also have roots prior to WWII - but Tannoy must have got market share, otherwise we'd all be saying "I heard it on the Lowther" ! ;-)

Cheers!
MarkM.

[MARKM]

Originally posted by prix



Steve, could you tell me specifically what is wrong with the 12" speakers or why you don't like them? What is it about them that is undesirable? Please let me know. I am wondering because I see a lot of them for sale in my price range. If it's some minor shortcoming, perhaps I could live with it, in other words.

Hi Prix,

PS - Steve Spicers website also has a section on Tannoy/Lowther that may be of interest.

Cheers,
MarkM.

[Cafe Jeff]

Hi,
I use Tannoys with Leaks almost every day. It's a great combo. Jeff

[audio]

Steve, a couple days ago I had posted on another board regarding the sound of 12" Tannoys vs the 15". I wanted to share a couple of replies that I received with you and see what you had to say. Obviously, I am going to listen to your advice first and foremost, but I am still wondering where these people are coming from and was hoping you could comment:




"I haven't heard the 12's first-hand, but I have heard from several sources that the 12" units actually sound better than the 15's, except for bass extension. Supposedly, the 15" woofer doesn't match up as seamlessly with the HF section, but as one would expect, it does go lower."



"I have no direct experience with the 12" but do own the 10" IIILZ Alnico Monitor Gold's and think they are just awesome. I will be receiving a pair of 15" Alnico Monitor Golds in the next week or so and can give you some more insight once I have those up and running.
If the 12" sounds anything like the 10" your in for a good time.

I bought my 10" Golds after meeting with Dr. Arthur Loesch about five years ago. He raved about the 10" Golds as being Gods gift to music lovers and he felt the 10" was the best followed by the 12" and lastly the 15"."

[audio]

Also, who is Dr. Arthur Loesch, anyway?

[ratskrad]

Web search turned up this web site.

http://www.tempoelectric.com/