Vintage Tannoys

Dev

Dev

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As some of you may know I like large Tannoys. But I have to ask, just where do you draw the line and say this is a ridiculous price to pay for a "50 year old" speaker.

Click
 
Hi Dev,

They are a snip at that price :D
Well, if you value the sound and rarity of such things.

I just got a pair of Tannoys myself (well they arrive on Wednesday) - Chesters with 10" HPDs compete with stands for £150.
 
Only the very collectable driver appears to be vintage, the cabinet and I guess all the other bits are new. Back when these were a new product they were a hyper luxury item, so 12K doesn't seem that outrageous.
There are a couple of companies in Japan that do the same thing of putting vintage drivers into new boxes, and the cost is pretty similar IIRC.
 
Joel and Dev, while you are both here....

Old conventional Tannoy ported cabinets.
These seem to get a fair bit of criticism for a being a bit resonant and flimsy. Do you have any opinion on their quality based on what you've seen or heard?

Of course it could be that they are supposed to be that way.

This what I've bought BTW:

129674.jpg



Cheers,
 
RobHolt said:
Joel and Dev, while you are both here....

Old conventional Tannoy ported cabinets.
These seem to get a fair bit of criticism for a being a bit resonant and flimsy. Do you have any opinion on their quality based on what you've seen or heard?

Of course it could be that they are supposed to be that way.

This what I've bought BTW:

129674.jpg



Cheers,
Click to expand...

Rob,
They're not HPD's, HPD's have the deep Alnico magnets and corresponding deeper horn.The schematic on the front indicates they are of the later ferrite models-£150 is still a great price tho'
Cooky
 
cooky1257 said:
Rob,
They're not HPD's, HPD's have the deep Alnico magnets and corresponding deeper horn.The schematic on the front indicates they are of the later ferrite models-£150 is still a great price tho'
Cooky
Click to expand...

Ah..many thanks.

Are they any good?

Must admit I just took a punt on them (I forgot I'd placed the ebay bid in fact LOL )
 
Dev said:
As some of you may know I like large Tannoys. But I have to ask, just where do you draw the line and say this is a ridiculous price to pay for a "50 year old" speaker.

Click
Click to expand...

Dev, I've seen prices vary enormously on vintage Tannoys, £12k for new bespoke cabs and monitor reds is £10k more than I'd pay.
By now that Red wont be doing anything like it should, the hf diaphragm will be fatigued, the cone spider and suspension will be way off spec-just because of ageing alone.
For me the bargain Tannoy is the HPD-you get higher power handling,younger fresher speakers, the legendary Monitor Gold magnet and hf assembly, legacy parts are still available and they go for sensible prices. Most original cabinets were shite too. But I suppose as long as people perceive them as collectable they'll go for whatever the market will bear.
Cooky
 
RobHolt said:
Ah..many thanks.

Are they any good?

Must admit I just took a punt on them (I forgot I'd placed the ebay bid in fact LOL )
Click to expand...

Sorry, I was really worried I'd dumped on your find-that is a good price.
Fire'em up, they'll groove along niceley and image really well too.
Cooky
 
cooky1257 said:
Sorry, I was really worried I'd dumped on your find-that is a good price.
Fire'em up, they'll groove along niceley and image really well too.
Cooky
Click to expand...

Cheers Cooky.

My experience of Tannoys is limited to LRMs and the one's Dev uses - D700 I think.

Back in the early 80s I had a weekend job in a recording studio. It was set up in the crypt of an old church and I recall the the LRMs driven by Quad 405s used as main monitors perched up on brackets just above the mixing desk. The studio mainly did reggae stuff and it always sounded wonderful.

Dev has a pair of LRMs (10" IIRC) and they sounded excellent when I last heard them at his place - I think I preferred them to the D700. Sorry Dev, but those are little crackers.
 
RobHolt said:
Cheers Cooky.

My experience of Tannoys is limited to LRMs and the one's Dev uses - D700 I think.

Back in the early 80s I had a weekend job in a recording studio. It was set up in the crypt of an old church and I recall the the LRMs driven by Quad 405s used as main monitors perched up on brackets just above the mixing desk. The studio mainly did reggae stuff and it always sounded wonderful.

Dev has a pair of LRMs (10" IIRC) and they sounded excellent when I last heard them at his place - I think I preferred them to the D700. Sorry Dev, but those are little crackers.
Click to expand...
Rob,
I'm a big fan of Tannoys too.
Dev's 10" DC's have a bit of a cult following-Manley Labs do a special version-even the JB Lansing forum has great things to say about them;-).
D700's are great too I owned a pair 10 years ago they're the best of the Definition range imo .
Cheers
Cooky
 
Great info on Tannoys, cookie. As with JBL there is so much variation it can get quite bewildering. And of course some things are collectable for reasons other than how good they sound.
Is it not possible with the really old drivers to re-cone, re-edge and re-magnetise them, or would that hurt their value to collectors?
 
PS for 150 quid you got a great bargain, Rob. Looking forward to hearing what your impressions of these are!
 
RobHolt said:
Cheers Cooky.

My experience of Tannoys is limited to LRMs and the one's Dev uses - D700 I think.

Back in the early 80s I had a weekend job in a recording studio. It was set up in the crypt of an old church and I recall the the LRMs driven by Quad 405s used as main monitors perched up on brackets just above the mixing desk. The studio mainly did reggae stuff and it always sounded wonderful.

Dev has a pair of LRMs (10" IIRC) and they sounded excellent when I last heard them at his place - I think I preferred them to the D700. Sorry Dev, but those are little crackers.
Click to expand...

Hi Rob,

I agree, they are little crackers, but they are SRM10B, not LRM (perhaps Cooky can expand on the differences). I like them better than D700s as well, but the D700s go louder and project the sound deeper into the room. Important consideration with teenagers in the house:).

I'd love to hear your impression of your bargains. I'm sure you'll hate them and I'll be a good friend and take them away for you. It's what friends do;).
 
RobHolt said:
Hi Dev,

They are a snip at that price :D
Well, if you value the sound and rarity of such things.

I just got a pair of Tannoys myself (well they arrive on Wednesday) - Chesters with 10" HPDs compete with stands for £150.
Click to expand...

joel said:
Only the very collectable driver appears to be vintage, the cabinet and I guess all the other bits are new. Back when these were a new product they were a hyper luxury item, so 12K doesn't seem that outrageous.
There are a couple of companies in Japan that do the same thing of putting vintage drivers into new boxes, and the cost is pretty similar IIRC.
Click to expand...

The drivers are rare but, cabs are a "reproduction":). I was thinking that for a little bit more I'd rather buy the WR or the Canterburys. Second hand these newer models may be a better buy than the vintage IMO.
 
Dev, the SRM10b's are of the same range as the LRM's (aka SRM12b), just with a 10" driver instead of a 12" driver as with the Little Reds. I had a pair of LRM's a few years ago. In fact I've had an embarassingly large amount of old Tannoys, to the point of obsession! I've had a single 12" black, a single 12" silver, a pair of 10" reds, three pairs of HPD's :o, a pair of 'Bradleys', a pair of LRM's, a pair of DC200's, and I currently have a pair of Golds and a pair of system 10 DMT's.

I think there's such a similar sound to the black/silver/red/gold that I'd go for the golds as they're cheaper, and at £400-£800 for a pair of 12"-ers I reckon is OK. People get really carried away with some of the old cabinet variations and end up paying twice as much, even with Golds (Chatsworth cabs seem popular at the mo'). HPD's are 95% as good as Golds but people are put off by the foam surrounds, but can be a bit of a bargain.

Rarity value gives some of the older ones silly prices imo; for example I was thrilled to pick up a mint condition silver a year or two ago in a contemporary but diy canterbury cab for a tenner, but I knew that I could pay for the family holiday by flogging it on ebay, which is what I did - it went to Korea for £900! Mind you, wish I still had it.
 
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Dev said:
Hi Rob,

I agree, they are little crackers, but they are SRM10B, not LRM (perhaps Cooky can expand on the differences). I like them better than D700s as well, but the D700s go louder and project the sound deeper into the room. Important consideration with teenagers in the house:).

I'd love to hear your impression of your bargains. I'm sure you'll hate them and I'll be a good friend and take them away for you. It's what friends do;).
Click to expand...

Hi All,
The main differences between LGM/LRM are in the crossover networks-the LGM's are hard wired and have those brass knob adjustments system rather than the rotary pots-the drivers are mostly the same but there were some variations in the magnet some had one large mag others had 2 smaller mags glued together..
Here's a link to a great site for Tannoy info, plans , driver T&S, history, xover schematics DIY projects etc
http://www.hilberink.nl/speaker.htm
Cooky
 
Last edited by a moderator:
cooky1257 said:
Hi All,
The main differences between LRM/SRM are in the crossover networks-the LRM's are hard wired and have those brass knob adjustments system rather than the rotary pots-the drivers are mostly the same but there were some variations in the magnet some had one large mag others had 2 smaller mags glued together..
Here's a link to a great site for Tannoy info, plans , driver T&S, history, xover schematics DIY projects etc
http://www.hilberink.nl/speaker.htm
Cooky
Click to expand...

One of us is getting muddled with all the abbreviations, but I thought that LRM = Little Red Monitor (aka SRM12b), being one of the SRM series (SRM10b, SRM12b, SRM12x, SRM15x), that all had rotary pots. The next series is the SGM series, which includes the LGM = Little Gold Monitor (aka SGM12b), which all have the little gold plated screw adjustments. Splitting hairs really, but there you go ;).

See here:
http://www.hilberink.nl/codehans/tannoy40.htm
 
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