Do you know where I can find a list of Tannoy home speakers made in the 60s?
This last weekend I heard a pair of mid 60s Tannoys that left me speechless. The guy was playing a Jadis integrated amp, low power and he played a CD of female singers.
It floored me.
Now then, I've been looking into a high efficiency speaker and those Tannoys would fit the bill but I have no clue how much they would cost. The fellow said the name but I plum forget. Of course he won't sell those, they are his private stash... I asked.
The speakers were homely... walnut, old style burlap like grill. a little over 2 feet tall, about 1 1/2 wide and foot deep. The grill came out with a brass key! The baffle was finished with cork. The drivers were coax... 10 or 12 inch with a tweeter in the middle. I don't remember if it was ported.
Just standing six feet in front of them, in a old office in an old building filled with all kinds of sumptuous components in various states of repair ( High End repair shop in West LA ), I felt like dancing. These are seriously good sounding speakers.
They sounded LIKE MUSIC.
I wonder if I can afford them.. but first, I need to figure out what they're called. If I can find on online list I can likely find them, if not I'll have to call that fellow again.
This last weekend I heard a pair of mid 60s Tannoys that left me speechless. The guy was playing a Jadis integrated amp, low power and he played a CD of female singers.
It floored me.
Now then, I've been looking into a high efficiency speaker and those Tannoys would fit the bill but I have no clue how much they would cost. The fellow said the name but I plum forget. Of course he won't sell those, they are his private stash... I asked.
The speakers were homely... walnut, old style burlap like grill. a little over 2 feet tall, about 1 1/2 wide and foot deep. The grill came out with a brass key! The baffle was finished with cork. The drivers were coax... 10 or 12 inch with a tweeter in the middle. I don't remember if it was ported.
Just standing six feet in front of them, in a old office in an old building filled with all kinds of sumptuous components in various states of repair ( High End repair shop in West LA ), I felt like dancing. These are seriously good sounding speakers.
They sounded LIKE MUSIC.
I wonder if I can afford them.. but first, I need to figure out what they're called. If I can find on online list I can likely find them, if not I'll have to call that fellow again.
I sure hope those didn't cost that much.
They were not called "Silvers".. they had some female like name. And they were in some serious need of wood refinishing.
But the sound... they sounded immediate, fast, I could hear the voice so clearly, closely miked. I don't think they go so deep in the bass though, but, but...
Oh, btw, the place I heard them is George Meyer Audio Video in LA.
Thanks, thanks you very much, I found them.
Tannoy Stirling.
If you can afford them, trust me, just get a simple DAC, turntable, preamp and 25 w amp and enjoy the rest of your audio life.
And, dang it.. here they are... the same ones I heard. I thought he said they weren't for sale!
https://www.georgemeyer-av.com/tannoy-stirling-speakers/?refsource=hifishark
Still, a bit rich. If I could afford such, I wouldn't be in this forum, I'd be in the www.iamrichandcanaffordultraexpensivestuff.com
BTW, this is the corner of his office.... the place is FULL of audio stuff, on racks. Nothing fancy, not a fancy Beverly Hills display salon, no Rolls parked out in the alley (front doors is barred, chained, locked....). This is Jefferson Blvd after all.
https://www.georgemeyer-av.com/jensen-1200xl-speakers/
Tannoy Stirling.
If you can afford them, trust me, just get a simple DAC, turntable, preamp and 25 w amp and enjoy the rest of your audio life.
And, dang it.. here they are... the same ones I heard. I thought he said they weren't for sale!
https://www.georgemeyer-av.com/tannoy-stirling-speakers/?refsource=hifishark
Still, a bit rich. If I could afford such, I wouldn't be in this forum, I'd be in the www.iamrichandcanaffordultraexpensivestuff.com
BTW, this is the corner of his office.... the place is FULL of audio stuff, on racks. Nothing fancy, not a fancy Beverly Hills display salon, no Rolls parked out in the alley (front doors is barred, chained, locked....). This is Jefferson Blvd after all.
https://www.georgemeyer-av.com/jensen-1200xl-speakers/
Last edited:
Member
Joined 2009
Paid Member
Listen to the older 15’s in the right cabinet - they make bass, too. Some of the nicest sounding speakers I’ve heard were old Tannoy.
That seems to be an extraordinarily high price for some '80s K series Tannoys.
Twelve years ago I was offered a pair of Tannoy Dreadnoughts for slightly less and those are very rare indeed (10 pairs made)!
It indeed does seem VERY high. I honestly didn't get the feeling that he wanted to sell them. He mentioned how his wife told him to start selling so much stuff so he's just going through the motions on these speakers.
Here's the same thing in Japan... the wood looks in much better shape. I don't know about the drivers (although the drivers in the speakers in LA looked impeccable).
https://yahoo.aleado.com/lot?auctionID=p1068091296
Maybe this will be one of them imported from Japan items.
If I were seriously shopping Tannoy whole speakers, I’d be looking for some with the larger driver sizes and from ‘60s and earlier. But that’s me. 🙂
Honestly, I wasn't looking at Tannoy. I just been thinking that I need to get a pair of high efficiency speakers because I've been collecting some low power amps and none of my speakers really dance with that.
The Tannoy's just happened to be there when I was at their repair shop and they really amazed me, as they sound much more immediate than anything else I have.
So, I thought...
Do you have any ideas?
It looks like I can get these speakers from Japan.
The best i heared was the original 1974 Arden with the HPD385 driver, even the cabinet is not that well made (bad quality particle board and not braced at all). My ex has that one, and we did rebuild the cabinet as the old was going bad. Rebuilding it in 18mm birch ply in stead of the original particle board and bracing it like it should made it one of the best speaker s i ever heared. I also did rebuild the original crossover with just standard jantzen crosscaps and jantzen resistors as some of the old were far from the specs written on it and the boards were also in very bad shape. I kept the inductors and transformers and just build it on a wood plate. Her father uses a original Westminster cabinet from 1982 with the same driver, but also with a redone crossover (not redone by me) and it's not better, just bigger.
I also heared it's 1960's precestor, the Monitor Gold 15 driver was used in different cabinet, the standard was a reflex, but it was also used in a backloaded horn as the GRF and that is the one i heared. It's a very good system for that time, but the HPD385 was better. Both drivers have also a 12" and 10" version that should work similar and be similar quality, but i never heared those.
I also heared it's 1960's precestor, the Monitor Gold 15 driver was used in different cabinet, the standard was a reflex, but it was also used in a backloaded horn as the GRF and that is the one i heared. It's a very good system for that time, but the HPD385 was better. Both drivers have also a 12" and 10" version that should work similar and be similar quality, but i never heared those.