Hi I'm looking to purchase a pair of Tannoy 609 MkII's and am wondering if anyone knows if they can be upgraded in anyway?
Thinking maybe new, higher quality wiring? Better foam installation? etc etc
Any thoughts?
Thinking maybe new, higher quality wiring? Better foam installation? etc etc
Any thoughts?
That's about it really, I can see no point in changing the cabling.
It might be worthwhile adding some internal damping though. My Little Reds had very little and adding some helped quite a bit.
It might be worthwhile adding some internal damping though. My Little Reds had very little and adding some helped quite a bit.
I would have thought updating internal speaker wiring would have made a huge difference?
It seems odd to me that we update our external speaker cable to expensive Silver Plated cables in some cases costing hundreds of pounds, if then the signal is going to make it's final journey to the actual speaker via cheap, old, copper bell wire.
Is this not correct? I'm getting very confused with why HiFi is so expensive when the cost of components it's seems is so cheap.
It seems odd to me that we update our external speaker cable to expensive Silver Plated cables in some cases costing hundreds of pounds, if then the signal is going to make it's final journey to the actual speaker via cheap, old, copper bell wire.
Is this not correct? I'm getting very confused with why HiFi is so expensive when the cost of components it's seems is so cheap.
I wouldn't use speaker cable costing hundreds either.
Just make sure it's thick enough for the length and power you use.
Any 'improvement' from expensive cable is due to expectation bias since nobody has ever been able to distinguish cables in a blind test.
If you can there is a 1 million dollar price waiting for you somewhere.
Just make sure it's thick enough for the length and power you use.
Any 'improvement' from expensive cable is due to expectation bias since nobody has ever been able to distinguish cables in a blind test.
If you can there is a 1 million dollar price waiting for you somewhere.
Hi,
If you buy any vintage speaker is fairly obvious after you've taken
them apart what can be cost effectively done to them, capacitors,
soldering, occasionally new wire, more stuffing, better stuffing if
what is in them is poor, sometimes wall damping, sometimes
improve the driver mounting e.g. blutack, sometimes terminals.
Sometimes you can tweak mid and treble to good effect.
Some ported boxes work better if you foam line the ports.
(Insert a folded say a 1/4" to 1/2" thick piece of porous
foam cut to 3 x port diameter x the port length.)
You can't wave a magic wand over them. You can reverse some
things that may may have degraded over time, you can sometimes
improve the stock capacitors to good effect but its all pretty subtle.
rgds, sreten.
If you buy any vintage speaker is fairly obvious after you've taken
them apart what can be cost effectively done to them, capacitors,
soldering, occasionally new wire, more stuffing, better stuffing if
what is in them is poor, sometimes wall damping, sometimes
improve the driver mounting e.g. blutack, sometimes terminals.
Sometimes you can tweak mid and treble to good effect.
Some ported boxes work better if you foam line the ports.
(Insert a folded say a 1/4" to 1/2" thick piece of porous
foam cut to 3 x port diameter x the port length.)
You can't wave a magic wand over them. You can reverse some
things that may may have degraded over time, you can sometimes
improve the stock capacitors to good effect but its all pretty subtle.
rgds, sreten.
Really? Those were not overly successful Tannoy speakers.
Why are you lusting after those particular ones ??
Granted some of the DMT series Drivers were genuinely successful despite their Plastic 😱 cones and the horrid Waveguide thing. But those were at least of a decent diameter and had passable crossovers. AND their enclosures were over 1" thick double wall efforts.
Few IF any Tannoy Dual concentrics were worth the price of admission if of Less than 12" diameter, while some even claim Only 15"s are worth owning 🙂.
Traditionally the smaller Tannoy DC's never lived up to their bigger brothers accomplishments.. True.
But.. If bought for ..Very... little coin ??
Wiring could be 'improved' but benefits are typically in the mind of the Beholder.
Clearly crossover components could be upgraded for better quality ones.. some small advantages follow.
The Enclosures though, are best described as; Crap.
Flimsy and of reject materials IMO.
Best improvement IMO would be a decent enclosure of suitable woods, a crossover redo AND a decent current capable amplifier (they demand it).
Good luck with it.
Why are you lusting after those particular ones ??
Granted some of the DMT series Drivers were genuinely successful despite their Plastic 😱 cones and the horrid Waveguide thing. But those were at least of a decent diameter and had passable crossovers. AND their enclosures were over 1" thick double wall efforts.
Few IF any Tannoy Dual concentrics were worth the price of admission if of Less than 12" diameter, while some even claim Only 15"s are worth owning 🙂.
Traditionally the smaller Tannoy DC's never lived up to their bigger brothers accomplishments.. True.
But.. If bought for ..Very... little coin ??
Wiring could be 'improved' but benefits are typically in the mind of the Beholder.
Clearly crossover components could be upgraded for better quality ones.. some small advantages follow.
The Enclosures though, are best described as; Crap.
Flimsy and of reject materials IMO.
Best improvement IMO would be a decent enclosure of suitable woods, a crossover redo AND a decent current capable amplifier (they demand it).
Good luck with it.
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My friend had a pair of 609 with Musical Fidelity A100 integrated and Kimber 4TC loudspeaker cable. Though cabinets are ugly looking, the sound was impressive!
Hi and very interesting as i have spotted a cheap pair here where i live
Do you maybe remember how they were at reproducing soundstage ?
It is my foremost obsession with speakers
Speaking of the cabinet is indeed ugly ,,, but i think it is very well designed and built.
I agree with the plastic cones inferior to the paper ones even if i guess it is treated plastic ... but always plastic.
I ate plastic ...
Thanks and regards, giuseppe
I have a pair of these, bought them from Cash Generators (a modern day 'porn shop' for the un-knowing) for £60, mint condition for age with stands, delivery boxes and all paperwork.....
And what Bare writes is true - the cabinets are RUBBISH, TOTAL TRIPE etc but, what do you expect from a budget box?
The top and bottom are made of plastic about 1.5 - 2mm thick, the major panels are 15mm 'mdf' type stuff and dont have 'lapped' joints.
Some buyers report looking inside the cab at the joints and find them held together by the black 'wrap'.
They pant a bit and you can hear the music being radiated.
If you can, make cabinets yourself out of some decent ply, make the panels the full height of the original box and then CAP them with tops /bottoms so you don't loose the internal volume.
Keep the vertical 'brace', but cut it so that it can be shimmed against the mid/bass magnet - that little 'lossy' blob of putty stuff does sod all (look for a Planet10 'onken' box plan for details).
IF you have the factory stands, hurl them in a skip, they are CARP.
Too low, too light and the top / bottom plates ring like church bells - bolting anything to them is a crime.
They KILL what is a good sounding speaker.
If you play them at reasonable levels, they sound really good for what they are - far better than any 'dome / cone' speaker of similar cost from the same time period.
Imaging is good imho - you can sit out-side the sweet-spot or walk about your room and the sound stays virtually the same.
Visitors have heard them and been mildly stunned - one, a hifi'er, got on my pc and ebay and bought a pair for £120 'buy it now' for his bedroom he was so impressed.
Having said that, if you push them, they will start to sound 'hard / harsh' as the 'big waveguide' (mid-bass cone) starts to cause break-up in the high freq's...... The compromise of any 'concentric' driver.
I haven't touched my cross-overs as yet and wont till I can get new cabinets made.
My pair have given me a glimpse of what their bigger / better / badder / older ancestors can do. I'm going to locate the best pair of 12's I can after xmass and buy buy buy.
Bare / others Might say 'Go for the 15's' - I simply DON'T have the room for Westminster Royals or Autograph size enclosures.
And what Bare writes is true - the cabinets are RUBBISH, TOTAL TRIPE etc but, what do you expect from a budget box?
The top and bottom are made of plastic about 1.5 - 2mm thick, the major panels are 15mm 'mdf' type stuff and dont have 'lapped' joints.
Some buyers report looking inside the cab at the joints and find them held together by the black 'wrap'.
They pant a bit and you can hear the music being radiated.
If you can, make cabinets yourself out of some decent ply, make the panels the full height of the original box and then CAP them with tops /bottoms so you don't loose the internal volume.
Keep the vertical 'brace', but cut it so that it can be shimmed against the mid/bass magnet - that little 'lossy' blob of putty stuff does sod all (look for a Planet10 'onken' box plan for details).
IF you have the factory stands, hurl them in a skip, they are CARP.
Too low, too light and the top / bottom plates ring like church bells - bolting anything to them is a crime.
They KILL what is a good sounding speaker.
If you play them at reasonable levels, they sound really good for what they are - far better than any 'dome / cone' speaker of similar cost from the same time period.
Imaging is good imho - you can sit out-side the sweet-spot or walk about your room and the sound stays virtually the same.
Visitors have heard them and been mildly stunned - one, a hifi'er, got on my pc and ebay and bought a pair for £120 'buy it now' for his bedroom he was so impressed.
Having said that, if you push them, they will start to sound 'hard / harsh' as the 'big waveguide' (mid-bass cone) starts to cause break-up in the high freq's...... The compromise of any 'concentric' driver.
I haven't touched my cross-overs as yet and wont till I can get new cabinets made.
My pair have given me a glimpse of what their bigger / better / badder / older ancestors can do. I'm going to locate the best pair of 12's I can after xmass and buy buy buy.
Bare / others Might say 'Go for the 15's' - I simply DON'T have the room for Westminster Royals or Autograph size enclosures.
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Hi and thanks a lot indeed for the extremely useful and informative advice.
I am buying them just now for not much cash ... the equivalent of 130GPB with shipping included.
Your words on the box build quality suprise me in a negative way, but i trust you completely.
This is a real pity because i like the design a lot indeed with the triangular foot print ... it is original to me in avoiding the front and rear panels parallelism.
Nevertheless i understand that they were cheap speakers.
Absolutely. I cannot raise the volume for my neighbours ... unfortunately
So i will keep the level low for sure.
I can assure you that i always sit in the sweet-spot.
The only sweet thing in a bitter life 😱
No seriously ... i am obsessed completely by the soundstage rendition.
It is practically the only thing i seek for in a stereo system.
Also because i have never found a system great at 3D that plays bad music. Never.
So i guess it is a right buy for my tastes.
I have already an old DC100 at my parents home in Italy. Not bad at all.
The cabinet instead very very cheap ... but the driver is very very good in my opinion. I think it is the same used in these ones here ...
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
I know that the best Tannoy DC are the 12" and up
Once i listened to a pair of DIY passive monitors with some 15" DC, maybe RED but i do not remember the exact model.
They were wonderful indeed.
But they need as you say big spaces to develop their sound.
In a more normal sized room i would not discount a pair of 10" DC
I heard the Eaton ... slightly boxy but what a sound 😱
Anyway ... thanks a lot again for your precious advice.
And if you are aware of speakers with an exceptional ability to give back a great soundstage i am all ears.
Kindest regards, gino
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