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Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs

66.189.199.48
Posted on January 1, 2010 at 11:10:02
Jeff Day
Reviewer

Posts: 537
Location: Washington State
Joined: October 20, 2000



I've missed having a set of high-sensitivity speakers around so about 3 months ago I ordered a pair of Tannoy Westminster Royal Se loudspeakers from the nice folks in Scotland. They arrived yesterday and my buddy Chad came over on New Year's Eve and helped me unpack the big beasts (304 pounds each).

They're not broken in or anything, but they really are amazing and sound great straight out of the box. If anyone's interested I posted some additional photos of them at the link out on Picasa.

Happy New Year everyone!

Best,

Jeff

 

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For some reason.., posted on January 1, 2010 at 11:35:50
Craiger56
Audiophile

Posts: 5694
Location: San Jose CA
Joined: April 3, 2002
Contributor
  Since: December 29, 2003
 I hear Louis Gottschalk's "A Night in the Tropics" playing in my head while looking at your pictures and it sounds stupendous.

 

Cool! nt, posted on January 1, 2010 at 12:05:53
Jeff Day
Reviewer

Posts: 537
Location: Washington State
Joined: October 20, 2000
 nt

 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 1, 2010 at 13:46:36
chrismercurio
Audiophile

Posts: 155
Joined: August 4, 2008
 Jeff,

I'm jealous. It's not JUST a size thing either. I hope they sound great...curious to hear how they sound vs a big Altec based system since some of the other 6moons folk have those.

Regards,

Chris

 

RE: Cool! nt, posted on January 1, 2010 at 14:52:57
ahendler
Audiophile

Posts: 5151
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Joined: January 24, 2003
 Jeff,
I know they are super efficient. What are you driving them with?
Alan

 

RE: Cool! nt, posted on January 1, 2010 at 17:36:17
Jeff Day
Reviewer

Posts: 537
Location: Washington State
Joined: October 20, 2000
 At the moment I'm driving them with a Leben CS660P amp which is a KT66 PP amp that puts out about 40 watts. The Westminsters don't really need that much power, but the Leben sounds really great on them. I'm going to try 45, 2A3, and 845 amps and see how that works too. Don Garber (Fi) says he's got some ideas he's been wanting to try, so that has me really intrigued. I feel a big amp crawl coming on!

 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 1, 2010 at 17:51:30
Jeff Day
Reviewer

Posts: 537
Location: Washington State
Joined: October 20, 2000
 Stephaen (6Moons) was over this afternoon, as was Pete Riggle and my buddy Chad, for a little listening session with the Tannoys. Stephaen has the big Altecs you're referring to and he has them sounding very good. He's building a new set of horns with Pete based on Pete's Po-Boys with some vintage drivers. Pete's big Po-Boy horns make my Westminsters look like mini-monitors by comparison!

The Tannoys are definitely a superb loudspeaker that sound big, warm, transparent, musical, smooth, and they fill the whole room with a charged presence. They are very visceral and you can feel the sound waves flowing over your body. The have such low distortion that they can play very loud without causing your ears to shut down. During a big pipe organ number I could feel my ribs vibrating in my chest - it was amazing. I've never experienced anything quite like them.

 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 1, 2010 at 21:16:11
Jim Smith
Industry Professional

Posts: 1097
Location: Atlanta, GA area
Joined: April 5, 2000
 Wow!!!

That speaker has been on my short list.

Major congrats!!!

Best regards,

Jim Smith

 

Re: Cool! nt ....... Way to Go Dude!, posted on January 2, 2010 at 08:26:25
drummerwill
Audiophile

Posts: 965
Location: St Louis Mo.
Joined: January 7, 2003

I'm really happy for you.
Big 15" HE drivers do deliver that feeling of music over your body, like no 8" driver can do.

Have Fun!
Willie

 

RE: Re: Cool! nt ....... Way to Go Dude!, posted on January 2, 2010 at 09:45:45
grutte pier
Audiophile

Posts: 188
Joined: March 23, 2002
You've ruined my New Year; I've been dreaming about these for ages.

Just kidding, hope you'll love them.

Are you sure about the low power? Tannoy freaks keep telling me they need
lots of Watts and flea power amps are useless on them. A friend of mine used to use ASR Emitter II on them.

They sure look beautiful!

Jos

 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 2, 2010 at 11:02:38
FredericB
Reviewer

Posts: 120
Location: East Coast USA
Joined: September 22, 2008
 Congratulations Jeff, you had me envious with the Harberth 40.1, now you have me absolutely green with envy. This is probably the highest ranking speaker on my "unreasonnable speakers" list.

Last time I heard them was with the monoblocks from Rogue Audio, and it was simply magnifiscent - another idea to try.

Enjoy your music while I go sulk in a corner :-)

 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 2, 2010 at 11:09:06
mitchs


 
Great speakers. I am thinking about Kensingtons and I was wondering if you had a chnace to compare the Westminsters to any of the smaller speakers with pepperpots. My room is 13.5 x 17.5 x 7.5 and I think that anything bigeer than the Kensingtons would overwhelm the room. What do you think? Will the Kensigtons overwhelm my room?
Again, Congratulations.

 

RE: Re: Cool! nt ....... Way to Go Dude!, posted on January 2, 2010 at 11:13:26
b.l.zeebub
Audiophile

Posts: 9361
Location: 52deg 28'N,1deg56'W
Joined: April 17, 2006
 True that!
Tannoy DCs love gobs of power/current no matter how efficient they are.
I'm running mine with just over 900w per side and they never sounded better.
A high DF also helps… a lot!

 

RE: Re: Cool! nt ....... Way to Go Dude!, posted on January 2, 2010 at 11:25:39
Jeff Day
Reviewer

Posts: 537
Location: Washington State
Joined: October 20, 2000
 I've heard that from a couple of folks now, but you and b.l. convinced me that I need to include some high-power amps in my tube amp crawl. Should be an interesting comparison.

 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 2, 2010 at 11:31:06
Jeff Day
Reviewer

Posts: 537
Location: Washington State
Joined: October 20, 2000
 I haven't heard the Kensingtons so I'm afraid I'm not of much help in answering your question. That's a reasonably good sized room you have, so I'd think it'd work fine for the K's, but you should probably check with a dealer or the Tannoy US domestic speakers rep and see what they think.

 

I like the clock, posted on January 2, 2010 at 11:34:37
brostrom5112
Audiophile

Posts: 67
Location: PNW
Joined: September 16, 2009
 Better to move it out of the corner.
What, me worry!

 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 2, 2010 at 11:36:27
Jeff Day
Reviewer

Posts: 537
Location: Washington State
Joined: October 20, 2000
 Thanks Frederic, I appreciate the kind words man. The M40.1s are fine speakers for sure, and I like them alot, but oh boy, these Tannoys are just blowing my mind. I can tell I'm going to have to include some higher powered amps in my next amp crawl, I think the verdict is unanimous! I'll tell you what, the 40 watt Leben CS660P is really sounding fine with them.

 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 2, 2010 at 11:38:21
Jeff Day
Reviewer

Posts: 537
Location: Washington State
Joined: October 20, 2000
 Thanks Jim! Man, these Tannoys are blowing me completely away!

 

RE: I like the clock, posted on January 2, 2010 at 13:05:27
Jeff Day
Reviewer

Posts: 537
Location: Washington State
Joined: October 20, 2000
 Thanks man - It's a great clock ... and weighs about the same as one of the Westminsters!

 

RE: Re: Cool! nt ....... Way to Go Dude!, posted on January 2, 2010 at 13:31:01
FredericB
Reviewer

Posts: 120
Location: East Coast USA
Joined: September 22, 2008
 Yep, that's been my experience too - reading the specs you'd thing a lonely 300B should do it but inreality, the more you push them, the better they sing, at least in my experience.
I still like them with tubes better, although but that's just my personal bias.

 

Stop! You're killing me!!!, posted on January 2, 2010 at 15:51:12
MMasztal
Audiophile

Posts: 6998
Location: The no state tax state!!!
Joined: August 13, 2001



" big, warm, transparent, musical, smooth, and they fill the whole room with a charged presence. They are very visceral and you can feel the sound waves flowing over your body."

You have my dream speaker!!! The best I was able to do was my version of a Corner GFI look-a-like with GPA 604s. I love them with my Leben amp, but I'm sure they pale in comparison to the Westminster.

 

Wow! Beautiful speakers MM!, posted on January 2, 2010 at 16:45:41
Jeff Day
Reviewer

Posts: 537
Location: Washington State
Joined: October 20, 2000
 Wow! Those are gorgeous!

 

RE: Stop! You're killing me!!!, posted on January 2, 2010 at 18:46:49
makarushka
 I seriously doubt that your speakers pale in comparison to anything really; especially if you've integrated them well and optimized them in your own space to your liking. Those cabinets are gorgeous, too, of course :)

I am currently playing with a GPA 604E-II Allnico prototypes that have their series-III horns, and even not fully broken-in, with a stock crossover, and in cabinets that are FAR from optimal in any way, these speaker are shockingly good. Thank you for sharing the cabinet plans with me some time ago, by the way! Not sure I'll go that route for a final build when I finalize my experiments but it's a possibility.

In my opinion and experience, large 15" coaxial Tannoys are just in general so much different a speaker from their Altec brethren, in that their current requirements dictate a very different chain upstream and a different breathing space to sound optimal -- at least this has been my experience, which, admittedly, did not include owning a set of Westminsters. I did, however, own a number of Tannoys coaxials, from the studio models that employ a similar driver that the Westminsters use, to the golds and HPDs, in a range of cabinets. I also did hear the Westminsters on several occasions, and was stunned by how complete and near-perfect a speaker they were. One big caveat was that this was a solid large room that had everything else going for this setup. My impression of the large Tannoys drivers was only reinforced, in that to get the best of them one either has to biamp, or be ready to make intelligent compromises. Older Tannoys like Golds and Reds are much more suitable for an implementation with low power SETs in smaller spaces -- but it's still far from optimal IMO. For many people low-power SETs work on them, and for myself in a less than optimal, smallish room where my GRF-R Golds are situated, running a 300B set also does work and is enjoyable, but far from what you could get out of them. These things like current. A pair of Atmasphere M60 amps, for instance, does a MUCH better job with an overall control top to bottom while still retaining the transparency and speed, but in a smallish space like mine they start to be an overkill. It's a compromise :) Personally, when compromising with larger Tannoys, my choice is to drive them either with OTL like Atmas, or a 14-20w/ch pushpull tube amps, particularly EL84-based, a tube which I tend to love in general in most designs and topologies. All this said, if I had a larger space, chances are my preferences would indeed be closer to some others' here, and I'd run a pro-grade amp from the likes of MC2 at some 750w per channel; I have heard such setups and they indeed sound sublime. Still, to MY personal taste, you do lose the immediacy only achievable with simple low-power tube gear, IMO, but you gain immensely in the control of the speaker so it can be a lot more fun as well. Another tradeoff :)

The 604s I find are significantly easier to optimize in a smaller space and a mid-field to nearfield listening scenario. A 45 SET does the job, and easily so, and with near all music save for perhaps the very dense material played EXTREMELY loudly.

In addition, these GPA drivers are such an improvement on any older 604 model I owned, that it's not even funny. I have not heard the ferrite model with the Mantaray horn but I am sure it applies to it as well. Steve and Bill at GPA swear they do not hear any difference...

 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 2, 2010 at 21:18:25
Paul Joppa
Industry Professional

Posts: 7344
Location: Seattle, WA
Joined: April 23, 2001
 I see several references to these speakers "wanting some current" - does that mean they have a low minimum impedance? There are also references to a need for "good damping" suggesting either a low minimum impedance or a box tuning that is not happy with a low damping factor.

Is there a spec for sensitivity or efficiency?

The only time I heard a vintage 15" Tannoy (a lesser model, if there can be such a thing) it was in a reflex cabinet, and I remember being startled at how beautifully it expressed the sound of the cello in particular - I was a cellist in my youth, now long ago. But I also remember some loudness limitations, which at the time I thought were probably excursion limits. Does this driver have a greater excursion capability?

Of course as an SET guy I am asking these questions to better understand why SETs might have difficulty with these otherwise-highly efficient speakers.

 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 3, 2010 at 07:03:17
Jeff Day
Reviewer

Posts: 537
Location: Washington State
Joined: October 20, 2000
 Hi Paul,

The sensitivity of the speakers is 99dB (2.83 Volts @ 1m) with a nominal impedance of 8 Ohms, so they are easy to drive even with low powered amps. There is a popular trend with some owners to use very large amplifiers with them, while others prefer SETs (like the late Harvey 'Gizmo' Rosenberg), but I suppose I'll check out both so I can get a feel for what folks are talking about.

Last night I was playing them quite loud (for me anyways) at about 90db, so they were using less than a watt, and with the 40 watt amp I had on them I was at less than 25% open on the volume pot.

I added a link to Gizmo's Tannoy page as it has some good info.

Best,

Jeff

 

Well, there goes my whole day ..., posted on January 3, 2010 at 07:53:33
Stephæn
 Whatta' link!

Later today, assuming I'm still on the planet after that read, Pete and I
are going to watch Coraline ... "an eerily eye-popping stop-motion
animation tale of fractured dreams and families made whole." Based on
Neil Gaiman’s beloved children’s novel, "director Selick (THE NIGHT-
MARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS) uses the stop-motion technique to bring
CORALINE to life with amazing visual and emotional depth."

Of course, we'll drive the audio signal through the 604s. Feel free to
join us, if you can tolerate the speaker downgrade. ;-)

 

Can I Be Put In Your Will ; ^) (nt), posted on January 3, 2010 at 08:14:10
thetubeguy1954
Audiophile

Posts: 6112
Location: Orlando, Fla
Joined: January 7, 2001
 a
Thetubeguy1954 (Tom)

Central Florida Audio Society -- SETriodes Group -- Space Coast Audio Society
Full-range/Wide-range Drivers --- Front & Back-Loaded Horns --- High Sensitivity Speakers


 

RE: Well, there goes my whole day ..., posted on January 3, 2010 at 08:37:03
Jeff Day
Reviewer

Posts: 537
Location: Washington State
Joined: October 20, 2000
 Cool ... what time are you gathering?

 

RE: Can I Be Put In Your Will ; ^) (nt), posted on January 3, 2010 at 08:39:09
Jeff Day
Reviewer

Posts: 537
Location: Washington State
Joined: October 20, 2000
 At this point I'm thinking of doing the Egyptian thing and being entombed with the full system! It'll give future archeologists something to ponder when they dig me up!

 

RE: Stop! You're killing me!!!, posted on January 3, 2010 at 09:24:52
b.l.zeebub
Audiophile

Posts: 9361
Location: 52deg 28'N,1deg56'W
Joined: April 17, 2006
 "I'd run a pro-grade amp from the likes of MC2 at some 750w per channel; I have heard such setups and they indeed sound sublime."

That would be an excellent choice if I may say so as I use three of their amps myself on my Tannoy DC based system though not the MC1250 750w monster: An MC750 for the subs (12" Volt radials in a t/l ala PMC XB2), an MC450 for the DC woofer and a T500 for the DC tweeter.
Incidentally the MC450 is painted black and branded 'Tannoy TA450' back from the days when Tannoy was still independent. Since the takeover by TC Group a few years ago Tannoy is forced to use re-branded LabGruppen amps. Not bad amps but no MC2s either.

FWIW I have got no idea why Tannoys like the juice so much despite being fairly efficient and showing the amp an easy load but they do! Other, less efficient, speakers I used did not improve nearly as much as the Tannoys when driven by big, juicy amps.
One of lives eternal mysteries I guess!

 

1:30 (mt), posted on January 3, 2010 at 10:12:29
Stephæn
 I said empty.

 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 3, 2010 at 12:31:37
Don Reid
Audiophile

Posts: 933
Location: Rural NW Georgia
Joined: February 2, 2001
 Please forgive me if this is a sacreligious question, but how do they image?
I dream of an America where a chicken can cross the road without having it's motives questioned.

 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 3, 2010 at 12:39:33
Jeff Day
Reviewer

Posts: 537
Location: Washington State
Joined: October 20, 2000
 They image pretty well. Better than my Harbeth Monitor 40.1s do, which are no slouch, and that kind of surprised me.

 

Thanks..., posted on January 3, 2010 at 13:24:15
Oface
Audiophile

Posts: 1497
Location: columbia, south carolina
Joined: May 3, 2003
 I was going to ask you on the ferrite 604's....

I have 8k's. I am thinking about going with their newer version. I did not know it was alnico, but you did say yours was an prototype.How do /did you convince them to convert it to alnico, or is GPA gonna implement the option?


Inquiring mind here....


Thanks again for your post.



-chris

 

So,, posted on January 3, 2010 at 13:30:36
Oface
Audiophile

Posts: 1497
Location: columbia, south carolina
Joined: May 3, 2003
 When are you gonna quit posting here & get your butt to work and give us a in-depth review! =;^)

Stop with the teasing...heh

I always have liked this speaker...


-chris


 

RE: So,, posted on January 3, 2010 at 14:04:31
Jeff Day
Reviewer

Posts: 537
Location: Washington State
Joined: October 20, 2000
 Hey Chris, full coverage is coming at PFO as I explore how to get the most from these, the latest versions of Westminster Royals. These Royal SEs are amazing, and for such big beasts they're remarkably sensitive to fine adjustments. I just moved them another inch out into the room and it had a profound effect on the sound. Just utterly musical in a fashion that is unmatched by anything I've come across before. I'm speechless.

 

Quick question, posted on January 3, 2010 at 14:19:02
Jim Smith
Industry Professional

Posts: 1097
Location: Atlanta, GA area
Joined: April 5, 2000
 Jeff,

I've never been able to see the back of an actual pair.

And I cannot seem to locate an image of the rear of the speaker.

Is the horn loaded bass reproduced only through the front lateral vents?

Best regards,

Jim Smith

 

look forward to it., posted on January 3, 2010 at 14:32:16
Oface
Audiophile

Posts: 1497
Location: columbia, south carolina
Joined: May 3, 2003
 Thanks,



-chris

 

RE: Quick question, posted on January 3, 2010 at 14:50:52
vyju@airtelbroadband.in
Audiophile

Posts: 43
Location: Chennai
Joined: May 26, 2007



Hi,

Here is a picture from the Tannoy groups.

Regards
Rajiv

 

RE: Thanks..., posted on January 3, 2010 at 15:06:21
makarushka
 Hi Chris,

My drivers are the 604E Series II prototypes -- GPA had announced the upcoming release of the Alnico 604E in September; it is in the "news" section of their website. The only thing different on mine from the upcoming production version is the horn -- the production will have a multicellular horn much like the original 604E, whereas my drivers have the GPA Series III horns, which are much like the old Urei versions.

Again, who knows if there is much difference in sound, if at all, due to the magnet material alone. I am not a believer in the holy grail of Alnico per se, or anything like that, but I do happen to have (and have had) a number of speakers with Alnico magnets, which all sound(ed) great to me. Like I mentioned earlier, Steve told me he and Bill heard no difference whatsoever between the Ferrite version and this Alnico one, when using the same Series III horn.

If there was in fact a difference of any kind, it would surely be due to more than just the magnets: the crossovers are different, and the physical centers of the drivers on the ceramic version are closer together to begin with, so if you were to employ a time-aligning crossover, there would need to be less correction on the ferrite version to begin with. The 604E Alnico magnet structure is huge, and the driver centers are further apart.

This time the GPA guys chose to go with a more minimal crossover, though, and it is not time-aligned for the sake of less complexity. It's 12dB slopes centered at 1600Hz. The stock crossover as it is sounds VERY good to me, but it is one area where I will be experimenting further; namely trying an even simpler first order crossover, too. This will be at a later time, though, after I've played with the cabinets/baffles sufficiently, and the speakers/crossovers are fully broken in.

 

RE: Quick question, posted on January 3, 2010 at 15:27:33
Jeff Day
Reviewer

Posts: 537
Location: Washington State
Joined: October 20, 2000
 Hi Jim, the bass exits from the two front lateral vents, and the back of the speaker is sealed.

Best,

Jeff

 

RE: Quick question, posted on January 3, 2010 at 15:36:40
Jim Smith
Industry Professional

Posts: 1097
Location: Atlanta, GA area
Joined: April 5, 2000
 Excellent!

That's what I thought - and what I hoped.

Best regards,

Jim Smith

 

Thanks! -nt-, posted on January 3, 2010 at 15:38:00
Jim Smith
Industry Professional

Posts: 1097
Location: Atlanta, GA area
Joined: April 5, 2000
 -nt-

Best regards,

Jim Smith

 

Beautiful! They'll sound even better after they are broken in, posted on January 3, 2010 at 17:50:30
Jay Buridan
Audiophile

Posts: 11500
Location: Michigan
Joined: January 21, 2004
 Good choice!

"Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people. "
― W.C. Fields

 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 3, 2010 at 19:25:27
lokie
Audiophile

Posts: 2021
Location: Georgia, USA
Joined: January 28, 2003
 Can you give any comments regarding a comparison between these and the big Shindo's?

 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 4, 2010 at 06:54:32
cids
Audiophile

Posts: 553
Joined: April 20, 2002
 Old giant Tannoy might have a chance to beat the Shindo. New one. Impossible.

 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 4, 2010 at 06:57:50
Jeff Day
Reviewer

Posts: 537
Location: Washington State
Joined: October 20, 2000
 It's been too long since I've heard the Shindo speakers to make any kind of comparison. Like all of Ken Shindo's creations they're very nice. I still get lust bumps all over every time I think of the Shindo Garrard 301 player system - beautiful!

 

Why? nt., posted on January 4, 2010 at 07:38:56
jusbe
Audiophile

Posts: 5950
Location: North Island
Joined: April 4, 2000
Big J

"... only a very few individuals understand as yet that personal salvation is a contradiction in terms."


 

RE: Can I Be Put In Your Will ; ^) (nt), posted on January 4, 2010 at 07:56:59
floydandrews
Audiophile

Posts: 322
Location: Port Townsend, WA
Joined: December 29, 2003
 Bwaaahaaahaaa! Excellent!

 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 5, 2010 at 05:32:47
munna


 
Hi Chris

Dont be jealous. You can get better sound for less money but you will need some sweat equity to beat it. And at the end of the day, it might not be as smooth as the Tannoy product. From a practical point of view, the Altec, JBL, TAD, Edgar (to name a a few) offer woofers, drivers,horns & cabinets that are quite a bit better than the Tannoy components when compared directly. However they are parts that need to be integrated & assembled.

Most Altec/JBL rigs were designed for larger spaces and need quite a bit of work before then can be domesticated. Choosing the right woofers, driver, horn & crossover and cabinets and then tuning them is a 2+ year effort that will require quite a bit of juggling of crossovers/horns/drivers/woofers.
However, after the juggling is complete, it should sound quite a bit better than the Westminister in most ways (in particular, mid bass will be tighter and more real, voices will be expansive -- there will be a lot more bite & growl & snap). However, after the basic configuration is complete, it may continue to have some 'edge-marks' where the hobbyists fingerprints are left (which might take another 1-3 years to smooth out). The Westminister on the other hand is a smooth finished product that has a long proven track record in domestic situations. It can be enjoyed from day 1 (providing you have 30k+).

Judged as a complete hifi product (as compared to a hobbyists bag of tricks), the Westminister is somewhat unique. Not sure if there is another company(outside of Utopish) that produces a large assembled folded horn. So difficult to compare it directly with contemporary marketplact products. Similar products from the past that outperform the Westminister(in my book) include JBL Hartsfield, Jensen Imperial, GrandUtopia(Jensen). Other horn products that are less similar in design but that offer the same symphony-type response include Altec Model 19, Altec Magnificent (domestic A5). The Hartsfield, Utopish, Jensen are probably top of the heap . From a practical point of view, the Model 19 (even though its just bass-reflex+horn) at $1300 a pair will give the Westminister a good fight. Also, the Edgarhorn system (which is pleasant domestic off the bat), while not really direct competition since its more of a a component system,
is quite a bit better than an Westminister. Of course these are my non-sharable ears and tastes at work.

Now for a little more carping. Tannoy asks a 15" Woofer to go up to 1200 (does make for continuity in the critical 500-1100 region). But thats asking a lot for both the speaker and the listener. Tannoy stretched the limit on a 2-way and many might say they got away with it. The folded horn kicks in at about 200-300. Purists might object to the folded horn bass being out of phase and being, well, folded. In reality, Tannoy has implemented it proficiently ( even though it has does not have the impact of the JensenImperial folded horn bass However, you will probably hear the creamy smear in this region. Of course every speaker system has compromises and choosing a speaker may simply be choosing a speaker whose compromises fall outside a listenners area of sensitivity.

For the record, I owned Tannoy Westministers 10 years ago and sold them after 1 year. My own assessment was that they were ok but did not give me the realism & dynamics that I was looking for. While I had it, 2 experienced audiophiles(who listened to mainly classical music) opined that it was the best sound that they had heard. Also, I tried out many tannoy products - mainly because it was easy to get coherent, musical sound from them (rare in high-end audio). Hard to find an unpleasant Tannoy coaxial. and the 10" units are real, real, cute.

Hi Jeff, congratualaions. If you are not a anal tweaker, you might love them. Now just sit down and listen to music and forget audio.

Anyways, hope this has been helpful.

 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 5, 2010 at 05:52:53
munna


 
hello

my turn to get jealous.

the 10" Alnico Kensington should be a near perfect match for your 17x13 room. You could also safely do 12" but they might not sound as good. I would choose the 10" over the 12" version. Actually, I wont be surprized if your sound is bettr than Jeff's. use a good 35watt push pull amp

Note that even the Tannoy 15" units can be used in small rooms (one reason why Japanese love them). Tannoys dont overwhelm rooms. however in smaller rooms the bass becomes bloomy/creamy. and you need to listen at low levels.


 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 6, 2010 at 12:08:54
mitcha


 
Munna - Thanks for the kind words. I hope that you are right. I have Quicksilver 6C33C Triode Monoblocks (50 watts) with a Shindo Monbrison. Do you think this will be a good fit or could you recommend something better in the same general price range.

 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 6, 2010 at 15:58:36
mnawaz3@aol.com
Audiophile

Posts: 513
Joined: March 28, 2002
 Hello Mitcha
Tannoys are not the last word in definition. However 2 good traits they
have : musicality & amp-friendliness... so i would start with what you have. 50w push-pull should be wonderful for the 10" drivers. i had a single-ended amp with your tube -- it was ok but dark sounding. my guess is that a good el34/300b/el84 PUSH-PULL amp would be better -- but maybe not dramatically better. Tannoys put their own signature on the sound. after 3 months i would try it with an upgraded dynacoe st70. if you see an improvment in tone or dynamics i would consider going after , a gently refurbished marantz 8b (or lectron jh50 or jh30).. after that i would be adventurorus and try a Chinese 300b push pull (or go after the VAC 300b units if you can afford it). i dont recommend any single amp (they just
dont drive speakers well - they lose a LOT of dyanmics and i have heard or owned the so-called best SE amps) . by they way, Quicksilver is a bit like Tannoy .... musical, friendly and reliable but not the last word in performance.. but note that many units which are good in performance are NOT musical. so keep what you have and gently move upward towards tighter definition.

 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 6, 2010 at 22:14:48
nikhilji
Audiophile

Posts: 4
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: January 3, 2010




How about OTL amps ? Any experience with these on the Westminsters ?

BTW, Congrats Jeff ! Looking forward to reading more about the Tannoys in 2010.

Ahh.. the image above from Tannoy's site succinctly describes a life of luxury to yearn for..

 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 7, 2010 at 09:54:03
munna


 
no experience with OTL on Tannoy.. but the Tannoy dealer in Canada recommned 100w OTL for me when I asked for an amp recommendation.... i do agree with power rating.. more power is much better. 60w tube would be minimum for my tastes.. with less power dynamics suffer.

 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 8, 2010 at 01:59:38
Musicophile
Audiophile

Posts: 24
Joined: August 23, 2008
 Mitchs: I can wholeheartedly recommend Kensington. Have been living with them now for one year and still have the idea that these are my speakers for life. I have listend to Westminister, Yorkminister and the Prestige line under with tullip horn. My clear impression is that the line with allnico magnets and pepperpot, like the Kensington and upwards in the line, share the same signature in sound. I really like the other ones, with tullip horn, but they are different. I choose Kensington because of room size, however, you get the magic with them.

I see that many recommends some juice when it comes to amps with Tannoys. Personally, I drive Kensington with Manley Snapper, and Leben preamp (after reading Jeff by the way), and they really like the power I am feeding them. It surprises me that there is so few discussions about modern Tannoys here. Usually when Tannoy comes up it is about the vintage speakers. I really appreciate that Jeff will review a modern Westminister.

 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 9, 2010 at 09:37:12
Mijknarf
 Jeff,
Very nice speakers for sure, but I'm also interested in the beautiful cabinet clock in the corner of the room. Being a woodworker as well as an audiophile, I'd like to ask you a couple questions about it but I didn't want to impose with an e-mail. If you would be so inclined to drop me a line, I would appreciate it.

Thanks,
Jim

 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 23, 2010 at 19:44:00
mitch s.
Audiophile

Posts: 178
Location: new york
Joined: January 28, 2005
 Got the Kensingtons and I am enjoying them greatly. I have a Monbrison like you and I am thinking about going to a SET. I know that you have reviewed the Cortese and the Fi 300b's. (I am thinking of placing an order with Don, although I would preferably like to hear the amp first). Do you believe that one may be better than the other in my system with the Tannoys? Do you still have the 300b's or the Cortese to compare on your Westminsters? What is your initial reaction? If you would rather comment offline, I understand.
Thanks.

 

RE: Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, posted on January 24, 2010 at 13:45:10
Jeff Day
Reviewer

Posts: 537
Location: Washington State
Joined: October 20, 2000
 Hi Mitch,

Congratulations on the Kensingtons! Man I really wish I still had the Shindo and Fi gear around to try with my Westminsters, but unfortunately they had to go back home.

Right now I'm using the Leben RS100U pre, Leben RS24 phono, and the Leben CS660P amp with the Tung Sol 6L6G reissue power tubes and NOS Sylvania drivers, and it is a remarkably good match with the Westminsters. I've been using the CS660P amp for quite a while now, and it never ceases to amaze me at how good it is, and how flexible. I'm going to have to do a long term report on it one of these days.

Don is going to send me his new preamp to try and a new amp he's been thinking about when he gets a little more caught up, so I should know a little better in the future on the Fi front. I'd love to give the Shindo gear a try on the West's but unfortunately I don't have easy access to any at the moment. A couple of friends have bought Kara Chaffee's (of de Havilland fame) 50A mono amps (which I've heard before on other speakers - great amps!) so I'll get to give them a whirl eventually. Also, during Kara's last visit for our Tri-Cities (WA) audio crawl she mentioned (or maybe I begged) she'd bring some of her 845 amps over for a listen on the West's. Also got some friends with a Yamamoto 45 and Wright 2A3s that I'm looking forward to hearing on them.

I do have the MasterSound 300B integrated amp here now and it sounds pretty great with the West's, although I had a brief audition with a DIY Hi-Fi 300B amp and it wasn't quite so good a match.

On the solid-state front I tried a pair of the Nuforce monos and that really didn't do much for me on the West's. Attempted to try some VTL Ichabons but a shorted input sent full power to the left input and scared the crap out of me and my buddy Ron. You'd be surprised how fast a couple of old guys can move under those circumstances! It's a credit to the Tannoys that they can take that much juice and not even break a sweat.

Best,

Jeff

 

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