horn speakers readily available in the UK? or other British speakers to check out...

[morricab]

I second Odeon and Horning as speakers to audition.

 

[defride]

We're seeing hugely increased demand for property in Bucks and Surrey commutable into London from families in a position to work from home. I don't know about other areas but I'd suspect no difference.

Very few of those we know are expecting to commute more than once or twice a week as offices begin to reopen. Many are already seeing their companies draw up plans to downsize their London office space. No problem with overcrowded commuter trains right now

One would think this may have an effect on the London property market though I'm not aware of evidence to suggest any great cooling.

My recent experience suggests hifi in the UK is very much a buyers market whether new or s/h. Lots to explore from UK and Europe based companies

Good luck with the potential move

 

[wbass]

Thanks all for the suggestions, both about speakers and property/rentals. I know that my query is seriously putting the cart before the horse--more like shooting the cart into outer space--especially given the cost of accommodations in central London. I've lived in tech boom San Francisco and NYC, but London is another tier altogether.

For context, I've been offered an academic post at a uni about 2hrs from London. Since I'd only be on campus 2-3 days a week, half the year, it's very possible to either live near campus or commute to and from London by train. Living near the uni could mean detached house and good-sized horns. Living in London--which I could afford, just about, despite being in academia--I'd likely have to content myself with monitors and/or headphones. (I've lived with HPs as my main rig, but really don't like them as much now.) However, London is closer to other things, like family in the south. (I've been visiting England 2-3 times a year since I was a kid, with a few extended stays, so I know all about the changeable weather and price of milk, etc.)

So, this is mostly a fun post, seeing what's out there in hi-fi land, as, in a slightly insane manner, that might affect where I end up living.

 

[iansr]

A simple and compact solution would be to go active and buy a pair of Dutch & Dutch 8C. They would also make 90% of other speakers sound broken.

 

[LL21]

Pmc is another top English brand.

Excellent stuff.

 

[LL21]

The interesting thing about [some] London flats, is that it is not unusual to have solid brick or masonry walls...very different than new-build US stuff which is often drywall and wooden stud construction. The bass response is different, and others here will be able to articulate the differences in what happens when you drop a speaker in either room. Older homes in London also tend to have higher ceilings.

Although space may/may not be smaller on a footprint basis, there also other factors to consider in terms of room. Sonus Faber, Tannoy, B&W, KEF, Wilson Benesch and PMC are generally available to hear. Plus, Wilson, Martin Logan, Magico and Focal.

 

[Yeti]

How about Lowther?

 

[iansr]

How about Lowther?

Is that what they call a shout out ?

 

[Yeti]

Well hopefully not a honk, though the speakers they build are horns.

 

[heihei]

Spend the money on headphones and take the room (and neighbours) out of the equation!

 

[G T Audio]

A simple and compact solution would be to go active and buy a pair of Dutch & Dutch 8C. They would also make 90% of other speakers sound broken.

Stick with a good passive design. Most of these active DSP speakers will be in land fill within a few years...

 

[iansr]

Stick with a good passive design. Most of these active DSP speakers will be in land fill within a few years...

How to destroy any credibility you might possess in one short post. If you are going to make extremist assertions I think you have a responsibility to declare it as such.

 

[Bergm@nn]

How to destroy any credibility you might possess in one short post. If you are going to make extremist assertions I think you have a responsibility to declare it as such.

In fairness its only as extreme an assertion as saying -

buy a pair of Dutch & Dutch 8C. They would also make 90% of other speakers sound broken.

 

[G T Audio]

How to destroy any credibility you might possess in one short post. If you are going to make extremist assertions I think you have a responsibility to declare it as such.

I have been involved in the manufacturing and the repair of electronics for over 40 years and I have had pretty much everything through our workshops, so I speak with experience. There are numerous posts on forums about this subject. Check out the Devialet Phantom for example. This speaker cannot be repaired if it goes wrong. After the guarantee/warrentee period runs out, if it fails then its landfill. It was designed not to be taken apart and this is just one example.

I have had several conversations with chip manufacturers over the years who tell me I should be designing new digital products every 2 years as chip sets become obsolete. Also, modern day tech companies do not necessarily have a long standing reputation for customer service and product support. Modern electronics with screens and surface mount technology are very difficult to fault and fix should they go wrong. This could be made even worse if the company who made the said piece went out of business, which is very likely in these times.

 

[DasguteOhr]

Monitor audio concept 50 speakers for bigger rooms, and studio 10 older
series(used) for small rooms no horn of course amazing speakers.

Concept 50 | Monitor Audio

It all leads to this Since 1972, we’ve pushed the boundaries of what can be achieved in sound quality. 50 years later, we set out to create a single s

www.monitoraudio.com

 

[wbass]

I make the move to London in Sept, probably into a more long-term place in Jan. Currently contemplating Quad ESL or some version of Tannoy (vintage, Legacy) or possibly Fyne's new Vintage line.

Might get my ARC Ref 40/Anniversary rewired for 220V and perhaps look to add a matching ARC Ref 75SE, as seems like would be a decent match with either Quad or Tannoy. Horns still a possibility, but sort of resigning myself to something that works in a smaller room, as, well, it's London.

 

[G T Audio]

I make the move to London in Sept, probably into a more long-term place in Jan. Currently contemplating Quad ESL or some version of Tannoy (vintage, Legacy) or possibly Fyne's new Vintage line.

Might get my ARC Ref 40/Anniversary rewired for 220V and perhaps look to add a matching ARC Ref 75SE, as seems like would be a decent match with either Quad or Tannoy. Horns still a possibility, but sort of resigning myself to something that works in a smaller room, as, well, it's London.

Note: The UK mains voltage is 240v, (nominally 230v +10%/-6%) so best to see if your Ref40s can be converted to 240v working. Some UK mains voltages go as high as 253 volts and above. I have measured 256 volts here which is just outside London. This will have a big impact on the operating points of your amplifiers if the mains is not corrected.

 

[wbass]

Yes, sorry, good point. 240V. I contacted ARC customer service/repairs, and they indicated it'd be no problem to have the multi-tap transformers rewired for UK voltage. And, luckily, their distributor in the UK can do the work and is, in fact, located in London.

They also said that the unit would work fine with a step-down transformer, so that could be another option. (Though I've read varying accounts of voltage transformers in operation with hifi kit.)

 

[DasguteOhr]

I make the move to London in Sept, probably into a more long-term place in Jan. Currently contemplating Quad ESL or some version of Tannoy (vintage, Legacy) or possibly Fyne's new Vintage line.

Might get my ARC Ref 40/Anniversary rewired for 220V and perhaps look to add a matching ARC Ref 75SE, as seems like would be a decent match with either Quad or Tannoy. Horns still a possibility, but sort of resigning myself to something that works in a smaller room, as, well, it's London.

use this variable voltage, power maximum 2000 watts

10 Amp Variac Variable Transformer 2000VA Max 0-240 AC Volt Output regulator New | eBay

On/Off Power Switch is Lighted. NEW IN BOX WITH FACTORY WARRANTY.

www.ebay.de

 

[iansr]

I have been involved in the manufacturing and the repair of electronics for over 40 years and I have had pretty much everything through our workshops, so I speak with experience. There are numerous posts on forums about this subject. Check out the Devialet Phantom for example. This speaker cannot be repaired if it goes wrong. After the guarantee/warrentee period runs out, if it fails then its landfill. It was designed not to be taken apart and this is just one example.

I have had several conversations with chip manufacturers over the years who tell me I should be designing new digital products every 2 years as chip sets become obsolete. Also, modern day tech companies do not necessarily have a long standing reputation for customer service and product support. Modern electronics with screens and surface mount technology are very difficult to fault and fix should they go wrong. This could be made even worse if the company who made the said piece went out of business, which is very likely in these times.

One channel of amplification directly driving a single transducer is in principle inherently superior to one amp driving several transducers via a passive crossover. DSP can achieve crossover and phase / time domain results (and room correction to boot) that are impossible for a passive crossover to achieve. Those aren’t contentious assertions, its just physics. So to discard active systems and DSP out of hand on the basis of potential reliability issues seems like - well I’ll be diplomatic - a rather disproportionate reaction.