Greetings all. I’m new here, so a bit of an introduction:
I’m retired and I’m extremely interested in purchasing new Tannoy’s that have Tannoy’s 15” coaxial driver. I’m considering either the Ardens or either the TOTL Westminsters, but not the Canterburys as both my beloved wife and I don’t care for its styling. Whilst unrelated, amplifier guru Nelson Pass uses 15” Tannoy HPD speakers as his reference (
).
I recognize there’s a huge price difference between the Westminsters and the Ardens, but the 15” driver in the Arden makes me wonder if it is all close to the Westminster in sound quality?
I became aware of Tannoy whilst at university when I was working part-time in a good hi fi shop. We were actually storing a pair of Tannoys that were about the same size as the current Westminsters (this was in the late 1970’s) for a very good customer who was building a new home. I don’t remember the model name, and they had either a 12” or 15” coaxial driver.
Our customer was gracious enough to allow us to listen to them and I have to say, IMO, they were significantly better sounding (to me) than any of the better speakers we sold. And this included the Infinity Servostatic electrostatic speakers, large Bozak floor standing speakers, Magnaplanar 1-D speakers, large JBL speakers, and the venerable Klipschorns, among others. These Tannoys just loaded and pressurized our demo room like no other speaker I’ve ever heard, and nothing I’ve listened to since has ever recreated the magic of the live sound that these large Tannoy’s produced in our demo room. Our shop didn’t sell Tannoys, so these were the only ones I’ve ever been able to hear.
Now, I’m going to have to make a purchase decision without being able to actually listen to new Tannoys. I live in “BugFuck” rural Appalachia with no good audio dealers near me.
I have PTSD from time spent in Southeast Asia, and listening to good music is therapy for me - I haven’t found any meds that work as well as a skillfully-recorded classical symphony, or classic rock from the 60’s and 70’s, or good jazz, or good bluegrass.
My current system is B&W DM3000 speakers with a B&W HTM centre channel for the 20% of the time I view and listen to a movie. The DM3000’s were B&W’s TOTL domestic speakers in the early 80’s and they preceded B&W’s introduction of their 800 series of speakers. In my room, the B&W’s are flat down to 30Hz, and I have a couple of Bob Carver’s Sunfire subs for the infrasonics. So the system is currently now configured as a 5.2 system.
I intend to simplify my system and ditch the centre channel when I purchase new speakers. I don’t hear much of a difference now when I disable my center channel (and enable the phantom centre channel setting) for movies, and I’ve read Tannoy’s 15” coaxial drivers have excellent dispersion, likely better than my current B&W’s. Although I did speak with a dealer in Scotland who told me that to-date, he’s actually sold three Tannoy Westminster L-C-R systems! Personally, I think using a Westminster as a centre channel is a bit of overkill!
Now, I wish to solicit opinions here from those of you with 15” Tannoy coaxial speakers: If you view and listen to movies through your Tannoy’s, do you think a centre channel is necessary? Please share your experience
Next, has anyone here had an opportunity to compare Ardens with Westminsters? I’m of the opinion nothing can surpass a Westminster in pressurizing a room whilst playing music (I attribute this to the complex bass reflex cabinetry design of the Westminster). But I’m curious if the Ardens can come somewhat close to the Westminsters in terms of pressurizing a room, or is the cabinetry of the Westminster really needed to accomplish this?
Please share your thoughts and opinions on these last two points. There are no Tannoy dealers within 2,000 miles of my home, and I’m anxious to hear your thoughts.
Kind regards, Vinyl Rules!
I’m retired and I’m extremely interested in purchasing new Tannoy’s that have Tannoy’s 15” coaxial driver. I’m considering either the Ardens or either the TOTL Westminsters, but not the Canterburys as both my beloved wife and I don’t care for its styling. Whilst unrelated, amplifier guru Nelson Pass uses 15” Tannoy HPD speakers as his reference (
I recognize there’s a huge price difference between the Westminsters and the Ardens, but the 15” driver in the Arden makes me wonder if it is all close to the Westminster in sound quality?
I became aware of Tannoy whilst at university when I was working part-time in a good hi fi shop. We were actually storing a pair of Tannoys that were about the same size as the current Westminsters (this was in the late 1970’s) for a very good customer who was building a new home. I don’t remember the model name, and they had either a 12” or 15” coaxial driver.
Our customer was gracious enough to allow us to listen to them and I have to say, IMO, they were significantly better sounding (to me) than any of the better speakers we sold. And this included the Infinity Servostatic electrostatic speakers, large Bozak floor standing speakers, Magnaplanar 1-D speakers, large JBL speakers, and the venerable Klipschorns, among others. These Tannoys just loaded and pressurized our demo room like no other speaker I’ve ever heard, and nothing I’ve listened to since has ever recreated the magic of the live sound that these large Tannoy’s produced in our demo room. Our shop didn’t sell Tannoys, so these were the only ones I’ve ever been able to hear.
Now, I’m going to have to make a purchase decision without being able to actually listen to new Tannoys. I live in “BugFuck” rural Appalachia with no good audio dealers near me.
I have PTSD from time spent in Southeast Asia, and listening to good music is therapy for me - I haven’t found any meds that work as well as a skillfully-recorded classical symphony, or classic rock from the 60’s and 70’s, or good jazz, or good bluegrass.
My current system is B&W DM3000 speakers with a B&W HTM centre channel for the 20% of the time I view and listen to a movie. The DM3000’s were B&W’s TOTL domestic speakers in the early 80’s and they preceded B&W’s introduction of their 800 series of speakers. In my room, the B&W’s are flat down to 30Hz, and I have a couple of Bob Carver’s Sunfire subs for the infrasonics. So the system is currently now configured as a 5.2 system.
I intend to simplify my system and ditch the centre channel when I purchase new speakers. I don’t hear much of a difference now when I disable my center channel (and enable the phantom centre channel setting) for movies, and I’ve read Tannoy’s 15” coaxial drivers have excellent dispersion, likely better than my current B&W’s. Although I did speak with a dealer in Scotland who told me that to-date, he’s actually sold three Tannoy Westminster L-C-R systems! Personally, I think using a Westminster as a centre channel is a bit of overkill!
Now, I wish to solicit opinions here from those of you with 15” Tannoy coaxial speakers: If you view and listen to movies through your Tannoy’s, do you think a centre channel is necessary? Please share your experience
Next, has anyone here had an opportunity to compare Ardens with Westminsters? I’m of the opinion nothing can surpass a Westminster in pressurizing a room whilst playing music (I attribute this to the complex bass reflex cabinetry design of the Westminster). But I’m curious if the Ardens can come somewhat close to the Westminsters in terms of pressurizing a room, or is the cabinetry of the Westminster really needed to accomplish this?
Please share your thoughts and opinions on these last two points. There are no Tannoy dealers within 2,000 miles of my home, and I’m anxious to hear your thoughts.
Kind regards, Vinyl Rules!
