Chinese version ...... now I need to learn another language .......
The Tannoy Story by Julian Alderton | Zen Mod Blog
The Tannoy Story by Julian Alderton | Zen Mod Blog
Now it´s time that you give us a short summary, does not need to be long, about 20 pages
are sufficent ;-)
are sufficent ;-)
Condensed version
Started as a Battery supplier for Radios evolved into Public Address Systems . Used extensively in the UK during ww2.
Later, post war, ventured into 'Audio' market Developed their proprietary version of a dual concentric driver.. a popular design of the time.
Kept developing those drivers up until the 70's.
Harmon International bought Tannoy in ~1974 .. end of design, quality and progress... full stop, period.
(Harmon also bought JBL and reduced them to a lo grade maker)
Employees repurchased the Company, decades later.
Made some restorative efforts to product and reputation.. Semi successfully still struggling along though, albeit in a dying audio market.
There we have it
Started as a Battery supplier for Radios evolved into Public Address Systems . Used extensively in the UK during ww2.
Later, post war, ventured into 'Audio' market Developed their proprietary version of a dual concentric driver.. a popular design of the time.
Kept developing those drivers up until the 70's.
Harmon International bought Tannoy in ~1974 .. end of design, quality and progress... full stop, period.
(Harmon also bought JBL and reduced them to a lo grade maker)
Employees repurchased the Company, decades later.
Made some restorative efforts to product and reputation.. Semi successfully still struggling along though, albeit in a dying audio market.
There we have it
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Last chapter possibly not in the book:
Purchased by TC Group in '02 and stopped building the DMT series, the best speakers Tannoy ever made.
Purchased by TC Group in '02 and stopped building the DMT series, the best speakers Tannoy ever made.
Seems to be a bit depressive condensed version.....
Now I know why the book didn't sell......but who bought all the books that none is on the market.....
🙂
It's not all bad after '74.
Roger @ Lockwood Audio, who knows more about Tannoy than Tannoy themselves, always preferred the K-series drivers (introduced in '79) over everything that came before and he earned his living from fixing mostly Reds, Golds and HPDs.
Personally I think the tulip waveguided drivers are a substantial step up from the older pepperpots.
Having said that: Anybody out there feel like swapping a pair of 3142 for my 3149s?
Roger @ Lockwood Audio, who knows more about Tannoy than Tannoy themselves, always preferred the K-series drivers (introduced in '79) over everything that came before and he earned his living from fixing mostly Reds, Golds and HPDs.
Personally I think the tulip waveguided drivers are a substantial step up from the older pepperpots.
Having said that: Anybody out there feel like swapping a pair of 3142 for my 3149s?
True enough.. but the Firm had deep roots, there was significant inertia amongst the continuing staff.. not so easily diverted.
First Ugly change was from the truly Excellent and recently adopted Butyl rubber surrounds to the inevitably proven horrid, but much cheaper Foam ones.
Must have been a foam surround Salesman touring ALL the driver makers of that era. Monkey see.. monkey do, herd mentality.
Then the efforts to Up the power handling capacities as it made for 'better' Brochure Babbles.
Tulip Wave guide? Really!?
It was.. eventually made to work decently .. but better is definitely an arguable claim.
Get thee to an Audiologist 🙂
First Ugly change was from the truly Excellent and recently adopted Butyl rubber surrounds to the inevitably proven horrid, but much cheaper Foam ones.
Must have been a foam surround Salesman touring ALL the driver makers of that era. Monkey see.. monkey do, herd mentality.
Then the efforts to Up the power handling capacities as it made for 'better' Brochure Babbles.
Tulip Wave guide? Really!?
It was.. eventually made to work decently .. but better is definitely an arguable claim.
Get thee to an Audiologist 🙂
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Tulips measure better (FR & THD), use fewer components in the xover and do away with that stupid autoformer.
What's not to like about the them?
The really funny thing is that in the '70s and '80s when Tannoy still employed that autoformer people bent over backwards to get rid of the it as it was seen as detrimental to the sound quality and now the next generation of audiophools is desperate to get it back. Seems to be all about nostalgia rather than anything else and one has to question the current crop of audiophools listening ability. A bit like the current obsession with SETs. Some might like that kind of sound but it is a (large) step further away from accurate reproduction.
There were also no particular efforts to up the power handling. That was merely a kind of side effect of more modern glues which have a higher melting point. If you get old Tannoys re-coiled or re-coned power handling goes up to beyond 300W because of modern glue and a former which is not made of cardboard anymore. The drivers themselves however sound exactly the same as they did before.
I know because I own one recoiled and one original pair.
When the foam hit the market nobody knew that it would rot over time. When that became clear Tannoy re-introduced butyl rubber and paper accordion surrounds with the K series.
What's not to like about the them?
The really funny thing is that in the '70s and '80s when Tannoy still employed that autoformer people bent over backwards to get rid of the it as it was seen as detrimental to the sound quality and now the next generation of audiophools is desperate to get it back. Seems to be all about nostalgia rather than anything else and one has to question the current crop of audiophools listening ability. A bit like the current obsession with SETs. Some might like that kind of sound but it is a (large) step further away from accurate reproduction.
There were also no particular efforts to up the power handling. That was merely a kind of side effect of more modern glues which have a higher melting point. If you get old Tannoys re-coiled or re-coned power handling goes up to beyond 300W because of modern glue and a former which is not made of cardboard anymore. The drivers themselves however sound exactly the same as they did before.
I know because I own one recoiled and one original pair.
When the foam hit the market nobody knew that it would rot over time. When that became clear Tannoy re-introduced butyl rubber and paper accordion surrounds with the K series.
The autotransformers are useful for their adjustment range to suit various environments,a feature that I like .The problems that they introduce are basic to all iron core inductors,in that the inductance can shift with the power level.Of the few examples that I have tested(HPD's)none met the values of inductance given in the Tannoy xover schematic.They can be corrected by adjusting the thickness of the air gap spacer and it amazes me that the Tannoy forums seem to miss this simple 'fix'. I agree with Charles Darwin that the tulip design is better than the pepperpot arrangement and this has to do with the resonances of the aluminium diaphragm of the latter not being damped.The attempt in the crossover to null out resonance is only a partial solution as it is difficult to be spot on in frequency. The power handling issue is also tied up with the relatively small Xmax in the HPD models,a four layer voice coil certainly improves thermal power handling but without attention to increasing the linear excursion,real output is not any more.
besides all things these days , I got to 2/3 of book
great reading , very nice written and interesting ..... even fun in some parts 😉
great reading , very nice written and interesting ..... even fun in some parts 😉
I am happy to have here some Tannoy experts discussing different subjects…
so before you all stop writing here, let me ask…😀
I bought for 100.- € some weeks ago two working Tannoy Mayfair…… the hint came from Zen Mod who seems to read all advertisements in Europe, in this case it was Munich.
I am very grateful to him…!
I had two Stirling SE at home, I will not say that the Mayfair were equal but the difference was in a order that I sold the Stirling……. and my bank account has some money more!
The Stirlings had for sure better highs and more room, but for instance the bass of the Mayfair is deeper and much more on the point.
My question when you look at the crossover circuit…..
Is it correct that the LF is only 6dB type and the C1 and R1 do only an kind if impedance correction?
And its it correct that the HF is a 12dB type with C3 and L3 and L2 and R2 are there to keep a resonance frequency or rising sound pressure lower?
Or is it a 18dB type using C2 and L2 and C3?
THX 😛
so before you all stop writing here, let me ask…😀
I bought for 100.- € some weeks ago two working Tannoy Mayfair…… the hint came from Zen Mod who seems to read all advertisements in Europe, in this case it was Munich.
I am very grateful to him…!
I had two Stirling SE at home, I will not say that the Mayfair were equal but the difference was in a order that I sold the Stirling……. and my bank account has some money more!
The Stirlings had for sure better highs and more room, but for instance the bass of the Mayfair is deeper and much more on the point.
My question when you look at the crossover circuit…..
Is it correct that the LF is only 6dB type and the C1 and R1 do only an kind if impedance correction?
And its it correct that the HF is a 12dB type with C3 and L3 and L2 and R2 are there to keep a resonance frequency or rising sound pressure lower?
Or is it a 18dB type using C2 and L2 and C3?
THX 😛
Attachments
it's easiest o put all these in LTSpice , which I already started , in process of making xover proposition for you
however , having book a t home , and some money related things to do these days - isn't helping 😉
so , tomorrow , I hope , to fiddle with that schm
book - still at 2/3 , and at least one PC to cure tonight
however , having book a t home , and some money related things to do these days - isn't helping 😉
so , tomorrow , I hope , to fiddle with that schm
book - still at 2/3 , and at least one PC to cure tonight
LTSpice good idea… but the model for the speakers…..😕
I know that you are working for me …… 🙂
and I am also interested to understand these old crossover ideas…..
🙂
good success with the Pc cure….!
I know that you are working for me …… 🙂
and I am also interested to understand these old crossover ideas…..
🙂
good success with the Pc cure….!
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