has anyone heard the Tannoy Kingdom Royal?

If I had the dough, I'd buy them without an audition and with no qualms whatsover. Tannoy is one of the only truly great speaker makers in hi-fi history, IMHO.

Haven't heard them, but I want 'em. Unfortunately, will never be that rich.

I talked to Kevin Hayes, owner and chief design engineer at VAC, and what he says is that they are a must-hear, even if you can't afford 'em. He maintains they are very special, and he uses them to demo his equipment at shows.

That says a lot about them.

Regards,
Dan

There was a fairly recent review of this speaker. I can't recall if it was Positive Feedback on Line or Stereophile.

I specifically went to the Newport show to listen to high end speakers. So I auditioned the TAD Reference, the MBL 101, the Magico, The Kef Blade, The Venture Ultimate Reference and the big Tannoys. I just wanted to hear what the current state of the art in speakers was offering these days. Out of all the speakers listed above, the Tannoys were among the least expensive (along with the KEF Blade) and I found them very impressive. The list of speakers in my post here is so diverse, that it becomes very difficult to provide a detailed analysis, beyond the 'like / did not like'. If I were in the market for speakers in the $30K - $60K range, I would definitely put the Tannoys on my list to audition more in depth in my own set-up and my own space.

Last time I heard them was about 6 years ago. They were driven by a pair of 60-watt tube amps. Very easy to listen to, really, you were thinking about the music, not so much the stereo.

I have heard them behind top of the line VAC and they were awesome.

anyone hear the old Kingdom (not Royal( series

I certainly would not kick a pair of Westminster Royals to the curb...
(as if I physically could:)

I heard the Tannoy Kingdom Royal speakers at Munich a couple of years ago in the Esoteric system. While they sounded lovely they were not my "best of show". I have heard other older Tannoy models that I liked more. Could have been the rest of the system, of course.

Regards,