I cannot comment on the Kensington per se, but I had 12" Monitor Golds from the early 70's to the late 80's. A couple of years ago, I determined I needed to return to Tannoys. Instead of trying to buy new or used in the Prestige line, I bought some mid 70's HPD 315 drivers (12" Dual Concentric) on Ebay UK. Massive custom cabinets were made to my specs, and I reconed the woofers with new cones, and "hard edge" surrounds as on the current Prestige drivers. Custom crossovers with premium parts were also made.
The result of all this is a pair of one-off, stunningly musical speakers, all for less than the price of a used pair of Kensingtons.
Although this response is not directly related to Kensingtons, I feel the performance of these speakers is similar to what can be expected with the Kensington, or others in the Prestige line. This project has permantently led to my dismount from the upgrade "merry-go-round", as least as far as speakers go.
I don't know if this is any help to you, I just thought I'd put in my 2 cents worth.
Have a Good New Year, Regards,
Dan |
Thanks, Islandmandan,
For someone like yourself who knows how to complete the assembly; the old Tannoy route make a lot of sense.
It is a known fact that the technology on speakers and amplifiers have not advancing for a lot during the last 50 years, yet, the know how and knowledge to make speakers cabinet is still not as easily accessible as one might think.
Anyway, thanks for the advice and hope all the others who have experience on the new Prestige can make their valuable comments. |
Not sure where the Glenaires (sp) fit in the line up but I think retail was $7k or so. Anyway my good bud has those and I hear them for extended hrs once or twice a year and they are great, I just think they need a sub and always felt a Super Tweeter was in order. Love the sound just add more sizzle on top and bottom for my tastes. He runs SS pre and switches between tubes, Pass Labs monster mono amps and lower SS power, they never disapoint. |
Disclsure: I retail Tannoy Prestige, Departure Audio. Couple of things:
-They are not "audiophile"
-They are about music, not sound
-Lots of speakers will out spec them and tick more audiophile boxes. Few, if any, penetrate so deeply into the musical message
-Many people find them a final destination after not finding satisfaction with other speakers
-The magic lies in 70 years of Tannoy refining a fundamentally correct technology for sound reproduction, i.e. dual concentric drivers
-The Kensington model has the most advanced Prestige features, i.e. pepper pot wave guide and alnico magnets
-bigger models = more bass for bigger rooms, but same sonics
Just one man's experience. |
I have a slightly different take. In my opinion, the Prestige models worth the money are the Yorkminster and up, but they all require big $ and a really big room to excel. For a room smaller than about 3700 cu.ft. I would go for the Definition DC10T, which I believe is less expensive than the Kensington, its bass is almost at Westminster level, you can plug one or both ports to control it, and it looks beautiful. I listened to it for a short while and it surprised with its crystalline purity and, as I have posted before, the Hi-Fi World DC10T review is the ravest I have ever read. |
Totally disagree with the last post. I have 3 pairs of Tannoys - 2 pairs of 15" Monitor Golds in 240 litre cabinets - about the size of the Canterbury and 10" monitors. The larger ones worked perfectly in a room 17' x 13' x 8'.
The magic is in the drivers with Alnico Magnets and hard edged surrounds ( not rubber ). These drivers are significantly more transparent than the lesser Tannoys and are only found in the Prestige Series - Kensingtons ( 10" ), Yorkminsters ( 12" ) and Canterbury's and Westminsters ( 15" ) or vintage Monitor Blacks, Silvers, Reds and some Golds.
I went from Apogees/Martin Logan CLS's to Tannoys and am very happy.
The best Tannoys I've heard are the GRF Professionals, these are very rare and no longer made, I have 2 friends who have a pair each.
Of the current prestige series I prefer the Canterbury to the Westminster. The Canterbury is a base reflex design, whereas the Westminster is a back loaded horn - you should try and hear both to satisfy yourself. |
Any thoughts on the Turnberry SE? I am considering a pain with the Cary SLI80.
Still unsure of the F1 upgrade. |
Watchtimes - In Europe I heard both the Stirling and Turnberry against the $35k Triangle Megallens. There is a sense of ease and coherence with Tannoys that for me they can hold their own against speakers much more expensive. You wont get trouser flapping bottom end or spectacular crystalline top end, but you get a musical rightness that allows you to forget about gear and enjoy music. |
Thank you!
I just purchased a Cary SLI-80 with the F1 upgrades
I will soon be ordering the Tannoy Turnberrys
I am really looking forward to putting it all together when my wife and I move into our new house in a few weeks.
I am still looking for
1) Perhaps something that can play CD, DVD, SACD & Blu-Ray. Id ideally like it to also work with NetFlix
2) Either an IPod dock or something that can easily host all of my ITunes music on it to play. |
Hi,
I am looking for a pair of Tannoy Super Red Monitors M1000. Anyone has any leads? Please help.
Thanks,
TK. |
I guess I wasn't lucky with Tannoys. I mean I really wanted to like 'em and listened to many set ups - Definition, Turnberry, Canterbury, KIngdom etc but they always sounded extremely boxy with no bass or highs and very poor on rock music. Each time the dealer blamed it on the set up or the room. Could be, I'm not bashing the brand that has so many followers. |
Ki Rockadelic, I have a pair of SRM 15X Tannoys I am thinking of selling. PM me if you might be interested, assuming you are in US... |
I should have previewed to say 'Hi'... |
Douger:
How much are u asking for the SRM 15xS? Why are u selling them? |
Would someone actually open my mind to what it means when someone tells us they should be looking for music and not the sound. I see it constantly, but the problem is, no one has been able to put that into words. Please understand, if you have read my diatribes that I get this but that no one has put it properly into words. Thanks. |
Dalecrommie,
I think it means to find something that captures the expression of the music. The meaning or point of the music, rather than how clear the hi hat sounds. |
Dalecrommie,
Youre right. Extrinsically, there is only sound. Sound only becomes music when it strikes a musical chord within us. I surmise that there are lesser creatures in the world that may hear the same sound we do, but are unable to hear it musically because they arent wired for that. Sound can be measured scientifically by instruments. The only method I know of for measuring music, is by observing the tapping of toes, etc. |
Hi, I do not want to break any rules about trying to sell speakers without advertising them properly. I am selling them because I upgraded to Canterbury SE's last summer. I need to get my $2K investment back out of them, and we can discuss shipping... I also see that PM'ing is not that easy here. My
email is 'dougerjr@cox.net'. |
