Unknown Home brew speakers

[Itsallicanafford]

A friend has given me a pair of homemade speakers he made with his late father. Any issues with plugging these into my system (naim 32.5/250/hicap) or is it best to try them out on a an amp I am less attached to? (old technics).







Any advice would be greatly appreciated

[mondie]

Those are Tannoy dual concentric drivers with Tannoy external crossovers. What diameter is the driver?

Should be no issue with your amp but if you have a cheaper amp it would be sensible to try them first on that before moving to the Naim.

I may be interested in them if you decide not to keep them.

[outnumbered]

Those drivers and original crossovers may be quite valuable, it’s worth finding out exactly what model they are, vintage Tannoy gear is sought after.

[Lucid_AV]

Ooooohhh .... Tannoy Dual-Concentrics

There was a time long long ago when buying a high class motorcar was a two statmge process. The chassis, engine and all the mechanicals would come from the recognised motor manufacturer, but the body would be akin to a bespoke suit. Specialist coach builders such as Tickford would craft the passenger and driver accommodations.

Something similar happened with speakers up to the 60s and maybe ec.ven the 70s. Serious drivers such as Tannoys would be housed in cabinets of various sizes. I first heard Tannoy's Monitor Gold 15" duals in Westminster cabinets that could have doubled for coffins if you happened to be 5ft tall. They sounded glorious.

You have been given a rather nice and potentially quite rare set of speakers that are a special bit of audio history. They need far-better cabinets, but I would definitely have a play on the Naim with them.

[Itsallicanafford]

Chaps, thanks for the reply, it’s much appreciated. My friend was going to skip them so I’m pleased I put my hand up and saved them. They are unusually heavy for their size, I struggled to carry them up to the spare room. Without taking them apart again, the front dia. Cut-out is 13 inches for the driver.

I will get them tested on the Technics and then have a little play on my main system, will report back. Thanks again for the replies

[Itsallicanafford]

…crikey, did a quick search on eBay, they are valuable these, going for upwards of £1000?? Is that right? …will let my friend know, no way I can accept these as a gift…

[outnumbered]

Itsallicanafford said:

…crikey, did a quick search on eBay, they are valuable these, going for upwards of £1000?? Is that right? …will let my friend know, no way I can accept these as a gift…

Yes, that’s the sort of figure, can be much higher if they are the particularly desirable types, sounds like yours are probably 12” so won’t be quite at the level of the 15” ones.

[Itsallicanafford]

Small update from me. So I have connected them up to my amp and gave them a whirl. First impressions are they are quite base heavy but there is a good amount of detail in there as well. There certainly does not seem to be any issues with them but maybe the quality of the cabinets and the fact they are just sitting on the floor is not doing them any favours.

I have let my friend know these are valuable so i'm not too sure what he wants done with them....although i am happy to give them a temporary home for the time being....

[Dazaa]

Those are Tannoy reds, are they 12"? If so they're worth £2500-£3000 all day long.

[PhilboSE]

My father has a pair of Tannoy Super Red Monitors that are about 40 years old. His wife hates them as they are so huge. Are they worth anything?

They’re attached to a stack of Technics separates of similar vintage, he mostly listens to Sounds Of The Sixties on Saturday morning FM radio on it!

[Lucid_AV]

PhilboSE said:

My father has a pair of Tannoy Super Red Monitors that are about 40 years old. His wife hates them as they are so huge. Are they worth anything?

They’re attached to a stack of Technics separates of similar vintage, he mostly listens to Sounds Of The Sixties on Saturday morning FM radio on it!

"Nah mate. Them old speakers ain't wurf a bean. No one wants them old big boxes no more. Tell you wot. I'll do you a favour an' come get 'em. You know, take 'em off your 'ands like. Save you the trouble of taking 'em to the tip, with your back 'an all. Won't even charge you petrol. That's wot a nice guy I am. You just put the kekkle on and tell me when should I pop round."

Jeez, how can you comment within a thread like this without first checking Google and eBay? Were you not paying attention? These old Tannoy dual concentrics are rare and getting rarer. Some are worth more than others, but all were pricey to buy when new.

Personally I'd hang on to them if I were your father. I'll be near impossible to replace them with something that sounds similar at a smaller size. You'd have to go for a really good sized sub and a pair of speakers on stands, but even then it wouldn't be a like-for-like replacement.

[PhilboSE]

Lucid_AV said:

Jeez, how can you comment within a thread like this without first checking Google and eBay? Were you not paying attention? These old Tannoy dual concentrics are rare and getting rarer. Some are worth more than others, but all were pricey to buy when new.

As it happens I did check t'Web but I wasn't sure if I was comparing apples with apples. There are indeed many variations and it's not an area I'm up to speed on so I didn't know if he had a 993 Targa rather than a 2.7RS, if you get my analogy.

Lucid_AV said:

Personally I'd hang on to them if I were your father. I'll be near impossible to replace them with something that sounds similar at a smaller size. You'd have to go for a really good sized sub and a pair of speakers on stands, but even then it wouldn't be a like-for-like replacement.

Thanks, that is indeed interesting as again I was wondering if he could replace them with a modern set of speakers and sub for something that dominates the living room a bit less. He's quite attached to them and has kept them despite both wives hating them so I doubt he'll change!

[Itsallicanafford]

Just updating this thread…

My friend has sourced better cabinets for the Tannoys



He has asked me pose the follow questions. In regards to a suitable amp to pair them with.

With a budget of around £1000.00, should he:-

A. Buy a modern amp, he mentioned the new Leak amp with Bluetooth.

B. Buy a vintage amp and if so, what would partner well with the tannoys.

C. Sell them, put monies raised + the £1000 towards a complete modern system.

Any advice greatly appreciated, cheers

Edited by Itsallicanafford on Wednesday 28th August 21:01

[Deranged Rover]

Selling the speakers would be my advice, as it’ll have two advantages - firstly a very decent kitty for a new setup and, secondly, he won’t have to listen to the horrible things…

[OutInTheShed]

Deranged Rover said:

Selling the speakers would be my advice, as it’ll have two advantages - firstly a very decent kitty for a new setup and, secondly, he won’t have to listen to the horrible things…

I'd suggest listening to them and deciding whether you like them.
Mate of mine has some monster old speakers which sound very musical to me.
There is something to be said for a big simple bass driver in a simple solid cabinet.
Probably varies with musical taste, amp and room size.
Being 15 ohms, a lot of these older speakers draw less current from the amp, you do need an amp with a fair power rating to get the volts, but effects like cable resistance are significantly reduced.
But take care, because even stupendously big speakers can have surprisingly low power ratings.

OTOH, speakers are made using lots of materials that age, so there 's a lot of potential for it to have lost its quality over the years.
Paper going soggy, rubber going hard etc etc.

If you don't like the sound, and someone else likes them enough to pay you to buy something you prefer, then, yes go for it.
I'd love a pair of big old speakers, but it's not what I'd spend a grand on.

I did listen to some new £1500 speakers with an amp of similar cost the other day and I thought it was inferior to my system which cost a few hundred second hand, but it was in a shop so maybe turned up beyond its comfort zone.