Driving old Tannoy speakers
Discussion
Many years ago I bought a pair of Tannoy Profile 632 speakers which sounded great at the time. I spent £300 back then and got some decent cabling and the stands to match. They've been covered up in the loft for the last 25 years. I have a B&W Zeppelin for my easy music fix but I'm buying a new house at the end of the year and I'll have a big kitchen family room area I want to entertain in. I'd really like to get a proper hi-fi seperates system built up in there over time.
Is it worth spending money on a decent amp and second hand CD player and keeping the speakers or will it just sound rubbish now? I'd have a small budget (circa £600) for everything which I know won't get me much in terms of a quality sound setup.
Eventually I'd like to add a record player and radio tuner but that can wait for now. I have a feeling the advice will be to spend more and buy modern speakers but just wondering how far speakers have moved on sound quality wise or if they will be OK as long as I buy the right amp.
Thanks
Is it worth spending money on a decent amp and second hand CD player and keeping the speakers or will it just sound rubbish now? I'd have a small budget (circa £600) for everything which I know won't get me much in terms of a quality sound setup.
Eventually I'd like to add a record player and radio tuner but that can wait for now. I have a feeling the advice will be to spend more and buy modern speakers but just wondering how far speakers have moved on sound quality wise or if they will be OK as long as I buy the right amp.
Thanks
These would be the model with the tweeter under the Bass driver. Speakers haven't really gone far since the 632 really. Driver designs change but the materials really stay the same. If they still work and the drivers are in good nick then it's really a case of do you still like them. Might be good to take them to a dealer and see if they work well in a system where the Amp/CD player cost what you would like to spend.
Edited by telecat on Monday 2nd March 15:47
telecat said:
These would be the model with the tweeter under the Bass driver. Speakers haven't really gone far since the 632 really. Driver designs change but the materials really stay the same. If they still work and the drivers are in good nick then it's really a case of do you still like them. Might be good to take them to a dealer and see if they work well in a system where the Amp/CD player cost what you would like to spend.
That's the ones. They do still work (wired them up to my old Technics midi system to test) and I loved them when I was younger. I think they would do the trick with a decent amp (even second hand) so I might do some digging around to see if I can find a suitable setup on budget. There's a linetone audio not too far so I could wander in and look at the amps and quizz the techies in there. Thanks.Edited by telecat on Monday 2nd March 15:47
Depends what you intend using them for. They're not a great all rounder, and are better with acoustic/Jazz than rock or heavy classical. Not quite as easy to drive as the specs suggest, you're rewarded with better dynamics if you use an amp of 50wpc or more. They're quite polite and neutral overall but not the most involving of speakers.
sparkyhx said:
Depends what you intend using them for. They're not a great all rounder, and are better with acoustic/Jazz than rock or heavy classical. Not quite as easy to drive as the specs suggest, you're rewarded with better dynamics if you use an amp of 50wpc or more. They're quite polite and neutral overall but not the most involving of speakers.
Thanks for the input. I think one of the issues I'm going to have is the diversity of the music I listen too. I can go from Miles Davis to Queens of the Stoneage with some syth pop, indie and chill out in between. To be fair, most of the time it would be electronica/synth and guitar based indie. I think I'll concentrate on getting a really good amp first as there's nothing stopping me running the Tannoy's for a while and upgrading in time if they don't blow me away.
Just to update.
I've purchased a Marantz 6010OSE amp on eBay on the cheap. It's in great working order and scratch free despite smelling of tobacco. After a clean up and polish, it doesn't sound too bad with my old speakers. OK it's not the last word in Hi-Fi but at the price, it'll do.
I'll be getting a CD player soon and I've read that the amp is pretty good at mating up with most similar priced players so I have a bit of choice. After that, it'll be a turntable and then eventually over time, a speaker upgrade. No doubt that will highlight the need for a new amp and the upgrade cycle will begin...
I've purchased a Marantz 6010OSE amp on eBay on the cheap. It's in great working order and scratch free despite smelling of tobacco. After a clean up and polish, it doesn't sound too bad with my old speakers. OK it's not the last word in Hi-Fi but at the price, it'll do.
I'll be getting a CD player soon and I've read that the amp is pretty good at mating up with most similar priced players so I have a bit of choice. After that, it'll be a turntable and then eventually over time, a speaker upgrade. No doubt that will highlight the need for a new amp and the upgrade cycle will begin...
toon10 said:
Many years ago I bought a pair of Tannoy Profile 632 speakers which sounded great at the time. I spent £300 back then and got some decent cabling and the stands to match. They've been covered up in the loft for the last 25 years. I have a B&W Zeppelin for my easy music fix but I'm buying a new house at the end of the year and I'll have a big kitchen family room area I want to entertain in. I'd really like to get a proper hi-fi seperates system built up in there over time.
Is it worth spending money on a decent amp and second hand CD player and keeping the speakers or will it just sound rubbish now? I'd have a small budget (circa £600) for everything which I know won't get me much in terms of a quality sound setup.
Eventually I'd like to add a record player and radio tuner but that can wait for now. I have a feeling the advice will be to spend more and buy modern speakers but just wondering how far speakers have moved on sound quality wise or if they will be OK as long as I buy the right amp.
Thanks
I have the 6 series Tannoys (dual concentric type + the best sounding) floor standing one , bookshelves, centres etc.. and they sound just as fresh today as the day I bought them back in the late 90s. I would advise you to keep them as they get better with age in my experience. Is it worth spending money on a decent amp and second hand CD player and keeping the speakers or will it just sound rubbish now? I'd have a small budget (circa £600) for everything which I know won't get me much in terms of a quality sound setup.
Eventually I'd like to add a record player and radio tuner but that can wait for now. I have a feeling the advice will be to spend more and buy modern speakers but just wondering how far speakers have moved on sound quality wise or if they will be OK as long as I buy the right amp.
Thanks
A cracking but current hungry speaker. Not convinced the amaranth amps had the guts to drive them properly if I am honest. I remember them sounding brilliant on the end of the Pioneer A400 amp, and some of the NAD range too. On marantz worth looking out for a CD63 KI Signature - lovely sounding player in the right system.
Rick101 said:
Care to elaborate?
Those speakers need room to 'breathe' and would sound far better with a little space around them and not shoved into corners like that, hard up against a wall.You must have lots of bass - although 'woolly, boomy bass' (maybe you like it like that..).
The turntable will be *very* prone to feedback being a) in such close proximity to the right speaker, and b) with the coupling of sound into that large cabinet which will be soaking up the vibrations and transmitting them into the turntable= confused sound lacking in detail.
The vibrations won't be helping the CD player much either.
It's a very nice setup though, just severely compromised by positioning - you could get much better sound with better placement.
Thanks for info.
Yes aware the room is not ideal, but it's what i'm stuck with at the moment. Bass isn't too bad, they are rear ported I've moved them further away from the rear wall. TT is a new addition, I previously had an amp at each end but decided better to have them further away from the TT.
Yes aware the room is not ideal, but it's what i'm stuck with at the moment. Bass isn't too bad, they are rear ported I've moved them further away from the rear wall. TT is a new addition, I previously had an amp at each end but decided better to have them further away from the TT.
StescoG66 said:
You should try sticking a couple of foam bungs in the rear port - especially with the speakers in that location. Also try a reasonable solid core speaker cable.
The NVA amps are very sensitive to cable, and using the recommended cable is pretty much essential to ensure stability, and that they perform as advertised.The speakers are likely to sound better if you toe them in so their axes cross in front of the listening position. This will reduce early reflections of the side walls.
Decoupling the turntable from the sideboard should help; particularly at higher volumes. A partially inflated tyre inner tube, from a child's bike or BMX bike, is very effective at reducing structure borne vibrations. This may make plinth resonance slightly worse because there is no mechanical path for resonance energy 'sink' to earth; the only way to know is to try. Try, with and without the inner tube, putting the stylus on a record but don't turn the motor on. Turn the volume up to normal listening levels and then tap the cabinet that all you gear is on. Sound output from the speakers should be noticeably lower with the decoupling in place.
Certainly doesn't cost much time or money to try both of the above and they're both likely to improve things.
Good luck.
Decoupling the turntable from the sideboard should help; particularly at higher volumes. A partially inflated tyre inner tube, from a child's bike or BMX bike, is very effective at reducing structure borne vibrations. This may make plinth resonance slightly worse because there is no mechanical path for resonance energy 'sink' to earth; the only way to know is to try. Try, with and without the inner tube, putting the stylus on a record but don't turn the motor on. Turn the volume up to normal listening levels and then tap the cabinet that all you gear is on. Sound output from the speakers should be noticeably lower with the decoupling in place.
Certainly doesn't cost much time or money to try both of the above and they're both likely to improve things.
Good luck.
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