because I know I'll get pin sharp imaging and the ability to hear tiny eq changes.
I wouldn't mind hearing some of my pieces through this.
I recall when I checked out £3K headphones Hifiman He1000se it was a revelation in that I was shocked some of my pieces sounded rather alright : tbh I was a bit blown away.
So to hear through these Tannoy Arden with proper setup amp room so forth.
Tannoy speakers of that vintage are great at pulling mixes apart and letting you hear everything that is going on. They are also very efficient so don't need a huge amp to play loud - which they can happily do all day.
I use the slightly smaller Berkeleys in the studio. I've compared them with the Neumann KH120 and there isn't a massive difference in balance. The Tannoy bass sounds a little more effortless and deeper while its imaging is more precise but if I was using the Neumann monitors my mix decisions would be very similar. I've not heard the Neumann DSP monitors but I would expect them to be approaching closer to the Tannoys for imaging - and probably give a flatter response than the Tannoys.
My brother had Tannoy 'Little Reds', driven from what was then, a monster Tandberg 100W, per channel, into 8ohms receiver. We used them as monitors following recording via the Otari multi-track mentioned in another thread. They were very good indeed.
Arpangel wrote: ↑Tue Jan 31, 2023 9:17 am
I remember a time when engineers used "proper" speakers, no messing about.
Monitors are like a window onto your sound, the bigger the window, the more you can see.
James Perrett wrote: ↑Tue Jan 31, 2023 1:49 pm
Tannoy speakers of that vintage are great at pulling mixes apart and letting you hear everything that is going on. They are also very efficient so don't need a huge amp to play loud - which they can happily do all day.
I use the slightly smaller Berkeleys in the studio. I've compared them with the Neumann KH120 and there isn't a massive difference in balance. The Tannoy bass sounds a little more effortless and deeper while its imaging is more precise but if I was using the Neumann monitors my mix decisions would be very similar. I've not heard the Neumann DSP monitors but I would expect them to be approaching closer to the Tannoys for imaging - and probably give a flatter response than the Tannoys.
Are these Tannoy vintage more forgiving of room than modern monitors as I don't have any room treatment : my studio I don't have a studio lol.
Are there any Tannoy or other of that vintage from 1970s around the £200 that you would recommend.
Much as I would like the Berkeley £3K is quite beyond what I could currently afford let alone the £5K Arden.
James Perrett wrote: ↑Tue Jan 31, 2023 1:49 pm
Tannoy speakers of that vintage are great at pulling mixes apart and letting you hear everything that is going on. They are also very efficient so don't need a huge amp to play loud - which they can happily do all day.
I use the slightly smaller Berkeleys in the studio. I've compared them with the Neumann KH120 and there isn't a massive difference in balance. The Tannoy bass sounds a little more effortless and deeper while its imaging is more precise but if I was using the Neumann monitors my mix decisions would be very similar. I've not heard the Neumann DSP monitors but I would expect them to be approaching closer to the Tannoys for imaging - and probably give a flatter response than the Tannoys.
James, are you using the 120’s with a sub?
tea for two wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 9:52 am
Are there any Tannoy or other of that vintage from 1970s around the £200 that you would recommend.
Not around £200, plus they are being picked up by hi-fi and vintage nuts, which is driving up prices, you’re looking at thousands now, rather than hundreds.
tea for two wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 9:52 am
Are these Tannoy vintage more forgiving of room than modern monitors as I don't have any room treatment : my studio I don't have a studio lol.
Physics is physics, so as the speakers cover the same frequency range as current speakers, the answer is no. You'll get the same problems with older as with newer speakers.
Arpangel wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 10:53 am
James, are you using the 120’s with a sub?
I don't have a pair of my own - someone brought a pair to the studio to compare with the monitors I have here and I have also used them to mix on at another place. I've never used them with a sub - they have a good amount of bass on their own for most purposes although, if you really want to know what is happening below 50Hz, you would need a sub.
tea for two wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 9:52 am
Are there any Tannoy or other of that vintage from 1970s around the £200 that you would recommend.
Not around £200, plus they are being picked up by hi-fi and vintage nuts, which is driving up prices, you’re looking at thousands now, rather than hundreds.
The vintage Tannoys are pretty much all over £1000 these days although you can pick up the smaller slightly more modern dual concentric designs for less. I'm afraid that I'm not so familiar with these so I don't know how much of the sound is retained. Behringer also make modern versions of the smaller dual concentric designs but they seem reluctant to send them out for review so I've no idea if they are any good or not.
tea for two wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 9:52 am
Are these Tannoy vintage more forgiving of room than modern monitors as I don't have any room treatment : my studio I don't have a studio lol.
Physics is physics, so as the speakers cover the same frequency range as current speakers, the answer is no. You'll get the same problems with older as with newer speakers.
I think the only things that start to play into this kind of space are speakers that are designed to have a cardiod pattern right down to the lower frequencies. I think Gethain and Kii have models that do this but they're making the Tannoys look cheap.
tea for two wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 9:52 am
Are these Tannoy vintage more forgiving of room than modern monitors as I don't have any room treatment : my studio I don't have a studio lol.
Physics is physics, so as the speakers cover the same frequency range as current speakers, the answer is no. You'll get the same problems with older as with newer speakers.
I'd mainly agree with Wonks BUT the big difference with the dual concentric design is that you can work with them much closer than you can with a traditional multi-speaker design. In one temporary setup I had the Berkeleys less than a metre away from me which meant that the proportion of direct to reflected sound was far higher than usual. Many people would find a pair of huge monitors directly in front of them too oppressive but it worked for me.
Not around £200, plus they are being picked up by hi-fi and vintage nuts, which is driving up prices, you’re looking at thousands now, rather than hundreds.
Tannoy dual concentrics, in good condition, have never been inexpensive on the used market. The same goes for other speaker manufacturers, e.g. ATC, PMC, Harbeth, Spendor, etc..
Not around £200, plus they are being picked up by hi-fi and vintage nuts, which is driving up prices, you’re looking at thousands now, rather than hundreds.
Tannoy dual concentrics, in good condition, have never been inexpensive on the used market. The same goes for other speaker manufacturers, e.g. ATC, PMC, Harbeth, Spendor, etc..
I picked up my Cheviots for £300 around about 1989, from a dealer.
But now you’re looking at two grand plus.
I wouldn't even play them half volume in the flat as there are families either side as well as above and below.
If I had funds I'd have a studio built with three sets of upto £20K speakers a few tasty mics amps mixers outboard, open it up for long standing SoS forumees to listen to their pieces mix record (for free ofcourse). Leave them to it. BYOG bring your own gear.
Forumees could take as long as they want (not a year lol). It would have an adjoining BnB guest apartment to stay in (for free ofcourse).
I recall Steve Hill had something like this in proper country grounds. Although it was a necessary commercial venture for Steve.
I'd loved to have visited it if it was still there with Steve running it. I'm sure some forumees went there at the time.
(For those newer to SoS, Steve was a mod on SoS over a decade earlier in the noughties).
tea for two wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 7:25 pm
If I had funds I'd have a studio built with three sets of upto £20K speakers a few tasty mics amps mixers outboard, open it up for long standing SoS forumees to listen to their pieces mix record (for free ofcourse). Leave them to it. BYOG bring your own gear.
Forumees could take as long as they want (not a year lol). It would have an adjoining BnB guest apartment to stay in (for free ofcourse).
I recall Steve Hill had something like this in proper country grounds. Although it was a necessary commercial venture for Steve.
I'd loved to have visited it if it was still there with Steve running it. I'm sure some forumees went there at the time.
I recorded at Steve's place although I left most of the technical stuff to Steve because I had my musician's hat on for that session. While Steve is no longer running it, the studio is still going
Arpangel wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 7:10 pm
I picked up my Cheviots for £300 around about 1989, from a dealer.
But now you’re looking at two grand plus.
My Berkeleys were slightly cheaper privately. I saw some on Ebay for £1200 a few months ago so there are bargains to be had if you are patient. The only thing with this generation of Tannoys is that the surrounds fail after 20 years or so and require replacement. They are made to be easily serviceable so reconing or surround repair can be done by a patient user and parts seem to be still available.
I've also found out recently that mine have some history. Some people will probably know that I've been working on some of the Toyah re-releases over the last few years but in the late 70's my speakers belonged to Tony Arnold (of Arny's Shack) and were apparently used back then to mix an album by Toyah's husband, Robert Fripp.
Arpangel wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 7:10 pm
I picked up my Cheviots for £300 around about 1989, from a dealer.
But now you’re looking at two grand plus.
My Berkeleys were slightly cheaper privately. I saw some on Ebay for £1200 a few months ago so there are bargains to be had if you are patient. The only thing with this generation of Tannoys is that the surrounds fail after 20 years or so and require replacement. They are made to be easily serviceable so reconing or surround repair can be done by a patient user and parts seem to be still available.
I've also found out recently that mine have some history. Some people will probably know that I've been working on some of the Toyah re-releases over the last few years but in the late 70's my speakers belonged to Tony Arnold (of Arny's Shack) and were apparently used back then to mix an album by Toyah's husband, Robert Fripp.
James! this is more than coincidence, I bought a BEL BD80 from that studio, I know it well, they had a big old desk, Raindkirk?
It’s amazing to think that our stuff may have been used on Fripp's music, I think the album that was recorded there was a Fripp/Summers collaboration "I Advance Masked"
Re-coning any speaker fills me with horror, it’s a bit like asking me to make a pair of hand made shoes, it’s an incredibly skilled job, I’ve seen videos, and it’s just beyond, I couldn’t imagine doing it, thankfully, there are still people out there doing it!
James Perrett wrote:
I've also found out recently that mine have some history. Some people will probably know that I've been working on some of the Toyah re-releases over the last few years but in the late 70's my speakers belonged to Tony Arnold (of Arny's Shack) and were apparently used back then to mix an album by Toyah's husband, Robert Fripp.
James! this is more than coincidence, I bought a BEL BD80 from that studio, I know it well, they had a big old desk, Raindkirk?
Tony Arnold used to buy and sell quite a bit of stuff though I never actually bought anything directly from him so never saw the studio. I would guess most studios in the south of England would have bought at least one bit of kit from Tony.
Arpangel wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 8:11 am
It’s amazing to think that our stuff may have been used on Fripp's music, I think the album that was recorded there was a Fripp/Summers collaboration "I Advance Masked"
Re-coning any speaker fills me with horror, it’s a bit like asking me to make a pair of hand made shoes, it’s an incredibly skilled job, I’ve seen videos, and it’s just beyond, I couldn’t imagine doing it, thankfully, there are still people out there doing it!
I think Robert Fripp recorded a few albums there - it was fairly local to him in those days. There are manufacturing date stamps from late 1976 on the cabinets of these speakers so I would guess that they were first used sometime in 1977.
They are remarkably easy to recone provided you follow the instructions properly. There's no gluing needed because everything is clamped down with bolts. The most difficult part of the process was centring the coil in the gap which took a couple of attempts.
There’s a great article about Arny's Shack, and Tony, in Studio Sound magazine, a 70’s issue, you can view it on the American radio history site, which you probably already know about.
I have a copy of that magazine, I’ll get the month and post a link to the issue.
"I'd mainly agree with Wonks BUT the big difference with the dual concentric design is that you can work with them much closer than you can with a traditional multi-speaker design. In one temporary setup I had the Berkeleys less than a metre away from me which meant that the proportion of direct to reflected sound was far higher than usual. Many people would find a pair of huge monitors directly in front of them too oppressive but it worked for me."
Very interesting James. Can I ask what amplifiers you were driving them with? (apologies if you have already said!) I am interested because many active monitors get reported as having audible self noise at nearfield distances although I will say the problem seems better than it was a few years ago.
Those Tannoys are noted for their sensitivity and so the amplifiers must have been PD good if noise was not a problem.
