Amplifier for Tannoy Turnberry GR

Super speakers these Tannoys are. After hearing many many speakers and owning a good number of them I found ultimate solace in a pair of Tannoy Turnberry SE. I know the Kensigtons are better but it doesnt bother me because music sounds so satisfying on a Turnberry.

Regarding amps, it is a tricky one. Tricky because this speaker can be used with a huge variety of amps. At the same time it will also reveal the power limitations of the amp if driven harder. A 211 based SET would do well. A Kt88 or Kt120 based push-pull would do well. Even high powered OTLs would do well. But solid state amps also sound fantastic with these speakers. In fact Tannoy has designed these speakers to be paired with SS amps. I currently use a Tenor OTL75 and FM Acoustics F10 amplifiers. Both around 70 watts per channel. Both sound fabulous in their own ways and both can run out of juice when I play large orchestral music loud. If you dont mind exploring solid state amps I would strongly recommend you try a Naim amplifier with your Tannoy. You will be amazed with the combination. Look at either the Nait 5i or their entry level pre-power combination. You will hear these speakers breathing with great dynamic range and ease.

The other option would be to go with a Pass Labs (First Watt) F6. It is a lot closer to tube amplification by design and has a healthy 30 watts to boot.

By the way I had a McIntosh MC275 for demo at home and I realized that these speakers sound so clean and dynamic that any amount of power can be consumed unknowingly. A friend of mine who has owned almost every Tannoy suggested that they need a minimum of 100 watts per channel to sing unconditionally. At the same time if you choose to feed it with only 10 watts of SET power, it will not dissapoint you. So its tricky!

Redcarerra, a good high powered amp will bring concert hall experience into the room with your speaker.

Mmarshall, if you like the Bryston sound (which is a bit dry and uninterestingly clean), go for it. Else I would suggest something like a Naim, LFD or a Pass First Watt F6, all of which are more harmonically richer and closer to a good tube amp.

Yea, you could get a Bryston as a backup amp. However, I would still suggest you look at a Naim Nait 5i for about the same amount in the used market. It is a more exciting amp with the Tannoy and it is an integrated amp.

And yes, not many on Agon use Tannoy. Secondly not many Tannoy owners visit forums because they dont look for a change anytime soon ;-)

Mcintosh is okay but they sound slow to my ears.

Mmarshall, another very interesting option would be to get 2 Pass Labs F6 amplifiers and biamp the Tannoy. I have heard the F6 and it is seriously among the best solid state amplifiers I have heard and that comes closest to a top notch tube amp. It is way more accurate and musical than the likes of MC275 at least. To put on record, it is the only Pass Labs amplifier I have liked so far.