In what ways modern speakers better the old Tannoy

Old Tannoys are better in many ways than modern speakers. No they are noy perfect but having the tweeter in the middle makes for a coherent, musical and non-fatiging sound. They are easy to drive and efficient giving you great choice of amplification. Great dynamics too.

Be sure the surrounds are in good shape and I have taken them to a new level by bypassing the ajustable switches and redoing the crossovers (without changing the values) with quality parts, bigger inductors and decent internal wiring. You would'nt believe the improvement, that's what I did with mine. I am just back from the audio show in Montreal, Canada and even though there were great speakers there I am still in love with my big Tannoys.

Just my 2 cent...

Gongalee. Interesting thread. You didn't mention what model 15 incher of Tannoy you were comparing to the proac. I am a huge fan of Stewart Tylers speaker design and have owned the response 2,the response 3 and the response 4. Still listen to the 2's regularly and love them. That said: My tannoy westminsters are in a whole nother leaugue. Incredible dynamics, full range sound that is more focused and liquid than any proac I have used. Like the proac, they are very critical to the upstream electronics. The older tannoy's that employ alnico magnets are incredible music makers however,the crossovers need to be updated and the drivers need to be removed from their old antiquated resonating cabinets and implemented in a large and heavily braced modern cabinet [preferably made of baltic birch]. Speaker designers have come a long way in the last few decades but still have a ways to go to surpass the 15in Tannoy Gold.

Gongalee -- do you actually have the 15" Gold?? If you do, just heed the advice above.
You'd be hard-pressed and/or very wealthy to do better today!

I have a friend who can sell me Tannoy - I already bought JBL 4412 with all alnico woofers. I thought the newer speakers were more transparent, but as Goldorak suggested, I am going to re-do the X-over and see if that improves the transparency.

If I were to get the Tannoys, what ways would it improve the sound over JBL 4412?

We all know that we can DIY something like proacs for around $600, right? Just a note to those who like the upscale sound without wanting to pay for it. Just google search for "proac 2.5"

Thanks Gold for your advice - I am gonna try that for sure.

I agree w/ Gregm: the older Tannoys are really superb! The latest renditions of their portfolio are still very good but in comparison to the same model made further back in time, the present day cabinets seem to be made cheaper materials-wise. Thus, many Tannoy aficionados tell me that there are more cabinet resonances. If you look on Ebay, older Tannoys go for a premium even today! There appears to be a good reason for this.
Try the Tannoy - it won't disappoint! :-)