Tannoy or Volti


I have a friend who has the Tannoy Prestige GRF 90 for sale he is moving out of the country for half price, he paid $29000 in around 2020 not made in China. I am upgrading my Forte IVs, I am also considering the Volti audio Lucera…anyone that has heard the Tannoy and any other suggestions which will be better would be appreciated….I have a few first watt amps and several tube amps…plus Jeff Rowland and Pass Labs amps..

charles007100

I have not heard either, but noticed Upscale Audio is selling all of their Tannoy at close-out prices, with the GRF priced at $12,500/pair (half price), so maybe you can use that as leverage to get the selling price down on the used Tannoy?  Both should be great speakers.  If your room size is not particularly large, or if you sit closer than 10' from your speakers, the dual concentric drivers of Tannoy may be a better fit for your room.

I am back about 16 ft…the speakers are about 12 ft apart…..so many speakers in the $16000 range…

I wonder how the Tannoy would compare to the Coherent Fifteens you have…the Tannoy Prestige GRF 90 are a one owner…

I really like and have heard both the Volti Rival and Lucera but I've not heard any Tannoy GRF speakers. The Volti's should be easier to drive if that's an issue.

Not an issue, I have a Pass Labs amp and a Jeff  Rowland which ever sounds  the best…..doesn’t have to be any of the speakers I mentioned…any thing in the $16000 range

Used Prestige GRF 90s regularly sell for ~$9K, +/- $1K, based on condition. While a concentric speaker like that is intrinsically different from your Forte IVs, the Voltis are much the same, so while you might prefer the Voltis to the Forte IVs, it is more of a lateral move, IMO. Enjoy!

Hummm….what would you suggest looking at to avoid a lateral move…I need suggestions lol

If it were me, the JBL S4700 speakers see here, the JBL 4367 or JBL K2 S9900 see here. Enjoy!

Mike

For $16k, I’d look for some as-new B&W 803 D4s or maybe something from ATC. 

Depends on your priorities. If dynamics are a priority I'd say Volti. Tannoys are fine speakers overall as well though. 

@charles007100 speaker choice aside, why would you consider buying the Tannoy's at 50% of $29,000 when they can be had for $12,500 for a new pair at Upscale?

 

Tannoy at Upscale

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I disagree that Volti is merely a lateral move- I believe that they are sonically superior to Klipsch and less colored as I have demoed both at several audio shows.  Volti designs their speakers to compete/beat Klipsch offerings.  I own the Volti Rival.

Volti vs Tannoy is primarily a subjective preference - best to demo yourself as we cannot tell you what you’d prefer.  

@kennyc I see on the Volti web site Greg has a sorta good deal on a used Lucera, what would you say how that compares to the Forte lV 

Thanks 

@ditusa 

what have you compared the JBLs too?…listening to side by side?…and amps are you using …

 

Are the Tannoy at upscale the ones from China?

Thanks for the suggestions…

Probably. But I have some China-made Kensington GR drivers that actually sound better than an earlier UK-made set of the same. Couldn’t tell them apart visually, except for stickers. Quailty doesn’t necessarily suffer from the origin. I used to be against the China-made Tannoys, but this opened my eyes. Cabinets are still made in Poland, same as they always were (excellent quality). Final assembly - who really cares; a trained child could do it. 

Either way, 50% off full MSRP for a used set isn’t a very friend-ly price. Far from it. 

It's nice to have a full complement of amps.  

Klipsch is or has upgrading the LaScala and Klipschorns.  The changes look very positive.  Otherwise Volti Rival.

I am told the Tannoy has a very warm sound.  I only heard a smaller one, Cheviot or Arden.  

Any of these should do a lot of things very well.  Otherwise, I always hear Joseph Audio praised very highly.  Other end of efficiency  but not that hard to drive.

 

I've owned Forte and currently have Razz.  They are similar in the type of sonic signature but the Voltis are much better built and smoother sound.  The bass of the Razz kicks azz.  

@bodega Greg has a deal on his website for the Lucera, have you heard the difference between the Razz and Lucera?

No audition period, 

Yes I have heard both. A couple of models from Volti and many Tannoy over the years. Iif you like horns then the Volti sound like a good horn speaker. Better than Klipsch but still a horn with all the advantages and warts of this type of design. 

I really dont like speakers with the general design characteristics of Tannoys. To me a very odd sound. Hard to place with a kind of weird presence that is hard to get to go away. I can embrace horn sound in a few areas, I cant embrace much if anything about the larger models from Tannnoy. Many of the head people at Tannoy left and started another company of similar design out of Scotland I believe.

I havent talked with anyone that prefers the Tannoys to the offerings of this new company which I think might be Fyne Audio.

@audition__audio lets forget horns and the Tannoy…what would a different approach be…something non-fatiguing…any ideas?…what do you have?…

My amps, 

Pass Labs preamp

Pass Labs XA-25, Pass Labs X250.8     First Watt Sit-3 First Watt SIT-1 

Decware, Cary, Alan Eaton tube amps

Jeff Rowland 125

I have the XA25 with horns after 5 years, I  have everything sounding pretty good. But I  am used to it I guess.  I go way back, almost. Advents, etc

Here is what I've heard myself and read.  I assume other models would have a similar sound signature. 

Joseph Audio.  Most widely praised speaker here.  IMO. I have not heard.

Magnapan 3.7. Always beautiful, natural sound.  Your x250 would drive them.  Imposing size.

Wilson.  I didn't care for those.  Sasha DAW with audio research monoblocks.  Distant and dull.  

Revel.  These have a very appealing sound with nice bass.  The ones I heard may be too high.

I always liked the big Dunlavy sound.  My memory may be crossed but I  think Legacy would be worth a look.  Wide price range.

The list is all over but you're on square one, again. Good luck

 

@charles007100 

I have heard several models of Tannoy Prestige and for whatever reason they did not attract me to them.   Volti are very nice sounding speakers and are have been slightly better but a bit too laid back in the high frequencies.  

The ones in this category I really like the sound of are the Fyne Audio Vintage series.  The Vintage 12 is a spectacular sounding speaker that plays super smooth, vividly clear and BIG.   Seriously check them out.  

https://www.fyneaudio.com/vintage-series/

@kofibaffour I definitely have the JBL 4367 on my must listen to list…I did have the L100 back in the early 70s…don’t remember the sound though..

@charles007100     Lots of good advice here.  As I mentioned to you yesterday, I would give Greg Roberts a call.  In fact, if you are spending $16K I'd go to Baxter and spend a day with Greg at his shop.  He and his wife hosted me twice; let me sleep over on a bed in his shop.  We auditioned all of his speakers and I brought my Klipsch Belles with me and we compared them to Razz, Luceras and Rivals.   I then picked the veneer I wanted from his large inventory and 6 weeks later I had a beautiful pair of Rivals made just for me.

I have driven them with my solid state amps (XA25 and SIT 3) and tube amps; Cary CAD300SEI (WE 300B), Quicksilver MidMonos (EL34) and Tool Shed Transcendence (WE 300B).  All sounded great but my favorite set-up is the QS mono blocks fed by a PrimaLuna Dialogue Pre. EL34s just sound sublime with the Rivals.  I'm awaiting delivery of a Tool Shed preamp so I'm hoping the Toolshed combo will outshine everything.

I have a 2x12" 1,000 watt subwoofer that has been collecting dust since the Rivals arrived.  My Klipsch Belles needed subwoofer support but the Rivals low end is super defined and deep.

Good luck and happy listening!

 

 

 

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@charles007100 Wrote:

@ditusa 

what have you compared the JBLs too?…listening to side by side?…and amps are you using …

I listen to all three, not side by side, different days at Harman International at 527 Madison Ave NY with Mark Levinson amps and my favorite was the JBL SK9900 very balanced from top to bottom. I have owned many JBL speakers I prefer double 15’’ woofers but the JBL Everest II is way out of my price range. See here

For what it’s worth, I have JBL 4435’s actively bi-amped I am very happy! smiley

Mike

@whiteknee I see Greg has a used Lucera at a marked down price and also a Razz marked down…how close is the Lucera to the Rival?…the Alan Eaton 2A3 monos with the Meitner MA3 Dac is my favorite set up…will I be kicking myself if I don’t go all the way with the Rival…

@charles007100  That's a bridge I had to cross too although I came in with the Rivals in mind.  40 years ago I ordered the Klipsch Belles which were slotted between the Khorns and the Lascalas.  They were less expensive than the Khorns but had similar drivers so it was the logical decision at the time.  While I loved the Belles I always second guessed myself for not spending the extra cash to go with the Khorns.  I didn't want to make the same mistake again. 

The Lucera's are super nice (his newest design) and just a cut below the performance of the Rivals, but may be a better fit for your room.  Look at it this way, you can always trade up if your curiosity gets the better of you.  Sounds like that is what the person did with the used pair.  If you like the Tineo veneer, go for it.

Here are my speakers in Greg's room prior to me picking them up.  

https://www.instagram.com/p/C-F2SCbREss/

I wanted the Type 1 design where the veneer is on the front with no grill cover.  These are in a funky Red Gum that I hand selected.

Call Greg and go listen to them.

Cheers!

Btw, the Rivals have a wooden midrange horn designed and fabricated by Greg.  It's sweet!

Got many of my ideas for Khorn upgrades from Greg, using his tractrix horns on the Khorns, one of biggest upgrades! I'd go with Volti's, horns are the end game for me, match them with some nice 300B SET, heavenly!