Tannoy or Volti

I definitely not buying anything without listening for a few hours, that’s a lot of money ….so today hopefully will bear fruit…I actually slept great last night and my ears are clear as a bell…feeling great…

@mulveling Just looked at your systems Mulveling, all I can say is wow and you definitely know what’s going on with Tannoy….if you had it to do over what speakers would you try?….

@mulveling Just looked at your systems Mulveling, all I can say is wow and you definitely know what’s going on with Tannoy….if you had it to do over what speakers would you try?….

Thanks Charles! I’ve heard other speakers I’ve liked, but nothing to sway me away yet. Really liked the smaller Acora SRC-1 floor-standers. Paired to VAC Statement iQ mono amps, that came pretty close to my "nirvana". Some of the Von Schweikerts - VR55 Aktive, Endeavours - have been quite enjoyable. I’ve liked Magico’s S-series, but not A-series (the bass sounds awful to me). The Audio Physiks with cone tweeter had spectacular soundstage and imaging, even in a small room. I liked Focal Sopra 3’s, though maybe a tad on the bright / aggressive side for me, long term (just like their beryllium headphones). I really like big line arrays (McIntosh, PipeDreams - my friend has a pair of the latter). But aside from line arrays, the biggest speakers just start to lose me somehow - e.g. big Focal Utopias, the really big $200K+ Acoras, Von Schweikert Ultra 9 and up. It’s kind of shocking to be sitting in front of $1million of gear and NOT be into it AT ALL! Ugh.

I can only speculate that I’m so used to the coherence of a good Tannoy DC implementation, that something inherently breaks the "illusion" when drivers get too spaced out. Room and gear are also a factor - this level of speaker is typically paired to obnoxiously expensive gear that might not actually have the best synergy. And it’s typically placed in a very big room - think I prefer more intimate settings. Tannoys are usually great for that because they’re room friendly and you can even put big ones in smaller rooms (sometimes).

The Canterbury and Kensington models are perfect for an "intimate" setup. The GRF90, like prior Yorkminster, are sort of voiced differently and have a lot more low bass output (they use bass reflex porting unlike the other models' Onken-style "venting"), so that probably requires a larger room and more careful setup. They're also voiced differently in the mids, not really to my liking. 

@mulveling 

Thanks a lot for the write up about your journey, I am use to the Klipsch sound, trying lots of different amps for years I just never got there 100%,  and money was always a problem but being retired now that’s not a problem. Yesterday I got to compare the Volti Razz the entry level speaker from Volti to the Klipsch Cornwall and an older Klipsch Forte, I have the Forte IV the newest version. 
I hate to say it but the Volti speaker was amazing, it’s like the other speaker had a mask on when playing music compared to the Volti Razz…the midrange in the Razz was crazy good, detailed not bright or harsh in anyway, very musical and took me to a place that consumed me emotionally. First I i tried the Alan Eaton monos they were so good with the Razz,I love the Eatons anyone thinking about them don’t hesitate. But the amp that really took the Razz to the happy place was the First Watt Sit-4 that my new friend had…compared to any tube amp we tried the Sit-4 was very amazing….so that was my experience with the Volti speakers..and the bass is amazing too…

I am glad to hear you had that opportunity @charles007100 

You described pretty well what I consider the Volti house sound. 

Also glad you got to compare them with some Klipsch. They may look similar on the surface, but surely sound different. My pair of Volti Razz replaced a pair of Klipsch Heresy IV's. The difference is stunning. The volti's never shout or hoot at me, they remain sweet and smooth, even at high volumes. 

In comparing the Razz to the Lucera or Rival, the bigger brothers carry the house sound, just bigger and wider in my opinion. 

I have yet to hear my Razz paired up with anything other than tubes, (a Cary SLI80HS to be exact). I've heard the Razz sound great with First Watt, and PASS amplification as well. 

Listened to them once with border patrol SIT amp, maybe 5 WPC.. still amazing.