Tannoy or Volti

Hey Charles. I’ve started a thread as well and am interested in the Volti as well. I’m currently in the process of changing my system and I go from selling everything to just replacing some things. So I’m currently a mental case. Full disclosure! I don’t mean to hijack and will shut up if asked with no issues. I’m the owner of Audio Note e/lx and am debating the Volti horns. There is a lot to like about the AN’s, mainly realism and NO EAR Fatigue. This is my concern with horns. You seem to have experience with different speakers. Is there anything with the horns that you recently listened to that should I should be concerned about? Thanks for any advice

@helomech How would my amps do with the JBLs?..Alan Eaton monos, Pass Labs XA-25 First Watt Sit-3 and the Jeff Rowland 125…I need to find someway to listen to those..tell me why you like them more…

I like the JBLs because they produce a more linear sound without any obnoxious peaks. And they don’t really suffer from horn coloration the way Voltis, and to lesser extent, the Tannoys do. 

Your amps would have no trouble driving the JBLs to high levels. 

Caveat here is that everyone has different ears and preferences. I would try to audition the JBLs somewhere beforehand or buy them used. Some listeners prefer the sort of exaggerated dynamics that a non-linear speaker like the Voltis produce. I get some of the same phenomenon from my Borresens. They are not very linear but that’s what makes them sound so nimble and dynamic. The JBLs produce less of that but are a technically better speaker. 

@earthbound 

I was just over reading the post you put in and you definitely have the right amp and preamp, I almost bought his gear. There is a Audio Note  dealer close to me,I loved the sound but for me I would have to go all in with Audio note amps, dacs everything otherwise it didn’t do anything for me switching up with other brands to go with the Audio note speakers if that makes sense. 
I am sitting here drinking my morning coffee and my mind is swimming thinking about the sound of the Volti,I haven’t experienced this before. I won’t buy anything with out spending a lot of listening time, if I buy Volti or anything else I am going to buy a plane ticket. That’s my advice don’t buy without listening in person..

charles007100

A couple of points:

The Volti's are NOT a sideways move from Klipsch, they are brilliant in every way in my experience; especially the Luceras and Rivals. I get to hear them regularly at my friend's house, the Luceras 99db are in his family room driven with Aric Audio Motherlode II preamp and a First Watt amp (I can't remember the model at time of this writing). The Rivals 100db are in his dedicated audio room driven by Don Sachs/Lynn Olson's Raven preamp and Blackbird monoblocks,

If you want Scottish gear, I'd definitely consider Fyne Audio over Tannoy. Maybe Tannoys were the gear to have in year's past, but most of the major creative team from those years have been at Fyne since 2017....including Dr. Paul Mills. Even Upscale Audio's Kevin Deal has dropped Tannoy (thus the huge discounts) in favor of Fyne Audio