That was my experience also w/the Turnberry's I auditioned in store. Hooked up to Rogue M120s, they were "big" and incredibly dynamic. I heard them in a small space, and there was zero image. I think these big boxes need room to breathe to image their best, but I would not expect break in to yield any improvement at all. With time, however, you may come to appreciate their sound as timbrally and rhythmically more accurate; after all, that is what music is all about. |
Last year I broke my new Canterbury SE's in, took 20 hours.
The most obvious problem was pronounced shouty harshness in upper midrange, especially female voices. It would have been very discouraging if I had not had prior Tannoy experience.
I have a listening room 16'X20'X8' and I get a natural soundstage according to my live performance memories.
I have heard more distinctive imaging of instruments from Golden Ear Triton 2 and Rockport Mira speakers but believe that the Tannoy presentation is more faithful to the music.
BTW, breakin can take up to 100 hours but is worth it. If you have significant space behind your listening position you can also tell that the sound continues to expand after leaving the speakers...
Congratulations on buying the Tannoys and I hope you enjoy them for many years. |
Thanks for your replies.
48 hours later: BIG improvement in imaging and even more so in soundstage! Everything is well-placed in orchestra - this may now be the most impressive type of music given the huge scale and dynamics these speakers produce. Images still aren't as focused as they were with the Auditor M, but this is possibly because they are larger and less dense. I agree with your assessment, Douger, that this feels more natural. I do feel that the SFs had greater transparency and clarity in their favor, contributing to a greater sense of realism in that sense, but in all other ways I prefer the presentation of the Tannoys.
I am also hearing some of the "shoutiness" in the upper midrange/lower treble at high volumes, but I was fully expecting this from what I've read, and expect it to tame with further break in. Adjusting the treble control -1.5 db helps. This is a great feature, I am finding. Incidentally I had it initially at +1.5 dB when things were sounding constricted.
All in all these are fantastic speakers and I am extremely happy with my decision. I will say that one thing I will miss about the SFs is the sweetness of the mids and treble where the Turnberrys (Turnberries?) are a bit dry by comparison, but there is so much more that I've gained that contributes to greater involvement and enjoyment. I need to mention bass impact and definition because that is something that literally struck me about these speakers.
The possibility of downsizing to "good enough" was what triggered the move, but now I don't want to lose anything, just add a bit MORE to make this set up the best it can be.
My room is 15x17x18? (cathedral ceiling), which I think is just big enough. These things throw huge images, so much so that I have changed out my Calyx 24/192 DAC for my Bel Canto DAC3. The Calyx also produces very large images so I needed to scale it down. The crystal clear and snappier character of the Bel Canto is also a good counterbalance to the warmer, darker character of the Tannoys. I am trying hard to resist upgrading it to DAC 3.5VB Mk II status! |
Hi guys,
My first post, be gentle...... joined 5 minutes ago!
I was interested to read your thoughts on the Turnberry's, I've just purchased the Kensington SE's & my father is thinking of buying a pair of Turnberry's using his SimAudio amp & cd (he's 87!) .
My Kensingtons are still breaking in but sound great. Funnily enough, I had the Sonus Faber's you had too but enjoy the "bigger picture" that I get from the Tannoys.
I wish all you guys well and enjoy the music!
Mart |
My feeling is that Tannoy speakers don't play "audiophile", they just play music. If you go to a live classical concert that's not been "worked" by mics, you really won't hear trumpets over there, behind the violins, etc. Tannoys eschew the stuff that we audiophiles look for, but somehow get to the soul of what music is. Enjoy!! |
2 weeks later: these guys are imaging very well! I have to disagree that Tannoys don't do "audiophile tricks", they just don't do them in an exaggerated way. Soundstage placement is no longer an issue and I hear even better distinction between instruments in orchestra than the Auditor Ms. It's remarkable how you can hear so many different instruments playing at the same time and yet they come together so beautifully. The scale and impact is the best thing about these speakers next to the body and timbre. They really fill the room and have a huge sound that is very engaging. The midrange and treble have sweetened as well and the slight hardness experienced during break in has definitely balanced out. Looks like I am hooked on the Tannoy DC sound! |
Again, congratulations! I was pretty sure you would reach that conclusion, although my early experience in the 70's and early 80's was rocky. Tannoy DC's are very much GIGO, and all I had was garbage! (Seriously wounded B&O 3000 tt, and very noisy Dyna SCA80 int.amp)
I hung in there and am very happy with mine! |
Congrats! Lovely speakers. Of course only time will tell for your case, but I became a fully realized Tannoy DC "life-er" about 5 years ago. I'd had a lovely experience with a pair of Eyris DC3 a few years before that, but foolishly experimented with other brands before I stopped fighting my nature and settled down. Unfortunately, "settling down" probably won't preclude lusting after the bigger alnico/pepperpot models - it certainly didn't in my case! |
Hey Mart,
What are you using to push your Pair of Kensington, and what cables are you using?
Im still looking for the right amp to run my pair, i also purchased a pair.
Any recommendation? |
Anyone ever compared to the Definition (DC10 or DC8T)? Wondering what the sound differences would be. |
..."to push Kensington" is really able Unison Research Sinfonia (27w/channel) and Performance model (around 40W/channel) will be probably even better...
...silver cables, any...ask in the shop...
Best ever experience with Kensington i had with Unico CDE player and Sinfonia - inside CDE is the best tube-DAC ever created, i guess... and doesn`t matter whether you play CD or just use Digital coax input by MacBookPro (converted from Digital Toslink)...
...with other stronger hybrid amps (80w/channel) the bass was stronger than Sinfonia somehow...maybe 10% plus...but Sinfonia bass is serious anyway (plus Sinfonia has subwoofer out - i never use..no need at all :-)
...but from pure tube-machine like Sinfonia sound was always nicer... mainly via this tube-CD player mentioned above.
Now, i still dont need this expensive Unico CDE, at least i always push myself to believe this, and for playing music over MacBookPro i purchased Tube DAC D2 from Maverick Audio... but sound is like via 1tube CD machine from Unison called CD Primo.... hmmm.... shortly: Sinfonia (or Performance) is totally necessary tool, with Unico CDE it is becoming paradise and with Kensington total heaven :-)) |
I am about to buy a pair of Tannoy Turnberry SE. Would you mind telling me the location or position of those speakers in your room? Do you toe in? And during the Break-In period, do you play music 24/7? Many thanks. |
My experience has been to put them a foot or so out from the wall. I used to toe in toward each ear but Jim Smith (Get Better Sound) taught me that much less toe in yields better
imaging, so now I use about 10 degrees. You do not need to
play music 24/7, but I prefer more complex music with good bass to exercise the speakers. Enjoy! |
|
Peter Lanzilotta gave me good advice on toe-in. Angle them so that the tweeters cross slightly behind your head at the music listening chair. |
Thanks, Jburidan. One more question, has anyone tried Pathos TT on Tannoy Turnberry? |
Actually the manual suggests toe-ing in so that the tweeters cross right in front of your face. I usually don't toe-in much, but this worked out better for me with these speakers. They are pretty sensitive to positioning, contrary to what the dealer told me, so play with it. |
Thanks, Eugene. Yes, they are indeed sensitive to positioning. I will try it. |
The mid/hf compression driver has a much more direction radiation pattern than conventional tweeters so there is much less reflected sound. With a higher percentage of direct sound, you will be able to tune the speaker more since changing the direction of the driver relative to your ear will make a larger difference than doing so with a higher dispersion driver. Use it to your advantage. |
