Tannoy Turnberry SE Imaging and Breaking In


So I just replaced my Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor Ms with a new pair of Tannoy Turnberry SE with plans of possibly going SET. They have maybe 12 hours on them at this point and coming from the Auditors, which produce very precise, realistic images, I am finding that attribute to be lacking somewhat substantially. Particularly with orchestra, I can't seem to place violins front-left, trumpets center-rear, percussion rear-left, cello/bass right, etc. nearly as well as with the SFs. Images are also more diffuse and less well-defined and soundstage is not as wide. Does this get a whole lot better with break-in? I have played with varying degrees of toe-in from just a bit to crossing over in front of the listening as recommended in the manual but it doesn't change things a whole lot. The sound is also less clear and transparent than the Auditor M, though in my experience this is something that does improve greatly as speakers break in.

Now, that aside, the tone, texture, and body of instruments is incredible! This makes the speakers so musical, expressive, and just plain addictive. I actually get a real sense of a violin bow bouncing on the strings, which is something I've never experienced. And piano... wow. The sounds are not as sweet or saturated/dense as the Auditors, but definitely more "organic". Perhaps these traits come with the pepperpot/alnico models?

Overall I feel this move will bring me more enjoyment as it is, but I do hope I can regain a lot of that "in the room" presence.
eugene81
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!