Which Tannoy Monitor speaker to use?


Recently I "inherited" a Loesch & Weisner phono preamp and after replacing batteries and DeOxiting all the switches and controls (it hadn't been used for 12 years), I hooked it up in place of my VTL 2.5TL to make sure it was working properly. Oh my goodness... not only was it working properly but the sound quality was simply shocking. So detailed, so open, so very good I haven't been able to go back to the VTL ever since.

As I dug deeper into every bit of information I could find about this wonderful preamp, I was lead into a very different branch of the audio universe where low power tube amps and high efficiency speakers rule. It seems Dr. Loesch was well respected in this group and my curiosity has grown and grown. In particular, I learned about Tannoy Monitor Silver, Red and Gold speakers. After reading page and page and post after post from users who just seemed to not only never have anything bad to say, but one after another either coming back to them after straying or loving them for decades!

Mentally I'm now totally committed to buying a pair of Tannoy's, building my own cabinets (since I'm an accomplished wood worker), and seeing for myself just what it is all about. My room is a bit small (11W X 24L X 9 H) so 15's are problably not going to work. I hear great things about Gold 12" and some like Gold 10".

So I ask this group, and particularly "islandmandan" for guidance and recommendations. Of course I've already found hilberink.nl. and frankly it's a bit overwhelming.
raceone
Thanks "jond", I've been talking with Joe at Tempo Electric about rebuilding my power supplies and having him give the preamp a once over. Since the PS's are now 60 years old, it's quite certain many components have drifted out of spec. Surprisingly he diidn't think the preamp itself would need much if it's working properly now, but he'll have a better perspective than I. Plus I should add I'm considering trying to implement his 300B amps to complement this preamp.

"islandmandan" I truly appreciate your offer for direct contact and look forward to a continued discussion off-line. However if anyone else is interested in this content I would be happy to share the broad strokes in the forum.
Congrats that is a very special preamp from all I've read and Arthur Loesch a true genius. I can offer no guidance on Tannoy but you were right too see out @islandmandan he is a Tannoy expert. You might want to try messaging him through the Agon member lookup feature. Good luck and have fun!
Hello Raceone,

I am glad you're embracing Tannoys. If you go to the Tannoy Yahoo forum site, in the photo section, look up "Custom Heavweights for HPD 315's", you'll find photos of my 150 liter cabinets under construction, and also plans for them. It's something to at least get some ideas from. When I was building mine, there was a paucity of info to be had regarding cabinet design for 12" MG's or HPD's. I had mine built by Frank Wyatt in PA to my specs, they aren't the nicest-looking cabinets, but boy, do they work.

I then built custom outboard crossovers with premium parts, and changed from the rot-prone foam surrounds to hard edge, which improved their performance, and will never rot. 

Monitor Golds don't have this problem, but are not built to be able to handle as much power as the HPD's. I run mine with either 500 Wpc class D, or 9 Wpc SET 300B, I happy listening to either.

I would stick with 12 DC's, the 10" (Turnberry) Tannoys I've heard didn't quite do it for me.

Let me know if I can help, audiophildan at yahoo dot com is my private email (or was, until now) if you want to discuss one-on-one any of this.

Regards,
Dan