mulveling Posted March 19, 2009 Report Posted March 19, 2009 Here's what I've been selling off my high-end headphone gear for. Just moved them in an hour ago. Unfortunately I'll have to wait a bit to give them a listen, as I've got some work to catch up on! Also, mine is the only residence in a block of businesses, so I need to wait until evening to crank things up Uses a 10" dual-concentric driver with all the specs of the TOP end of the Prestige line. That means Alnico (Alcomax) magnets, twin-roll impregnated fabric surrounds, doped paper pulp bass drivers, 2" round-wire wound voice coils, and the special Pepper-Pot tweeter waveguide instead of the Tulip waveguide used on the lower lines. There are separate magnetic motors for the woofer and tweeter. From what I read, the length of the horn/waveguide is such that it is exactly 1/2 wavelength at the crossover frequency from woofer to tweeter. The tweeter is wired 180 degrees out of phase to compensate, and in theory you have 100% phase coherence at the crossover frequency. Works out great because the woofer magnet is pretty thick and the horn length provides the appropriate space for it all to fit in there. I've listened to them plenty in the dealer's room - they're the ONLY other speaker/headphone I've heard that matches the sweetness of the R10's mids (driven with a top-class amp and source, even), but with the bass impact and imaging of a top-notch speaker too. I liked the look of the Tannoy Dimension TD10s, but they're not everyone's style and they look like dogs next to these Kensingtons Clearly I need to upgrade the cables for the cosmetics if nothing else. White PVC sleeve, ugh. I LIKE the look of the Audioquests with some of the darker-color braids, but those are fairly expensive and though I want something like a Rocket 88 or Rockefeller - heck I'll be laughing at myself for spending so much on cables Hope they were worth it. I'm pretty confident they will be...
Torpedo Posted March 19, 2009 Report Posted March 19, 2009 Very nice mate, I hope you enjoy them a lot
IceClass Posted March 19, 2009 Report Posted March 19, 2009 Congrats. That' some sweet looking hardware you have there.
purk Posted March 19, 2009 Report Posted March 19, 2009 Congrats Mike! Time to upgrade your speaker wire!!!
laxx Posted March 19, 2009 Report Posted March 19, 2009 Those speakers look heavy. =T I think I like the TD10's more (visually), but for some reason, these Kensingtons are growing on me.
Dusty Chalk Posted March 19, 2009 Report Posted March 19, 2009 I love Tannoys "old school" line of speakers. That said, I'd never own them. Are they corner loaded? I forget...
Knuckledragger Posted March 19, 2009 Report Posted March 19, 2009 The cabinet work on those is dead sexy. They'd look at home next to late period Victorian furnishings, or even early Arts & Crafts. I have the perfect dresser to go with them. I dunno if they'd be of interest to you, but this guy makes cables terminated for McIntosh amps. I don't have any experience with his speaker cables, but I have a number of his ICs and a headphone extension cable. He's got a pair listed here right now. I can't say much for the red, but I know he offers a combination of colors and sleeves.
luvdunhill Posted March 19, 2009 Report Posted March 19, 2009 Mike: I was looking around yesterday for some spade terminals especially fit for a phono stage binding post and noticed that both Cardas and Vampire make spades especially for vintage gear using barrier strips, such as your Mac amp. Here's some pics: Anyways, not that I'm advocating better cables in your setup, but just happened to notice these...
mulveling Posted March 20, 2009 Author Report Posted March 20, 2009 Thanks guys! I realize the Tannoys are both polarizing styles. But man - the Kensingtons just push all the right buttons for me, aesthetically and sonically. I've been drooling over them for a while. Oh, and I forgot to mention/photograph the best part - the tweed cloth grills Oh, and I recently picked up a nice looking pair of Heathkit W5-M tube amps (yes, I went crazy for the vintage stuff). 6L6GC outputs, 12AU7 inputs/drivers (though these are being changed to 6CG7s), 25 Watts. I'm having a REALLY good tube amp tech/speaker designer do a full restore. The aesthetics and satin gold paint should match the control plate on the Kensingtons quite nicely. From what I hear they should be better than the W4s which had the sweetest mids. Those mids, paired with better bass slam would be stunning. Those speakers look heavy. =T I think I like the TD10's more (visually), but for some reason, these Kensingtons are growing on me. Not too heavy considering their size - 81 lbs IIRC. I can pick them up and move 'em around but it's not terribly fun. I love Tannoys "old school" line of speakers. That said, I'd never own them. Are they corner loaded? I forget... I think you're thinking of the Westminsters. Those things are beasts, and I believe there's a pair coming to my area soon The cabinet work on those is dead sexy. They'd look at home next to late period Victorian furnishings, or even early Arts & Crafts. I have the perfect dresser to go with them. I dunno if they'd be of interest to you, but this guy makes cables terminated for McIntosh amps. I don't have any experience with his speaker cables, but I have a number of his ICs and a headphone extension cable. He's got a pair listed here right now. I can't say much for the red, but I know he offers a combination of colors and sleeves. Woah, those do look like very nice cables for the money and that's just the kind of spade I need. Definitely under consideration - thanks! Mike: I was looking around yesterday for some spade terminals especially fit for a phono stage binding post and noticed that both Cardas and Vampire make spades especially for vintage gear using barrier strips, such as your Mac amp. Here's some pics: Anyways, not that I'm advocating better cables in your setup, but just happened to notice these... Yep, thanks for that info. I do have some small Audioquest crimp-style spades (I think the 1010G) that fit the barrier strips. I have soldered these very poorly to those white PVC sleeved start-quad 11 AWG cables. Did I mention my work is very sloppy...but, it works for now and somehow sounds decent
Duggeh Posted March 20, 2009 Report Posted March 20, 2009 If I were a nationalist patriot I'd own Tannoys. Those are sweeeeet though. Thinking about adding on the Tannoy supertweeter at some point?
mulveling Posted March 20, 2009 Author Report Posted March 20, 2009 If I were a nationalist patriot I'd own Tannoys. Those are sweeeeet though. Thinking about adding on the Tannoy supertweeter at some point? Indeed, truly fine Scottish craftsmanship Absolutely, I'd love a set of the ST100 or ST200 tweets. They're pretty expensive though, and I already blew the majority of my headphone stash on these speakers. Naturally, while I was rushing my girlfriend to the ER Sunday night (she's a-ok now), a pair of ST100's came up on agon for a STEAL of $500 (they go QUICK at over $1K). They must have been gone in a minute, long gone by the time things cleared up for me the next morning. Heh, no big deal though - the important thing is that she's fine now. I do feel kinda bad that I feel bad about missing out there, when there were much much more important things on the line
Duggeh Posted March 20, 2009 Report Posted March 20, 2009 There will be other bargains. Supertweeters do good things. Glad to hear that the ER trip came out okay. I've given consideration more than once to a big sell off to pay for a big speaker change. But after I graduate I'm simply not going to have room for any speaker rig anymore, and even the Quads will have to go. I'll pretend I'm on your sofa from time to time instead
mulveling Posted March 21, 2009 Author Report Posted March 21, 2009 (i am sooo going to get a beatn' for this, LULZ!) i'm "teh girlfriend"!! oooooooh, ya'll are all the same....so precious! i want to make you all lil samiches, or something... for the record, i'm a good girlfriend. i've taught myself what Tannoys even frickn' were instead of reading Cosmo. i "bring home vinyl". i learned about TUBE AMPS?? (when HE should have learned about Michael Kors shoes?!) i have TRIED to endure audio "events" and learn how to set my "swing arm" (whateverthehell THAT means?? i'm oldskool punk; blasting the Descendents on the Maserati of speakers doesn't SEEM to make that much difference in my ears...but throw me some old George Jones on mono?? hell-to-the-hell yea...) and as MUCH as i'd rather he spent the money on jewelry?? These Kensingtons are scorching hot! i do hate seeing the poor old Tannoys in the corner.... i have such fun with you all....i'm about to set up my own forum for "Audio Abandoned Women"....(or, i'll just troll on here?? either way? i'm frickn' DEAD if this actually posts?) Happy Weekend....
purk Posted March 21, 2009 Report Posted March 21, 2009 (i am sooo going to get a beatn' for this, LULZ!) i'm "teh girlfriend"!! oooooooh, ya'll are all the same....so precious! i want to make you all lil samiches, or something... for the record, i'm a good girlfriend. i've taught myself what Tannoys even frickn' were instead of reading Cosmo. i "bring home vinyl". i learned about TUBE AMPS?? (when HE should have learned about Michael Kors shoes?!) i have TRIED to endure audio "events" and learn how to set my "swing arm" (whateverthehell THAT means?? i'm oldskool punk; blasting the Descendents on the Maserati of speakers doesn't SEEM to make that much difference in my ears...but throw me some old George Jones on mono?? hell-to-the-hell yea...) and as MUCH as i'd rather he spent the money on jewelry?? These Kensingtons are scorching hot! i do hate seeing the poor old Tannoys in the corner.... i have such fun with you all....i'm about to set up my own forum for "Audio Abandoned Women"....(or, i'll just troll on here?? either way? i'm frickn' DEAD if this actually posts?) Happy Weekend.... Get Mike to buy you new purses & shoes!!!
Dusty Chalk Posted March 22, 2009 Report Posted March 22, 2009 (edited) (i am sooo going to get a beatn' for this, LULZ!) i'm "teh girlfriend"!! oooooooh, ya'll are all the same....so precious! i want to make you all lil samiches, or something... for the record, i'm a good girlfriend. i've taught myself what Tannoys even frickn' were instead of reading Cosmo. i "bring home vinyl". i learned about TUBE AMPS?? (when HE should have learned about Michael Kors shoes?!) i have TRIED to endure audio "events" and learn how to set my "swing arm" (whateverthehell THAT means?? i'm oldskool punk; blasting the Descendents on the Maserati of speakers doesn't SEEM to make that much difference in my ears...but throw me some old George Jones on mono?? hell-to-the-hell yea...) and as MUCH as i'd rather he spent the money on jewelry?? These Kensingtons are scorching hot! i do hate seeing the poor old Tannoys in the corner.... i have such fun with you all....i'm about to set up my own forum for "Audio Abandoned Women"....(or, i'll just troll on here?? either way? i'm frickn' DEAD if this actually posts?) Happy Weekend....I so hope this is real. If so, you are way cool. Edited March 22, 2009 by Dusty Chalk
AlanY Posted March 22, 2009 Report Posted March 22, 2009 The Descendents do indeed rock. You've got an awesome girl.
Duggeh Posted March 22, 2009 Report Posted March 22, 2009 (i am sooo going to get a beatn' for this, LULZ!) i'm "teh girlfriend"!! oooooooh, ya'll are all the same....so precious! i want to make you all lil samiches, or something... for the record, i'm a good girlfriend. i've taught myself what Tannoys even frickn' were instead of reading Cosmo. i "bring home vinyl". i learned about TUBE AMPS?? (when HE should have learned about Michael Kors shoes?!) i have TRIED to endure audio "events" and learn how to set my "swing arm" (whateverthehell THAT means?? i'm oldskool punk; blasting the Descendents on the Maserati of speakers doesn't SEEM to make that much difference in my ears...but throw me some old George Jones on mono?? hell-to-the-hell yea...) and as MUCH as i'd rather he spent the money on jewelry?? These Kensingtons are scorching hot! i do hate seeing the poor old Tannoys in the corner.... i have such fun with you all....i'm about to set up my own forum for "Audio Abandoned Women"....(or, i'll just troll on here?? either way? i'm frickn' DEAD if this actually posts?) Happy Weekend.... Can I have Dairylea samiches please?
mulveling Posted March 22, 2009 Author Report Posted March 22, 2009 Haha, that's what I get for leaving open dozens of browser tabs logged in to stuff, then sleeping in past 1pm Get Mike to buy you new purses & shoes!!! Dude I've already bought her TWO purses this year. Shoes maybe, but no more damn purses! Back to more audio-related things - I'm completely amazed at how these speakers are the most imposing large boxes I've ever owned, while sounding LESS like a box than anything I've heard. The sheer presence they project is unreal in its realism The TD10s had a -6db roll-off point at 39Hz - a bit high for a large-ish tower. This didn't previously bother me since it was still so much better than what I'd owned before - either plenty of less controlled bass, poorly integrated bass, an even higher rolloff point, or a combination thereof. The TD10s were so comparatively balanced and splendidly integrated from top to bottom. I even had a failed attempt at integrating a Martin Logan Depth i subwoofer. Never got the combination to sound a worthwhile degree better than the TD10s alone for 2ch music (it did provide a substantial improvement with movies), though truthfully I probably gave up a bit too soon (in part to finance the Kensingtons). Overall, the TD10s had a sonic signature that was highly neutral. However, and possibly partially due to the early rolloff, it was on the clean/lean side of neutral if anything. Perhaps that's why they sounded so stunning with the rebuilt vintage Heathkit W4 tube amps, which embody every GOOD stereotype you've heard about lush, warm, tubey mids - they were able to coax truly glorious mids out of the TD10s. Too bad these amps were also somewhat lacking in bass slam. I really should have tried to bi-amp with the McIntosh MC2100 and W4s for the best of both worlds Now with the Kensingtons, I'm hearing sound from them that makes me realize why Tannoy targets the Dimension line towards HT use with a sub. The Kensington rolloff point is 29Hz, and there may be other factors are involved too but there is a significant difference here, for the better. They both use a 10" driver so the low-end difference must be from the cabinet: 105 Liter volume for the Kensington, 67 L for the TD10. That and the crossover (and possibly the Alnico magnet) also makes for an extra 3db of efficiency, to 93db/Watt. I'll be able to hit LOUD levels of 100db+ at my seating position from a 25-Watt tube amp. For speakers, I'm moving into the camp that bigger truly is better.
morphsci Posted March 22, 2009 Report Posted March 22, 2009 Those are impressively nice speakers and with the tweed grill covers they will have an even higher WAF. Nice listening impressions also, I may need to find somewhere to listen to these.
jinp6301 Posted March 22, 2009 Report Posted March 22, 2009 (i am sooo going to get a beatn' for this, LULZ!) i'm "teh girlfriend"!! oooooooh, ya'll are all the same....so precious! i want to make you all lil samiches, or something... for the record, i'm a good girlfriend. i've taught myself what Tannoys even frickn' were instead of reading Cosmo. i "bring home vinyl". i learned about TUBE AMPS?? (when HE should have learned about Michael Kors shoes?!) i have TRIED to endure audio "events" and learn how to set my "swing arm" (whateverthehell THAT means?? i'm oldskool punk; blasting the Descendents on the Maserati of speakers doesn't SEEM to make that much difference in my ears...but throw me some old George Jones on mono?? hell-to-the-hell yea...) and as MUCH as i'd rather he spent the money on jewelry?? These Kensingtons are scorching hot! i do hate seeing the poor old Tannoys in the corner.... i have such fun with you all....i'm about to set up my own forum for "Audio Abandoned Women"....(or, i'll just troll on here?? either way? i'm frickn' DEAD if this actually posts?) Happy Weekend.... awesome... awesome to the max
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