Tannoy Kensington SE

[luvdunhill]

faust3d -- I don't really go for those Lowther-based designs, I don't know why.

not even the TP-1?

[Dusty Chalk]

Oh, I don't mind that one as much, but those storky/flamingo looking ones do absolutely nothing for me.

[luvdunhill]

Oh, I don't mind that one as much, but those storky/flamingo looking ones do absolutely nothing for me.

here's the original

I'd love to try a Lowter driver at some point, but they're amazingly expensive.

[Dusty Chalk]

I have zero desire to try a Lowther by itself. It's a very special sound, and one that I only find occasionally appealing -- I'd want to add a sub and a supertweeter to it.

Tannoy's coaxials are much more interesting to me.

[luvdunhill]

I have zero desire to try a Lowther by itself. It's a very special sound, and one that I only find occasionally appealing -- I'd want to add a sub and a supertweeter to it.

Tannoy's coaxials are much more interesting to me.

I really love the upper register, so I wouldn't add a supertweeter. They are too hard to integrate well and I don't like the phasing complications they introduce. Most designs are pretty much flat to 20kHz and go around to 45Hz all at +-5dB or so. Case in point, the Alerions. Good enough for me.

[Dusty Chalk]

Alright, but I'd still try and add a subwoofer (at which point, of course, people tell me, "then why bother at all", for which I have no answer).

I mean, I have all the single driver sound devices I need (I.E. "headphones").

[recstar24]

I really love the upper register, so I wouldn't add a supertweeter. They are too hard to integrate well and I don't like the phasing complications they introduce. Most designs are pretty much flat to 20kHz and go around to 45Hz all at +-5dB or so. Case in point, the Alerions. Good enough for me.

The alerions are absolutely fantastic. The guy I picked up the cicadas from had a set of alerions powered by the Firstwatt F1. I was startled at the amount of bass that came out of that thing. What a special sound, just really engaging with a beautiful top end.

[luvdunhill]

What a special sound, just really engaging with a beautiful top end.

uh huh. nods. yes. right-o.

[mulveling]

Well, I think I've finally got the Kensingtons 99% "locked-in" as of 2 weeks ago. I think I've found the position that seems to work best, as well as which amps/tubes gel together. Since then, pretty much every time I've sat down to listen has resulted in a "this is the BEST thing ever - the best I've ever heard" kind of adulation

The first time I heard their FULL glory was 2 week ago when I first hooked in my newly restored Heathkit W5-M monoblocks (25 Watts/ch). They're each running a pair of pink-base GE 7581A outputs (American KT66) and a pair of RCA 12BH7A. Pure magic. the McIntosh MC2100, as much as I love it, and as much as it loved the TD10s, was a step behind the Heathkit's effortless musicality with the Kensingtons.

My newly re-restored Eico HF87 stereo amp was at much the same level as the MC2100, UNTIL I swapped in some different tubes: Replaced the old short-bottle orange label Sylvania 6sn7gtb with a pair of NOS tall bottle green label Sylvanias, and replaced the quad of Teslovak EL34LS with a quad of Electro-Harmonix EL34. DAMN, now the Eico's right up there with the Heathkits, and those EH tubes are cheap!! The Teslovak (JJ) EL34LS is a bit different spec-wise than a normal EL34, so that may have had something to do with it. Of course internet, paypal, & drinking don't mix, so I've now got quads of the old East German EL34, the EH 6CA7 beam tetrodes, and a backup quad of EH EL34 on the way...

The speaker positioning is now close to how I had the TD10s set up, but with a few tweaks. As I've discussed with my dealer, the Tannoys at this size range tend to sound SWEET at about 7-8 feet apart and 9-11 feet (each) from the listening position, with moderate toe-in.

The ST100/ST200 supertweeters will add a hint of harshness if they're not setup just right - crossover & positioning - and I haven't figured that out yet - so for now they're just decorations However I've got some advice on settings from the experts and going to give that a much more rigorous attempt once Nate's nice cables arrive

For preamp I've gone back to the little Headamp Gilmore V2, as its clean sound combined with 2 switched inputs, dedicated preamp out, and smooth volume pot (can't stand a stepped atten w/ speakers) is hard to pass up. Dirt cheap, too for the $200 I paid - much better to have that preamp cash for other stuff

[mulveling]

Yep, it's official. Ever since I've got them locked-in here, these are the best I've EVER heard - at least for my preferences if nothing else. Sold on Tannoys for life, will not consider another speaker brand. Stamp me as a rabid fanboy. NOT gonna say I'm done for life because I would LOVE to get my mitts on a Yorkminster/Canterbury/Westminster/Churchill if space & cash allow (and actually today I did get a BIG pay bump, but not entertaining thoughts of the 12"/15" pepperpot Prestige drivers...yet).

However, I have to say that aesthetically the Kensington SE is still the looker of the lot IMO, not to mention the massive sonic euphoria they can induce. Very well worth what I did to get the cash for them

I've known good speakers can beat the hell out of the best headphones in terms of realistic dynamics & soundstage/imaging...but it's always been hard for me to give up the perfect coherence & spectrum integration of good headphones (single driver, no crossover), an issue complicated by the difficulty of in-room acoustics. Now even the best headphones fall way short in comparison...it's best of both worlds, and then some

[tkam]

stamped

[guzziguy]

That's pretty mild. Shouldn't it me something like "Foaming at the mouth, rabid Tannoy fanboy!"?

[mulveling]

stamped

Yay!

[JimP]

Can your 'significant other' come back on-line to interact with us? (j/king)

Serious question - do you utilize the treble tone controls via what looks like adjustable buttons?

btw, thanks for posting your experience with these, I dream of a day in the future I have living space big enough to accommodate something like this.

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

I use tannoys for my computer system. Yep.

Biggie.

[ktm]

For preamp I've gone back to the little Headamp Gilmore V2, as its clean sound combined with 2 switched inputs, dedicated preamp out, and smooth volume pot (can't stand a stepped atten w/ speakers) is hard to pass up. Dirt cheap, too for the $200 I paid - much better to have that preamp cash for other stuff

Sounds like I sold it too cheap:rolleyes:

I'm glad you're enjoying it. What are you going to do with the mc2100?

[mulveling]

Sounds like I sold it too cheap:rolleyes:

I'm glad you're enjoying it. What are you going to do with the mc2100?

Thanks

It was my first truly hifi headphone amp back in 2003, and I just keep going back to that V2.

Going to have to sell the mc2100 soon - probably try to do it local since it's such a beast. It was an excellent match with the Dimension TD10, but the Kensingtons prefer tubes. It's hard enough to justify keeping the TD10s around (it's just hard to let go of them), much less extra electronics for them too.

Got a backup tube amp in the Eico HF-87 (just getting it fixed, as it was red-plating). As much as I try to justify and setup a 2nd system I always end up going back to the main rig. Plenty more stuff that's accumulated here, as always. Hmm, I may need to have another gear sell-off soon.

[Salt Peanuts]

If you ever decides to sell the MC2100, let me know. Too bad I'm not local, though my best friend do live in Atlanta.

[Hopstretch]

Definitely rates a link in this thread. Tannoymania apparently knows no bounds!

AudiogoN ForSale: Tannoy Westminster Royal

I'll assume he had many of us at "Giant Stax Headphones".

[mulveling]

Definitely rates a link in this thread. Tannoymania apparently knows no bounds!

AudiogoN ForSale: Tannoy Westminster Royal

I'll assume he had many of us at "Giant Stax Headphones".

Wow, that's a lot of text! I think I've seen the infamous "Doc Gizmo" Westminsters on sale before. I'd much much rather have a stock pair

EveAnna Manley has a pair of older Westminsters to go with her Churchills

Back to the "lower" end of the line, these Kensingtons have truly transformed the music listening experience for me. I'm buying, cleaning, and listening to a lot more music (in the early morning hours of weekdays) despite my as-of-late hellish workload. Finally considering selling the last remnants of my hifi headphone gear - it's lost its magic in the face of this speaker setup. I'll keep an HD650 and the Gilmore amps (which can also serve as preamps) to satisfy my headphone needs.

The Kensingtons really do work best toe-ed in to right about 15 degrees off-axis, as the manual states. It's the best balance to obtain an optimal combination of both vivid, lifelike energy with rock-solid imaging on the one hand, and the silky smooth sweet flowing mids (really my favorite mids I've heard anywhere so far) without a trace of treble harshness on the other hand. The horn-loaded tweet can start to get just touch harsh at less than 15 degrees off axis. The supertweets are still a bit too much for most of my records, but a superb addition for the softer records and all the 1/4" reel tapes, so far. Running the supertweets at 18kHz crossover and 91.5db sensitivity.

For a while I was down to the old heathkit W4-AMs as my last amps while the W5-Ms and Eico HF87 were in the shop One of the W5-Ms had an RCA 12BH7A input tube going bad (a few firecracker-like pops upon startup, fine after that otherwise but still scary), and the Eico got revamped to run the EL34s at a more sane, non red-plating 45-50mA (compared to the 70mA+ it was at), also fixed a wiring error - ah, the foibles of owning amps that started as amateur kits back in the 1950s. They'll be solid now, though, and sounding better than ever to boot. The Eico is running in mostly class A, I'm told. Sweet! I tried a quad of EH 6CA7 outputs, but the EH EL34s just have better mids. The W4-AMs performed admirably (forgot how nice they sound) and I'm now having THEM upgraded to improve circuit stability and adding some nice VT231 tubes. The breakdown is that the W5-Ms have the sweetest mids of the bunch and are plain excellent overall. The Eico has the best bass impact & dynamics, and very sweet mids, but not quite like the W5-M. The W4-AMs have mids that are very similar to the W5, but are a bit lacking in bass relative to the other amps.

I've been borrowing a nicely modded Counterpoint SA-1000 tube preamp for a week - I still prefer the Gilmore V2 in this capacity. The Gilmore is clearly much quieter, and strangely music just flows better out of it too. I would like to get a Black Beauty pot installed in my Gilmore Reference, since I've just about had it with the annoyances of stepped attenuators

Already getting bitten bad with the upgrade bug again - this time for a cartridge. Need something more worthy of the Kensingtons. Might be time to move the trusty Benz Glider (> 2 years old now) to my 2nd table. Mostly interested in the Ortofon Jubilee, Kontrapunkt c (maybe better match for my arm than the Jubilee), and maybe even their top SPU (love the vintage aesthetic, should be a good match for my heavy arm, curious about the sound)...

[luvdunhill]

and maybe even their top SPU (love the vintage aesthetic, should be a good match for my heavy arm, curious about the sound)...

The SPU mono I have is absolutely fantastic. Makes me very curious of the stereo versions.

[mulveling]

The SPU mono I have is absolutely fantastic. Makes me very curious of the stereo versions.

Thanks for the impressions on SPU - you don't hear too much about them. Yeah, I think they look cool as hell.

Unfortunately my Tannoy/Analog drugdealer is telling me the SPU is too low compliance, even for my medium-heavy arm (22g mass). The Jubilee is on the other end of the spectrum - it's a bit too compliant to be optimal. That leaves either the Ortofon Kontrapunkt c, or stick with the Benz line and move from my older Glider to a new Wood Body S L (or perhaps a bit beyond?).

The Benz & Ortofon are the main lines of this dealer, and I'd rather buy there, which unfortunately eliminates some very good stuff like Dynavector - they have a cart using Alnico magnets that certainly got my attention. That would be some nice vintage-tech magnet symmetry between the cart & speakers

All I hear about Ortofon is that "they're great", and that "they're very neutral". Apparently more neutral than the Benz, which I'm not[ sure I'd dig. The Glider is already plenty clean-sounding enough for my tastes, tonally (really quite lovely). Apparently the Glider adds a bit of "honey", especially to the mid bass - to which I responded "really?" - I couldn't tell For sure, I do tend to favor gear that has a touch or warmth and an organic nature to it - hence my dilemma. I don't want to take a chance on Ortofon and then wish I'd stuck with the Benz line. Life is sooo hard

[mulveling]

A few more system changes to report:

I've posted about it elsewhere, but I went with the Kontrapunkt "c" cartridge after auditioning & loving the Kontrapunkt "a" in the shop. The money on this cart was WELL spent. Here's the breakdown vs the old Benz Glider L2:

* Picks up substantially less surface noise. Not a subtle difference on less-than-pristine records, of which I have quite a few. For example, my "hairy" copy of Kiss Love Gun? Now sounds superb...SWEET!

* Vastly smoother and well behaved on top. VASTLY. That problem I was having with the ST200 supertweeters on vinyl? The issue hasn't merely been mitigated, it's been completely eliminated! So now supertweeters hooked up via Nate's beautiful SuckItALO/VinceVaughnAudio cables are doing full duty with both reel tapes AND vinyl, and the overall sound is just *bang on* with vinyl. It was kind of like getting two upgrades at once, there.

* Better resolution/articulation over the whole range. Not quite the same magnitude of difference as the above two points, but definitely there.

* Better bass slam/impact

* Cleaner voicing, sounds more "neutral" in a good way, ala HP1000.

* A few extra dBs of output means an effective reduction in phono preamp noise floor by same amount.

* You know, the HD650s are are fairly down in their treble response, so it's NO WONDER I never heard a hint of the Glider issue with them (well actually, maybe a bit on just *certain* records now that I give it a second thought!). I'm surprised it were never terribly irksome in the TD10 system though, as the TD10s have integrated supertweeters. The Kensingtons w/ supertweeters are noticeably more resolving up top for sure, though.

Now today I swung by and borrowed a consignment Aragon 47K phono preamp with the outboard PSU. I doubt this will be leaving. The Ortofon cart likes ~ 100 ohms loading - easy with the Aragon, not so easy with the Benz PP-1 (I've gotten by with a self constructed 100 ohm resistor box + extra set of ICs there). This reduced complexity eliminates the very slight amount of hum I was getting with the latter stage. Plus, I think it sounds a touch cleaner too, but further listening will have to bear that out - I've only gotten to listen on the HD650 thus far. Also, geez - the Aragon looks a real beauty on the inside. Fully discrete dual mono, PSU in a separate box, no ICs in sight that I could spot. Very very impressive for the asking price. Hoping/thinking I can just sell the Benz PP-1 T9 and Glider L2 off, then maybe pick up a Kontrapunkt "a" or "h" for the Merrill Heirloom....

At this point, getting the other parts in the chain hammered out, plus with more tweaks to the room - it's getting flat out SCARY just how good these Kensingtons are sounding, and how they KEEP responding to these improvements. Next up I think will be preamp, though the Gilmore V2 has been incredibly solid and performed superbly for its price tag thus far.

[mulveling]

Some visuals to go with mah wordy words:

Interestingly (or not), the "c" (and I think "h") have a gray-ish & shiny metal finish, while the "a" (and I think "b") have a white-ish & matte metal finish.

[Dusty Chalk]

Hawt pictures.

And that also means you don't need to swap out your supertweeter cables every time you listen to a different type of source, right? Double-plus-sweet!