Tannoy Prestige speakers (Dual concentric driver) because of their ability to sing, bass is very tight and deep; voices are as natural as breathing; overall sound is smooth as silk. Dynamics are amazing, certainly when driven by the MC252. He brings the power, musicality and control I was searching for. More power would be crazy because of the fact that these speakers are 94db sensitive. The Edinburgh HE has a 300 mm dual concentric driver, which sounds amazingly smooth. Big boys don t have to try so hard!!!
Ive been thinking about tubes, but the maintenance and the lack of power has kept away from them. When driven hard these speakers need control, certainly when this 300mm woofer starts to dance, Im not sure I would be able to get that control with tubes (in the same budget range).
Recently I added the Mc252 from audioclassics.com to replace the old but good Mc2105.
Ive chosen Mcintosh electronics, mainly because of the relax sound, I can listen for hours to the set. At this point Im a bit afraid to add or change components, perhaps in the future a new preamplifier (C220 for example).
Any suggestions or comments? Dont hesitate to post them.
I recently bought a new tube amp, custom designed and built by Paul Birkeland of Bottlehead.. It uses 3C24 output tubes, and it makes my Tannoy HPD 315's sound the best they ever have, and that's saying something.
If any of your friends have a good tube amp, maybe you should have them bring it over, and see if your Edinburgh's like it. You never know, you may like how they sound, but I know they already sound spectacular with the MC252 driving them. It might be fun just trying it out.
I am a new member and this my first post. I came from Italy.
I spent many many time to setup my Tannoy Edimburg Prestige HE so I hope to help you for a good result.
1- Amplification.
The best way to drive these loudspeakers is "the passive multiamplification".
My system has also the Prestige ST200 super tweeters so I used the triamp for a total of six tube power amps driven by Klimo Merlin Reference LS1 with its tube unit to power itself.
The power amps for bass is based by 805 tubes SE class A driven with 300B. This because 805 tube has very good thight,articulate sound and it is very speed on bass response. The very important thing is that this amp shoud have the volume control. For the mids and supertweetwers, the tube amps are SE class A with 845 tube. The 845 tubes are incredible in the mids and highs audio area. The digital source is a 300 built unit in the world California Audio Labs Master Series SC Twenty Tranposrt and California Audio Labs Master Series SC Twenty Tube Analog Processor. Now all know that all Tannoy system are not plug and play, so I spent many time for the best setup for these loudspeaker. I have a great area, about 60 square meters, where they were intalled and this area is very musical and non resonant but...this not sufficient.
So I hard worked with the controls on the loudspeakers and on the tweeters and after many time spent, I tried this configuration:
a- Loudspeaker:
Treble Roll Off -2
Treble Energy - 1.5
b- Supertweeter:
Sensitivity 95db
Crossover Frequency 14kHZ
So I tested the loudspeakers and... "great very good sound".
"Now I want to test it at higher volume" I said, so I put the Klimo volume at 12 O'clock and I heard that the sound was a bit hard (we have to know that tubes of the system were selected one to one for its musical sound and the cables too). Where I can put my hands now? After many days I said myself: " Change the phase (+ to -)in the mids loudspeaker inputs". I tried the change and... "what high pushed sound".. WOW the sound was very very beautyfull in the mids and highs area. Than I pushed the Klimo at about 2 O'clock without any problems. And what dyinamic range!!! I had sweet mids, sweet highs and airy response with classic and jazz cd's.
So, what means all that? If you find a very good setup in your hifi chain these louspeakers can give you very emotional and incredible sound.
Philippe, superb sytem you've put together. Tannoy is hard to beat. Mine are 150 litre bass-reflex using modified HPD 315 drivers, converted to hard-edge surrounds, and custom built X-overs. They fill my large 16 X 34 room (cathedral ceiling), with no problem at all.
They are 93db sensitivity, a factory-upgraded VAC PA 35.35 amp, is all they need, but they also like a Plinius SA 100 MKIII.
It's nice to be able to change amps once in a while, but I am pretty much married to the VAC. I also have a McIntosh MVP 871 (modified) that is the best digital source I've heard so far, but I don't get out much.
You might be surprised with what you hear from a good tube amp, but Tannoys do thrive on good, clean, SS power.
Philippe, Have just seen your set up and it looks very tempting! I am considering getting the Canterburys and Tannoy suggested they be placed a good 2ft from the rear wall and 2-3ft from the side walls. This might be a little difficult for me, and I can see that you have yours close to both boundary walls. Have you found any problems with this, or have you had to do any room treatment? thanks Michael
To answer the question you asked of Mattmiller the volume control is on the remote. I have tried going directly to the amp with my mcd201 to MC352 and it worked really well. You lose alot of functionality by not having a preamp or digital to analog converter. A c45 or c46 or mcd500 or mda1000 for that matter would allow you to add the best feature going today. And that would be a wi-fi music server and internet radio connection. There are many servers out there today. I use the logitech duet and it works great. Also I would recommend putting your components on wood with brass footers. The upgrade in sound is worth it.
Mattmiller, great tip. To be honest I did not know it is possible to put a MCD201 or 301 direct on the amplifier. How do you control the volume? It is certainly something that is worth looking into, certainly because of the fact that the improvement would cost less or no money.
I really like your setup ..However I would trade in the c-29 and 831 for a MCD301 or MCD201 . Direct to Amplifier will be a remarkable improvement and cost you little to no $$. As long as you dont require another source and you can live with sacd/cd only . I currently do this with my MC352 and the results are quite dramatic.
I would not change if your system sounds great...and it sounds like your are very happy.
What type of music do you listen to Jazz or Classical?
You could introduce a tube preamp like the C2300 if you really wanted to make a change to tubes. Would be interesting to listen to the MC275 with the right tubes tweaked just for a comparison.
Tubes? Well I was thinking about tubes at the beginning, but at this point I'm affraid to change components. I used to have a McIntosh 2105 which sounds like tubes, but the additional power of the 252 comes in handy with these big boys. I just dont think that I could achieve the same level of performance with a 25wpch tube amp. (in the same budget range as the 252)
Sorry it took me so long to reply. Thank you for looking at my McIntosh Nirvana system. I have my MC252 powering the left channel and the MC2255 powering the right. I cannot tell the difference in the output. The thing about the McIntosh amplifiers is that they are all beautifully unique and sound wonderful. This system will also play very loud. I checked it with an SPL Meter with DTS U571 depth charges. 110 dB at clip point.
Your system is awesome. I would love to sit and listen to Moody Blues on it.
Again, thank you for looking and have a great summer!
Thanks for your comment Christian, in the end it all comes down to music !! And the Mc252 is a very important factor in achieving a good tonal balance. "McIntosh for the love of music", just got to love that marketing slogan.
Very nice system. I too have an MC252. I can drive it hard with my system at a 2 ohm load and it does not even get warm. I love it. I know what you mean about listening for hours.
Hey Glen, thanks for the compliments, the listening area is about 3 meters wide and 5 meters long, as it is a separate part of the living room. So its not completely surrounded by walls.
The Tannoys could fill up a much larger room, so Im not sure the small space is an advantage from the sound point of view.
Mighty, mighty Macs.. Great system you have assembled. Just the music please. Nice touch with the lites behind the speakers. How big is the room? Happpy listening, Glen
The ribbons on the side are actually distributed bass reflex openings. The single driver goes from 28hz all the way up to 25khz, in the middle you can see a tulip wave guide voice coil.
Measurements of the speakers are 40,2 h X 26 w X 16,5 d
Thanks Gelmhirst, Ill keep in mind what you have said. Probably Ill stay in the McIntosh family, there is just something special about a complete McIntosh set, in y opinion. Not only the looks, but certainly also the sound. For me it gives the impression that all components speak the same language.
Ive seen you have done the same thing, all the way, with the speakers included. Ive never had the privilege to listen to the McIntosh speakers, they are just not that common in Europe. I can only assume that they are great, as Ive read on your explanation of your set.
Philippe, great set up. I too enjoy the power and weight of a mc252. If you are considering remaining consistent with McIntosh gear down the road and a 220 made your short list, then consider the C2200 as well. Mine has made a significant improvement over any SS pre I put in front of my 252....
