For decades I've been involved with the hobby and the industry in one way or another. Depending on your point of view I had the good fortune or the misfortune of owning many high end, high performance sound systems from all around the world. All different in approach and philosophy but I only reached true contentment about 12 years ago. This is when all the accumulated knowledge and experience fell into place and the system evolved from high end and high performance to a musical instrument. I realized that an impressive system is just that. It will impress you with aspects of IT's performance while a musical instrument becomes a tool for the musician and his/her art.
The space in these pictures is one of our showrooms which also doubles as my personal listening room. The equipment and setups follows our philosophy of the system as a musical instrument...
** Click the System link and checkout my other systems.
Phono- The dual monaural phono preamplifier model LP1 Signature is the ultimate statement of perfection in High End audio.
Lamm Industries LL 1 Signature
The monaural line level preamplifier model LL1 Signature is the ultimate statement of perfection in High-End audio.
Lamm Industries ML 3 Signature
The ML3 is a single-ended (SE) tube amplifier utilizing a very powerful direct-heated triode GM-70 (125W plate dissipation) and a separate power supply. Combining the most sophisticated technologies and electronic design with graceful looks reminiscent of the classic era of tubes, the ML3 is our top-of-the-line, no-compromise product.
Lamm Industries ML-1
Reference tube amplifier 90 watts/channel
CEC TL-0
Still the one to beat
Weiss Medea Plus
MEDEA is a stereo 24 Bit/192 kHz Digital to Analog Converter designed with the aim of keeping an absolutely uncompromising audio signal path
David, it is clear to me that your experience (lack of hands-on with 12" DC's notwithstanding), and knowledge of Tannoy drivers far exceeds my own.
I have been extremely surprised by how well my SET is able to drive my HPD's, but, as Charles is known to state, much depends on the transformers in the given SET.
Actually, the surrounds on the HPD's were of "Tanoplas", a foam material that would disintegrate after 10-15 years, and have to be replaced. After replacing the cones with the hard edge conversion, and subsequent long run-in of surrounds and spiders, both the bass and midrange were noticeably improved. These surrounds are the same as in the current Prestige line of Tannoy speakers.
With the SET driving the Tannoys, I find myself closer to experiencing live music, or a greater emotioal connection to it, if you will, than I have had with any other amplifier I have used with them. The rated sensitivity of these HPD's is 93-94 db's, which puts them within the useful range of many SET amps.
I have no way of knowing if the modifications made on my drivers had any effect on their ability to be driven by low-power SET's, I just know I get more enjoyment from music listening when the SET is in use, than when it is not.
Hi David, Yes, it does make it clear that the Tannoy models present various speaker load and drivability characteristics. Dan's situation intrigued me as he replaced a 300 watt amp with a 9 watt amp and emphatically says it's an improvement in sound quality. I believe him. Charles,
Charles, there are several generations of Tannoy speakers, the ones under discussion here were the original Monitor series and Dan's HPDs. With each new generation the speakers lost some of their efficiency to higher power handling. The earlier Monitor Silvers and Reds are more sought after and rarer than the later Monitor and HPD speakers. They used to come in 15"/12"/10" drivers. I have several of the early Tannoys, both with 15" and 10" Monitor Reds and Monitor Golds in original GRF and Autograph cabinets. My personal experience is that the 15" speakers do need power to come alive but the 10" Monitors can be driven with anything. Sonically there's discernible difference between the drivers and bass extension is a function of both the cabinet and the driver size. Traditionally the larger Tannoy cabinets came with the 15" drivers and had the deepest bass.
Dan's a 12" driver which I have no experience with but is a HPD which was least sensitive of the Monitor series but according to Dan seems to be easy to drive; I never had a 12". His drivers are also unusual because he's removed the rubber surrounds which made the cones heavier and more difficult to drive.
The Tannoy is a paradox to me. Some owners insist you need power to bring them truly alive. Yet Other owners as well as Dan(who has used both types of amplifiers) dispute this claim and say they're better with good quality SETs (and bass is good). Such an interesting divide with these speakers. Does it depend on which Tannoy model? Or perhaos each amplifier choice has its own set of trade offs? Charles,
Now I understand the island connection Dan. Actually you're not completely wrong about the 15" Tannoy drivers, contrary to common belief they like power and need current to come to life. Of course you can get a beautiful, pleasant sound with a low to medium powered tube amp but the bass will be slow. The 10" Monitor speaker has nearly all the attributes of the 15" Monitor but is easy to drive.
Thank you David, I appreciate your kind words. The plinth was indeed a labor of love.
I bought my first Tannoys back in 1971 (12" Monitor Golds), which I used in a large room in a cedar log home I built here on the island (Whidbey, in Puget Sound), which were in rather poorly constructed plywood cabs that were easily excited by resonant frequencies.
After a long hiatus from Tannoy, I decided I had unfinished business with them. I sold my Dynaudio Contour 5.4's, bought my HPD's on ebay UK, and set about making the best pair of bass-reflex speakers within my ablities and budget.
I have happily succeded, and feel there is nothing left for me to do but enjoy music for the rest of my days. It's a good feeling.
I have actually never heard anything but 12" versions of Tannoy DC speakers, but being familiar with the capabilities of the 12" MG's in a large room, I decided to stick with what I knew, fearing the 15" woofers might be a bit slow and lethargic. I guess those fears are unfounded, but I may never know, I don't get off my island home very often these days, and know no other audio folks on the island, even after 43 years here.
Thank you for the kind words Dan. Funny I was looking at your beautiful plinth for the 401 earlier today and admiring it. I like early Tannoys a lot but my experience is limited to the 15" and 10" Monitor Reds and Golds, never had a speaker with their 12" drivers. The Lamm SETs are a great match for these vintage horns and brought me back full circle to them. For a while I got very tired of the pleasant but colored sound of the typical SET or vintage push/pull amps that one typically paired with these speakers and went after a different sound and all kinds of modern speakers until I came across the Lamm's ML2 amps back in 2000 or 2001, now I'm set for life, (pun intended!).
David, I haven't commented on your great system, as I suppose I felt somewhat intimidated by the extraordinary high quality of your components.
However, I'm also a fan of vintage equipment (Garrard 401, ca 1975 Tannoy HPD 315 12" Dual Concentric drivers in custom enclosures), which grants to me the most enjoyablr listening at home in 40+ years in this hobby. I've had to do more with less resources than some, but for me, this is as good as it gets.
I find your Siemens horns to be quite impressive, and coupled with the Lamm amps, must be incredibley fine to listen to.
I like your small-room system too, regards, and enjoy (I know you are!),
DK, I was hoping you had a bunch stocked on your shelves :) Seriously tho, you have a fabulous pair of speakers, and in a equally fitting room! I thank you for your gracious invite.
Hello twins! Isochronism you picked on the one thing that's not for sale. You're both welcome to stop by for a visit and meet the Bionor's sister, she can go home with you.
Hello Dkarmeli, Jazdoc and I are inseparable twins so..... But seriously, since you are a dealer, I would like to pre-order a pair of the Siemens. I will email my shipping address...... :)
They're working on the AF0 but its still on the drawing board, or it was in July when I visited them.
Aside from convenience the 3012 is one of the best tonearms sonically that I ever owned, and I had many. I can't comment on what you lose to the connections, if anything only that I prefer sonically it to every fixed heashell design I heard, including other SME arms. Grahams are among the best sounding tonearms too and they have removal wands. Don't know anything about your REED arm, just looks finicky in the pictures. You should try it since you already have it!
I have a TDCO1 Ti but haven't tried it yet. The A90 was a fantastic cartridge shame Ortofon stopped making it. I haven't heard your particular cartridge only the early My Sonic Lab designs, nice but colored, prefer more neutral sound like the A90.
Yes I agree with your statement in regards to the MS, been there and done that owning a few tables.
I'm aware of the background design of the AF1 and one of the reasons why I was so intrigued when I first found out about it.
My understanding is they have been working on a table which will be their no-holds-barred above this design - will be very interesting indeed.
Carts, ya you have a substantial impressive collection - I saw that pic when you posted on WBF some time ago. Using the SME 3012 provides the usage a interchangeable head with your cart already attached - very nice feature.
Are there any drawbacks in this design - the connection. I suppose I could do the same with my Elite as others do and just have additional wands with carts installed.
Currently I only have two carts - My Sonic Lab Ultra Eminent BC which I have been told is in the same family sonic wise as the TechDas TDC01, I really like this cart. My other cart is a A90, great cart and works nicely on the AF1. I have limited experience, arm wise and cartridge usage on this table but do have a 12" REED arm just sitting around so I might look at using this for the rear location, just not sure as of yet. To be honest I find myself content using the Elite, just listening to music and not fussing as I use to in the past. This table set-up has really changed all of this for me but I do have that empty slot still.
MS tables are still under valued, there weren't that many of their top models ever made and sonically while slightly different they're in the same league as the AF1. They're built like a tank, simple to set up and can potentially work forever maintenance free. Not to mention that in the past 60 years there were fewer than 10 tts I know of made that were truly REFERENCE quality and two of them were from Micro Seiki, AF1 is from the same stable and is built on the same principles. So the prices are relative, specially if you consider the number of pretenders selling for a lot more.
I have and both the Dura and the SS platters and I like both but if pushed I'll take the SS over the Dura. IMO the SS is more neutral and it definitely has more bass extension and delineation but the Dura has more body and energy in the upper bass which makes it very musical. Good thing is that we have the choice to fine tune the table according to our musical tastes and the system.
I'm using SME 3012s almost exclusively on all my tables and too many cartridges to list (look at the system pict) from early Neumann DST to the latest Ortofons. I probably have more Ortofon cartridges than any other brand and they're in constant use. What cartridges are you using?
I found it to be a challenge finding in the condition I was after, due to the age of MS I found that the condition would usually be 6-7 at best but sellers would still refer to their condition as being "Mint" which was disturbing with ridiculous high prices. In my audio journey this is the only manufacture that I have come across that their original tables and Intera unit listed for ... but now sell for 2-3-4 times of such if one is even lucky enough to even find.
That's all in my past - I'm truly enjoying my AF-1, it came with the Duralumin platter which is supposedly sonically neutral, stainless is suppose to provide a bit more punch in bass and attack. I'm using Bob's Elite arm in the main slot and have it paired up with a Burmester PH100 phono.
What arms and carts are you preferring, have you found any that are just magical, which platter are you using. I know of a few other AF1 owners but only one who is actually using the stainless. The owner has not commented saying using it offers ant substantial differences.
