It's been so long since I updated this blog! Well as a full time nursing student and working 3 jobs, I hardly have enough time to sleep before the holiday season...Lots going on with my audio/hifi changes in the last year as I sold my pair of Stuart (monitor gold) for my tuition :(, my Marantz SM6 is currently out of order (unknown if I am able to bring it back to life) as the protection circuit is burnt and several of the transistors are fried! Sigh! Now I am back to the basic with my Marantz 1060 with Tannoy Straford and some western electric tinned copper wires as speaker cable...the combination sounds fairly nice! Hooking up with my Thorens 160 turntable with that set up remains me of why I got into hifi...to appreciate music!
However, since the Tannoy Stuart were gone, I have been looking for some vintage speaker cabinets to house my RCA SL12, Stromberg Carlson RF 473 and GE A1 401 for my 2A3 SET amp. You can tell that I am a coaxial / full range guy! I wish one day I can do a review for all these speakers once I am able to find myself or build a pair of cabinets. I am aware that all three set of speakers required a bass reflex cabinets according to factory recommendation but I wanna try something new and easy. I have tried open baffle for RCA SL 12 with excellent imaging and mid range but bass wise it's fairly weak. I have placed them in the Stuart cabinet and its mid range is more refine that monitor gold! The base feels a bit lighter than monitor gold but overall it is more neutral (or natural) than the Tannoy. the Tannoy does feel more lush and sexier than the RCA but it's really down to one's preference. The only downfall of RCA SL 12 is that the treble is a bit roll off after 15,000 and sounds darker than the Monitor Gold in treble because the RCA is a FULL RANGE driver!! No wonder the midrange is so liquid and transparent because there is no crossover! This is another super underrrated speakers at all time when everybody is paying attention to Tannoy, Jensen, WE...you name it.
Yet, before I am able to source a nice vintage speaker cabinet, my temporary solution is...get another pair of nice big speakers! I have come across a pair of decent shaped JBL S70 over ebay and had been coordinate with the owner for the logistics...I need to rent a Uhaul truck to get down to Portland in order to take them home. I have never had a good experience with JBL because I always found them too bright in mid-range (May be I don't hear enough of the 43XX series). Yet, this pair of speakers caught my attention because the imfamous Kenrick Sound from Japan has a pair for sell for over $1.5 million yen. Well well...let's wish I am able to close up the deal with the owner and be a JBL for once lol!
More review and update will follow...
Tuesday, 20 December 2016
Wednesday, 22 April 2015
Tannoy Stratford
Unlike many audiophiles, the very first pair of Tannoy speakers that I ever purchased isn't the infamous Dual Concentric series; it was a pair of Tannoy Stratford monitor sized speakers. I got my pair off Ebay a few years ago from a local seller. My pair was
the older ones with the black woofer cone with no grill. It is basically a simple two way speaker with a horn loaded compression tweeter and a 8 inch woofer. Like most of the British speakers in the 80s, Tannoy Stratford is rather flimsy and light, due to the use of mdf as the structure of the cabinet. However, the sound of Stratford is not same as its look. With wide sound stage, sweet mid range and excellent dynamic, it probably is one of the most underrated speakers in Tannoy line ups. Sure it is no monitor Black, Red or Gold, but with proper equipment and placement, Tannoy Stratford is able to replay jazz, classical and vocal nicely.
A typical amp that would match nicely with Stratford would be most of the British amps in that era like Cryus 1, Quad 33/303, Cambridge or Audiolab. However, because of its revealing nature, cable and source choice become critical to balance its rather "horny" tweeter. And yes the bass may be a bit weak to some JBL fanatics but it has a lot to do with placement. I have tried various placements to try to enhance its bass response while maintaining its sound stage...close to side walls, back wall, the 1/3 to the back wall, close field, toe in...you name it, I have tried it. At the end, I do find placing them about 3/4 ft away from side wall and about 1.5 ft from the back wall in a 12'x10' room sounded the best. It sure will sound better with a bigger room but that's how much space I have in my bed room.
My usual set up with Stratford is Quad 33/303, along with a Sony cd player with TDA 1541 DAC and Belden 8471 speaker cable. The intention is to soften the harshy horn sound with Quad 33/303 and TDA 1541 DAC, with is known for its natural mid range greatly resemble to vinyl's analog sound. Belden 8471 cable is a rather clean and natural sounding cable with airy treble and great rhythm. I learned about this from Doctorjohn cheaptubeaudio blog and I share many similarities with his hifi preference.
I have tried Stratford with Marantz 1060, 3200/104 combo and even Esotec sm6 (I am a Marantz guy) but I prefer the Quad set up. I believe the high spl may not match well with the powerful Marantz in my tiny bedroom :) I have tried to use them in my living room and it sounded more balanced and neutral.
Stratford sounded the best with tube amp; with my elekit 2A3 SE, it sounds extremely detailed, natural and well balanced. However, my elekit 2A3 is already match it my other bigger and better Tannoy:) so I would just stick it with the Quad.
With very little review of this humble speakers on the internet, I hope this sharing would provide other Stratford owners my humble experience with this excellent speakers!
A typical amp that would match nicely with Stratford would be most of the British amps in that era like Cryus 1, Quad 33/303, Cambridge or Audiolab. However, because of its revealing nature, cable and source choice become critical to balance its rather "horny" tweeter. And yes the bass may be a bit weak to some JBL fanatics but it has a lot to do with placement. I have tried various placements to try to enhance its bass response while maintaining its sound stage...close to side walls, back wall, the 1/3 to the back wall, close field, toe in...you name it, I have tried it. At the end, I do find placing them about 3/4 ft away from side wall and about 1.5 ft from the back wall in a 12'x10' room sounded the best. It sure will sound better with a bigger room but that's how much space I have in my bed room.
My usual set up with Stratford is Quad 33/303, along with a Sony cd player with TDA 1541 DAC and Belden 8471 speaker cable. The intention is to soften the harshy horn sound with Quad 33/303 and TDA 1541 DAC, with is known for its natural mid range greatly resemble to vinyl's analog sound. Belden 8471 cable is a rather clean and natural sounding cable with airy treble and great rhythm. I learned about this from Doctorjohn cheaptubeaudio blog and I share many similarities with his hifi preference.
I have tried Stratford with Marantz 1060, 3200/104 combo and even Esotec sm6 (I am a Marantz guy) but I prefer the Quad set up. I believe the high spl may not match well with the powerful Marantz in my tiny bedroom :) I have tried to use them in my living room and it sounded more balanced and neutral.
Stratford sounded the best with tube amp; with my elekit 2A3 SE, it sounds extremely detailed, natural and well balanced. However, my elekit 2A3 is already match it my other bigger and better Tannoy:) so I would just stick it with the Quad.
With very little review of this humble speakers on the internet, I hope this sharing would provide other Stratford owners my humble experience with this excellent speakers!
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