Familiar feeling!
About a year ago I got interested in Kensington Tannoy GR speakers (I read some review of them). So I went to find out where I could try them out (too valuable speakers to buy on the basis of a single review). I found one store that sells Tannoy's speakers, but they had on site only Prestige Tannoy Canterbury GR pair of speakers. They said however that these would give a good idea of what the Kensington speakers may sound.
I reserved the entire listening room (approximately 40m2) for a day, so that I could “explore” those speakers with no rush. I picked up some familiar music, and I went to try. Since I have experienced audiophile, I have been disappointed over the years often. I feared the worst, because a lot has also been criticized Tannoy's bass performance. I started with music: Dave Stewart - Lily Was Here, Manowar - Master Of The Wind, Eric Bibb - With My Maker I Am One, Luciano Pavarotti - Caruso, Gare Du Nord - Chet's Chat... Yes I was immediately surprised positively, how natural sound they produced, there was nothing fake, sound was so alive! After a few songs I understood why some people may not like Tannoy speakers: reproduction of the bass. It is perhaps a bit too authentic, does not fit everyone, it does not color the bass at all, pure sound only. But airiness and how easily Canterbury speakers repeated even the difficult songs (with many instruments messed together) made me a positive impression. You could easily hear separate instruments as in live concert. You know the feeling that there is some kind of invisible thin plastic wrap between you and speakers, with Tannoy Canterbury GR speakers there was no such feeling. Maybe because of coaxial speakers and "sound from one point/location"-philosophy (low and high frequencies from same element), I do not know, but it is so much easyer to hear music (any kind of music) with those speakers. When I left the store I was confused. I liked very much what I heard, but I was not quite sure if it was due to the good acoustics of the room or the speakers itself. I knew that the bass is not a problem for me because I have Decwaren amplifier (only needs right tube choices/combination) and I for sure can achive even more vibrancy if needed. So I have to get the Tannoy Speakers!!! But is Kensington 12" enough (vs Canterbury 15"), basses are hardly better or sufficient any more (even with Decware multiple possibilities to boost lower frequencies). Sadly Canterbury pair of speakers exceeds my current budget, I was sad.
The next day the seller called me and asked: “What do you think? Do we already order you a pair of Kensington speakers??”. I told that I liked very much, but I do not think that Kensington speakers can provide bass level that I prefer. Canterbury speakers I can not afford at the moment😕 Then he said: OK. I have a proposition for you, what if you buy from us our presentation pair of Canterbury GR speakers at half the price? We could deliver these to your place today... I didn’t wondered for a long time
Now I was afraid of how well they work together with my Decware gear, because of the quite high sensitivity 96dB, hum and etc. Yes, I was a happy man after the first song I played. The voice was even cleaner, more airy and I had to even reduce the bass slightly
I was THE happiest man in the world!!!
But because I am a audiophile enthusiast, months later, I wanted to check what my Canterbury crossover looks like. I took off the main element and peeked in. I was confused! How this-priced speaker crossover could be made of bad components! Iron core & magnetic core and Inductors and other cheap components, WTF! I wondered how these components may even sound so good? Where do the sound go if I replace all crossover components with the best components on the market? Can sound be any better? ... But this is another story ;)
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My listening room and system ❤️ (Read 12599 times)
