Tannoy Oxford Gold Open Baffles for sale

I need to make room for more speaker creations and I am in the process of letting go of these speakers to make room for new ones.

These Tannoy Oxford Gold speakers are wonderful sounding and I think they sounded better out of the wooden cabinets than in.

I am asking $300.00 for the pair, the caps have been upgraded only and the veneer is a really nice Rosewood.

Once you have listened to an open baffle speaker it is hard to go back to a boxed speaker, if you are a true audio lover.

Email me bankofdave at gmail if interested.

Shipping will be at the purchasers expense.

Tannoy Oxford Gold Open Baffles

I decided to open baffle this pair of cabinet distressed Tannoy Oxford Gold's. The original boxes were definitely worse for wear and often I found the bass boxy if not boomy due to the ported design of these speakers.

I opted for a really nice 9 ply with Cherry wood veneer. I also decided to invert the tweeter under the woofer like early Mission 700 or 717 speakers.

This is the finished result.

Sound wise these speakers no longer sound confined to the box, bass is much tighter and cleaner but not as low as when in the box. The mid range is more open as the woofer seems to handle most if not all of the mid range frequencies.

Aesthetically these speakers are my best project to date, I love the look of them and the pictures on this site do not give the speakers real justice.

Altec Lansing Model 9 Speakers

I have had these speakers on the back burner all summer and finally got around to doing a large re foam job on both the woofers and the mid range drivers.

These first generation Altecs 9's are the top of the consumer range before customers went into the Santana's or even higher up the food chain to the 15's, 18's or 19's that are horn loaded.

These speakers came to me in mint condition and their oak veneer cabinets in perfect shape.

They have a large 12" woofer with a 4" mid range and a 3" tweeter, the efficiency is up there at 93db's, which suits a single ended tube amp.

Once I had the box open a replacement of the tweeter cap was an easy upgrade with a Solen 2.2uf cap and installed proper banana plugs.

These speakers are beast, not as large as the JBL CF150's but pretty darn close, the Altecs are a much better build.

The finished product turned out really well, one last thing I need to do is install the cosmetic foam ring around the woofer, I was excited to listen to them and get some pictures up first.

So the big question is how do they sound, well before I begin I have tried them on my Single Ended 4WPC tube amp and a monster Sony STR-V5 at a whopping 85WPC and they are two very different speakers.

In solid state mode at half volume these speakers rock the house to the point of shaking the wooden structure that is the my place. They are loud, but they loose there coherency, the bass gets muddled and the mid range and highs become shrill. At lower volumes they do a nice job with the solid state gear but to the limits of solid state.

When attached to the Single Ended Tube amp, Wow, pure lusciousness! These speakers are incredibly well matched with really nice full bass, like really full. The mid range images wonderfully with zero chestiness in make vocals, female vocals like Mazzy Star are pure heaven. the tweeter is spot on with crisp crisp highs. You do not miss a thing in detail with these speakers. Luscious, it is the only way to sum up the pairing of a tube amp with these speakers, this is what high fidelity is meant to be.

If you google the Altec Model 9's you will find mediocre to satisfying reviews of these speakers, I would suspect that most have only heard these through solid state gear and I understand that. Through a tube amp these are a speaker that is stunning to listen to, it is too bad that most probably listen to these through the wrong type of amplifier.

The Tannoy Oxford Gold's have always been the reference speaker that all others are measured against in my space and these can easily trump the Oxfords.

These are an absolute wonderful find and a very welcome addition to my ever so eclectic collection of speakers.



 

Tannoy Mercury M20 Gold Speakers

Another wonderful pair of Tannoy speakers arrived this week, the Tannoy Mercury M20 Gold speakers. These are a bit more of a consumer friendly version of the dual concentric line or the Oxford line. Offering a veneer cabinet with a dome tweeter as opposed to the horn tweeter which reveals so much more detail.

Much smaller than the Tannoy Oxford Golds, which are my main reference speaker on the tube amp and larger than the Tannoy Mercury M2, which seem to be a modern (late80's early 90's) version of these.

I personally like the esthetics of these speakers and the driver quality is pretty good for a entry level price point Tannoy speaker.

These are the original made in Scotland units and not the licensed units that API had put out in the "C" series here and here.

So how do they stack up? Great bass response from the ported enclosure with  he 8" polypropylene woofer, mid range is nice and smooth and the tweeter does a great job as any dome will do if not even better.

The speakers are not as efficient (90db) as the Oxfords (93db) and not as revealing in the total sense of the music. the sound stage is deeper with the Oxford's and more articulate, hence why the Oxford's are standard to which all other speakers are compared, especially on the tube amp.

These are speakers that other British manufactures had to compete against including numerous Mission, Celestion, B&W, KEF,  JPW and numerous others, the budget audiophile competition was tight in Britain and lucky for me these speakers are here and now and they still sound fantastic.

Tannoy recently announced that they were moving their production from Scotland to China, this will make all Tannoy speaker made in Scotland only rise in value as Chinese manufacturing is notorious for cutting corners and speakers will be made to the lowest common denominator, I know, I have had Mainland Chinese refuse to buy audio gear from me regardless of the brand name if it was made in China, they know.

If you are a budding audiophile just getting into stereo or a die hard high end tube amp guy, Tannoy's are one of the best if not the best (15" Tannoy Gold's) speakers to obtain.

Noresco NE 561 Speakers

A great find came my way in this pair of Noresco NE 561 speakers, these are Canadian made with a well revered Isophon PH2132E dual concentric Alnico 8"X12" woofer with a 3" tweeter center mounted.

This pair of speakers has a beautiful walnut veneer cabinet that was a little sun bleached but a few nice coats of Circa 1856 Naturoil brought out the best in the cabinets.

I have swapped to this oil versus Minwax as the Minwax off gasses for 48 hours and this product is all natural.

I opted to upgrade the internal speaker wire to 16 gauge and replace the tired caps with Solen Fast Caps and it has completely opened up these speakers.

It looks t me like Noresco built these speakers to Isophon specs according to the data sheet.

So how do they sound, absolutely amazing on the Single Ended tube amp. They need a little bump up in the bass region but the mid range imaging is incredible. The cone tweeter is nice and smooth without any paper harshness, almost horn like. The dual concentric driver really shines in placement of instruments and musicians, the sound from one origin source is a real joy to listen to, no wonder the Isophon PH2132 drivers are well sought after.

The efficiency is pretty high of at least 95db at one watt, which suits the tube amp perfectly.

I have become a real fan of well designed speakers that use natural roll offs and a single capacitor in the crossover, it means that the drivers were designed to work together and they are not off the shelf  drivers.

Speakers that do this the best are EPI 100's, AR 18B's these Isophon drivers, the Tannoy Oxford Gold's and the Sound Dynamic Concert 500's all have a 1st order crossover and they all sound best on a tube amp.

These Noresco'c image incredibly well as if they are a window into the music. If you are a tube aficionado these speakers should be on your list of must hear speakers. 

Electrohome Kalmar 120 push/pull tube amp with Phase Linear Model 3300 pre amplifier

I have been lucky enough to be listening to a Electrohome Kalmar 120 push/pull slave tube amp connected to a wonderfully clean Phase Linear Model 3300 pre amplifier.

The Electrohome Kalmar 120 is probably rated around 25 watts per channel and does an incredible job at powering any of my speakers to their best.

The sound is deep and powerful in the bass region, coupled with an incredibly open and transparent mid range topped with silky smooth treble that is crisp and clean.

There is a huge difference between the sound of tubes versus the sound of solid state gear that when comparing A/B between the both I find myself returning to the tubes.

So far this amp/pre amp combo sounds best with the Tannoy Oxford Golds, then the NAD Model 30's, it makes my Mission 770 Freedom IV's really come alive and with a bit of equalization, powers the University RRL-12 to new heights. Not saying that this combo does not do any other speakers in my collection justice, I just find myself coming back to the speakers noted above.


How does a Single Ended tube amp compare to a Push/Pull?

To my ears the single ended tube amp is not a clear in the bass region but far more open and forward in the upper mid range/treble region. The push/pull has much more punch and control in the bass along with stronger lower mid range. The upper mid range is a little more laid back and the treble region is not quite as hot/sizzling.

Both are amps are a true window into music with proper and I mean in the room with the musicians sound, the imaging is transparent, clean and true.

Once bitten by the tub amp sound one has a hard time plugging the solid state back into the wall.

TubeCube 7 tube amplifier

I picked up this little desktop tube amp for my son's Christmas present this year, replacing the Realistic System 11.

This fully assembled unit was well packaged and the fit and finish is really nice. It feels like a solid little amp in your hands.

I am just listening to my Electrohome Marseilles tube amp for the past few months as my only source of amplification. I was pretty excited to see what this 3.5 watt would sound like in a comparison. I burnt the amp in for 12 hours before giving it a serious listen.The Tube Cube 7 can be found on the Tube Depot site and runs for $179.95 with free delivery in the USA.

I first had a listen with the stock Chinese Sino EL84's with the Sino 12AX7B connect to a pair of Tannoy Oxford Gold's. The Tannoy's are very efficient so it was best suited to the 3.5 watts per channel.

The sound was very clear and transparent in the mid range and high's. The midrange and highs were not warm even having a bit of shrill at times. Although imaging side to side was excellent, back and for depth of the sound stage was not as deep as the Electrohome.

I also tested the TubeCube 7 with the Sound Dynamics Concert 500's, these are another efficient horn loaded speaker that pairs really well with tube amps. The sound was a bit better in the bass along with the same traits in sound as with the Tannoy's. Last up were the NAD Model 30's of which this little unit was striving to drive with clarity, the bottom end was very muddy.

I opted to replace the Sino tubes over to J/J EL84's and a J/J 12AX7B

The change over in tubes had an instant impact on the sound this little amplifier could achieve, it was like a veil was removed from the sound. Back where the sweet luscious mid's and high's with the bottom end filling out. The Tannoy's had their shine back, the warmth was there along with the depth of sound, next was the Sound Dynamics, where the bass was clearer and much more refined. Any shrill associated with the original Sino tubes was gone.

Overall this is a pretty cool entry into tube amps for a small space, we still have them hooked up to the Minimus 11 speakers. When trying to fill a larger room with bigger speakers this little amp tries and does a surprising good job, I found this amp best suited for a smaller office or bedroom. The output transformers are obviously not as robust as you would find in higher power units, I found it shy on the bottom end.

My wish list that I had for this amp is a headphone jack being a priority, it would be great to listen to through headphones. Two inputs would be nice too, but I would take the headphone jack first.

I would recommend one of these units as a starter into the tube world. I had mine shipped to a US address which help keep the cost down with the exchange rate.

The TubeDepot will also supply better tubes for this amp which I would step up to the J/J tubes all around.

The TubeCube 7 can be found here and the tube upgrades here.

Tube: Shuguang EL84 2pcs, 12AX7B 1pc

Power Output: 3.5W+3.5W @ 8 ohms

Frequency Response: 30-40Khz (+-1db)

Input Sensitivity: 500mV

Signal-to-Noise Ratio: -80dB / 3.5W

Residual Noise < 1mVac

Input AC Voltage: 100-250Vac

Power Consumption: 38W

Input Impedance: 50K ohms

Output Impedance: 8/6/4 ohms (Japan Z11-EI48*24 Output Transformers)

Dimensions: 130mm (w) x 130mm (d) x 130mm (h)

Weight: 2.6KG

Input: RCA Jacks

Output: Banana Jacks

AC: Standard IEC Jack with Fuse protection (2A Fuse)

Color: Black

 

Tannoy C-10 Speakers

Another set of speakers showed up this week, Canadian made Tannoy C-10, manufactured under license by API, the same makers of Energy, Mirage, Sound Dynamics, ESM, Image, DB Plus, and probably a few more.

These Tannoy's use a 10 inch woofer pair up with a Vifa dome tweeter, the crossover is a simple first cross on the woofer and a second cross to the tweeter. This pair needed a new 6.8uf Solen cap installed as no signal was getting through to the tweeter. New foam surrounds were also installed as the old set had sen their day.

This is my second pair of Canadian made Tannoy's, I had a pair of Tannoy C-6's a few years back.

I am impressed with this Tannoy offering from API, the bottom end is full and with any Vifa tweeter the upper mid range and high end is crisp and clean.

At 92db sensitivity these Tannoy's run well with a tube amp and sound right at home with the rest of my speaker collection. They are non fatiguing with a great open sound stage. the imaging, although not as precise ad the Tannoy Oxford Gold's is pretty good, API really do make good consumer orientated speakers.

Merak Mk1speaker update

So I have been listening to the Merak's on a pretty constant basis the past week and when hooked to the Creek 4040s2 amp the Merak's sound incredibly deep and full.

As with some speakers I get fatigued listening to them after an hour or so but the Merak's are as smooth as silk. They give a very deep image in where the instruments are laid out in front of you in a very 3 dimensional way and that is what I mean by depth.

The mid range is very smooth and the highs are just perfect without the brashness.

These speakers really do remind me of my Mission 770 Freedom IV's, they are just not as forward in the mid range as the Missions.

Matched with the Creek Merak Mk1's are a great find and a real pleasure to listen to and almost rival my tube amp/Tannoy combo in openness and clarity, and that is very high praise.

JBL L16 Decade finished

It was a bit of work but well worth the effort for this beautiful pair of JBL L16 Decade speakers.

I first hooked them up to a solid state amplifier and thought they sound good but not great, then I connected them to the tube amp and Oh My Goodness..... completely different speaker. These little speakers were meant for tube gear, not as good with the imaging as the Tannoy Oxford Gold.

The 8" JBL 116A woofer is from the same pedigree as the L26 and L100's that use a cast basket and Alnico magnet.

I could not source the proper surrounds locally so I turned to my good friend Audio Dogs Vintage Stereo in Comox for my hard to get parts, Thank you guys for the prompt and expert service.

The woofers where re foamed using a 50 hertz sine wave from my iPhone.

This is a really simple way of re foaming your drivers without cutting to dust cap off and shimming the voice coil, so far I have had a 100% success rate with this method.

The cabinets which were in excellent condition just got a light 220 grit sanding and a coat of Circa 1850 wood oil to bring out the grain richness. the small dimples in the tweeter were pulled out with a pin and re sealed with a dab of glue.

I have been really enjoying this set of JBL L16's through the tube amp, the bass is nice and deep for an8" woofer, the mid range is spot on without the fatigue I got from the JBL L26's that I have had in the past. It is a shame as the the bigger brother L26 gets more press than these speakers do.

I really like these speakers and I have a feeling they will be in the rotation for quite some time, absolutely amazing through the tube amp.....

Creek 4040s2 with NAD Model 30 speakers.

So I have had some time to run through the speaker line up with the recently purchased Creek 4040s2 amp.

These two were meant to play together, the Creek 4040s2 has incredible detail and sound stage and the clarity of the NAD Model 30 pinpoints the music perfectly.

Due to the fact that the NAD Model 30 runs at 4 ohms it pulls 40WPC out of the Creek and fills the bottom end better than an 8 ohm speaker.

The Creek 4040s2 has been compared in many ways to the A&R A60 amp that I almost bought in the 80's but I opted for the Rotel RA840BX instead.

I spent hours running the Creek with Mission 770 Freedom IV's, the Tannoy Oxford Gold's, B&W D5's and by far the best pairing is the NAD Model 30's.

Wow!!!