Rayaudio Fisher Amp PA-301

Click pics to enlarge.

Letter from Hong Kong (22-7): ELO on Rayaudio "Fisher" Monoblock Amps

Editor: For us oldtimers, the use of classic names like Fisher, Sansui etc make us do a double take.  These companies have long been defunct, but their names are still used. Some names were bought by various consortiums: Rogers, Wharfdale, Quad etc by Asian companies; Mullard, Genealex (and perhaps Amperex) etc bought by tube resellers. And, most ridiculous, the now so-called Western Electric! Phew! As to Fisher, I believe I have seen it in before in irrelevant things. But the amp in question here, from Rayaudio, is a different animal, a TRIBUTE to an actual vintage device used in the Fisher PA-301 Amplifier. It's not common to see an old solid state device used, so for more technical info, see the end of the article.

I have known Ray for quite a while. My hifi buddies Kwong, Lo and I have bought products from him over the years: amplifiers, cables, power supply for streamer/laptop and signal isolation transformer etc (the latter was recently reviewed here). His products are of high standard in both quality and finish.

At the beginning, for my previous office I bought his prototype preamp and a Rayaudio Fisher stereo power amp (not mono). They drove my Naim SBL and I was quite happy with it. I had moved office and no longer have the setup, and I had lent the amplifier to Kwong. He tried it once briefly at home and was impressed as it was not shy against his considerably more expensive Audionet SAM V2 + Amp3 combo! Which led him to eventually acquire Ray’s latest ultimate version of the preamp and monoblocks combo. Not to mention another friend Jo who is already happily using the same combo and rocking his flat with Dire Straits through his Wattson Emerson Analog and Dynaudio Special 40 (under my influence of course, LOL)!

Currently, I am quite happy with my setup with all the gadgets that I have implemented, earthing box, Ray’s Signal Isolation Transformer, power supply for my Emerson Analog, graphite blocks, subwoofers connected from line out and Schumann device (whether it works or not) etc etc. That yields a very coherent, foot tapping musical sound which I can just sit down and listen to all day. Yes, there’s a big question always on top of my head: is my 47 Lab 4706 Gaincard rated at 50Wx2 capable of getting every bit of juice out of my notoriously inefficient Dynaudio Crafft? I once brought my Crafft to a friend’s place many years ago and I still remember that vividly. Played through a 250Wx2 Restek amp from Germany, I was totally surprised and impressed by the dynamics, ferociousness and impact of sound coming out of my Crafft. It did rock and I mean not just a little, but big time. Look, I’m not the type of people who play music real loud (even if my family still complain - different thresholds I guess…) But knowing that one’s system is capable of bringing down the house makes one feels good, right?

I have been procrastinating when Ray asked me to try his final version of his Fisher Monoblocks. Rated at 200Wx2 at 4ohms, this should be sufficient to rock my house. But will it have the magic of 47 Lab? Dr. Lo pick up the amps for me, so I guess I owe it to myself and to Ray to hook them up! Last week I pulled my back by a simple yet silly move and it set me back a few days but, finally, I got it all hooked up.

First impression is very positive, as I did not sense any loss in musicality and imaging. It has flesh - unlike most modern equipment that tend to have needle like imaging. Highs, mids and lows are very flat and natural, with good control of bass. So what are the differences between Ray’s Fisher and my 4706 Gaincard? It’s hard to describe. Caveat, I’m not a depth craving person, but soundstage width basically extends out of both sides of the speakers, it has a very coherent and engaging sound, no bulging or recession all through the frequency spectrum. My Gaincard does a decent job but the Fisher benefits from its headroom and is able to drive it much louder, beyond my normal listening level, though without any feeling of congestion.

One night, I decided to rev up the volume much louder than I usually would listen to. The whole scene opened up and my Crafft had transformed into a beast and the whole soundstage did not seem congested, even while being fed by the high current from the Fisher Amp. It’s extremely fun to play rock music or music that has a lot of beat and rhythm. All the memories of how the Crafft can bring down the house came back to me. That said, while sound has become loud, images seems to inflate a bit, but not bloated or roughened by all means. Even if a little smoothness is lost compared to playing at a lower volume, don’t get me wrong, it’s still free of distortion and compression.

I gave it a good treat of Telarc’s recording of 1812 Overture by Eric Kunzel which is one of the tracks I haven’t listened to for years. I owned the LP more than 45 years ago and that time, it is regarded as stylus killer and often we need to increase the counterweight to make the stylus track properly when playing the canon. Well, the Fisher amp passed with flying colours and it was fun!

Playing Sing, Sang, Sung from Big Phat Band and the energy from the band is phenomenal; the piercing horns do not go uncontrolled at all and bass is ripe and fierce.

Nils Lofgren’s favorite hit is Keith Don’t Go, but another track with Bass and Drum Intro has got so much energy and vibes in it. Every single note of the electric bass guitar is heard clearly and is palpable and the timing is right on! It’s approaching 70% of the experience I had at Sqaurewave (playing through Wattson’s Madison with Avalon Acoustic Precision Monitor speakers and Vitus Audio Integrated Amp, a setup that costs near $30K USD), which is no small feat to me!

Don’t get me wrong, when playing at my normal sound level, it is very musical and free of coloration in the midrange (whether it is male or female vocals). Some gear deliberately boost the midrange slightly to attract you; while I don’t mind the little MSG, I prefer not adding it into my setup.

I have not yet switched back to my 47 Lab, since I’m totally enjoying this Fisher Amp. IMO, at my usual volume I think the Fisher has 90% of the performance of my 47 Lab but it trumps it (of course) in complicated music, or at higher volume! As to the exact nature of the last 10% of 47 magic, I will find out later!

Ray had told me that he had spent more than a year in improving the original design. At the present, he thinks this is the optimal version. He also uses all import ICs and Capacitors like Philips and Vishays etc and the transformer is wound by a factory that has specialized in winding transformers for more than 30 years. The face plate of Fisher is made of CNC too. It’s simple and feels nice, not super high end but just right and subtle!

The pair costs about $1500 USD. Given the design, performance and parts uses to build this amp, it is a real bargain that can compete neck and neck with combos costing at least 2 to 3 times its price (being conservative since I’m not trying to sell it~). This amp is rated at 200W x2 @4ohms and although it’s not a heavy brick like many megawatts amps, don’t be fooled by the relatively small size, as It delivers a big sound with big heart. Bravo!!! Hats off to Ray for delivering such an exciting and high quality product to Audiophiles at such a reasonable price!!

Editor: Some Technical Info: This is what Ray wrote:

五十年代六十年代 電子產品多以電子管為主要原件 包括電腦 六十年代末期 出現半導體/晶體管原件 快速取代電子管地位 尤其是音響器材 當時 一般人認為電子管體積大 熱量高 更有甚者 電子管功放基於高壓操作 輸出端就需要一個笨重切成本甚高的變壓器 也就是音頻輸出變壓器 以阻隔幾百伏特直流電 才能安全策動喇叭 電子工程師成功開發了三極晶體管 當時以美國Motorola生產量最大 型號最多 包括訊號電壓放大管 功率放大管 著名的對裝管有2N3055/MJ2955 名噪一時 到今天還有很多發燒友使用這對管做末級功率放大

美國Fisher 在50年代開始 輸出高端 高品質電子管音響器材 都電子管息微後 就開發了一款厚膜hybrid功率IC 委託日本sanyo海量生產 其音色非常接近電子管 所謂膽味 而且性能穩定 技術指標甚高 Rayaudio就用這個Fisher PA301作藍本 設計了一部優質的立體聲功放 功率為每聲道30瓦 而且有三種輸入方式 ❶兩聲道的立體聲❷單端RCA橋接輸入作單聲道❸full balanced全平衡輸入作單聲道 當單聲道接法時 功率可達120瓦RMS/8Ω

Basically Ray says the PA-301 Hybrid IC sounds like a tube. It was manufactured by Sanyo. And here are some spec's:

The Fisher PA301

Vcc max: +/- 25Vdc

Icco max: 85mA

Rin: 27K ohms

Pout: max 32watts/8Ω

Gain: 39dB

THD: 0.3%

Noise: 1.0mV

Above is the vintage PA-301 amp. At the bottom is also a schematic.

Aosibao APPLauseAudio Union Audio Anubis LS3/5A Xinyi Sini

Click all pics to enlarge. Above, from National Geographic, a man living on the receding shoreline of Java, Indonesia, has his house flooded with water as a permanent and worsening state. I doubt he still listens to his audio, but it's obvious they are his worthy possessions. 

Editor’s Note: A New Trajectory, Previewed
Letter from Shenzhen (22-11): My Lowest Fi - but a High
HiFi Basics: What’s the Correct Audio Value (and Why Bluetooth can Help You)

Editor: Subsequent events prove that I was not entirely on the money with the Anubis. Its place in the living room means less critical listening. Simply put, the clone ("Stirling 史特灵") just completely killed it. I have opened up the Anubis and a post-mortem is coming. 

I shall start with myself (and it’s lengthy), but this Note is not just about myself. Collectively, this Blog has some new and surprising articles coming from its authors. This is kind of a Preview.

This letter first traces an Inner Journey of mine that led to the start of a new phase here in China. Shenzhen is literally a stone-throw away from Hong Kong (where I still have quite a bit of treasured audio equipment). Yet, with the complicated requirements of border crossing, and consideration for family, one cannot easily move around, and so for now I don’t have access - neither to equipment nor the large number of exceptionally endowed fellow audiophiles (only in terms of equipment).

The past 10 years For most of this period, although I had drastically (by my standards) scaled down my activities, whether in NYC or HK. I still had access to my stuff and would buy something now and then, not to mention I still had all my audio friends around - and so I still had things to write about.

Pandemic and Watershed Moments The pandemic changed everyone’s life, as it did mine, in more ways than I would want to relate here. In NYC From the Fall of 2018, when I repatriated to NYC, till March of 2020, when Covid hit NYC in full stride, I had not acquired much, nor did I feel the need to. Then, finding myself alone and in isolation, for the next few months (before I exited NYC for HK) I did what many audiophiles did (I’d think): I perused listings and actually acquired a few things (the most notable being my Yamamoto preamp). But by far the most significant event during this period was getting into Streaming and Bluetooth. Reviewing the small and inexpensive gadgets in many ways re-affirmed this blog’s cheaptubeaudio roots. Even more importantly, it portended a way of listening which has extended into my current life here without my humongous collection of LPs and CDs. Mind you, many of my friends in HK, at least those around Icefox, had long been pioneers and influencers in this respect, and I was a latecomer. Now, they are emphatically not novices, but seasoned audiophiles (many use complicated and ultra-expensive horn systems and WE) who play LPs and CDs, but who employ BT a lot for casual listening. I know there are skeptics, but I’d say (and I think my predecessors would agree) that if you can make your BT (or low-res files) sound satisfying to you, your system is right on the money. Yes, given the right circumstances (like in my NYC home) for the greatest pleasure I’d simply play LP, but the portability and comprehensiveness of Streaming is just indispensable, and not partaking in that can only be your loss. In Shenzhen The Past Year and A Half In terms of audio, this period had been the most atypical in my audio journey, indeed an anomaly. I just streamed music and didn’t buy a thing. People like ELO repeatedly reminded me that Taobao is audio heaven (and it’s true), but I never perused it. Indeed, I had gone into Retreat. In terms of exploration of music, if you read my Streaming articles, you’d know it has been the most fruitful. Before streaming it’d have been impossible to think of living here. Without diddling in audio, I had time to expand my musical horizons. Let’s not forget: Audio Hibernation is not Inaction; Music Appreciation continues unabated, or even heightened in sensation. As Alex, once prominent in tri-state audio activities, said in our wechat group, it forces one to listen harder to the music. And that has its considerable rewards (not that my setups sound so bad).

Hitting the Play Button Again
As I mentioned in my recent article on the wildly popular Aiyima T9, the audio aspect of my life here (as opposed to musical appreciation) had started to change after its arrival. Like the advent of Spring, or a single digital switch from 0 to 1, it woke me from an audio hibernation. The last was no exaggeration, for during the preceding year and a half I had not harbored any thought of new acquisitions. It’s not that the Aiyima, competent as it is, is an earth-shattering event in my long audio life; it was just the right timing.

More Personal History

It was not the first time I had taken a hiatus. For the longest time in NYC, as chronicled here, I just used a modest system as a means to listening to music. Thirty years ago I repatriated to Hong Kong. For more than a year before that, having rented out my apartment (and sold or given away my stereo, but not my LP collection) I was kind of nomadic. I then spent some time living with my mother (and saddled her with my LPs) before leaving for HK, and did not really keep a steady system, though by this time I did start to acquire some vintage electronics. When I arrived in HK, as an expat, the University paid for my stay in a hotel. I had in advance shipped about a hundred CDs and listened to them on a Discman I bought, through generic earphones. After 4 months, I was given a cavernous University apartment but I still felt impermanent and did not really install a decent stereo system. Another 8 months later, given a different contractual arrangement, I moved out of the campus into a local “village” type apartment. And gradually there I started to build a meaningful system. I bought a second-hand pair of Spendor LS3/5A (plentiful and cheap in those days) and brought back from the US one of my Dynaco ST70s (with the more desirable earlier trannies). My student DIYed a “Marantz 7” for me and I was all set with a cheap Philips CDP - the rest is history, albeit a very long one which I may write about some day (I am inspired by Signore Surdi’s recent Tannoy article, very much down his memory lane)

Quitting vs Hibernation

I have met many audiophiles who, for various reasons, often rather abruptly, called it quits. Many reasons were offered, ranging from WAF factor, interest in another hobby to lack of money. It’s not my place to question anyone’s choice, but my observation is most of these individuals lost interest in music. If you look into what they listen to, you’ll find a lot of audiophile picks (much mediocrity) but few selections of their own liking. Mind you, the reverse is not necessarily true, as quite a few who are only obsessed with audiophile tracks soldier fearlessly on (but usually the longer they go, the more they begin to like some real music - the power of music is such that few remain incorrigible to the end). Suffice to say, the more one really likes music for the holistic aspect, the more one stays an audiophile (who wants to get more out of music).

Audiophiles are Very Lucky Today

Cheap equipment has improved to such a degree that, if one loves music and develops a strong personal value system, one does not need to spend much to really enjoy music. Even more than that, streaming has put an end to having to own all that physical media (and in cases like my generation, moving them around wherever we go, which btw showcases our dedication to software). Of course, ultimately, vinyl and tapes sonically reign supreme, but those are only for stable (and discriminating) folks to enjoy, and who today will count himself as destined to stay in one place?

Chinese Audio Products, Then and Now
For the last twenty years, perhaps more, many people, including older yahoo cheaptubeaudio group readers, have asked me why I don’t “review” more Chinese products. Well, there had been many reasons, and I must say that my early exposures in the mid 90’s were not encouraging, which stopped me from buying Chinese products (with few exceptions, I only review what I buy), or even from looking at them as bargains. Over the next decade, things started to change as I heard some very competent stuff. Much of it was DIY oriented, but things by then started moving in the right direction.

It was not until the Digital and T-amps arrived that I started to consider the cheap and cheerful stuff. It was really a revolution, as it made good sound available in a small and green package (even an old Class A veteran like Ray of Rayaudio recognizes the development as such). There is no question the Chinese manufacturers saw an opportunity and they surely wedged themselves into the preeminent positions in the bargain market - deservedly so (and here, especially as one who champions efficient loudspeakers, I shall re-emphasize that all the “high-end” digital amps are mostly nonsense).

Bluetooth, and Why it is a Good Audio Tool
As mentioned in detail above, during the pandemic, I finally took up Streaming and BT and never looked back. In terms of Streaming, I use free sources (mostly NML through the NYPL, and sometimes others,) which are not hi-res. I use mostly USB, but sometimes resort to BT, and I don't find the divide so big. Mind you, I’m aware that I’m likely a laughing-stock in some circles. Like everyone, I know BT is lossy, but BT today can be surprisingly listenable (I have been streaming for 2 years, sometimes eschewing USB for BT). What most people forget is that BT is kinda like Radio Wave which is analog in its transmission, and that could be a strength. Talking about the latter, remember the many audiophiles who sneer at FM, who (just like with LP playback) decry its limited bandwidth and dynamics? It’s likely these people have never heard a great tuner. The superb sound of Analog Sources serves as the best proof that there is something seriously wrong with over reliance on measurements.

In audio, I maintain that it matters very little if your system can play audiophile tracks well; whereas it matters a lot more if you can stream over USB or BT well. The former usually means there are many “unlistenable” stuff in your encounters; the latter however conveys pleasure even in musical but not sonically impeccable material. Many years ago, my friend Hoi (a horn user and a classical fan) said to me that it’s most important to be able to playback mono well. Time only makes me agree with him more. There’s a treasure trove of mono stuff that are heritage material (especially jazz) that should be listened to (I spend at least a few hours per month exploring the latest jazz, but I’m sorry to say most of the stuff sound tepid next to a mono Ellington or Miles). One my friend Andy likes is Ellington Uptown. It will likely sound execrable in a “high end” system, but I can enjoy its music with my humble setups, and that is what I advise you to strive for too. This kind of album mercilessly exposes the over-inflated audiophile “values” that often in the name of resolution creep into the system: wiry treble, lean midrange, un-natural bass. When a system is right (especially with horns), this kind of album can be listenable and enjoyable, and our sonically vastly superior audiophile albums that we enjoy for the physical thrills (make no mistake, I love them too) will not be worse for it. In passing, I cannot help to mention that this album, even in a latter day “mono” Columbia pressing (ubiquitous, as it was likely a best-seller in its days) really comes to life with a true mono cartridge (even the ridiculously well built and cheap Denon DL-102)! We often say there has been no progress in audio, which I agree with in sonic terms, though I make an allowance that compact and green and ridiculously cheap modern digital amps have changed the landscape (including mine) forever.

Value, that is what it is. NOT audio value, but musical value - more often than not, you cannot have “all” of both (but you can have most of it if you listen and work hard), and it is YOUR CHOICE. But audiophiles are a masochistic bunch: we mess up ourselves as much as we make improvements, meanwhile murmuring to ourselves that it must be our fault!

A New Budget and Acquisitions
Now, what’s happening to me. After the Aiyima T9, I have decided to spend not much more than USD 1k on Chinese products, and I finally went for some tube equipment (just to remind myself)! This is a much harder decision than you think. Given that I have tons of gear and good tubes in NYC and HK, I’m not about to spend a lot on swapping tubes here. But there is little doubt in my mind that Chinese transformers have gotten a lot better (indeed likely the best in the world now in general), so bring forth the tube amps!

I also got some cheap cables and I’m getting some tools and a soldering station, all to make my life here a little easier and more interesting. I chose equipment that are cheap and good-looking. Some previews:

AOSIBAO 6P1 PSE The 6P1 is not so far away from the 6AQ5/6V6 and EL84. This is a hard-wired, tube rectified, all-tube amp with 2 meters for about USD120. As expected, sweet sound from the 6P1, and it’s a great pleasure to look at! I may do a little tube swapping but it sounds pretty good as it is.

APPLauseAudio 300B amp Finished in hammer tone, in pseudo-WE fashion, this is at least several rungs lower in price from the better known Chinese WE imitators (and miles from that newly launched garbage “WE”). At USD 350, it is hard-wired, double tube-rectified. I also chose it because it uses a 2-stage triode-pentode 6F3 (similar to 6BM8) in front, ensuring good driving power. It is solid sounding and I think will put many competitors to shame.

My preliminary evaluation is that both of these sport decent transformers. I hear good bandwidth and tight bass, signs of quality. They also do not unduly overheat. At this price, especially if you are handy to upgrade parts (which are not bad), they are ridiculous bargains.

Union Audio Anubis LS3/5A (Update 11/27/22: I have kept the original text here, but reservations have emerged - see Editor's Note at top) I wanted another pair of loudspeakers but would not like to spend time auditioning. So I picked this “clone” of the venerable BBC monitor. It freely admits of following the sound but with some updates (and is 8 ohm, though a 15 ohm version is coming). At USD 300, this is an excellent choice. I don’t have my LS3/5As (or Harbeth P3 ESR) with me, but, given my long-term familiarity, I can safely attest that the sound is in the same vein. I’d think it is slightly more polite and less forward in the midrange, smoother and more efficient in the bass. Most of all, it does not suffer from the slower transient of the LS3/5A. It has completely transformed the sound of my System 2 (less used living room). In fact, unlike before, whenever I get the chance now, I happily listen to and tweak this system. I’m struggling over whether to get a pair of cheap stands to use them occasionally in the Study (which houses my main system). See, in audio one thing begets another, and I have to exercise restraint.

XINYI Sini Audio amp Now, this is a real surprise (from here in Shenzhen no less). I bought it with another function in mind, but it came up with such a good effort that I was charmed off my pants. It’s a bluetooth amp with auxillary input and output. The input chip is a Chinese JL bluetooth chip (different from the Aiyima one) but the output chip is the familiar TDA3116 (same as the SMSL I own). There are 4 versions: single 3116 vs double, and audiophile upgrades for both (I guess only caps for USD 2 premium). Given my efficient loudspeakers I opted for the single chip one. The result is so good that I’m contemplating also buying the double-chip one. At USD 6 for the whole amp it is absolutely the LOWEST Fi in my entire life - but that is referencing the price, not the quality! I’d not be surprised if Goldmund takes this, puts it in a nicer case, calls it JOB Mk X, and sells it for Euro 2000. But they won’t as it’ll sound much better than their lousy and crazily expensive digital amps.

I’m just too excited to report all this to you, and there are more, but not too much more. All of these will be duly reviewed in depth soon, so watch this space.

Finally, even more exciting stuff are coming from some of the other Authors! In no particular order:

--For those interested in Tannoy, Michele Surdi has more on amps that he has used and a few loose ends that are quite interesting. Plus, I don’t know where he gets all these nice brochures! His contribution makes sure this site shall contain the most comprehensive useful information on the Tannoy Prestige series. He shall likely contribute on some other surprises too! Maybe the heat in Europe is cooking him to our advantage!

--ELO was abroad and had just returned to HK. His soul searching continues. He has a couple of articles left with me and one audition (albeit brief) is a surprise, on something that I had been interested in a long time. Soon.

--Some of our occasional contributors have things up their sleeves, but they are just too busy. Let’s hope they find a moment to pen something.

--Last, but absolutely not the least, my dear colleague mrgoodosund is boiling soup in a BIG cauldron. I may have inklings, but true to our understanding, I’m not to divulge. I love his surprises, even when his views are not quite in agreement with mine (such as on LTA; but I can totally understand his view). In fact, with like-minded individuals I look at different views as healthy, and contribute to our understanding. No less a mind than the great Kierkegaard argued with himself in Either/Or.

I am thankful for the contributions of all. This blog is not a corporation, does not monetize (even if it can), nor adhere to a schedule or fixed agenda. All in due time. Check back often. Salut!

Tannoy Canterbury Yorkminster Edinburgh DMT 2

Letter from Italy (22-1): Signore M Surdi and his incredible Tannoy Time Capsule

Sept 26, 2022 Update: Signore Surdi has written an article on all his amp matching with the various Tannoys. A wonderful read!

Editor: A few weeks ago, I was beyond giddy when I received an email from Signore Surdi. Somehow, although from way back, we had lost contact till now. Suffice to say that he now shares with us his incredibly long journey with Tannoy. Long time readers know my devotion to the Tannoy Prestige series, particularly the Canterbury, so I am very grateful that Signore Surdi shares this, as it fills in some important gaps in understanding the Prestige Series, and beyond (e.g. you won’t find much otherwise on the Yorkminster.) This is especially valuable now as the Tannoy company seems to have moved further and further away from their legacy (and the name Prestige is not really in active use). Peruse their website and see the chaos for yourself.

Signore Surdi has written quite a few articles on audio. I urge you to read some of these, even through translation, as they are quite entertaining. They will show you where he's coming from, and enhance your reading of his marvelously completist Tannoy story, second to none on the web (when it comes to modern Tannoy Prestige).

In English: 1) this 2018 article using Canterbury SE, comparing Nagra 300P to the Tektron 2A3, is a must-read, and not only to 300B and SET fans (certainly to me, as I have always wanted to hear the unusually designed Nagra PP 300B amp). More, it is highly entertaining, particularly the architectonic comparison to cathedrals! 2) this review of Pass HPA-1 features also some of the stuff in the above article. A good read; 3) for more, look under Michele Surdi here.

In Italian: 1) this article lists the current setup and a lot of the stuff used by Signor Surdi over the years - many vintage classics that overlap with my story, and likely yours! 2) if you still want to read on, here are a few more in Italian.

In fact, losing myself reading Signore Surdi’s many articles significantly delayed the publishing of this article. My apologies! Without further ado, now his Tannoy Story! BTW, it was delivered to me in perfect English, and there was not much I had to do.

Click pics to enlarge.

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Having misspent my youth on current-starved crossovers and ever more powerful amps, dearly acquired wisdom brought Tannoys to my middle age. I started off with a professional model, the 15 inch DMT 2, probably the best bargain of my hifi life. This was in the early Nineties and the pro models cost considerably less than those in the higher end domestic range (Prestige, now that’s a classy moniker). The big 15 inchers came in at something less than €3000 in today’s currency and for the price you got two massive floorstanding Dual Concentrics with sturdy rubber surrounds (as opposed to the infamous foam rubber which afflicted the lamentable Seventies production runs) and a conveniently overbuilt sliding terminal biwire arrangement which, by the way, permanently converted me to the advantages of biwiring.

Over some years they were paired with anything from the Quad 77 integrated to the almighty Nagra VPA 845 monos in a 20 sqm. (square meter) room with suspended wooden flooring and rattling glass-pane doors. As many audiophiles know it’s not easy to budget for both speakers and real estate.

In time however one speaker developed a slight voice coil misalignment and since I was planning on moving I traded the DMTs for a pair of Edinburgh HEs. These, though meant as a stopgap, were on the whole a better match for the room, both sonically and aesthetically.

A new house with a 40 plus sqm. listening area mandated new speakers and, after much deliberation, I opted for the 12 in. Yorkminster HEs instead of the 15 in. Canterburys.This turned out to be an excellent decision in some ways, less so in others, as will be explained later.

Finally, yet another move to a some 60 sqm. venue led to the acquisition of the resident Canterbury SEs, the last of the Coatbrige Tannoys - we shall not see their likes again.

Onto the important details now: design, build and sound.

As to design, the DMT has an injection moulded LF cone while all the others employ the classic (and now unobtainable) kapok based natural fiber composite. The DMT and the Edinburgh share the tulip tweeter, while both the Yorkminster and the Canterbury mount the top-of-the-line Alcomax based pepperpot version. In my experience differences between synthetic and natural composites, rubber and fabric surrounds and 12 and 15 in. cones are chiefly room and amplifier dependent. But the difference between the tulip and pepperpot circular horns is very clearly perceptible, i.e. a generally clearer midrange and more refined highs. All the tweeters however are susceptible to transistor glare, though they do respond very well to the rather elaborate tone controls which, absent in the professional monitors, in the domestic models mercifully substitute knurled screw plugs for inherently fallible pots. Twin circular reflex ports are frontal on the DMTs and backmounted on the Yorkminsters, while the Edinburgh and Canterbury have similar lateral Onken type slots. The Canterburys’ ports however are equipped with moveable wood blinds which can gradually change the enclosure’s response from quasi-acoustic suspension to full frontal bass reflex. This is providential for room adjustment and I currently set mine to an asymmetrical open and closed configuration to allow for different sidewall reflections.

As to build quality, the DMTs first acquainted me with the charms of moving 50 plus kg. boxes around. Their finish is quite different from the customary Tannoy wood veneers: matt gray front and back, with metallic speckled gray laminates on all the other surfaces. Practical for studio use, yes; handsome, no; but an acceptable enough outcome. As for the Prestige products, traditional walnut everywhere (except for the bottom on the Edinburgh); and lightweight Tygan type grilles sporting the celebrated brass lock and key fixture, about which I shall now briefly rant. Apart from being in terrible taste, this Olde English marketing gimmick is not only totally useless but potentially harmful at the volume levels the bigger dualcons are capable of, since the metallic lock mechanism which is mounted on the cabinet can quite conceivably ring or buzz. Another famously useless though altogether harmless feature is the grounding terminal. I have seen some instrumental evidence of minutely better distortion figures when this in use, but have yet to find somebody who can attest to an audible effect. Addressing the Yorkminster’s build is rather more complicated. The hexagonal cabinet is quite tall and puts the Van den Hul wired 12 incher at a somewhat greater distance from the floor than the other models (more on that when evaluating its sound), but the enclosure is distinguished by the liberally Tygan-garnished, laterally mounted walnut strakes. The sole function of these, as far as I can understand, is to winsomely mimic the distributed port grilles on the older corner horns such as the Autographs. Also, the back of the speaker is in a plain brown vinyl wrap, which is simply unacceptable for the €18000 asking price. To cap all this, the heirloom grade solid walnut cabinet top warped slightly after 4 years. On the positive side, such as it is, the grilles are set in a heavy solid wood frame which eschews the key thing for a better thought out snap fastener, and the speaker terminals are excellent WBT Midlines, with really beautiful WBT/Van den Hul external links. All of this may be contrasted with the flawless cabinet of the successor Canterburys, which come Furutech wired with the same laudable speaker terminal setup but with grilles which may be at best called perfunctory ,though proudly sporting the afore-damned key arrangement, and with equally perfunctory and flimsy Furutech external links. Both the Yorkminsters and the Canterburys, finally, come with optional spikes and floor protectors. Good luck leveling those, I say.

Final comments on the speakers’ sound will be disappointingly sketchy, since I’ll be talking about components used over the last thirty years in three different listening rooms with a catholic selection of upstream gear, not to mention the inevitable changes in my musical tastes. I’ll start out with the assumption that interested readers will be familiar with the Dual Concentric sonic signature. This however does vary to a marked degree according to cabinet construction and as I have tried to show - not all Tannoys are built equal.

I recall the first thing I noticed when listening to the DMTs in the unfortunate 20 sqm. room was not their effortless dynamics but, somewhat surprisingly, their neutrality. In a midfield setting, obligatory under the circumstances, the imperceptible cone movement, coupled with the characteristic point source effect, makes for an eerie similarity to big electrostatic panels. Until the bass punch to the midriff comes along, that is. The tulip tweeter will not be mistaken for a silk dome, but it has none of the vengefulness often typical of other horn designs. An assertive performance then, but on the whole a commendably balanced one.

The Edinburghs which succeeded the DMTs in the same room for a year may, more than a little unfairly, be considered the slow horse in this roundup, saddled, as it were, with the same tweeter as the grey pros, but lacking some of their knockout kicks. On the other hand, besides being somewhat easier to set up, they are visually quite attractive and bear every hallmark of a classic keeper.

I have long since grown bored with grading my components but the somewhat incontestable fact is that, badly built fake vintage cabinet notwithstanding, the Yorkminster's performance is the one nearest to my ideal of a BBC monitor that is perfectly integrated with a passive subwoofer. I suspect that this is due to the combined effect of the superior pepperpot tweeter, a slightly higher LF cone placement and the stylistically incongruous rear firing moulded ports, which are not, as is generally the case, awkwardly susceptible to rearwall proximity.

Where does that leave the Canterburys then? In their own singular niche, as most owners will gladly attest. This proprietary space is defined chiefly by a sensitivity second only to that of the giant Westminster horns, a vast air displacement ability, and a somewhat counterintuitively nimble response to cabinet tuning. The first two properties mean that they will energize a room with no great need of consummate positioning, while the third affords an easy and just possibly non-obsessive path to optimizing soundstage clues, microdynamic shifts and the like. Again, the Canterburys make this a productive but hardly obligatory chore.

Which brings us to the inescapable discussion of the beaming bugaboo, which occasionally haunts reviews of the Dual Concentric speakers. As for myself I never experienced this phenomenon in my smaller room, and was indeed blissfully ignorant of its existence. After having read of it, however, in my larger listening spaces I very occasionally noticed some enhanced directivity. Cognitive associations aside, my take on the subject is that beaming is a markedly marginal operating hazard of the dualcons. It does exist, if only in very particular conjunctures, possibly ascribable to room reflections but, in my opinion, far more related to microphone placement. In the real listening world I find it more akin to a statistical aberration than to a certifiable shortcoming. All of the above finally may entail a discussion of amplifier matching, not to mention cable choices. This however would lead us down a very, very long memory lane and must be left, on demand, to further chapters.

Editor: Una Stravaganza! As a fellow Tannoy traveler, I agree with virtually every point Signore Surdi makes! Yes, we would love to hear about amplifier matching!