The Kingdom Royal review (something new) is now complete and is with the very cool Editors Dave and David at Positive Feedback Online for publication in the November issue, which will go live this coming week. The Kingdom Royals have officially become my favorite dynamic loudspeakers, with a luxurious and sophisticated way of presenting the music that is both distinctly 'Tannoy' and uncommonly musical and engaging. I enjoyed every moment with the Kingdom Royals and am truly sorry to see them go on their way. Many thanks to everyone at Tannoy for letting me take the Kingdom Royals for a spin, they are a fantastic loudspeaker!
My perfect loudspeaker world would be to have a speaker stable consisting of my big Tannoy Westminster Royal SEs, the Tannoy Kingdom Royals, and a mint pair of the original Quad 57s. That would give me ultra-references for horn loudspeakers (the Westminster Royal SEs), dynamic loudspeakers (the Kingdom Royals), and electrostatic loudspeakers (the Quad 57s). I wish Tannoy wanted to leave the Kingdom Royals with me for a long term reference! (cough, cough)
My buddy Chad came over to help me box up the Kingdom Royals so Tannoy could pick them up for their trip to the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. At the unboxing party for the Kingdom Royals - that I wrote about earlier - there was the Tannoy recommended 5 people present to lift the heavy speakers off their interlocking pallets. Now there was just Chad & myself to dead lift the massive 265 pound speakers and place them on their interlocking pallets. Chad and I are uncommonly fit for old codgers, but it was still quite an effort, and remarkably our backs are still intact!
After boxing up the Kingdom Royals, Chad & I set back up my Westminster Royal SEs (something old) in the same spot that I had settled on for the Kingdom Royals, which was about 75-inches from the front wall with 96-inches of separation between the two loudspeakers.
Next I hooked up the Sablon Audio Panatela component speaker cables designed by Mark Coles in London, then the ASR Emitter II Version Blue (something blue) amplifier (below). (I'll have more to say about the Panatela cables with the Westminster Royal SEs in the future, but for now know that they are as wonderful with the Westminster Royal SEs as they were with the Kingdom Royals that I used in the review)
There will be dedicated reviews of both the ASR Emitter II Version Blue amplifier and the ASR Basis Exclusive phono equalizer in the coming months. The synergy between Tannoys and ASR that we've been hearing about is very real and very impressive. I'll have a lot more to say in the future on this topic.
After getting the system warmed up, Chad and I listened to the Muddy Waters' & The Rolling Stones' Live at the Checkerboard Lounge LP over a couple of micro-brew beers as a reward for our efforts. Cheers!
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, and Ian Stewart during their Rolling Stones’ American tour, got to Chicago early and went to Muddy Waters’ Checkerboard Lounge to hear Muddy, Buddy, Lefty, and other luminaries play the blues Chicago style! What would you do if you were Muddy Waters and all of a sudden you saw Mick, Keith, Ronnie, and Ian walking in and sitting down right up front? You guessed it, The Stones ended up joining the band for an amazing performance.
Listening to this album over the Westminster Royal SE and ASR combination reminded me of my own visit to a live Chicago blues bar a while back - it was amazing! Don't miss this album!
