I've got a couple of articles I'm working on now for Positive Feedback Online, but soon as they're done I'm going to start writing a long-term report about what it's been like living with my Tannoy Westminster Royal Special Edition loudspeakers over the past year or so.

It turns out that Jim Smith recently purchased a pair of Tannoy Canterbury SE loudspeakers for his own use (the Canterbury SE uses a 15.00” version of the Tannoy Dual Concentric™ driver with an Alcomax 3 magnet system and the Tannoy PepperPot WaveGuide™ that is similar to the WRSEs, but in a more room-friendly cabinet size optimized for mid-sized to large rooms). Jim’s powering them with the beautiful Viva Aurora 845 SET amps and he says it’s a wonderful combination:

“Anyway, you know the feeling of listening to music with them … they are equal opportunity speakers, more so than any in my experience. Blues, Baroque, full scale orchestral, jazz trios, rock & roll, solo voices, they do it all … I think I’m jazzed a bit!”.

Check out Jim's beautiful system with the Canterbury SE loudspeakers in the photo below (click on image for larger versions).

As you can imagine, given the fun Jim and I have been having with our Tannoys, we have been trading a few e-mails back and forth talking about our experiences. Here are the conclusions that we have come to: the Tannoy-SET approach provides perhaps the best overall presentation for an audio system that either of us has ever heard. The Tannoys don’t do soundstaging artifacts as well as the best audiophile-style loudspeakers, but they come closer than you would expect. They probably do have the most cohesive top-to-bottom presentation of any speakers we’ve heard (that 15-inch dual concentric driver is a gem). The Tannoys certainly provide the best presence, tone, and musical involvement of any speakers either of us has heard to date.

Here's another view of Jim's system from just behind the listening seat (click on image for larger versions):

As a special treat to Tannoy owners, I’m going to be writing the afore mentioned report on living with my Westminster Royal Special Edition loudspeakers, and in that article I’ll be going through all the setup tips I’ve learned over the last year, and I’ll also be sharing with you all the discoveries Jim’s made in Tannoy setup and optimization with his Canterbury SE loudspeakers too. Believe me, with the Tannoys you’ll be rewarded more than with most speakers if you practice careful setup, because Tannoys are capable of delivering more musically than any speaker I am aware of when done right.

I'll have some very special surprises to share with you, so stay tuned to find out the whole Tannoy story in the not too distant future, and come see why Tannoys have captured the adoration and respect of Jim Smith & Jeff Day, and pretty much everyone else who have heard their systems.

You may never be the same again!