The last review of Whathifi, on the Tannoy Stirling III special is bad. First time I see a bad review.
They concluded :
Strange, as Tannoy has great reputation. I suspect a wrong electronics use. They should have tried a good tube amp I feel.
Tannoy are not what they were. Key people have moved elsewhere. Like all hi-fi speakers remain a matter of incredibly personal taste but, having a long history with Tannoys back to my childhood, and, having heard an example recently… I’d be inclined to take the review at face value.
I made a similar error recently with the Enleum AMP 23-R. Loads of fabulous reviews and 2 bad ones. The 2 bad ones both used the same review unit. So, it must be the review unit they had?
Nope. I heard exactly what the 2 bad reviews heard.
It is their first driver made in China according to Upscale audio. Which have ended Tannoy and replaced with Fyne audio. Tannoy is unfortunately owned by horrible group of Musictribe.
A few guys left a while back and set up Fyne audio……some similar looking products.
It’s must be that, new Tannoys are not as original. Blackbird gave us also an explanation, if it’s that. But very probably.
As Quad, it’s no more Quad of the past.
How about your new tubes integrated, made in UK ?
The lower end Fyne are quite impressive. The top end one ranks as one of the worst speakers I have ever heard at any price. Go figure.
Had to cancel a home dem as I was ill. They’re at Bristol this weekend but I’m not quite 100% so I’m skipping it. Gutted as they’re offering to pay the VAT on the 41c. Had I heard the 21c I would have been absolutely willing to take a punt on the 41c.
There is a Bristol live stream of their room but it’s either down or not compatible with Safari or DuckDuckGo.
So, frustration all round so far.
I guess the only thing left of this historical brand is the name, everything else is gone…
Look up Upscale audios latest post on Youtube about Tannoy and Fyne audio. Sh**y owners can destroy any brand faster than you can blink. It happens all the time. Unfortunately.
I believe, like anything, the outcome in terms of performance is subjective more than absolute.
When I was in hifi retail in the 90s, Linn consistently got two to three stars but had a strong following anyway (myself included) that simply thought the reviews were wrong and showed nothing more than a stark difference in preference for certain styles of presentation.
As such, I’d not read much into it. Remember, WHF and in fact all hifi publications are not in the hifi industry. They are in the journalism industry. As such, the review tells you nothing about how it sounds to you but only how it sounded to the reviewer.
I think attributing a bad review to new parts sourced in China is a stretch too. Some quality manufacturers are there. PSVANE tubes for example.
I’m certainly no fan of the Tannoy sound past or present. But I don’t consider that to be any more than my own preference.
As long as they keep making the Westminster Royal in the way it was designed, including driver, I will have respect for Tannoy.
I see you have Tannoy Legacy Eaton. You seem to like them a lot. Are they vintage or in the glory days production ?
Legacy model so not vintage. Made in UK it says on them but who knows what that means. I do like them a lot for jazz specifically which I mostly listen to.
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