Ever since I have had them, I've realised they're a bit like Marmite - people love them or hate them, but I have realy liked mine, however, I sold them before christmas to an enthusiast, and I'd like to replace them. Trouble is, I really don't know what to buy. Ideally something similar size as they sit on two plinths, and smaller ones will look a bit odd - distance to the listening position is just under 2m. They worked really well because the dual concentrics allowed you to stand up, sit down, or move around a little with very little change in the sound. I can go to maybe just over two grand (ex VAT) for the pair - but from what I have heard few seem to have the 'big' sound I'm used to. Passive or active is fine, but I'm thinking selling them was stupid, as I'd not noticed everything is now super small.
Most people want to save space, getting smaller but equally effective monitors seems like a direction many makers take. I could suggest buying 2 sets which together would maybe be big enough to the look.. But more average sounding. As for the big sound you could go for 2x 8'' woofers monitors and a sub. I can't suggest any particular model since the best kit I ever had is the Yamaha HS8 + Sub.. I like them very much but they are not necessary the best sounding. (Know that for me the best sounding monitors are not the more pleasing ones but the more revealing to help mix better) For the budget you have, I would be intrigued by those (but let the sound quality decide) : Gibson Les Paul 8 Reference Monitor http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LP8TB (247watt is a lot of power and God they look cool) Dynaudio LYD 8 http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LYD8 KRK V8 S4 http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/V8Mon End of the name dropping.. I'm sure Chris and Boswell will add more educated suggestions
The Gibson's do look amazing - not sure I could quite live with them. It does look like the bigger speaker are now just way out of the price range I have, but I guess that if these (and the KRKs do seem to get good reviews) are what 'contemporary monitoring' now is, I'll have to move with the times.
I have a pair of the KRK V6 plus a 10S sub (on a foot switch) as one of my monitoring sets. I almost always find that getting the mix right first on the KRKs needs the least subsequent adjustment on all the other speaker sets that I try that mix on. The exception tends to be if I'm mixing a full orchestral recording, particularly of late romantic works, where the tonality of the KRKs is not quite right and I trust my BBC monitors better.
Thanks Boswell, this was what I was afraid of - much of my work is for theatrical use, and my experiments before with separate subs often showed unexpected results when we moved to a real theatre with very different sub placements - pretty well always wide spaced ones. On the Tannoys, with no subs needed, the results were quite predictable. Our other main earner is piano recording, and again, I guess this is where your switched subs would come in. I wonder if I'd actually be better to try to search out some second hand Tannoys - a big mistake selling them, I think. I made the fatal decision based on sensible money for a late 90s purchase, and figured replacing would be simple without doing the research.
I didn't know what these were by the model number, so I looked them up. That's my kind of monitor lol, looks like a hoot!
The did an install version for nightclubs with a huge matching sub - which was essentially the same driver in a hangable cabinet. I used those in a few installs and they sounded amazing - no wandering out of the HF cone. They do sound 'different', and if you like it, you love them. They were beasts in terms of weight, but it's not clear from the pics, but the cabinet outside was a kind of black marble effect with grey trim - and they looked really good too.
I've discovered that while Tannoy have discontinued the studio range, they have left the PA range and extended them. The VX 15" looks like it has a very similar driver, and the same size cabinet, although the rear is different. There's also a 12" version - this would come within my budget while the 15" woulds stretch it a bit. I wonder if these have the same character or have been tuned for specific PA needs with maybe a different driver assembly? Might be worth a trip to a dealer to have a listen? I'd know the sound in an instant - either as right or wrong? The old PA versions, when I bought some close to the time when I got my studio ones were a little more extended in the bass, but not by much, and were very happy working at high power levels - in the VX range there is now a specific HP High Power version, so maybe the non-HP one would be a match?
Have you ever heard of the Aurasound 1808? 18" sub, paper cone. This.. I heard two of them in the back of a really good car, and wow. It feels like effortless extension as far as your ears will let you hear. That car didn't compete, but if it did, it would likely place in the top 3 in the world. If they weren't so hard to obtain, it's what I use that 1808 to build my studio sub. It's one of the best subs I've ever heard. So, a few people tried to copy that car's design. But bc the 1808's hard to find (you often have to find a broken one and rebuild it) a lot of people tried the subs from those Tannoy's. I never got to hear one though. What do you mean they sound different?
Different, as in the PA version having a more pronounced bottom end and a bit of extra HF - the kinds of thing that 'flat' system need adding. The studio ones I had were very flat - but still sounded like Tannoys, and not typical good quality monitors from other manufacturers. Revealing rather than flattering? Difficult using words to explain sound isn't it?
