They Came!! Tannoy Eyris DC3 review inside (VERY LONG) [Archive] - Audio & Video Forums

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PlumDragon
07-28-2006, 06:42 AM
My tannoy Eyris DC3 and TS10 sub came!!! And nearly 4 weeks early!!
I was so excited yesterday that I literally jumped out of my chair and took the rest of the day off to pick them up. For those who have not read, this is the followup to this thread:

http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=18405

Eyris DC3 Pair: $2,700 shipped.
TS10 Sub: $850 shipped.

I was impressed with the aesthetics of the Eyris DC3's and TS10 10" subwoofer. Sycamore colored, dark blue grills, and a nice natural looking finish. Very nice. They stand at a nice height and arent bulky. The only thing I would change about the dimensions is depth. The speaker cabinet could be a bit deeper. It seems stable but I worry a tad about them falling forward if pushed the wrong way by the dog.

I coupled these speakers to a Yamaha HTR5490 and am using ordinary speaker wire until my Monster Z3 and 300 sub cables arrive. The HTR5490 was basicly the mid-end cream of the crop when it came out retailing for about $800; its a great receiver. The sub is situated between 2 couches all virtually right next to the listening area. An 18-foot cable was required to do this but I wanted to have the sub right next to the listener.

After hooking everything up and adjusting settings, I tuned to a radio station to see how it played. I was surprised at how well the speakers articulated the environment. When the DJ would come on, I could easily tell he was talking from within a studio, just a real faint but noticeable echo (?) was audible.

I pulled out 2 of my favorite "test" CDs:
1. Pink Floyd: A Collection of Great Dance songs: "Wish you were here" is a great song to test with because it overlaps a realtively old-recroded sound, swampy scratchy guitar with a very new-sounding modern and crisp guitar. The speakers did an excellent job of distinguishing one from the other and provided a great listening experience. The guitar solo at the end of part 1 of "Shine on you crazy diamond" was perhaps the best I have ever heard it. Those dual concentric tweeters on the DC3 really realy just FILL the room with such a precise treble sound. I was already quite impressed.
"Another brick in the wall Part 2" came on and the subwoofer came to life. On even a moderate gain, it thumped hard. Being a sealed box, it had a very crisp bass that filled my moderately sized room with great noise. I had to turn it down just a tad as to not overpower the experience.

2. Last of the Mohicans Soundtrack: Every song sang just like the last. The highs on this speaker are just phenomonal. One of my more favs, Track 10, "The Courier" surprised me. There were a variety of nuances that I heard in that song (movement of the fingers across the fretboard between notes, note hammers, and even subtle background music) that I never even knew existed in this song. Its like a whole new song all of the sudden.

Switching back to the tuner, an AC/DC song was on. Either there is nothing special about AC/DC music, or my speakers just dont shine with types of music I dont like as much as they do with music I do like... =)

I threw in Vangelis's "Themes" CD. Every last song I listened to, same as my 2 test CDs. "Chariots of Fire" sounded particularly nice. These speakers have the ability to really fill a room with mid-high range sound, even at moderate volumes. It just hits you with such a full feeling.

45 minutes into my listening, no listening fatigue to speak of...So I continued on.

Threw in a DVD of David Gilmours latest concert that a friend gave me. My first time ever watching it, I had no baseline but it was a joy watching and lsitening...even on my crap TV...Man, I need to get a plasma already (I have my eye on a 55" Panasonic).

Last CD was Erich Kunzels "Time Warp". Song #1 "Ascent" is a synthesized powerhouse of high amplitude effects and sounds with some notes for rhythm. Needless to say, its never quite sounded liek it did last night... =)

Listening to the radio again later that night, Doors' "Riders On The Storm" came on...I couldnt believ eit. There was actualyl a very faint echo, like somebody whispering in the background under the lead vocals. Id never ehard this before but was just totally blown away at all the dimensionality that was coming out of the music with these speakers...Even my wife, who realyl doesnt care, and its all jstu sound to her, could hear it in there...


Pros: The treble is simply pristine. They are 8ohm and easily driven by most amps. Even without the sub, the bass response on the DC3 is quite pelasing. The speakers look beautiful, especially in a modern home.

Cons: I dont believe these speakers are the best choice for metal-ish music. They shined with clasic rock and a bit of new age and techno-ish sounds, but I wasnt impressed with the AC/DC that I heard. The cabinets could be a bit deeper. The support pegs run from left to right; it would be nice if they could run from front to back.

Overall, Im 100% happy with my purchase and cant wait to test them out on some movies this weekend.

Hopefully someone got something out of this little review! =) If anyoen is interested Ill post some pics this evening...

audio_dude
07-28-2006, 09:53 AM
see, the tannoys were a good choice!!!

hope they keep pleasing you!

Bernd
07-29-2006, 01:18 AM
Congrats on your new arrival. The Tannoy's are inded a fine speaker. Great first review.
Wishing you many happy musical hours.:6:

Peace

Bernd:16:

PlumDragon
07-29-2006, 07:40 AM
Thanks guys! =)

Last night we watched Matrix Revolutions as our first cinema experience. Up until last night I wasnt sure if I should have sprung the extra $200 for the 12" sub versus the 10" I bought. Last night was reassurance that I made the right decision. With LFE and about half gain, it was loud enough to dominate the room. At one point, my wife asked me quite seriously, "Does that box make sound or does is it just supposed to shake the house?". Hah!

Needless to say Im still tuning and tweaking, trying to find the right levels for different types of use, etc...but the only problem to date is that the TV isnt big enough to "show" the sound that we have...

bobsticks
07-30-2006, 07:49 AM
looks like your research paid off! Not much of a gamble actually as Tennoy is pretty well known across the pond...good for you.
Have you invested in any hi-rez music sources (SACD, DVDA)? A system like yours will definetly bring out the most of formats.

Good for you

PlumDragon
07-30-2006, 08:11 AM
looks like your research paid off! Not much of a gamble actually as Tennoy is pretty well known across the pond...good for you.
Have you invested in any hi-rez music sources (SACD, DVDA)? A system like yours will definetly bring out the most of formats.
Thanks! =) It does feel good to have done all that research.

I dont have any hi-res sources yet. In fact, I dont even have a dedicated CD player and am still using a basic DVD player to play CDs. Nevertheless, I have plans to get some nice source equipment, I just dont know much about the market these days--Its been a few years since I was a "true" audiophile myself, just getting back into it now. The 55" TV is still #1 on the docket right now, but after that is taken care of Ill be doing the same level of research on some source equipment...Would be happy to look at any links you might have... ;)

PlumDragon
08-21-2006, 09:38 AM
Well, Ive hit a stroke of good luck and am upgrading from a TS10 sub to a TS12!!

http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=18979

I will add a review of the TS12 at some point in the near future...