Tannoy Mercury V4

[LeRoy]

Sorry about he speakes LeRoy...Its only a small set back until bother pair are in your system in perfect condition...but still I know you where excited and then this. I feel for you man.

Thanks Frenchmon. You're right, only a small set back. I got the replacement speaker in yesterday. The new arrival also was delivered with a gaping hole midway up the speaker box on the ridge where 2 sides of the box meet. Luckily, no damage whatsoever to the speaker itself. I will be doing a little re-arranging with the current configuration then put the Tannoy's in as a pair. Will post thoughts later in the day..

[LeRoy]

Update: After having one Tannoy speaker in play for a week waiting for the replacement speaker to arrive I got a pretty good impression of what to expect when I put em on as a pair.

I have had the TMV4's playing for about 2 hours now...Tord Gustavsen Trio, The Ground. TMV4's connected to the Qinpu, BMA 4 conductor speaker wire,silver, cryo'd & carbon based, Grant Fidelity DAC-11 (I have rolled another tube Philips 7DJ8 that has hit a home run with me), and the HHB CDP-CDR as a transport, Coax from HHB to GF is Darwin.

I am a far field listener by nature so my listening position is 14 feet from the speakers and the rear of TMV4's are 17 1/2 inches away from the wall behind them.

There are a few constants of the speaker that I must mention before getting into tone. 1) They are VERY forward. I happen to like forward speakers and I am more engaged when the music hits my ears as if I were wearing headphones. 2) The tweeter performs more like a super tweeter. FAST, INSIGHTFUL, EXTENDED but never tizz, fizz, shouty, or screechy. 3) Mids can be lean... more on that later. 4) Bass is so far as deep as the Dali Ikon 2 mk 2's but I was expecting deeper bass since the rating on the TMV4 is 32 hz. It make take a while more to open up. 5) Soundstage is surprisingly excellent and is clear performer in this area. Easily outperforming the DI2mk2.

About the tone...depending on which tube I want to use in the GF DAC the presentation can be lean in the mids or can be natural with texture. Also the bass performance varies depending on tube selection. With the Matsu****a tube 7DJ8 there is greater extension on the tweeter, more energy in the mids with proper tone but tone in the middle that lacks body. The bass is slamming but rounded and to my ears loss of pitch definition and does not sound woody. Enter my latest and so far greatest tube experience with the G.F., Phillips 7DJ8. Now with the Phillips in play I now have great balance all across the spectrum and now sounds like music! Tweeter is slightly less energetic than the M, however, no loss of detail. Mids have the texture I love to hear, and bass now has depth with pitch definition.

Earlier in the week I was listening to Boney James, Sweet Thing. I have had this CD for years and never tire of listening to it. Yes, I have heard the piano chords being played countless times but on the TMV4 what caught my ear was I could hear the individual notes of the piano chord too. I don't think I have experienced that before on any of my prior audio configs.

Bear in mind the retail price of the TMV4's are $800/pr. They are matching the performance and then some of my DI2mk2's ($1400/pr). At $600 less per pair and no stands are required the TMV4's are quite a bargain. One thing that caught me off guard is the TMV4's have their 5 way binding post plugged with red/black inserts where normally the banana plug would insert. Luckily my speaker wire is configured with WBT's at the speaker end so that ended well.

[frenchmon]

Wow! Looks like you got some keepers! Are you going to keep the Dali's. Also man....time to break out that camera....you know on some forums they say if you aint got pics.....then it never happened. lol!

[TheHills44060]

Also man....time to break out that camera....

Agreed! need pics...du eeet

[Billiam62]

LeRoy. Regarding the break in. Perhaps these speakers take a long time to break in? During my research over the last few weeks I've noted that some speakers take dozens of hours to break in. Some people claim the sonic character of a particular speaker can sound the same for many hours until suddenly, it changes and either reaches its peak or at least starts to develop its signature sound.

The C 601's initially sounded tinny for the first few songs but started to open up after a half hour. Within a couple of hours they started to sound neutral and the high end developed. I also noted the speakers became more forward sounding after a couple of hours of play. Then after about a dozen hours a slight warm character in the low midrange started to develop. Very slight though and not an over powering warmth which would be just as bad as a shrill high end.

It may take a couple of weeks of additional time for your speakers to break in. I could not find any notes about the break in period for your speakers so your guess is as good as mine just how long it will take. At this point I would say I am very interested in purchasing these for myself since they will offer the kind of sound I am looking for minus the omnipolar sound. I too prefer to sit some distance from the speakers and since they will be going into a room that is 14 by 14 with a ten foot high ceiling, it is good to know they will throw a long as well as wide sound stage. The C 601's do that too and I am shocked at how I can listen to them beyond 10 feet without losing the audio quality. Even the Castle Conway 3's degrade after 9 to 10 feet.

Didn't you roll the tubes for your Qinpu amp? I bought JAN 5670's for mine and it made a considerable improvement to the sound. The audio not only became smoother, but the bass depth improved and the midrange and high end became more 3 dimensional and the high end more open and airy. There are other more expensive tubes that people claim will improve the sound of the Q amps even more than the 5670's. May spring for some of them at a later time when I am not pinching pennies.

[LeRoy]

Didn't you roll the tubes for your Qinpu amp? I bought JAN 5670's for mine and it made a considerable improvement to the sound. The audio not only became smoother, but the bass depth improved and the midrange and high end became more 3 dimensional and the high end more open and airy. There are other more expensive tubes that people claim will improve the sound of the Q amps even more than the 5670's. May spring for some of them at a later time when I am not pinching pennies.

The only tubes I have rolled recently are the 6922/7DJ8 tubes on the Grant Fidelity DAC-11. On Friday I did receive my order of replacement tubes for the 6N3's but have yet to roll them into the Q. I got a pair of Bendix and a pair of Tung-Sol and both are the 2C51's which are equivalents to the 6N3's. I will wait a couple of weeks before rolling the 2C51's as I want more break-in on the TMV4's.

Good to know the Jan tubes are an improvement over the stock tubes.

[Billiam62]

Excellent. I will definitely look into purchasing these 6N3's if they are the equivalent of the 2C51's which I believe are the best tube to use with the Qinpu amps. Or vice versa!

[Mr Peabody]

That would bug me one speaker being more broke in than the other, I suppose the other one will catch up at some point though. Glad they are working out and it didn't take long to get a replacement.

[Billiam62]

LeRoy. Does someone at UPS have it out for you? I've never heard of two separate boxes being damaged in the same manner like this before. Perhaps you should try Fedex next time.

It sounds like these are great speakers. Let us know how the break in period goes. I'm not going to rush into buying a second pair of speakers for a while now since the Jamo C 601's are much better than I anticipated. I can easily listen to these for a few months and then after I relocate I will start shopping for another pair of main speakers. By that time I may own a MK 6000 Qinpu amp too. :-) Plan to buy one of those as well.

[LeRoy]

@ Frenchmon- Ya, the Dali's are now in play in the second system in the living room. For now I am packing the System-Audio Aura 1's back into the box. In the future I might be working a trade for the SA1. No camera. Oh well, nobody's got to believe it anyway. The speaker are here, I'm listening to them, good enough for me...

@ Peabody- Thanks. I thought it was going to be a bigger ordeal to get a replacement speaker but it all worked out rather smoothly and quickly. I thought I would be listening to a big difference in one speaker over the other due to break-in period disparity but I can't hear any difference whatsoever. Weird.

@Billiam62- I think someone at UPS does have it in for me. I would have requested FEDEX on initial shipment but it was not an option. The promo for the purchase was free shipping so I guess Hi Fi Heaven uses UPS by default. Even though the damaged shipping experience was not the fault of Hi Fi Heaven I won't be ordering from them again as I can't trust the shipping outcome. Good to know you are enjoying the Jamo speakers. When you get your Q let me know. I located a site that sells replacement tubes for the 6N3's on the Q at the most reasonable prices I've found yet.

[winston]

Update: After having one Tannoy speaker in play for a week waiting for the replacement speaker to arrive I got a pretty good impression of what to expect when I put em on as a pair.

I have had the TMV4's playing for about 2 hours now...Tord Gustavsen Trio, The Ground. TMV4's connected to the Qinpu, BMA 4 conductor speaker wire,silver, cryo'd & carbon based, Grant Fidelity DAC-11 (I have rolled another tube Philips 7DJ8 that has hit a home run with me), and the HHB CDP-CDR as a transport, Coax from HHB to GF is Darwin.

I am a far field listener by nature so my listening position is 14 feet from the speakers and the rear of TMV4's are 17 1/2 inches away from the wall behind them.

There are a few constants of the speaker that I must mention before getting into tone. 1) They are VERY forward. I happen to like forward speakers and I am more engaged when the music hits my ears as if I were wearing headphones. 2) The tweeter performs more like a super tweeter. FAST, INSIGHTFUL, EXTENDED but never tizz, fizz, shouty, or screechy. 3) Mids can be lean... more on that later. 4) Bass is so far as deep as the Dali Ikon 2 mk 2's but I was expecting deeper bass since the rating on the TMV4 is 32 hz. It make take a while more to open up. 5) Soundstage is surprisingly excellent and is clear performer in this area. Easily outperforming the DI2mk2.

About the tone...depending on which tube I want to use in the GF DAC the presentation can be lean in the mids or can be natural with texture. Also the bass performance varies depending on tube selection. With the Matsu****a tube 7DJ8 there is greater extension on the tweeter, more energy in the mids with proper tone but tone in the middle that lacks body. The bass is slamming but rounded and to my ears loss of pitch definition and does not sound woody. Enter my latest and so far greatest tube experience with the G.F., Phillips 7DJ8. Now with the Phillips in play I now have great balance all across the spectrum and now sounds like music! Tweeter is slightly less energetic than the M, however, no loss of detail. Mids have the texture I love to hear, and bass now has depth with pitch definition.

Earlier in the week I was listening to Boney James, Sweet Thing. I have had this CD for years and never tire of listening to it. Yes, I have heard the piano chords being played countless times but on the TMV4 what caught my ear was I could hear the individual notes of the piano chord too. I don't think I have experienced that before on any of my prior audio configs.

Bear in mind the retail price of the TMV4's are $800/pr. They are matching the performance and then some of my DI2mk2's ($1400/pr). At $600 less per pair and no stands are required the TMV4's are quite a bargain. One thing that caught me off guard is the TMV4's have their 5 way binding post plugged with red/black inserts where normally the banana plug would insert. Luckily my speaker wire is configured with WBT's at the speaker end so that ended well.

congrats on the new Tannoy toys Leroy man, and sorry (Brown) was in a bad mood, but like they say (stuff) happens "but why you!!

Man, I can feel the love in your review, appreciating the lucky Tannoy, hopefully your dealer will replaced the broken one very fast before you looses the (impetus) to write the second leg of your review in (stereo in the far field....

good luck man it always works out

[LeRoy]

congrats on the new Tannoy toys Leroy man, and sorry (Brown) was in a bad mood, but like they say (stuff) happens "but why you!!

Man, I can feel the love in your review, appreciating the lucky Tannoy, hopefully your dealer will replaced the broken one very fast before you looses the (impetus) to write the second leg of your review in (stereo in the far field....

good luck man it always works out

Thanks Winston. Ya, UPS gave my speakers brown glove treatment on 2 of 3 boxes. Good thing I have FEDEX to fall back on! lol

Later today I am going to swap tubes on the Qinpu. I will first be placing the Tung-Sol tubes and I will report whatever changes I hear in the far field

[LeRoy]

@B62,

Just had a look at the specs: Sensitivity (dB, 2.8V/1m) 83dB
I think the Jamo is a neat looking product and reminds me of the Mirage Nanosat. I thought their marketing tagline is funny..."inspired by nature"... its more like inspired by Orb and Mirage speakers...

I have System-Audio Aura 1 speakers at 84 db and all I can tell you is the Q strains trying to move the SA's. I would call the result less than optimal.

[LeRoy]

Replaced the stock tubes on the Qinpu with a matched pair of Tung-Sol C251. Playing Jan Garbarek/Rites disc 1 and into the 6th track at the moment.

The TS is definitely a warmer tube over the stock tube. With the TS in play I gained a warmer and more defined low end and also a more fleshed out mid range. I still have detail and insight all across the spectrum and a reduction in upper frequency extension but without loss of detail. I am now listening with the grills off and with the TS tubes in the mix I think I will keep the grills off. I am still engaged into the presentation even with a reduction in upper frequency extension because there is more in the mids now. What just caught my ear right now is the decay of the upper frequency seems to be shortened over the prior stock tube. The TS is much quieter so I have darker backgrounds now.

I still have Bendix tubes to roll into the Q but will stick with the TS for the next three weeks before I give the Bendix a whirl.

[Billiam62]

LeRoy. Sounds like your tubes are quite similar to the JAN 5670's. Essentially I heard the same kind of improvement that you mentioned. I suspect your tubes though, from what I've read just add a little more of each refinement.

My Jamo C 601's are rated at 6 ohm and 86 db sensitivity. Despite this I can get more than enough sound from them at the 9 AM position on the dial with my Qinpu A3. But I would tend to agree that a speaker that has an 83 or 84 db sensitivity level is probably going to be pushing it with these amps.

While shopping for speakers is by far and away the best aspect of shopping for new audio gear, it can also be the biggest pain in the ass trying to find the best speaker for you money.

I saw the Boston Acoustic A 250 got very good reviews from the Test Freaks. I may look into that if I can find a place nearby to audition. Based upon what I have read they would be an ideal speaker for me minus the omnipolar sound. They rate even more highly than the higher priced A 360 in their study.

[mjablanc]

Hi! I want to buy online a pair of Tannoy Mercury V4 but I can't find any online dealer in the US. Shipping from UK is over 200 dollars!. Can you help me with a link to some reliable dealer in the US? Thanks!

[LeRoy]

Hi! I want to buy online a pair of Tannoy Mercury V4 but I can't find any online dealer in the US. Shipping from UK is over 200 dollars!. Can you help me with a link to some reliable dealer in the US? Thanks!

Hi, I got my TMV4's from Hi Fi Heaven. My initial shipment had one speaker that was damaged during transit. I had to do all the leg work to get the damaged speaker replaced. I had to send photo evidence of the damaged speaker via email, had to call UPS for a pick up, and had to follow up with the retailer to confirm they were aware UPS picked up the damaged speaker. Hi Fi Heaven did not have any specific individual working my case. Once I called them to confirm all the above then the replacement speaker was shipped to me. The box from the second shipment/replacement order looked like it had imploded. Again, UPS was the shipper. However, the replacement speaker was somehow undamaged.

Be sure to read the return policy before you decide you want to buy from these guys.

Tannoy Mercury V4 Floorstanding Loudspeaker

Good Luck.

[mjablanc]

Thanks! Hi Fi Heaven is Canadian, right? So I suppose there are not online dealers inside US. Still don't understand why Amazon UK sell them but not Amazon US. Wish me luck! I will tell you later if my purchase become a horror story...

[LeRoy]

Thanks! Hi Fi Heaven is Canadian, right? So I suppose there are not online dealers inside US. Still don't understand why Amazon UK sell them but not Amazon US. Wish me luck! I will tell you later if my purchase become a horror story...

Your welcome. HFH is in Green Bay,WI. Best of luck.

[mjablanc]

Oh! Wisconsin! Great! Thanks a lot!