Tannoy Mercury V4

Guys, ever since What HiFi did a review on these speakers I have wanted to give this pair a listen. I finally found a dealer in the USA who stocks this particular speaker and I have just about convinced myself that I "need" them.

Have any of you guys ever had an opportunity to listen to the TMV4's and if you did what was your opinion of them?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Just placed an order for a pair of TMV4 in Dark Walnut finish. $711/pr is the final price and includes freebie ground shipping. Check out this YT video.

Tannoy Mercury V4 Floor Standing Loudspeakers, Dark Walnut Finish - YouTube

Very nice. Post a review when you have had a chance to break them in.

Congrats LeRoy! I have a buddy who has a set of Tannoy Precision 4's.

Thanks guys. I will let you know what's up with the TMV4's once I put them into action.

I'll be interested to hear the results as well now that I am still in the market for another pair of speakers. I don't know anyone that has ever owned Tannoy brand speakers.

Congrats x 2 LeRoy

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Originally Posted by frenchmon

Congrats LeRoy! I have a buddy who has a set of Tannoy Precision 4's.

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I've never heard the Precisions or the Mercury's before I had the opportunity to borrow a friend's Tannoy D500's for a couple weeks and was impressed. I especially liked the build quality of the cabinets.

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Originally Posted by TheHills44060

Congrats x 2 LeRoy

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Thanks. I am quite excited about the purchase and the speakers are scheduled for delivery tomorrow.

The last time I heard a Tannoy speaker was way back in the early 90's. Back in that era there used to be an audio dealer in town with 3 or 4 Tannoy models but I was never swayed by the sound of the Tannoy back then.

Based on what I think I understood about the review on What HiFi and what I read on the tech specs of the TMV4's...I think I made the right choice. I'll know more about that decision on Saturday..

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Originally Posted by Billiam62

I'll be interested to hear the results as well now that I am still in the market for another pair of speakers. I don't know anyone that has ever owned Tannoy brand speakers.

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I will post my initial impressions once I get em into play. I thought you had settled on a omni directional speaker as best as I can recall?

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Originally Posted by LeRoy

I will post my initial impressions once I get em into play. I thought you had settled on a omni directional speaker as best as I can recall?

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Yes, I'd prefer such a speaker but due to the size of the room where I will be using speakers, according to the speaker sizing feature on the Ohm website, my nearly 2,000 cubic foot room would require speakers that will cost close to 3 grand. And when I spoke to someone at the company he didn't think the entry level Walsh Tower would work adequately in that size room. Even if I just purchased the next model up it would cost around 2 grand. Since I just bought a house that needs a little work, I can't spend that kind of money on speakers.

Unless someone knows of an Omni Polar speaker manufacturer that has products that resemble either Ohm or Mirage and won't cost a lot, I have to change my focus to find something that has most of the attributes of these speakers minus the omni polar presence.

The Tannoy's arrived today, however, UPS really mishandled one of the speakers.
There is a major gash and also a large puncture wound on the box 1 of 2.
This resulted in penetrating into the box and causing a puncture wound
on the front grill and a gash on the aluminum ring that surrounds the upper driver.
In fact, it was hit with such force that the ring is dangling off the front of the speaker. I can see no other damage to this point on the exterior of the speaker.

The second box I have yet to open and am hesitant to do so. There are a couple of small gashes on the box and numerous ding marks all around.

So far off to a rough start.

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Originally Posted by Billiam62

Yes, I'd prefer such a speaker but due to the size of the room where I will be using speakers, according to the speaker sizing feature on the Ohm website, my nearly 2,000 cubic foot room would require speakers that will cost close to 3 grand. And when I spoke to someone at the company he didn't think the entry level Walsh Tower would work adequately in that size room. Even if I just purchased the next model up it would cost around 2 grand. Since I just bought a house that needs a little work, I can't spend that kind of money on speakers.

Unless someone knows of an Omni Polar speaker manufacturer that has products that resemble either Ohm or Mirage and won't cost a lot, I have to change my focus to find something that has most of the attributes of these speakers minus the omni polar presence.

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I went on their site to see how they figure how much speaker you need and I am not sure I agree. I entered only my living room and it was 1440 cubic feet and of course it is open to the dining area so I could [probably have the same cubic feet as you. All my speakers fill my space easily but none are Omni's. I have a pair of JBL Studio 530's with a small mid/woofer, another pair of standmount speakers my Mobile Fidelity OML 1's and the big boys the Monitor Audio RS6's. All fill the room nicely with sound and when I get carried away complaints from neighbors.

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Originally Posted by LeRoy

The Tannoy's arrived today, however, UPS really mishandled one of the speakers.
There is a major gash and also a large puncture wound on the box 1 of 2.
This resulted in penetrating into the box and causing a puncture wound
on the front grill and a gash on the aluminum ring that surrounds the upper driver.
In fact, it was hit with such force that the ring is dangling off the front of the speaker. I can see no other damage to this point on the exterior of the speaker.

The second box I have yet to open and am hesitant to do so. There are a couple of small gashes on the box and numerous ding marks all around.

So far off to a rough start.

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I would file a complaint and while waiting on a UPS return label I would give them a listen to hear if they are really what you want. After all you would have to open them to inspect the damage.

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Originally Posted by LeRoy

The Tannoy's arrived today, however, UPS really mishandled one of the speakers.
There is a major gash and also a large puncture wound on the box 1 of 2.
This resulted in penetrating into the box and causing a puncture wound
on the front grill and a gash on the aluminum ring that surrounds the upper driver.
In fact, it was hit with such force that the ring is dangling off the front of the speaker. I can see no other damage to this point on the exterior of the speaker.

The second box I have yet to open and am hesitant to do so. There are a couple of small gashes on the box and numerous ding marks all around.

So far off to a rough start.

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A real shame. Too bad you didn't refuse then upon arrival. Make sure that the boxes are fully intact when you make your next purchase. Refuse them if they are damaged.

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Originally Posted by JohnMichael

I went on their site to see how they figure how much speaker you need and I am not sure I agree. I entered only my living room and it was 1440 cubic feet and of course it is open to the dining area so I could [probably have the same cubic feet as you. All my speakers fill my space easily but none are Omni's. I have a pair of JBL Studio 530's with a small mid/woofer, another pair of standmount speakers my Mobile Fidelity OML 1's and the big boys the Monitor Audio RS6's. All fill the room nicely with sound and when I get carried away complaints from neighbors.

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The room where I will be putting my new speakers is 14 by 14 with a 10 foot ceiling. Medium size but a lot of cubic feet.

Those JBL's you've been raving about seem to be quite popular with anyone that owns them. Wish I could give them a listen at a dealer to see if I'd like them.

I was at work when they arrived. I had my father sign for the delivery but he did not notice the damages until he got them inside and the UPS driver was already gone.

I did call UPS customer service but the rep said she could only file a damage report and that would initiate and investigation. The retailer that I bought them from has a 14 day return policy and once an RMA is issued I have 5 working days to get the return in their possession.

I have emailed the retailer to see how they want to handle this scenario as I don't want to be holding onto damaged goods courtesy of UPS. I did not think of asking for a return label from UPS so that's a great suggestion!

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Originally Posted by Billiam62

The room where I will be putting my new speakers is 14 by 14 with a 10 foot ceiling. Medium size but a lot of cubic feet.

Those JBL's you've been raving about seem to be quite popular with anyone that owns them. Wish I could give them a listen at a dealer to see if I'd like them.

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The Studio 570's may be just what you need. Crutchfield or JBL might have some refurbs for your price range. Crutchfield offers a 60 day trial.

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Originally Posted by Billiam62

The room where I will be putting my new speakers is 14 by 14 with a 10 foot ceiling. Medium size but a lot of cubic feet.

Those JBL's you've been raving about seem to be quite popular with anyone that owns them. Wish I could give them a listen at a dealer to see if I'd like them.

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JBL 570's from JBL are $479.95 each

Studio 570 | 150-watt, dual 5-1/4" (130mm) floorstanding loudspeaker with two classic JBL bass drivers and a horn-loaded high-frequency compression driver | JBL US

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Originally Posted by LeRoy

So far off to a rough start.

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Yeah i know it stinks but we've all been there before LeRoy. I absolutely cringe whenever i open an audio equipment box from UPS or Fedex. Totally frustrating and a pain in the a$$ but you'll be listening to those bad boys soon!

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Originally Posted by JohnMichael

JBL 570's from JBL are $479.95 each

Studio 570 | 150-watt, dual 5-1/4" (130mm) floorstanding loudspeaker with two classic JBL bass drivers and a horn-loaded high-frequency compression driver | JBL US

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Thanks for the link. I just read a few reviews about these and they are excellent. And the price is more to my liking than the Ohm towers that their speaker finder recommends.

I am going to do a test with my Jamo C 601 bookshelf speakers in that room later this month. After I hear how they fill the room (or don't) I will know if I need a tower speaker or can get by with another pair of high quality bookshelf speakers. I do need to see how that fireplace jutting out about a foot from the wall where the speakers will be located affects the image and overall sound.

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Originally Posted by TheHills44060

I especially liked the build quality of the cabinets.

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Well, the cabinet work is still great. These are small floor standers and the first floor stander I have bought since I had the PSB Imagine 4 T way back in 2002. The TMV4 are about the same height and width as the PSB 4 T's but based on memory I think the PSB's cabinets are a little deeper and heavier too.

Right now I have only one of the Tannoy's hooked up while the damaged one remains in the box and waiting for UPS to pick up the dang thing on Monday for damage investigation. I got one Tannoy to my listening left and one Dali Ikon 2 mk2 on my listening right. It's kinda strange that at the moment I can barely detect a SQ difference between the T and the D.

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Originally Posted by JohnMichael

The Studio 570's may be just what you need.

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I had actually looked into these speakers but I had to dismiss them because I needed a speaker rated at 8 ohms. My plan is to utilize the Parasound Z amp's as mono blocks but in that configuration the Z amp requires 8 ohm speakers and nothing lower or risk blowing up the amp. So, I had to dismiss everything that was not 8 Ohms. The JBL looks like one fun speaker though.

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.

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Originally Posted by frenchmon

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.

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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..

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.

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!

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.

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.

@ 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.

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Originally Posted by frenchmon

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

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Agreed! need pics...du eeet

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.

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Originally Posted by Billiam62

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.

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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.

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!

LeRoy...I was hoping I could guilty you into taking some pics...but I guess its a no no with you....oh well, I know you have them. I'm glad it worked out for you. What are you going to trade the SA-1's for? You got something in mine? They are a great speaker and a nice bottom end as I remember....I guess they may be a harder speaker to drive?

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Originally Posted by frenchmon

LeRoy...I was hoping I could guilty you into taking some pics...but I guess its a no no with you....oh well, I know you have them. I'm glad it worked out for you. What are you going to trade the SA-1's for? You got something in mine? They are a great speaker and a nice bottom end as I remember....I guess they may be a harder speaker to drive?

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Nice try Frenchmon :) Today I met with the head honcho of the local audio society group. These guys meet on a regular basis and do a lot of trading and selling to one another. I am in search of a tubed-pre but don't need a lot a bells & whistles or a big price tag either. Ya, you're memory is correct about the SA-1's. Inefficient at 84 db, great bass for such a tiny speaker, mids are especially great with female vocals, and enough of the top end to get the details but no sparkle up top. Big sound out of a tiny box though.

I also may, in due time, explore opportunities to trade or sell the R.C.M. within the same group.

I own a pair of 15" monitor dual concentric 15 mdc/15/sc type TANNOY SPEAKERS. totally amazing but need to seel.

LeRoy. How is the break in period going? Are you hearing any changes to the character of the sound now that you've had a chance to log presumably more than a couple dozen hours of listening with them?

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Originally Posted by Billiam62

LeRoy. How is the break in period going? Are you hearing any changes to the character of the sound now that you've had a chance to log presumably more than a couple dozen hours of listening with them?

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Hi B62,

Break in period is going well. I don't think the character of the sound has changed one bit. One thing I have taken notice of is the interaction of the speaker with the room. My listening room is 19 ft L x 12 ft W x 8.6ft - 7.6ft H (sloped ceiling) and the upper frequency energy can really intensify. I went ahead and put the grills on the speaker and will leave them on until I swap out a couple of connects. I also think the bass texture would be improved if I moved the speaker further away from the wall, however, I really don't have any more space to move them further into the room. Even though the speakers are small floor standers the energy they emit is probably greater than what my room can handle. Said another way, these speakers would sound better in a larger room than what I have them in.

The TMV4's really dig into inner detail. This evening I was listening to Chris Botti and the ease of which the recording nuances were easily heard was an ear opener for me. I am really enjoying the TMV4's and feel like I made the right choice for SQ and value/performance.

LeRoy. Hmmm... Now I have to wonder if this would be too much speaker for my room? While the cubic footage of your room is about the same as mine (14 x 14 with 10 foot ceiling) the shape of it is quite different.

If you believe this speaker is better suited to an even larger room, do you think I should still consider purchasing them or perhaps look at a bookshelf or another small tower from another brand? I could purchase a Concert Series Jamo for the same price or less as this Tannoy model and based upon what I am hearing from the C 601 bookshelf, they should sound fine in that size room.

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Originally Posted by Billiam62

LeRoy. Hmmm... Now I have to wonder if this would be too much speaker for my room? While the cubic footage of your room is about the same as mine (14 x 14 with 10 foot ceiling) the shape of it is quite different.

If you believe this speaker is better suited to an even larger room, do you think I should still consider purchasing them or perhaps look at a bookshelf or another small tower from another brand? I could purchase a Concert Series Jamo for the same price or less as this Tannoy model and based upon what I am hearing from the C 601 bookshelf, they should sound fine in that size room.

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Hello B62,

Well, I can only speculate that the TMV4's might be a tad too much for your room. As best as I can recall you want to pair up a new speaker purchase with possibly the Qinpu A-6000 amp, correct? If that's the plan then you need to look at speakers that are 8 ohms and easy to drive if you really want to put the amp and speaker to work. If you don't play music all that loudly then you can get by with a 6 ohm speaker but efficiency should be 86.5 db or better.

Test Freaks, Find the Most Popular Speakers - Reviews and Rankings , has review on the TMV4's (foreign review) and the reviewers preferred the Monitor Audio BX5 speaker, also 8 ohms. I have never heard the BX5 so maybe others who have can chime in here.

In my estimation, given the room dimensions, you probably would be best off with a large or medium stand mount or smaller floor stander than the TMV4-- but just make sure the speaker is efficient enough to be driven by the Q. I have also never heard any Jamo product so I can't comment one way or another on that one.

Here is a review on the Tannoy Mercury V1:
Tannoy Mercury V1 loudspeaker | Stereophile.com

One thing to really consider is where the port is. The TMV4's are ported behind the speaker. The Monitor Audio BX series have their ports in the front of the speaker so placement is not as crucial. It just so happens that the TMV1 is ported on the front.

Bronze BX | Products | Monitor Audio