Tannoy Mercury V4

[LeRoy]

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.

[LeRoy]

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

[blackraven]

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

[frenchmon]

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

[LeRoy]

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

[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.

[TheHills44060]

Congrats x 2 LeRoy

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

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.

[LeRoy]

Congrats x 2 LeRoy

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..

[LeRoy]

I especially liked the build quality of the cabinets.

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.

[mikeyn76]

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

[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?

[LeRoy]

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?

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.

[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.

[LeRoy]

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.

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