Upgrading from Canterbury SE to GR

[mulveling]

Thanks guys!! And girls if you're out there, but probably not, lol...

Originally Posted by Rojet2015

Congratulations Mike. I enjoy modern design but Tannoy seems timeless.

What size is your room?

Would love to hear these speakers.

It's an odd, old one-off loft apartment. There are no other residential neighbors on this block, and everyone else goes home at night, so I have no fear of noise complaints (catch me cranking my system from midnight to 4:00 AM). It's on the 2nd floor, but in a 100 year-old commercial building with very solid construction -- brick & plaster walls, stout and well-braced wood floor -- so it's got none of the acoustic nasties of a modern suspended wood-floor flimsy shoebox (I've been there and it sucks). Great physical security too! An old factory door, consisting of 2.5" thick hardwood clad in steel plate (!!) guards the only entrance from ground level. I've been here 8 years, a confirmed bachelor for life, so home ownership doesn't appeal to me.

The main room is roughly a 30'x20' overall dimension, with 10' ceilings, but my speakers "fire" down the long way of a 14'x21' section of it, with partial openings on both sides. I find the Canterbury to be an ideal size for this section; they fill the space beautifully without any hint of overwhelming in bass. Though by far, I'm mostly concerned with my sweet-spot, positioned about 9' from each speaker (it sounds awesome here, especially after the GR upgrade). By contrast, my old Kensington SE had a tough time delivering a satisfying low-end in this same space.

As far as other references, I have my computer/digital setup consisting of: Stax SR-009 electrostatic headphones, Head-amp Blue Hawaii SE amplifier, and Schiit Yggdrasil DAC fed by Audiophilleo 2 w/ PurePower (the USB input of the Yggy sucks). It's about as good as headphones get, and I've heard (or owned) nearly all of the legends. It's extremely neutral and detailed; a great reference to know so that you can instantly recognize what parts of a given speaker system are sounding out of whack. That said, it can't begin to measure up to the vividness, lifelike dynamics, impact, and soundstage of my Tannoy setup.

Here's the Blue Hawaii amp (fitted with NOS EL34, as it should be for best sound). Amazing amp, inside and out (and sonically):


A bit off topic, but I'm sure you guys know the struggle of an addict -- when your system takes a significant leap forward in performance, that's when you often get your worst cases of upgradeitis! I'm still waiting on my amp, rack and TT upgrades to arrive, and already I'm contemplating some AQ WEL Signature interconnects to upgrade my AQ Fire & Wild Blue Yonder...