I'll NEVER Buy Tannoy After This | Hifi Audio | Audiophile Speakers 

* * * May 2024 UPDATE * * * Just when you think it quites down, another Tannoy dealer comes along and tries to stir it all back up again: facebook.com/MichaelsHiFiAdventures/posts/pfbid02iBgCk39MyFYkvasMxBGjxXoDRumLLmAMMHTMttDBL7TwYwus6ehWgDQSPkbCDWYUl

First job I had was at Tannoy in Coatbridge, Scotland. The first time I heard music played through a Tannoy speaker was life changing and gave me a whole new love of music. It's disgraceful that the board of directors of Tannoy sold out and effectively sold Tannoy down the river. Some companies are part of the fabric of being British and Tannoy was one of those companies. Now it's just another example of a company where a few shameless people who only care about lining their own pockets decided to dissolve a once great national institution. Shame on them! PS. It breaks my heart to say this but I will never buy a Tannoy product!

* * Looks like the distributor who called me a liar with his post on my video (@rhythm-craig) has since come back and deleted it. No worries, I was sure to take a screenshot of what he posted. The behavior by several parties after I posted my video has been quite eye-opening and very disappointing. * *

I am |Scottish, the Coatbridge factory is 4 miles from my house, I used to do work for Tannoy, my heart broke when I seen all their machinery being sold at auction

The problem, as I see it, is that the majority of people in this present generation only listen to music with ear buds from a smartphone. no matter how expencive your ear buds, you're still listening to music coming from inside your head with absolutely no ambience or the perception of live music within a venue. That is what is killing the hifi industry. I can feel your frustration Peace!!!

* * * * MAJOR UPDATE - 12.8.23 * * * * : FYI - In the interest of full disclosure, I had to delete and block this person (@angiebryan6363) as I woke up to threats, slander and false accusations from her calling me racist and worse. She posted multiple times full of profanity and hate. In checking out her Facebook account if was full of hate and threats to others as well as well as government officials. I just found out WHO she is really good friends with by TWO sources with direct knowledge and how she is likely shilling for them since they refuse to talk to us themselves. Sad when distributors need to resort to that behavior because they want to hide behind others, and VERY disturbing when they align themselves with such people for the world to see. Note to this distributor (you know who you are) - since she is working with/for you/at your behest in this regard, I will be forced to do a video expose highlighting your relationship with her and what she espouses in regards to devil worshiping, her posted image of burning down her previous employer, and more if she continues this. Call off your attack dog and act professionally. NOTE: She is NOT currently affiliated with Upscale Audio or Harmonia Distribution. We know who she is affiliated with and they will be held accountable if they and she continue with this. * * * AND TO BE CLEAR - I am not affiliated with, nor have I worked with ANY dealer, distributor or ANYONE in the audio industry in ANY WAY prior to making this video. NO ONE had any idea I was making this video. Of course that has since changed as many relevant people whom I have NEVER spoken with reached out to me AFTER the video went public. Any statement to the contrary is demonstrably false. Of course this is an inconvenient fact for those trying to silence me * * *

Fyne Audio is the old Tannoy we all used to know and love, stick with them.......the Tannoy Brand is just that, its just a Brand now, never has such a great company been ruined by soo few! Tannoy are still in Scotland, Hamilton I believe. More of an assembly plant/logistics I think.

I am a brit with Two pairs of Tannoys which I love to bits. In UK the word Tannoy is used to describe any public address system - from Railway stations to sporting events so is (or was that was) a household name over here. I am gutted that the 90 years of British heritage is being ditched in favour of some Accountants drive to save a couple of pounds (Euros or Dollars) without considering the consequences - How can a Tannoy Westminster Gold reference pair of speakers bear the Royal warrant - I guess that will go along with the creditability of the whole British audio Design and build element - it will end up a badge engineering scheme to put mediocre components into a cheap housing and hope the Tannoy name will still generate sales. This is where cut throat business fails to grasp the importance of the britishness of the product and the need to keep British design and innovation in the mix to keep the brand alive and loved. I have heard that high end cabinets are to be hand built in Belgium. I cannot spend thousands or tens of thousands on a pair of speakers - my Tannoy's are entry level floor standers (Revolution XT6F) but they have the Tannoy definitive driver the "Dual Concentric" - In their move away from UK they have stopped the very nice Revolution and replaced with the Platinum range - no Dual Concentric Tannoy drivers but stock tweeter of some design and manufacture - maybe to Tannoy design but how long before generic Chinese mass market drivers at say a $12 price point find their way in? By keeping some guy in Birmingham UK as a designer for some elements they will use this to say designed in UK - when they only design the clips on the dust covers or font for the wording on the case. Am going to go and cry into my Cider now - just glad I got my speakers while there was still some dignity and Britishness in the brand name and product.

@rhythm-craig - You are still welcome to comment beyond your original posted response on this video. Please feel free to reach out to me. The previous distributor - whom I have never met or dealt with in any capacity - did reach out to me after I posted this video to share with me their take on all this. I welcome the ability to chat with you as well to be fair. Thank you.

I owned Tannoy Reveal studio monitors, back when their North American Head Office was 1/2 hour away in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Now it's gone and there isn't even a service centre in Canada according to their web site. No more Tannoy for me!

I absolutely agree with you. They have to be completely honest about where their speakers are manufactured or they deserve to lose their potential customers..

My Westminsters are from 2014, were built in Scotland, and are incredible.

I am a LS 3/5a monitor afficianado. But I do own a pair of Tannoy System 1200 monitors, on which I upgraded the crossovers with better parts. They have only a few hours on them, practically NOS. They sound amazing with appropriate ampflification. Hopefully I will have some bigger space for them in the future. 🤩 Sad what happened to Tannoy.

few years ago i bought tannoy eclipse one, entry model for 100 euros. with sansui amp from 1969, they sound awesome, silky highs, very coherent sound. bass is not deep, however in small room - it is.

I have a pair of Tannoy DC2000,I got them really cheap! The tweeter is impossible to be disassembled,because of the aluminium alloy forged around the magnet. Shame. I have a friend with a machine to do it,but you can't get replacement parts. I bought another pair that I tweaked withy new cables and box modification,now they sound awsome!

I see folks comment about Tannoy as if they truly own the company or stakeholder of the company. No they're not. Tannoy press releases are just what the company wants the consumer to know. What they don't tell is up to them.

The "Tannoy Speakers" group run by Keung on Facebook blocked me and kicked me out of their Facebook group after I posted my video. Makes you wonder what they are trying to hide.

Tannoy is to UK what Klipsch is to USA. Once Tannoy got bought out by the Manila based Music Tribe we all knew it was inevitable for them to integrate parts from their Asian suppliers. It's still excellent quality but the purity of heritage is skewed as the high end Tannoys are now Euro cabinets with Chinese drivers. I'll admit they sound excellent but at this premium price point and legacy, it really does muddy the value proposition if they are not discounting the speakers with 'cheaper' parts. At least Wharfedale admits to having Chinese manufacturing but they price fairly such as Chinese Lintons being much cheaper than American KLH Model 5s. Like you said, just be honest.

Own 3 sets of vintage Mark I Tannoy HPD's 10, 12 and 15 inch (Eaton, Cheviot and Berkeley) driven by four 300B tube amps and a Bryston3B, sounds brilliant for its 40 years of age. I have heard from friends with a professional background in acoustics that those were the last series that sounded good. Everything after those was not matching up the sound quality. Only older generations blacks and silvers sound more musical than the HPD.

I too was almost ready to spend $20,000 on a pair of Tannoys but started hearing the whispers/rumblings that you mention. I went in another direction as well. It took a long time for me to save that much for speakers and I'm not ready to "bet" that money on a hope.

My first loudspeakers were tannoy M3. My understanding of Tannoy was their high end loudspeakers were made in London then they were made in Coatbridge, Scotland and their cheaper loudspeakers were made in China. Like Fyne loudspeakers. Personally I think making high end speakers here is a selling plus as the castle does it now as does mission. Btw I believe there is a company in the UK that manufactures cabinets for loudspeaker companies like Herberth and most of the UK made loudspeakers so maybe they make tannoy cabinet although i did hear too that they closed the scotland factory. I think it is properly now just a name like IAG did with many uk loudspeaker brands although Quad and mission and castle does do uk manufacturing now. I actually have a pair of castle seven 2. Made when Castle acoustics were a British company.

Many years ago, England was the jewel of speakers, preamps and amps, with QUAD, Celestion, KEF, Monitor Audio, Leak-Wharfedale, and so many great brands. Unfortunately, an economic shift made them taken by a Hong-Kong group, and the Wharfies went to China to benefit cheap labor, as many do today. Does the average customer benefit any advantages from this ? I dunno. Today choosing a good DAC is a difficult task, because so many brands compete. Would you pay over 325K dollars for a pair of speakers ? No me fo' sure.

The problem is that the thumbnail was not clickbait? Perhaps, Tannoy qualities are (were) optimized for Scottish ears. Even they are (were) pretty much aligned to British (at large) ears, too. Now, sadly, it seems that fine-tune is diluted. What is next? Scottish whisky made in Sri Lanka? Loch Ness monster converted into an Oriental Dragon?

I think Hegal had a similar issue. I agree that consumers deserve transparency, and i would insist on it myself.

I purchased a little over a year ago tannoy mini autograph gr. It says on mine that they are made in Poland. It would be appropriate on the part of tannoy to make it clear of where actually not only the assembly work is done but also where the drivers are produced. the price that also for the smallest is not exactly low, more transparency to the customer would be appropriate. I would point out that before I got my speakers it was really many months since I ordered them. We are talking about almost a year. exasperated by this situation I had contacted both the distributor and Music tribe . I also asked to Music tribe where the speakers were made and I was told that manufacturing had been moved to Sweden from Great Britain. The fact is that instead in the speakers that arrived to me after a long time the words Made in Poland were marked on them. I have proof of everything I am stating if you are interested. They are excellent speakers with a splendid sound for sure and worth the price I paid for them, however having waited so long for them and the lack of clarity on the part of Music tribe's customer service did not leave me with a good impression of customer handling

Have you reached out to Upscale Audio (KD) US distribution for Tannoy for clarification or any updates?

What about the old ones? I have Eatons from 1975 still with the rubber suspensions in great shape. And they sing nicely.

Tannoy died when it was sold off. Any Tannoy sold afterwards was just old stock. I quickly realised this back in 2018 when I tried to simply get some replacement wax for my Canterburys. It was not possible unless you wants it in 5 ltr conainers. Fyne Audio was ceated from their ashes.

This is the issue with many reputable brands of other products as well. When an investment company takes over the company, it is usually going to look for higher profit and ease of operation in the shorter term possibly. They are money Mangers, but not industrialists who love to see a good product being made in the end. This is the norm practice unless the investor agreed to be a non active partner which is very unlikely. The world has become much more capitalised in many areas than before. The rich became richer and have influence in many ways in our life.

Love the video. Very well done!

A lot of the big tannoy talent is now at Fyne, and their Vintage series is obviously an intentional dig to what Music Tribe have done to Tannoy. Like you, I’m not against Chinese manufacturing in any way, my speakers are designed in Norway but made in china. But my budget is far far lower than the tannoy prices. I fully agree, the reason they’re being so closeted is because production costs have been hugely reduced moving to china, yet they’re blindsiding unexpecting customers to still pay the premium raising profits for the company. They’ve lost sight of all out quality and satisfaction for the customer and purely focussing on profits, unquestionably quality will further reduce as time goes on.

That would be very sad, if a company like Tannoy with Tannoy’s heritage of beautiful speakers that have such an excellent history. I have owned a pair of TW Tannoy Westminsters for over 20 years and since have bought and sold many top brand expensive speakers, non have given me the musical pleasure of listening to music like my original purchase of my Westminsters. I am 65 now and it will be a very sad day when I have to sell them to move into a smaller place for retirement.

I bought a pair of Legacy Eaton 6 months ago. Has a union flag on the back and says designed and manufactured in the UK. I guess they could have been at the dealers for 7 years but unlikely. As for the latest stuff, it may well be made in China - and In have no issue with that but yes the company should state where things are manufactured.

The best things made in Britain today are made in a shed, big brands are to be avoided they will always use the cheapest components.

TANNOY is not a household name. They never advertised enough to earn that kind of recognition. However, they built the finest, most accurate loudspeakers since the fifties on. Fyne Audio was the right purchase decision. TANNOY is extinct. They are a buried brand name. It’s tragic. You have spoken the truth.

Listening to you on my Fynes...

Aparently they are made in China . I have just found this online 30 Sept 2022 - After this last acquisition, the new owners announced that Tannoy production would be moved from Scotland to China and the Scottish factory

Any company that shifts production from where they are famous for producing their product is creating a recipe for its own demise, unless they can justify it for quality improvement reasons.

There's some very good reasons why vintage Tannoy speakers are held in such high regards, and they're nothing to do with the bland squawking rubbish they're churning out now. Ok, Westminster's excerpted. Kef is now the new Tannoy.

Spot on!

From What Hi-Fi dated May 2016.... "The news that Tannoy’s parent company, Music Group, plans to close the company’s factory in Coatbridge, Scotland, and move production to a new facility in Zhongshan, China, is the latest blow to hi-fi manufacturing in the UK. 70 employees are likely to lose their jobs and marketing activities will be moved to Music Group’s Innovation Centre in Manchester." www.whathifi.com/features/tannoy-after-90-years-what-does-future-hold

Im in no way claiming nor saying that it smells of "Beheringer City"... Im just sniffing the air... 🤷🤷🤷 Who knows... 🤗

They are too expensive. For $2k you get two tiny nick nack replicas of the large Tannoys. It is not even close to reality.

Tannoy is the speaker brand that got me into HiFi. I have a pretty vivid memory of believing that my 10" Cerwin Vega speakers were awesome and then having my mind blown upon hearing the Tannoy's. I feel that I'm still chasing that sound. I hope they get it together and keep carrying on the amazing sound.

Looks like the US distributor - who posted a gaslighting comment here before deleting it (I have a screen shot of it), is now going at it over on the What Hi-Fi forum. He admitted to NOT WATCHING my video before he called me dishonest. forums.whathifi.com/threads/tannoy-stirling-iii-lz-special-edition.131446/

iM AGREE 100% WITH YOU

Not surprising really, most once respected UK brands are now owned by foreign businesses or the brand names licensed out playing on the 'British tradition' to make sales.

Great that you are punching a company which is not honest in communication, or disconnects customers from contacting in times of problems. Recently my THX ONyx DAC broke , and I could not even manage where to send for repair or replacement. Even the press manager did not reply , but lots of bullshit about " We care about our customers" was sent to me. I am not so sure if I share your opinion in insisting about production in Europe. China has shown to be able producing fabulous products , from iPhones to Eversolo, and more. But sound design is a cultural thing, so design needs to be in UK for speakers, or Germany if you prefer the brighter side of sound.

I've got a Tannoy studio monitor 10" sub with a built in 300 watt amp. Cost me about $450 bucks, and i Love it. Accurate true response, and the little bastard rattles my whole house!

Welcome to the world of Uli Behringer, the owner of Music Tribe and Behringer. People in the music production world have been dealing with his nonsense for years. Behringer, the company (Music Tribe's main subsidiary and Uli's namesake) is known for knockoff products of music gadgets from other famous manufacturers. Uli has created a "city" sized production facility in China, and the whole idea is to centralize manufacturing. One would be deluded to think they will open satellite factories anywhere else.

This is a severe topic; imagine if a High-end company (Genelec From Finland) started buzzing, they were cutting costs, and moving some of their production to China would be the demise of a great company and its world-class product. I hope Tannoy is transparent in their Scottland prestigious quality build, as I want to purchase a pair of the small Tannoy Autograph Mini Loudspeaker!

The King is dead (Tannoy) God save de new King (Dyne Audio)

Agreed

Enlightening! Thanks for sharing, and looking forward to your thoughts on the Fyne speakers.

I have the F704 speakers and I'm looking forward to your review

I own a pair of Tannoy M3 Mercury speakers that are make in Scotland that I like. However I would never buy a new and more expensive Tannnoy product made in China after they shafted their UK employees. Also the resale value of chines made Tannoy products will be crap.

Fyne audio are what Tannoy should/could be.

Isn't Fyne the new Tannoy ?

It's sad how the modern world gobbles up and destroys our inherent sentimental values, at the cost of globalization. As they say, all things must pass! It appears you have the next generation of Tannoy, just under a different branding, not made where the best whisky can only be made! Because of regulations. Lol

What happened with the new importer calling you dishonest? He still didn't answer you? Did he contact you? He wanted you to reach out to Tannoy, right? He said "As the new distrbutor for Tannoy in North America, I'm wondering why you didn't reach out to Tannoy for your investigation? ". Well I'm sure they know about this. Did they reach out to you?

They want to make it with cheaper labor and sell it for the same high price!!

Understand they are coming out with new SGM...? Have old Tannoy SGM12x, they sound great. Just had them serviced.

I watched your video a couple of days ago, so I will comment from memory. I believe you said Tannoy hides the fact that they are no longer manufacturing their speakers in England and you have a suspicion they may be made in China. The Stereophile magazine, vol.45 no. 10 (October 2022) page 151 actually wrote an entire page on this. Tannoy was taken over back in 2002 by a Denmark company TC Electronics, renamed TC Group. In 2016 TC Group is acquired by Music Group, Philippines based, renamed later to Music Tribe. That is when Tannoy announced their production would move from Scotland to China, closing the Scottish factory - that made key personnel leave the company and major controversy surrounding this. After, Music Group said they would continue to produce in Scotland in a new facility. The old facility was destined to become a housing development. The article finishes by mentioning: “These speakers, specifically the classic, wood-body Tannoys, the Cantebury, Westminster …” “There is a Factory in Scotland - said Kevin Deal of Upscale Distribution, Tannoys US Distributor” “The cabinets are made in Poland in a furniture factory” “Tannoy cabinets, drivers and crossovers are handmade” “each speaker has a sticker reading: Designed, Engineered and manufactured in the United Kingdom”. Given the article is from 2022 maybe something has changed since then.

Actually Tannoy has not moved forward in 20 years and just cannot hold up at their price points. I want them to survive as well but moving their manufacturing operations solely to China while America and many other nations are waking up to the manufacturing issues associated with depending on China for so many products already, is very short sighted indeed.

There is nothing ashamed about moving production plant outside Scotland. However current Tannoy company owner put so much emphasis on their top end Prestige series product as a legendary UK heritage production, consumer absolutely has the right to know if their product is still made in Scotland or not. A Rolex assembled by Asian artisans in Switzerland is totally different from same watch that is assembled in Asia with Rolex QC.

Is Tannoy available in India 🇮🇳?

Hi, I got some news, better to say I found out something interesting. Please take at alook at the back label-tag of the Tannoy, sterling gr and Turnberry Gr. I think it is fine as well for higher spaekers. There are two tags basically: one with the UK flag and written designed, engineered and manufactured in United Kingdom and one without these. Mine Stirlings have the tag with the UK flag and they were tested at the beginning of March 2021. If you are looking for a pair of Tannoy check the tag, back labels.

My heart bleeds. I hope you're wrong or Tannoy straightens it up

I’ve purchased the Tannoy Eaton….2017/2018 I believe they came directly from the manufacturer….What’s your thoughts

Why not caring where the cabinet is made, it's usually the biggest cost in a speaker. If a cabinet is made in China, I want to pay less

Sounds like they’ve gone “woke”. Speakers could be made by underserved youths at this point! If it was good news; they’d tell us.

Transparency

If meemory serrves me right tannoy were bought out by marantz . Many years ago A friendd of mine had a pair f tannoy balmoral speakers and was told this when he wanted to replace the drive units

Unfortunately, both Fine Audio F502 and Tannoy Revolution XT 8f are almost identical...find please their cross section and see by your self. My friend returned to the shop that Tannoy model, course he discovered low quality isues at one piece inside. Outside they looked fine. Best Regards.

They don't sound anymore!

Are they owned by China investors already ?

slave labor is popular these days. tha5 would explain it.

GM☕️ I was at the Toronto Audiofest a few weeks ago ..and the demonstration..was impressive..IMHO . Now the source chain was first rate ..and the big speakers were great . The little bookshelf version of the big speakers they were also demonstrating..not so much . I guess the listening is believing.

your missing out in your only interested in stuff that has been around for a while. The Boutique stuff or even some of the well known kits out there can out do many many higher end stuff for a fraction of the price.

it's a shame...

👍🌺

Just don’t buy there 💩

6:00 Per-so?-na not per-saw-na

Tannoy isn't the only company to be made in china, What about bower and Wilkins? ... Kef, Wharfdale, ect ... Along with some American companies to JBL ect....