Tannoy Revolution XT 6F

Tannoy as a brand and company have been around for a long time. When I say a long time I mean since 1920 long time. I personally don’t even know of an audio company older than Tannoy. McIntosh started selling their first amplifier, the 50W1, in 1949. Maybe Audak comes close as a manufacturer of “listening stations” in 1924. [radiomuseum.org] Even the name Tannoy which is an amalgamation of the names of the materials used in the manufacturing of the companies rectifiers (Tantalum/Lead Alloy) has been around since 1928.

Tannoy are really known for their public address systems. In fact they became so well known for this that the English Oxford dictionary added the term “Tannoy” as a verb! ‘The news was tannoyed one afternoon’. So what I’m saying is they have been doing this for a long time. You would think that a company that has been around for almost 100 years and being known for making loudspeakers would probably make pretty good ones. And if you’re thinking “yeah, they probably do”, you would be right.

The speakers are wonderfully finished in either Dark Walnut or Medium Oak. My samples were of the Dark Walnut variety. They are sleek and modern looking, if you are tired of looking regular rectangular boxes. The Tannoys are trapezoidal in shape to allow for a stiffer chassis to minimize vibration. The fit and finish is top notch with their name inscribed on the fastener heads. All in all, a very handsome set of loudspeakers. They are ported in the bottom with an integrated plinth. They are constructed as a double bass reflex speaker with two tuned cavities that meet at the bottom of the speaker to force the LF energy out to the front towards the listener to allow for a set up closer to the back wall.

But What About The Music?

As my album of choice starts playing it’s obvious that these speakers want to be heard. In the hifi realm speakers are generally designed for a specific type of music more than to excel for all types of music, but that’s not the case with these Tannoys. I couldn’t find anything to trip them up. From classical to EDM to heavy metal to pop, it was impossible to trip up these speakers from a timing perspective. They were that good. And while we are at it let me explain something else these speakers excel at — imaging. I don’t think I have ever heard a speaker image this well. They even image better than my ProAcs, which is saying something! There is also really good detail to be had with these. And they have zero problems getting really loud. I can just imagine a young rocker wanting to annoy the neighbors, these speakers can do it. After all, a lot of the reason that these speakers have such a great sense of timing and imaging comes down to Tannoy’s greatest claim to fame — the dual concentric driver.

Tannoy invented the dual concentric driver in 1947 and have been perfecting it ever since. They are fantastic for point source, timing, and phase alignment, and they do it well.

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I Want More Music!

On Porcupine Tree, Fear of a Blank Planet (Fear of a Blank Planet) you can almost visualize how Steven Wilson is picking the acoustic guitar during the intro. The mids on this song are detailed and smooth, just the way you want it. On Anesthetize the timing between the instruments is impeccable.  You can’t trip these speakers up even when the song gets complicated. Move over to Steely Dan, Aja (Aja) and you can hear all the fantastic production work that Donald Fagen gives to all his albums. Everything with the song is crisp, precise and laid bare for your musical enjoyment. The highs thrown out with just the right measure. Josie off the same album is impeccable. Top to bottom detailed. Listening to Massive Attack, Mezzanine (Angel) shows just how controlled the reproduced bass is for the Tannoy’s. Taught and natural sounding, At 38 Hz at -6db you’re not going to be rumbled out of your chair by any stretch of the imagination. But what bass you are getting has a great sense of timing and rhythm.

Perfectly Perfect?

So at this point you have to be thinking “wow I gotta get me those speakers!”, and you wouldn’t be wrong, except it’s not all peaches and creme with these bad boys. In my opinion, the Tannoy’s need careful partnering. My reference amp felt like it ran out of headroom pretty quickly. After all they have a sensitivity of 90db and don’t need much to get going.

However when trying to get the volume just that little bit louder is when I felt that the highs were getting a bit brittle for my taste. Once this occurs, a lot of the really good balance exhibited earlier in these speakers tips over to the too-bright stage and screws up the whole Feng Shui that these speakers are capable of. This got me to thinking. My turntable sounded the best out of all the media choices I had when reviewing these speakers. If you were to, say, run vinyl with these and couple them with a middle-of-the-road tube amp I don’t think you would ever come up for air.

They have the potential to be that good. I definitely think they need to be paired with something a tad warmer than my Parasound which is almost dead neutral as far as musical color goes.

Final Thoughts

Everytime I put these Tannoys in line I am immediately struck by how cohesive the image is and what pinpoint accurate imaging these speakers have. They are rebellious hellions that will move your music with urgency and drive and a lot of control. With these speakers you will hear what was recorded, make no mistake. I would probably describe them as analytical and slightly aggressive. For me they ended up being a bit too much up top, but find the right amplifier and ears that yearn for maximum detail and you’ll be very pleases indeed. You get a lot of speaker for your dollar.

Specifications

Reference Equipment