Well, I may just be challenging MerRev's reign as the GAS official speaker whore.
This week as I was trolling Parts Express and Madisound for some HiEff drivers to base a new design around, I decided to surf over to eBay and look for something interesting. In my many searches I stumbled across something pretty interesting.
Hidden in the hundreds of hideously priced Tannoy drivers (and speakers) I stumbled across a pair of Tannoy Lynx, 12" DJ speakers. The price was right (actually too cheap) and as luck had it, the guy was just down in Festus of all places. It took me all of 30 seconds to ponder bidding or use the Buy It Now option (I did BIN). The next evening after work I was the proud owner of a pair of 12" Tannoys
I got them home and immediately made some speaker connectors (the use Speakons/Neutriks) so that I could give them a listen. I plugged them in in the Redrum (the only room up and running right now as the big rebuild has 6-8 weeks left).
Well honestly, they were sort of a disappointment. Even though I listened to them at the sellers place, when they made it into the room, they were muffled and the highs were rolled off (hard). Having a hunch that the 'transparent' dust cap was the culprit for the less than defined sound, I decided I wanted to do surgery.
The seller told me Lloyd re-coned these not long ago. So I call Lloyd and he remembers doing the job. He said that there wasn't any issue getting a replacement dust cap if I wanted to hack the old one off, so that's what I did this morning.
That made all the difference
With nothing more than a few minutes and an exacto knife, it breathed new life into these speakers. Imaging is considerably better, depth is increased and the detail has come out quite nicely. These still aren't my Lowthers but they are definitely a keeper.
Next up for these is to make some new enclosures. The DJ boxes don't extend much below 50Hz (but it's a solid 50). Their shape and lack of damping gives a heavy 'box' coloration. That's an easy fix though with some time spent up in the woodshop.
That and I need to upgrade the XO. After that, I'm guessing these are going to sound pretty darned sweet. For those that fid my Lowthers a bit too forward or detailed, I think you'll find these a fair bit more relaxed and easier to listen to. I'm really liking what I'm hearing so far.
When we do the event in May or early June, you'll get a chance to hear them
...and unfortunately I'm afraid the KoRnzillas have played some of their last tunes in the Redrum. As fun as they were, the Tannoys are just SO much better.
....anybody interested in exploring an affordable pair of HiEff speakers?
