Official Tannoy Owner's Thread

Well, I've yet to see an official owner's thread on this site, so damnit I'm making one. I realize that this UK brand seems to have a relatively small following here on AVS, but here's hoping it will become more well known. I recently bought new L/C/R's for my home theater in the form of the custom install Tannoy DC12i's. Previously, I was using an older set of Paradigm Focus V3's and a CC170 centre channel. Things seemed alright, but I always felt like there was room for improvement. Boy was I right. I set up my new Emotiva XPA-3 hooked up to my older Onkyo 806, then hooked up the Tannoy DC12i's and threw in the new Bourne Legacy movie.

Wow!

The crackling flames were so clear, voices were localized all over my AT screen in the right places, gunfire was super impactful - just a monumental leap in audio fidelity. Yes, these speakers are a lot more money than my old ones, but for the money I think these things are a steal.

In Canada, London Drugs (a drug store no less!) sells Tannoy speakers. Initially, I thought they must be garbage (anything new that I haven't heard of before must be garbage, right?). Anyhow, after doing some research, I realized that this brand of speaker is very highly regarded in the UK and I'm very proud that my local pharmacy carries their brand. Damn that sounds weird. At any rate, in my hometown, this "drug store" is becoming highly regarded, as they have also begun to sell new vinyl records and high quality record players - people are beginning to listen to real music again and not compressed MP3 crap.

So, in my situation for my home theater, I was unable to use floorstanders, but still wanted real punch to my front setup. I came across Cinema JBL stuff and Klipsch stuff but damn was it expensive. I chanced upon a really good deal with this Tannoy DC12i speaker and I'm really glad I did. I don't have a whole lot to compare it to, but the sound to me is absolutely phenomenal. Check them out:

http://www.tannoy.com/residentialsummary.aspx

For what it's worth, if you're Canadian like me, don't discount the Tannoy brand over the Klipsch - the Klipsch's may provide more punch, but from the reviews I've read the Tannoy's are incredibly clear and precise. You can often find some stellar deals at the store as well. Keep your eyes out. If I hadn't found such a deal on the custom install line, I would have gone for the Tannoy Saturn bookshelves. They look fantastic.

Any Tannoy owners care to share their thoughts?

I bought mine from hifiheaven. They have the really high end stuff, although the definition series, as stated above is really quite a deal considering what you get. I'm pretty confident that they are the last HT speakers I'm ever going to buy. I got absolutely soaked by shipping and brokerage fees, but it was still worth it. For the lower end (but still great) stuff, maybe you need to buy from Canada (London Drugs)? Wow, now that sounds weird saying that.

I didn't see the Tannoy owners thread, although I did search for it. At any rate, this thread is "official", says me.
Edited by blastermaster - 12/15/12 at 5:17pm

I watched the Bourne Legacy last night with my wife. There was a scene where a missile comes right at the screen. She jumped out of her seat! Seriously, for what they cost, they are a bargain. I went to the Reference level speaker thread and the DC12i's are right up there and scored well. FWIW, hifiheaven is selling 3 of them and two fat subs (display models) for a ridiculous price. I bought their display models (3 for the price of one) and they shipped all the way across the US and up into Canada in arrived in perfect shape. In fact, I think one of them was brand new, as the speaker plugs still had the plastic in them where the banana plugs would go. I would tell my friends to jump on the deal, but none of them are as into it as I am.

Anyway, it's great to see there's some life in this thread. I'm hoping that there are some of us from Canada who have realized that Tannoy makes some great speakers and will go out and buy some and post their thoughts.