Tannoy

The Tannoy 15 DMT II are a set of high quality studio monitors, designed for uses of all types. I've only had the pleasure of listening and mixing on these monitors a few times, but even from just these few times I can tell these are simply a superb set of monitors. They are pretty big monitors, and weigh a ton, so they are definitely best suited in a stationary studio. They aren't active monitors, so they will require an external power amplifier, and one with a good amount of wattage as these do require a lot of power. I'm unsure of what type of power amp I used with these, as it was in a recording studio that I wasn't as familiar with. SOUNDS I haven't used too many other studio monitors out there that deliver as full of a sound as the Tannoy 15 DMT II. They cover every frequency that you need to hear for mixing, especially producing a wide low end response. However, just because they have a good amount of bass response does not mean that they skimp on the mid or high end, as across the board the sound comes in crystal clear and true to the original signal. I felt extremely comfortable mixing on the 15 DMT II's as I knew that my mixes would translate well since you're always hearing it right the first time with these monitors. These monitors can also really crank loud, but I tried to keep them in check to make sure that I wasn't getting an unrealistically good sound. OVERALL OPINION The Tannoy 15 DMT II are undoubtedly designed for professional engineers and studio owners. I don't think that you'll find them in too many home studios, as they are expensive and extremely large! I'm not saying that I wouldn't recommend them to everyone, it just seems like they are more realistically suited for professionals. I can't say enough about the realistic quality that you get with the 15 DMT II's. A lot monitors will give you an awesome sound in the studio, and then when you go back and listen at home, the mix sounds awful. This is not the case with the Tannoy 15 DMT II, and for this reason I'd highly recommend them as a go to pair of near/mid field monitors for your professional recording studio.

Note: Images attached are my old "semi-treated" studio (B) and new "semi-treated" studio (A) room measurement scans with my Tannoy Reveal 601a studio monitors. I've owned my Tannoy Reveal 601a studio monitors for about 7 years now and have been writing my own mostly electronic music for around 15 years. They produce a good amount of low end and you really do not need a sub woofer with these speakers as they produce enough low end where it is needed to write solid kick and basslines. They do however seem to produce a annoying frequency bump around 120hz and they also accentuate the higher frequencies above 10khz. Great for music playback, enjoying a movie, YouTube or gaming! Beginner and even some experienced producers may find their mixes will come out sounding a bit dull and will struggle to tame the low end. The +/- 1.5db dip switch on the back mitigates the dullness issue to some extent. However.... If you run a software such as Sonarworks, Room EQ Wizard or other such software in conjunction with these speakers, this will flatten the issues with the frequency response of these speakers and turn them into a serious mixing tool even advanced producers could work with. <note> I'm not intentionally trying to plug a 3rd party software, just being honest and helping others get the best out of these speakers. Bottom line: Setting up even a basic home music studio with no certainty/desire for it to ever become more than a hobby can be a very expensive exercise. Some of us don't have the big bucks to spend on high end gear but that doesn't mean we don't want to make half decent sounding, well mixed music even just for fun. From my experience, these speakers absolutely have the ability to create great sounding, well mixed music particularly when used in conjunction with a frequency curve flattening software as mentioned above and of course at least some basic room treatment. They're very affordable and will serve you well on your musical journey!

The Tannoy System 8's are a pair of monitors designed for use in the recording studio. They are indeed passive monitors, so they require an external power amplifier. I've used these monitors for monitoring during the tracking of a full band. Since this was only the second time that I had been to the studio I used them at, I'm not sure what type of amplifier we were using in tandem with the System 8s. The monitors are fairly large, but not nearly as large other Tannoy monitors that I've used before. Although I haven't used them for any other purposes other than monitoring during recording, judging by their full sound during this application, I'd say they would be suitable for mixing as well. However, I've yet to have the chance to mix on the Tannoy System 8's, so I can't say so for sure. SOUNDS The Tannoy System 8's are tight and full sounding in general. I was using them as a pair of mid to near field monitors, and they certainly packed enough punch for me to be able to get an accurate read on what we were recording. I remember getting a very tight kick drum sound through these monitors, as the low end is very good for a pair of medium sized monitors. After listening to the unmixed and very rough recordings that we did while monitoring through the System 8's, it was clear to see that they had steered us in the right direction as the sound translated well to my monitors at home. OVERALL OPINION While certainly not the flagship monitors made by Tannoy, the System 8's are a very good sounding set of monitors that are definitely to be respected. They don't command very much money if you can find them, but since they no longer make them they have become somewhat hard to come across. However, when I have seen them for sale it is usually for a very reasonable price. While I used the System 8's in a professional recording studio, they can certainly be used in any situation that you might be in. I don't know if I would necessarily recommend seeking out a pair of the System 8's, as it would be somewhat hard to do and there are plenty of Tannoy monitors out there that are much easier to find, but I would absolutely recommend checking them out if you stumble upon a pair of them at a reasonable price...

The Tannoy Reveal 501 A is an active studio monitor that is one of the best options for most home musicians when looking for the first set of monitors they want to buy. I recommend these monitors to a lot of people because of the price, and quality of sound that they deliver. These speakers are very clean and do not add color to your sound. I have used the 501 A speakers on a handful of occasions and the bass really stands out to me because they do not have the bass issues when the speakers are placed in odd or wrong parts of the room like close to corners and walls. Plus the bass port is not on the rear of the speaker. They have a front reflex bass port to take care of any issues with proximity to the wall. SOUNDS The frequency response is 64 hz to 30 khz. There is a LED light to show the power and the volume controls are on the rear of the speaker with the XLR unbalanced connectors. The bass in these speakers is very clean and for this price 180.00 makes them a must have for any musician who is on a budget and cannot afford to go out and spend 300 dollars or more on a single monitor. You can get a pair of these for less than 400 dollars and get studio sounding mixes in now time. They are also very light and portable. OVERALL OPINION They have a nice build and finish to them, and won’t scratch easy. Tannoy has made many great sounding studio monitors if you want to spend some more money but I can say that these 501 A speakers are a great choice for a home musician with a smaller set up. This cannot be mounted or hung up they are desktop models.

Woofer, tweeter. balanced XLR input, power input, on/ off switch. Nothing special really, but just exactly what you need. The cabinet is extremely sturdy; very very well made. The speaker elements are mounted with high quality allen screws. From what I understand, Tannoy only makes monitors so that was a big factor in my decision making process. The front of the monitor is painted a really cool dark green and the power indicator LED is a cool blue! I use this setup with my Apogee ensemble interface; it's a killer rig! No amp needed of course since these are powered monitors. SOUNDS The sounds are great! Very true to the source, or at least not too hyped in any particular way. For super accurate mixing, a sub might be beneficial, but not necessary. You don't want monitors to sound too good actually, because they won't help you achieve your goal of making your mixes sound good on any system. That's why Yamaha NS10's are so popular in studios. The though process is, if you can make your mixes sound good on NS10's, then they will sound good on anything. But yeah, great dynamics, clear sounds, just very well represented. OVERALL OPINION I love these monitors! They sound killer, they are extremely reliable, and I got them for half price since they were being discontinued. If you can find these used for a good deal, snatch them up! Prior to purchasing these, I had used some very expensive Dynaudios and Yamaha NS10's. It really doesn't matter what monitors you get as long as they are as flat as possible and you can get used to them. You need something to help you make accurate decisions regarding how your music will translate to other systems. I would definitely buy more of these if I could. Just a great set of monitors!

The Tannoy Reveal 6Ds are a set of high quality near field studio monitors, suitable for all sorts of different uses. The monitors are active, so they don't require a power amplifier as they already have one built in. These are basically a newer version of the popular Reveal Actives, boasting an incredible amount of clarity and precision. The monitors can be used for monitoring during recording, editing, mixing, and any other sort of usage inside in the studio. It also has switches in the back for tuning the monitors to your room. The monitors also have a very sleek design to match it's great make up. SOUNDS The overall sound of the Tannoy Reveal 6D is very impressive. The sound comes through crystal clear across the board, with a very respectable amount of low end presence for a smaller set of near field monitors. It has a silky smooth high end presence as well, and I can't really think of any holes in the sound if it has any at all. The sound isn't unrealistic, so you can trust them to mix on for sure, which is really the most important consideration when thinking about a set of studio monitors... OVERALL OPINION The Tannoy Reveal 6D are a set of studio monitors that will crossover into both home and professional studios. They certainly have the sound and clarity of professional monitors, and even though they aren't the cheapest monitors on the market, for a bigger home studio they would certainly be a great investment. Having a great set of studio monitors is one of the most important aspects of putting together a studio, as everything you hear comes from them, so they need to be trustworthy. The Tannoy Reveal 6Ds are just this set of monitors, as they are very trustworthy at a price that won't break the bank. Even so, most home studios probably won't be able to afford these, but for those who can the 6Ds are definitely worth it.

My friend is a Music Goup Rep, he brought one of these over to test it. I grabbed a U87 off the shelf as our reference and plugged them both into an XL48 pre. We ran the AES outs into a hi res converter and headphone amp. First off, it's not a U87 competitor. It did not have the silky highs or the lower end frequency response the U87 had but..... I was surprised. It seemed much quieter than other mics I have tried in the sub $400 large diaphragm market. The more I listened to it the more I liked it. I ordered a pair from him right there. I just received them yesterday and have a live show this weekend where I will put them through some paces as drum overheads or guitar amp. Maybe next week i'll have my VO guy try it out. I also want to try it on a snare as I really like a large cap next to a 57 but hate the thought of using my large caps as they are too expensive to abuse like that. My opinion, buy them.

(Originally written by Blackmen/translated from Audiofanzine FR) - How long have you been using it? Five years - Which feature do you like the most / the least? Excellent sound balance, precise vertical sound projection allowing you to get an intelligible sound in reflective rooms. These loudspeakers have a very compact size, a convenient fixation system and are provided with comprehensive accessories. - How would you rate its value for money? Excellent. - Based on your experience, would you buy this product again? Yes, this product is excellent.

(Originally written by uncle-james/translated from Audiofanzine FR) I'm an enthusiastic audio fan and I've been using these small speakers for about 10 days. I placed them left and right of my iMac in a small and no too reflecting room. I use them to listen to music while my family is looking at TV. I connected them to the analog line output of my iMac, which doubles as a preamp. The Mac doesn't allow you to increase the volume of the digital signal and it's a pity. However, the sound is wonderful, very intelligible and accurate (the concentric speaker does a great work), ultra dynamic but not hard, the compression chamber doesn't howl at high output levels, unlike "standard" Tannoy speakers you can listen to in many shops. The response is not as rich as with my 300B with horn drivers but the 300B certainly adds some pleasant overtones. These Tannoy speakers simply sound "true" but watch out for your ears! They don't distort the signal so you can listen to music at very loud levels without ending up with soar ears... I'm very happy with this purchase. SOUNDS Everything has been said OVERALL OPINION Everything has been said and I strongly recommend them