It’s Sunday morning here at Jeff’s Place, with the morning sun streaming in through the East windows, while I’m drinking a fine cup of coffee, and listening to an old Analogue Productions test pressing of Bill Evan’s Waltz for Debbie that is just blowing my mind. Those Analogue Productions test pressings are freaky good, and I feel lucky that I have them. They’re about 20 years old now, and ironically I bought them from Acoustic Sounds because they were dirt cheap back then, and money was in short supply after I got out of graduate school. Each one of those test pressings remain the best versions of those albums I’ve run across, but they’re pretty much one-off sorts of things, so you just can’t buy them. When they do pop up these days, they go for ungodly amounts of money, certainly more than I would/could pay for them. An irony.
As you’ll notice in the photos above, as an experiment I decided to move my equipment from the side wall where it usually sits to a central location between the Tannoy Westminster Royal SE loudspeakers. This is generally considered to be a no-no, but I thought it would be fun to see what my system sounded like with a complete signal chain of Sablon Audio Panatela interconnects versus my usual long run Tom Evans Audio Design shielded interconnects in the preamp to amplifiers position.
The unshielded Panatela ICs are dead quiet in the positions from the VPI Classic turntable to the superb New Valve Order SPA-II phono stage, and from the NVO to the Leben RS-100. By the way, I continue to be more and more impressed with the NVO SPA-II phono equalizer as time goes by, it really is something special.
It turned out that even with a 1-meter length from the Leben RS-100 preamplifier to the Fi 300B mono amplifiers, the Panatela ICs are quite a bit noisier than the long length of TEAD ICs, but not noisy enough to be a distraction with music playing. With a 1-meter length of shielded Acoustic Revive Single Core interconnects replacing the Panatela ICs the system was absolutely dead quiet, I even had to check to make sure I hadn’t forgot to turn the Fi 300Bs on. But the quietness of the Single Cores comes at a price, as they give up a lot of sense of space, detail, and overall musical presence to the Panatela ICs.
A full series of Panatela from turntable to amplifiers was quite an eye-opener, it way more than makes up for the benefit of having equipment on the side wall. The little Stickley Harvey Ellis end table is doing duty as an equipment rack, being just the right size for my Classic turntable, NVO SPA-II, and Leben RS-100 line amplifier. I’d like a shorter rack though, as it makes for a better situation between loudspeakers, and I’m intrigued by the McKinnon Furniture Hudson Media Stand as it’s only 20-inches high and 18-inches deep, so it would have minimal impact between my speakers I’m thinking. McKinnon allows you to choose the wood too, and some walnut to match my Westminster Royal SEs would be a nice touch.
Back to cables: I can’t help but wonder how much much of the performance advantage is due to the conditioning Mark Coles does with one of Alan Kafton’s Audioharma Cable Cooker devices, so I decided to purchase one and find out. My Cable Cooker is supposed to ship this coming week so you’ll hear more about it in the near future. My friend Stephaen Harrell (6Moons reviewer) loaned me his Hagerman ‘Fry Baby’ cable conditioning device a while back, and I was rather astonished at the performance increase that comes from giving cables a good fry. Stay tuned.
Also on the cable front, I’m being sent a couple of sets of interconnects for review at Positive Feedback Online that use a solid gold wire for the hot lead and a solid silver return, which some say makes for the ultimate combination of musicality and sonics. They are also modestly priced considering the spendy materials that make them up. I should have more information on these shortly, but for the moment their identity shall remain a secret (no they’re not from Mark Coles at Sablon Audio, in case you’re wondering).
I forgot to mention that part of the reason I am moving equipment off the side walls is to create room to put the Westminster Royal SEs on the sidewalls during the upcoming review of the new Tannoy statement loudspeakers, the Kingdom Royals. They’re building a pair now and should have an estimated time of arrival for me before too long. The Kingdom has a 15-inch bass driver, which is the same size as the concentric driver in my Westminster, but also has a dual concentric driver plus a supertweeter. They’re expensive loudspeakers at thirty-five thousand pounds in the UK. I expect they’ll come in somewhere around $60K USD.
That’s a quick update, with more cool stuff to come in the near future!
Jeff,
I note you have replaced your Sophia 300B’s with Don’s. Can you offer any preliminary thoughts on the differences, and whether Don’s has supplanted the Sophia’s?
Thanks,
Hi Jonathan,
I actually haven’t replaced my Sophia 300B monos with the Fi 300B monos, but rather I have added the Fi 300B monos to the amp stable. Don’s 300B monos have Black Gate capacitors in them, so I’m giving them plenty of run-in time before I make any conclusions about their performance.
I can tell you for sure that the Sophia Royal Princess 300B tubes and 6SN7 tubes work great in the Fi 300B mono amps!
Kind regards,
Jeff
LOL, Jeff… I suspect I will need to finally pull the trigger on Master Don’s amp…
J
One more thing. I recently had to acquiess and replace the Sablon IC’s that I was using from my SUT to my Pre. The main reason was that I could no longer control and remove the ambient RFI or EFI by moving the SUT around any more with the new SUT I have been demoing. This is the new Auditorium Homage T2 (Denon Style) SUT. And I have to say that while I do miss the SICs, I love the dead silence. This, as you know, has to do with the way Keith Aschenbrenner of Auditorium 23 designed his SUT. So I needed a grounded cable like the A23 or Shindo’s IC. In the end, I opted for the Shindo, as it matched well with my existing equipment (A Shindo Vosne Romanee).
Jonathan,you should give a try to Oyaide Tunami Terzo RR beetween auditorium 23 SUT and preamp , it is very well made ,shielded, cheap and very musical . It lets the Panatella bloom beetween arm and SUT
best wishes
Serge from Paris
Serge,
Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, I don’t have that option, as I have a Rega P9 turntable. The P9 has the RB1000 arm, which uses integrated cabling (Cardas, I think). So I “stuck” with mu shindo…. It’s really not a problem. The Sablon and Shindo present the sound slightly different. Neither is necessarily better, IMHO – just different. Since I prefer the dead silence, I am choosing the Shindo cabling. I do, however, use the Sablon for my other connections, including the Pre-Amp to Amp.
Jonathan
PS I have decided to keep the T2 SUT! I love it!
Hello Jeff,
Nice to read that you will test the Kingdom Royal SE. These are also on of the best speakers there are on our planet. I am sure you will like them. I heard them last year in Groningen in the Highend shop called SoudnGallery. Nice shop, nice people. They sounded great. Compared to the Westminster the have more low-end grunt (more in a poppy way) and I must admit are less coulored than the Westminster. But he that’s what I like at the ‘Wessies’. I made an clear choice for my so loved reference (for even 20 years!). O, be aware that you will not get the Kingdom really working with the (awesome!) tubes you have! They behave themselves like the good old (but o so beloved) 15 DMT mk2 or the GRF. The sound fine with tube but they need high quality transistor power. Please give them a try with the fine amps of sir Friedrich Shafer (ASR), the Emitter 2 HD with akkupower.
Lots of fun and sleepless nights with the awesome Kingdoms. I am looking forward for your listening experience.
Nice Tannoy/ASR greetings.
Siedy
Hello Siedy,
I am really looking forward to hearing the Kingdom Royal SE. The big Tannoys I have heard have alway impressed me, and when I soberly think about the Kingdom Royal SE … a speaker that costs nearly twice what my Westminsters do … I am quite excited about hearing them!
I had hoped to try the LFD amplification with them, as that’s what Dr. Mills used to develop them with, but apparently LFD doesn’t want any more exposure in the press, as they’re already having a hard time meeting all of their demand as it is.
I do have access to some higher powered valve equipment, as well as the lower power 300B SET equipment (and Leben CS-600) that I already have. I would love to try the ASR equipment, but I don’t know if that’s something that is possible or not. I would of course write a separate review of the ASR electronics if that was desired by ASR. In fact, it would be fun to hear them on my own Westminsters too as I have heard so many positive comments about ASR from you and others.
Kind regards,
Jeff
Hi Siedy,
As you know, I contacted Friedrich Shafer at ASR expressing interest in reviewing the ASR both with the Kingdom Royal, and in a separate review with the Westminsters as well.
Friedrich asked the North American importer to contact me, which Zed did right away, and I responded back. I haven’t heard back yet from Zed if it will be possible to review the Tannoys with the ASR gear (it is rather short notice on my part), but I hope so.
I’ll let you know more as the story develops. Thank you for your suggestion of ASR!
Kind regards,
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
As far as I see it now, everything is going fine with the request that you have send to Friedrich Shafer.
Much fun and pleasure with all these nice developments.
I am looking forward for your opinion about the Emitter! Very exciting!
Kind regards,
Siedy
Hi Siedy,
Thank you for suggesting the ASR electronics of Friedrich Shafer for the Tannoy Kingdom Royal review.
The Tannoy Kingdom Royal loudspeakers were scheduled to ship today from Scotland.
All of the arrangements have now been made with Friedrich and Zed (the US importer), and the ASR electronics will be on their way to me shortly.
I’ll keep you informed as items start to arrive – it should be lots of fun!
Kind regards,
Jeff
Jeff,
I must confess to wondering if the Royals will be as musically engaging as your Westminsters (and honestly speaking, even my raised Canterburys/RELs set-up).
It’s such a departure from the straightforward concepts in the Prestige Series that I have my doubts.
So I am especially looking forward to your review, whichever way it turns out.
If they best the Westminsters, not just in technically excellent sound, but also in that special presentation that many of us value with the Tannoys, then that will be a most exciting development.
Best,
Jim Smith
Hi Jim,
I’m trying to keep an open mind. Some people have told me it’s a wonderful speaker, “Wait until you hear it!” While others aren’t quite as thrilled about it. Tannoy is very pleased with the result, and they’re pretty darn good at making loudspeakers. So it should be interesting.
The part I’m not looking forward to is moving my Westminsters out of the system and replacing them with the Kingdom Royals. My back hurts just thinking about it!
More to come!
Kind regards,
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
I don’t think you will enjoy Kingdom Royal as much as your Westminster. I have heared both in the same system and prefer Westminster for sure. The Kingdom Royal is not musically engaging as Westminster in my opinion. It is modern sounding.
I think Westminster is for Music Lover while Kingdom Royal is for Audiophile loudspeakers.
Best,
TL
Hi Jeff,
I have a Shelter 501 Mk 2 cartridge and wondered if you think the Auditorium 23 SUT would be ok for it? please advise! Thanks,
Regards,
Dave.
Hi Dave,
I’m not really familiar with your cartridge, your best bet is to check with Jonathan Halpern, the USA importer for A23, and he should be able to tell you. You can reach Jonathan at shindo.usa@mac.com.
Thanks for stopping by!
Jeff
Salut Jeff,
Pour toi quel est la meilleure électronique à tubes pour les Tannoy Kingdom,
J’ai pensé aux Kronzilla DX as tu une expérience avec cette électronique, merci
Bien à toi
Hi Albert,
I have not tried the Kronzilla DX that Frank mentioned in another comment, but I would like to one of these days. It is intriguing what a 100 watt SET might be able to do on the Tannoys.
If you hear them before I do be sure to let me know what you think about them.
Kind regards,
Jeff