QuartzAcoustic
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Tannoy Mercury M2 Speakers Restored & Upgraded
« on: May 21st, 2020, 12:29am »
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$365 with FREE courier shipping
Jantzen Audio Standard Z-caps in crossover upgrade and old, failed tweeters replaced.
This is the bigger speakers of the M-series; not M1. This is M2 that has a deeper bass going down to 48kHz with its 6.5 inch original woofer upgraded with Pure 4N Silver strands as the coil conductor. This upgrade has tightened the bass considerably. For those who have heard, the original stock model is boomy at the bottom end.
Please do not compare the price of this upgraded set with other stock sets - they are uncomparable, be it cosmetic condition or sound quality. The retail price of each crossover is already $50 onwards. And these required soldering, calculating and testing. Read more below.
Specifications:
• Impedance: 8
• Sensitivity: 88dB
• Woofer: 6.5 inch (original)
• Tweeter: 1 inch silk dome (replacement from original which failed and leaked)
• Crossover frequencies: 3.2kHz
• Frequency range: 48 - 20,000Hz
• Crossover Capacitors: Jantzen Audio Standard Z-caps
• Crossover Inductors: 20-22AWG pure copper enamel coils
• Internal wiring: 14AWG silver-plated copper
• Dimensions: approx 205 * 385 * 295mm (w*h*d)
• Weight: approx 5.8kg/speaker
Another pair of excellent vintage speakers that undergone a quality transformation. Tannoy is a famous speaker brand heralded from the UK with rich heritage and their vintage lines of speakers are actually fine pieces of work made entirely from Europe. This is why their older generation of speakers are often valued higher than their current production which mostly came from China now.
M2 is a 2-way speaker system with a 6.5 inch woofer and a 1 inch tweeter. The drivers and crossover in their stocks were actually great – warmth and cohesive, a signature of classic UK sound. However, the warmth could be too much that sounded boomy and muddy as the mid bass frequency.
Presumably the tweeter has degraded over time (over two decades) as the ferrofluid has leaked out almost entirely. Highs were very limited and that do restricted the extension of the upper frequency, limiting the soundstage. Crossover quality were basic to say the least. Caps and inductors have so much room to improve. From the original crossover point of 2.7kHz, we raised the crossover point to 3.2kHz hoping to elevate the midrange presence a little and reliving the tweeter of a higher load.
Although the original tweeter was being replaced with an OEM tweeter, it fits the chassis perfectly nonetheless. But the most important thing is the sound complemented in this system even better than the original tweeter. The upgraded crossover definitely helps.
By using a higher AWG of 20-22 pure copper for the inductors, the quality of the crossover also speaks volume with the use of high end caps from Jantzen Audio. While Standard Z-caps keep the upgrade costing to an economical level, it still prices a few more times than normal MKP/MKT caps. But the audiophile quality of Jantzen Audio caps are definitely guaranteed.
To keep the internal signal path as pristine as possible, the original woofers have been upgraded with 26AWG Pure 4N Silver strands for conductivity at the coil and the entire network within the cabinet was being wired with 14AWG silver-plated copper wires. Much of the mould that is commonly found on old woofers have been removed and cleaned, with slight stains, but not obvious, of the remnants remained.
Exterior does not need much of a rework except for dust clean up as the condition has been very well-taken care of and are just excellent. There are no bruises or tears to the vinyl lamination in all sides of the speakers. The worse part is probably the underside of the speakers where the joint can be seen, which is still excellent considering the age of these speakers.
There is a slight 2mm not-obvious knock-patch on one of the top corner of a speaker.
The original binding posts have been replaced and upgraded too. From the plastic binding post to the current copper-brass binding posts, insertions of the speaker wires and plugs are now a breeze.
Speakers grilles are in pristine condition with no holes whatsoever. Finally, we swapped out old and rusty screws from the original ones to wholly new stainless steel grade of screws for a more prominent look.
In terms of sound, the muddiness of the mid bass is now gone. The bottom end has improved with tighter and more accurate, faster bass. This gives the music more authority and pleasure, shifting from the once vintage-warmth sound to a more analogue yet pristine sound. Midrange has improved from the change in crossover point and components, resulting in more pin-point imaging of vocals. Presumably this was helped by the silver strand in the conductivity of the woofer as well as the new tweeter. Speaking of which, the new tweeters has given the atmosphere and soundstage a new facelift – details can finally be heard better compared to the old and failing tweeters, with increased in layering of sounds being much more audible and capable of differentiating.
It plays very well with genres of pop, rock, jazz and vocals.
Finally, a great deal of efforts has been made in the crossover design and craftsmanship in the modification upgrade to improve on this excellent line of vintage speakers from Tannoy. There is not much profit from speaker restoration that we are beginning to work on, considering the great amount of time needed in designing and testing the crossover to the carpentry work. It is purely a passionate aspect of our business to restore the glory of vintage speakers and make them look even prettier and sound better as much as we can. Of course, there will still be imperfections here and there which we have tried to minimise which is sometimes but inevitable in any vintage restoration and upgrade. It is like a form of art that should be appreciated and we hope you can feel the same. Thanks.
SMS or WhatsApp +65 9423 9296 to enquire or purchase.
SMS or WhatsApp +65 9423 9296 to enquire or purchase.
Listed at Carousell page -> https://bit.ly/2WQhcNg
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