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[wwest]

Curiosity killed the cat, but I'm not a cat.  I'm curious.

I've seen 800A's used in many mastering facilities.  How do they compare to other monitors?  Pro's, con's????

Again, just curious.

[Level]

It is not they, it is the engineer usually, get back to this in a little, hair appointment time.

[JohnMcD]

Hi there. Glad to see an interest in Tannoy. For the longest time, I thought I was a rare or very dumb breed. I use the 800A's for tracking and mixing. You'll definately need a sub paired with these. Otherwise they are useless for bottom end.

One thing that struck me very odd, yet was something I always kept hidden from clients was "how" to listen to the 800A's. To me, and in the room I work in, it is very obvious in getting a correctly done, full midrange. Basically, walk away or roll the chair a couple feet from the dispersed field of imaging. Listen and you'll either hear hollow or very flat frequency imaging when in the room I work in. Sit in the middle at ear level to the main cone and you'll most likely get the full imaging and the "correct" way the midrange should sound. Keep working with the EQ and/or compression, and it should sound the same either away from or in front with ear level to the Tannoy800A.

That is my tip, and is probably a very subjective one at that. Maybe room plays a factor, I don't know. I'm not very knowledgable with acoustic science.

Otherwise, they sound great and have a wide field of imaging if you place them on their side. But they can occassionally be a bit flattering to freshly tracked material and may skew how you may mix.

Hope this helps in some way.

-John

[mchimes]

I had a pair of 800a's (my first real monitors actually) for about 1 1/2 years.  They are nice monitors, but a little light in the LF like John said.  I upgraded to the System 1200s when I moved into a new room.

Joe Chiccarelli has used them alot.  You should pop over to his forum and do some searches.

http://artistpro.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=PNphpBB 2&file=index&POSTNUKESID=f1a5e9a3626b7bd11dc367c9484 c9492

Bill . . . thanks for the tip on the Bryston amp.  I got a used factory sealed 4B ST Pro (1997) from Soundbroker.  Can't wait to hear it.

Thanks,
Mike

[Glenn Bucci]

I have the Tannoy 800's passive. I love them to death. I did a A/B with the Mackie's and I subjectively liked the Tannoys better. My power amp as a contour button which helps compensate for the low end. I leave it on all the time, and my mixes come out great. I know the Actives have a couple of switches on the back which help too.

I also noticed having the Aurlex on the walls and ceiling and bass traps helped the image sound tighter in my studio as well. I love the image the speakers give me. Yes, love the mid range, as well as the high end.

If I had a choice to buy again, I would get them all over. However the 1200 would be could for mid field playback for the bass. Or maybe the newest JBL's.

[zetterstroem]

wwest...

let me tell you a little story

i once was a salesman

when customers came in asking for monitors i gave them a cd with different kinds of music on and instruction on how to switch between different pairs. i didn't tell them anything nor did i try to endorse any of the other manufacturers!

i didn't sell one pair of tannoy's in a year!

unfortunately we had the import of tannoy in denmark at that time.... so we actually earned more money per sold tannoy than anything else..... so it really pissed my boss off!!!

and just so just to keep clear of flame wars.....

my opinions on these speakers i will keep to myself..... people are (maybe a bit overly) sensitive about their invesments

but to conclude....

it's very important that you do not buy the speakers that you're going to work on every day from looking at pictures or listening to other people hype about this and that.....

take at least a couple of weeks out of the calender.... buy and listen to some nice sounding music and take these cd's with to some retailers and listen listen listen!

USE YOUR EARS! but get some listening experience also

just my advice

[wwest]

Thanks for the advice ZETTERSTROEM.

I actually own and use the Tannoy 800A's daily.  I truly love them and was only inquiring to find out if I was the "lone ranger".

I did compare them to the Gen's and several other models before purchasing.  They do lack in bass response, however I found them to be nearly dead on accurate from about 300-10K.

I actually run a sub in parallel on a switch.  I generally only switch the sub in to check my low end.  They're not the BEST tracking speakers, but they are great (insert...for me) for mixing.

I think Tannoy gets a bad rap many times because, not only do they produce studio-quality playback systems, they also produce crappy little "mid-fi" or "low-fi" models.  The Reveal's come to mind.

Someone eluded to something in another post that rang so blatently true.......

It's always a matter of getting used to what you're using and the room their being used in.  I've heard some great mixes come off some crappy speakers in not the most perfect rooms.

[compasspnt]

Well, ZETTERSTROEM, I think you give good advice when you say to listen to the prospective speaker choices before buying, but I  have found that the WORST place to ever hear them is in a store!

TM

[Greg Youngman]

I started this thread last month.

http://recforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/m/35871/0#msg_358 71

I change monitors every once in a while.  I just need a change sometimes.  But, I've been using these Tannoy System 1000s for some time.  They're a 10" dual concentric.  I'm hooked for now.  

[zetterstroem]

"Well, ZETTERSTROEM, I think you give good advice when you say to listen to the prospective speaker choices before buying, but I have found that the WORST place to ever hear them is in a store!"

of course it's always better to listen in the environment that you're going to use them in!