Amplifier for Tannoy Eyris 2

[admin_exported]

Hi there, this is my first post on these boards so go easy with me!!

I have the chance to get a pair of Tannoy Eyris 2 floorstanders at a decent price and determined to partner them with an amp that can make the best of them within my budget!

I'll have about £300 max to spend. My room for listening is quite small and I don't really crank audio up to earth shattering levels as I am in a flat!

Contenders at the moment are:
Marantz PM6002 - £229.95
Cambridge Audio Azur 540A V2 - £279.95
Pioneer A-A6-J - £299.95
Yamaha DSP-AX763 AV amp - £299.95
and a few others in the £200-£300 price range... (all prices from my local Richer Sounds)

I currently have a home cinema set up with a Yamaha RX-V440RDS reciever/Mission M71 fronts/Mission M7C2 centre/JPW mini monitors on rears.

My Pioneer DV-600 DVD/SACD/DVD-Audio player will be my main source.

The reason I am upgrading is because I don't feel satisfied with what my current setup is giving out for stereo music playback (which is far more important to me than occasional movie sound). The Missions seem quite boomy and messy in the low range (-2dB bass cut on the Yamaha helped) and a tad over-excitable on their tweeters (thanks to the forum at DIYaudio a little tweaking on the speakers internal electronics has slightly calmed this!)

There's not alot of detailed reviews for the Eyris 2's out there and I haven't had the chance to hear them yet but at the price I can get them I'm not going to not buy them! They have to be a step up over my Mission M71s!?

I want an amp that can comfortably drive these, also looking to biamp these through an amps internal A+B/biamp capability. Is that a good idea? I currently biamp my Missions with the A+B facility on my Yamaha and I'm sure there was an improvement, however small when I done this. I assume something like the Marantz PM6002/Cambridge Audio 540A V2 can do this too as Richer Sounds state they can drive 2 sets of speakers...???

The trouble is I will want to play the very occasional multi-channel SACD and sticking with a stereo amp could well, scupper that! I can live with that but it would be nice to be able to have the Tannoy's with multichannel AND musicality coming from one unit but I'm assuming that a stereo amp such as the Marantz/CA will be more musical than a the Yamaha AV amp...???

Sorry for blabbering on but any advice will be well recieved! Thanks

 

[Thaiman]

Marantz (off that list)

 

[Anonymous]

Pioneer for me (of that list

)

 

[Anonymous]

Well that's my two favourite choices from that list (I'm not a fan of the look of the Cambridge Audio amps, not until I get to the 740A and 840A though!)

Just got the latest What HiFi... still liking the idea of the Yamaha DSP-AX763 and now the DSP-AX863SE! <<< Just a bit too pricey for me though (I'm currently selling everything I don't need anymore on ebay at the moment so who knows what my budget might end up lol It's amazing what you can accumulate through the years)
It's so damn convenient to have one setup for surround and 2-channel...! But musical purist in me is saying "Please no, not another AV amp!"

When I go to get the speakers I'm gonna try getting demo with my current AV amp, the Marantz and the DSP-AX763.

Should the Pioneers inability to biamp be a turn off for me?

 

[Anonymous]

Another point... I have Denon PMA-255UK kicking around, 30W per channel I believe, would a speaker like the Tannoy Eyris 2s that have a recommended amplifier rating of 25-125W be far too much of a strain on the amp?

 

[Anonymous]

Nice speakers. I've owned the Eyris 1 and Eyris DC1, and a friend of mine has the Eyris 2.

The Eyris without DC has softer high frequencies (probably because they don't suffer from tweeter/woofer interactions that occur in DCs), so they are very easy to match, as you can use bright sounding amps and the result won't be aggressive.

The Eyris range had one of the most natural voicings you can get at any price. If you know how instruments sound in real life you will notice this immediately. They shine on classical music, especially on baroque and chamber music. But they are not rockers! If you want them for heavy metal and the like you will be disapointed.

They are very polite, transient attack is really soft. Dynamics are good though, without being the most dynamic speaker ever. Stereo imaging is decent, but not nearly as good as the DC models.

They are easy to drive, although they will work better with 40 W upwards.

A good combination would be Arcam. If you can get a second hand Arcam, you will have a creamy, round and emotional sound.

Good luck!

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much for that post! Glad to find someone who has had experience with Tannoy's and especially the Eyris 2!

Ever since hearing the Tannoy TD12 in a hifi shop in Glasgow I've had Tannoy on my mind. The TD12 is of course miiiiiiiiiiles out of my price range, but who knows, maybe one day (after a lottery win!)

Although I listen to rock and punk music (little to know in your face metal though) as a part of a wide range of music that gets fed through my current hi-fi, I'm not too fussed on having the the "rocker" in your face sound! In fact, if I listen to music that has any over-rawness to it, a speaker that will slightly tame that sound is a good thing to me. Otherwise I like a wide variety of music, and from your description I believe these speakers will make me very very happy! I play guitar in a band, and the natural rendition of the sound of an acoustic guitar from a hi-fi is something that I crave for and look for in listening to new equipment.

Arcam you say? I'll definitely have to start ebaying for them from now! Currently watching a Roksan Kandy KA-1 amp, a beefy 110Wpc at 8 ohms, a huge improvement from my 30W Denon lol Any ideas how Roksan combines with the Eyris range if you've ever tried them?

Thanks again, your input is much appreciated!

 

[Anonymous]

You are welcome, I'm glad to be helpful!

Bleachershane, as you can tell from my nickname, I'm a Tannoy fan. I've had lots of models from Tannoy, and also speakers from many other brands (Epos, Mission, AE, Focal, Canton, B&W, Paradigm, Energy, Pinacle, KEF, Jamo...and some others

).

So, if you liked the TD12, then you liked the Dual Concentric driver. And, if you did, among Tannoy's range of studio monitors maybe you can find something even better than the Eyris. If you are a musician, maybe you will like the truthfulness of Tannoy monitors. I have owned Tannoy Definition 500, floorstanders which retailed for USD 4,000 a few years ago. Some Tannerds think they sound just as good as the TD8 (not the TD12, but the small brother). The Definition line was the previous top-of-the-line home range (speaking about "modern" ranges, not the Prestige series), and was replaced by the Dimensions. And, believe it or not, I found the System series of studio monitors just as good as the Definition series. I'm not the only one. A friend of mine also agrees. And I've found some Tannerds on the net owning both who think the same. I even read a post from a guy who owned the Definition 900 (towers, 12" DC, costing USD 8,000 or so) who was so impressed with a System 1200 (studio monitor, 12" DC), that finally sold the D900 and bought the Studio 1200, which costs a lot less! This series of studio monitors is discontinued, just as the Eyris 2, but you can always find it on ebay, at very cheap prices. They offer the best sound per pound I have encountered in Tannoys.

I'm not familiar with Roksan amps, but I'm sure they are excellent. Good thing with Tannoys, in general, is they are not too fussy about amplification.

 

[Anonymous]

Wow you've been through a fair few speakers lol

While regularly eBaying Tannoy I've noticed their studio monitors turning up a fair bit, sort of disregarded them, perhaps that was silly of me from what you've said!

About two weeks ago a Tannoy Definition D300 turned up on ebay, £280 Buy It Now, in good nick and reasonably local to me as well. Had never heard of the Definition range, bit of research later and I was seriously considering it! But while I was considering, boom, it was gone, and I should have expected it, they're supposed to be excellent speakers and EXTREMELY rare as their owners hardly ever give them up... severely regretting missing that one alot! I didn't know they were the previous top of the range in their modern ranges...!

I also never knew that Tannoy put DCs into their studio monitors, sound like a brilliant idea, especially for a flat/room as small as mine. I'm still holding out for the Eyris 2s, but there's every chance I might not get them (waiting for a repair on an ex-dem set, Tannoy taking forever to send the parts to the shop) so my options are gonna stay open for an upgrade in the shape of a Tannoy and your advice is really helping narrow my choices. I've got the upgrade bug and I can't shake it lol

Also good to hear that Tannoys are not too fussy with amps!!!

Thanks again for your help!

 

[Anonymous]

bleachershane:
About two weeks ago a Tannoy Definition D300 turned up on ebay, £280 Buy It Now, in good nick and reasonably local to me as well.

That was a good deal, what a pity! Besides the Definition and the System series, there was also the Saturn series at that time. Not as good as the former, but I would say it's as good as the Eyris DC. The sound signature was very similar to the Definition's, but they had less definition

, less detail, less control, weaker imaging (still superb though, after all they are DCs). The Saturn series' monitors are very good, specially the S8LR; the floorstanders are not so good, boomy bass, lack of control. The Saturn series was replaced by the Sensys DC (now also discontinued), their cost was about the same; however, the Saturn was still made in the UK, and the Sensys DC was made in China.

 

[Anonymous]

Tannoyite:

That was a good deal, what a pity!

As soon as I saw them go I knew I shouldn't have dilly-dallied about with it!

So if I'm looking about I should avoid the Saturn floorstanders? Good to know, I'm trying to get away from what I percieve as slightly boomy and out of control bass on my Mission m71s...!

I wonder what will recplace the Sensys range now that has been discontinued? Hopefully Tannoy have something (good) up their sleeves