Tannoy Mercury 7.4 7

[Volvo_760]

Just saw the recent review of What HiFi about Tannoy Mercury 7.4:
https://www.whathifi.com/tannoy/mercury-74/review
Think that this review exceeds all measures of malice and lack of shame ...
I am not an audiophile but at least I am not deaf. In fact my hearing had been recently checked in the audiology and the doctor claims that I have a very preserved hearing for 30-40 years old. Plus hearing is something very subjective. Not to mention that that pairing with different amplifiers would end in several sound variations. If it wasn't that way, I am pretty sure that every loud speaker manufacturer would have recomended the best amplifier for his speakers.
So, such an extreme statement would be ridiculous even for an amateur like me. That was the reason I apologized myself for being a bit extreme about the Dali Zensor 7, though I have spent quite a lot of time struggling to make them sound properly (again subjective). I have had the Tannoy Mercury 7.4 and the Dali Zensor 7 speakers for almost an year. Even though, this matter is so vast that I still discover more and more things in each set.
As I already mentioned, I have managed to make the Dali sound decently, but recently I noticed that even with 24 bit music it would sound well only in certain genres. Here comes the question whether the problem is in the Dali or in the amp? In my case – Marantz PM6005.
I have paired both sets with more than 15 different stereo amplifiers and AV Receivers and have probably spent hundreds of hours in listening and comparing the two sets.
The only thing I can blame the Tannoy for is a bit low sensitivity. It just requires a powerful amplifier. It would not sound properly with something like the Marantz PM6005. A small lack of punch is quite a shy statement in the 5 star review of what hifi. I would rather say that it is quite obvious both with the Dali and the Tannoy. Didn't saw them mention in the review that it is not very suitable for a floorstander of that kind and that the internal DAC has an annoying filter that makes it sound a bit hollow. Anyway, it is a great amp and I am pretty happy with it, but if you are going to be as critical (probably biased is the exact word) as in the Tannoy article, you should mention these, too.
To me, the Tannoy sounds better in every aspect than the Dali, which has 4 stars in the What HIFI review.

 

[Volvo_760]

I had spent a few days thinking were am I wrong ...
Everything is just fine - room, cables, almost everybody is happy with the Marantz and the Dali ...Finaly I thought that the source might be the problem and decided to try playing something with really high quality, because I usually throw whatever available - MP3s, Flac, Wave, Youtube, Spotify ...Saw that the maximum resolution Marantz DAC can handle is 24bit/192khz, so I played Alan Taylor 24bit/192khz and couldn't recognize both the Marantz and the Dali. Felt a bit like dumb and dumber ...With 24bit the Dali sounds really nice - no more exhausting sound, hollow bass , no humming sound, no annoying highs, decent mids. Just a bit brighter sound than the Tannoy.
Now I am happy both with the Tannoy and the Dali speakers. Would say that the Tannoy is very universal and balance speaker. It would sound nice with almost any amp and any audio quality. The Dali still remains a bit bright to my taste, requires careful pairing and very high resolution audio to sound well, but once you get it right it would sound nice too!
Really wish they had a better support though...
I am sorry for my hasty impressions. It took me a few months to match them with the proper amp and to realize that they require high resolution audio.

 

[Volvo_760]

Still wondering what was the exact reason for the extremely malicious and non-objective review by what hifi.

Still don't see the name of the author of this poor review.

Very interesting why user reviews are still disabled.

I still see worse sounding speakers receiving at least 4 stars.

By the way, I have managed to audition the Q Acoustics 3050 and I am pretty sure that sound quality is inferior compared to the Tannoy Mercury 7.4.

They are very musical indeed and I like them, but the Tannoy is more precise and better in the mids in every aspect. The most annoying thing about the Q Acoustics 3050 is the boomy sound. I am realy wondering how what hifi fix this issue before giving it 5 stars, because it interferes with the mids. The supplied plugs for the bass reflex don't fix the issue. They begin to suffer from lack of volume when plugged. The Tannoy also looks more discrete and pleasing in the room.

About the unjustified statements in the poor review that the Tannoy is dynamically flat, has timing and bass control issues ... Next time you test them maybe you should use a decent amplifier and don't write ridiculous statements. Especially about uncontrolled bass and unrefined treble! The bass is better controlled than both the Q Acoustics and the Dali Zensor.

The only draw back of the Tannoy is that it really requires a very powerful amplifier. Unfortunately, most powerful amplifiers are expensive and not it the price category of these speakers, so you should either spend more on an amp or buy a second hand one. The Tannoy won't sound impressively with a Marantz PM6005. I like the Marantz PM6005, but next time you give it 5 stars, don't forget to mention that female voices sound a bit poor, especially when using the internal DAC. Try ABBA, for example. On the contrary, the Dali would sound just fine even with a small amp. Once you pair the Tannoy with the proper amp, it would sound better than the other two speakers. MIne pair amazingly with an old Sansui Solid State 5000x. It is rated at 60 watts per channel, but it weights above 15 kilogrammes.

I like the Dali speakers. Probably the most beautiful speakers I have had. They are quite musical too and pair very well with the small Marantz, but next time you give them 4 stars, please ask Dali to fix the annoying tweeter in the Spektor and Zensor range. Suppose that this peak between 12-15kHz works great as a commercial trick but it really causes annoying noise at home and severe headache.

The Tannoy frequency responce diagramme is flat as ATC speakers that cost at least 3 times as much. Unfortunately, that doesn't apply for the Q Acoustics.

 

[nopiano]

It is quite legit that you do not agree with a magazine review. That's why all buyers should listen for themselves.

I don't think it is necessary to sleight the hosts of this site nor their integrity. As a matter of record, WHF review as a team, and hence it is a collegiate outcome and there is no single author. They differ from the majority in this regard.

 

[Volvo_760]

It is not about Tannoy, Dali, Q Acoustics or the particular review.

It is a matter of principles.

We all know that life isn't always fair, but sometimes you just cannot stay indifferent.

Most people rely more on such reviews than on listening by themselves. Not to mention that many of them don't even have basic experience to be able to distiguish the valuable information in the forums from the nonsense. And you cannot blame them. Not everyone is an audiophile. One should have a very trained ear to be able to choose the right speaker for a few hours during an audition in the shop. He should have a decent benchmark, a slight notion of the individual sound hints of the popular amplifiers, the way they pair with some popular loudspeakers, basic acoustic knowledge and several hours of listening different music styles in different environments and different personal moods. Not to mention the source and so many other things that I am not familiar with, too. In fact, I am not always able to take the right decision within few hours in an unfamiliar environment, so I also find internet reviews helpful.

To favour the sponsoring companies is probably something inevitable nowadays, but misleading the ënd customer and forcing manufacturers to pay journalists is quite an ugly act from a magazine that claims to write "the most trusted tech reviews in the world"