OrpheusTouch

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Value Rating
 2 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 6.00 votes

Price Paid:  $100.00 from eBay

Summary:
I am fortunate enought to have listened to a lot of Tannoy loudspeakers over the years, some of which I owned and others which I borrowed on approval.
The look of the Tannoy 'Profile' models has always attracted me, the unusual shaped and compact cabinets with curved front corners instead of the earlier 'Sixes' range that had sharp corners which i found quite ugly by comparison.
The 633 is a great looking speaker, the cabinet is designed for optimum sound but its performance I found unimpressive for the size of the speaker. This is a floor standing speaker which looks really smart as part of a home cinema setup, but it fails to deliver in the bass department.
As these speakers were not originally designed for home cinema use, I also tried them in my listening room connected to three different amplifiers all with the same disappointing results.
These speakers are fitted with six inch drivers as opposed to the eight inch fitted to 637 / 638 models and I suspect that this is where the 633s fall down.
The modern mid-range Tannoy models seem to use six inch drivers but get better bass response, I assume this is partly due to improved cone material and partly interior cabinet design.
I've just sold these speakers, in favour of a pair of old DC2000 Tannoys which have ugly old box cabinets, but they're smaller than the 633s and they give me more bass whilst still giving a balanced sound.
If I had more time I'd probably keep the 633 cabinets and get them refitted with improved components to get the best of all worlds

Strengths:
The area that the 633s were excellent in was mid and upper ranges where they were very natural and accurate.
Unusually graceful slim cabinets, especially the wood veneered version.
If you live in an apartment with thin floors and walls these will suit you.

Weaknesses:
The bass response spoils what would otherwise be amazing speakers.

Similar Products Used:
Tannoy DC1000
Tannoy DC200
Tannoy DC2000
Tannoy Sixes 611
Tannoy Profile 637
Tannoy D500
Tannoy ST50

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Johnny Farm

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.67 of 5, 3.00 votes

Price Paid:  $690.00 from audiomarket

Summary:
Clear sounds.Deep bass and good midrange. Ideal Speakers for music. In my opinion dont need an aditional suwwoofer for home theater. Excellents design and looks withouts the grills.

Strengths:
Deep Bass. Clear sounds. Cabinet design solid construccion. Bi-Wiring.

Weaknesses:
none

Similar Products Used:
B&W 603 s2

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I owned a pair of tannoy 633's for about 2 months. My conlusions are that it is not a very good speaker for many listeners, unless you are into rock music but even then you should listen to them well before buying as they have a different sound from other speakers in the same price range 2nd hand. The midrange is drowned out by the bass and the treble sounds a bit splashy as well. They're not bad speakers, but they're not good either. Thats why I sold them.

Strengths:
Strong bass, warm midrange, well built and finished.

Weaknesses:
Weak midrange, loses dynamics consequently. Treble a bit 'splashy' and can sound a bit harsh with poorly recorded cds, a bit better with vinyl. Soundstage lacks space, and detail not the best in class In my opinion better speakers (By B&W, mission, wharfedale, mordaunt-short, etc) can be found 2nd hand for not a lot more.

Similar Products Used:
Many diy speakers, Mission m71, m72, wharfedale 8.3, pacific series and I've listened to many more in shop demos!

Price Paid:  $225.00 from Richer Sounds (UK)

Summary:
Top class sub-mid-range British floorstanders. They don''t make these any more, but if you find any for a good price (slim chance in USA), audition them! Note, they need to be toed in. Incidentally, to correct the reviewer above: it doesn''t matter how far round you can crank your volume control - it''s position is not quantitatively related to the output of the amplifier. Furthermore, the relationshiop between amp output and speaker tolerance is not quite that simple. The tannoys will take a lot of power from high end equipment.

Strengths:
Decent finish. Excellent balance and fair soundstaging. Well controlled, punchy, deep bass (for such small units). Midrange is present - it''s a miracle! Overall, very easy to listen to and can kick some tail when required.

Weaknesses:
Treble is uncluttered, but a little understated. Larger fillable area would be nice.

Similar Products Used:
None what-so-ever. Good luck in finding anything quite like these.

Price Paid:  $450.00 from Hifi shop in Rotterdam

Summary:
I bought the 633/D30 a year ago. I've had some trouble choosing the right speakers for my living room. At first I was used to bigger floorstanders but it had to much 'boom'. Then I tried some smaller monitors but they really lacked deep bass. They both delivered some acoustical problems too. So after some experimenting I settled for the Tannoys wich were offered to me rather cheap. I tried them and I was sold after running them in for a week. I think they are very informative. Bass and treble are well behaved and the midrange is particularly neutral. Also imaging is great although it takes some effort to set them up right. Because of the absent of Bass-Reflex it doesn't suffer from any booming but the sound goes really deep when it is asked to deliver some. You can get away with putting 'm up fairly close to the wall. Overall it's a well thought out design especially because of their cabinet shape. It really is better then a rectangular box. The only reason why you don't see it that often is because it's to expensive to manifacture, and public in general like square boxes. Another thing that I noticed is the material of wich the cones are made of. It's much the same as the cones Harbeth use in their (more expensive) loudspeakers (injection moulded). I have Harbeths myself as I am a pro studio producer/engineer and there is some resemblence in the midrange and the neutrality of the sound, although I think that the cone material is a bit different from Harbeth as it is patented and Tannoy develops its own drivers. I use a Luxman LV-107u amp from a decade ago wich gives them enough power and headroom wich they really like.

Conclusion: If you come across this speaker please try it at home. They are very exciting to listen to and soon you'll only be hearing the music. Bass is deep when required and treble is well behaved even in big reverberant rooms. The midrange is outstanding wich probably count for the great imaging too. They are not expensive and accept all kinds of musical styles. I'll probably keep them for ever.

Strengths:
Overall tonal balance and great imagery

Weaknesses:
non I can think of at this price