OrpheusTouch

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 4.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00 from Ebay

Summary:
I bought these speakers as an interim measure while I waited for the right pair of D700 to come my way. Eventually I found the speakers I wanted at the price I wanted. However these Tannoys had made such an impression on me that I couldn't bring myself to sell them.
At this point in time, I had never had a proper home cinema setup but due to these speakers, I decided to take the plunge and I've never looked back.
The 637s have a very wide but sweet midrange and accurate base if used with the correct amplifier - I've used them with assorted Musical Fidelity A series amplifiers (some of which were integrated) and have rarely come close to hearing the midrange 'honk' mentioned by another reviewer.
Bookshelf and speakers on stands cannot compete with the quality and grandeur produced by these speakers.
If you live in an apartment you will need a pair of isolation platforms to get the best out of them if you enjoy louder performances.
Bi-wiring is made unnecessary with the addition of 99.9997 silver jumpers as seen on Ebay. If used with Tannoy Supertweeters on top the sound quality is comparable with a good £2.5K speaker setup.... but my speaker setup cost me £200 for the black 637s and £400 for the ST50s.

Strengths:
The price.
Its impossible to find a pair of speakers that perform as strongly as these (new or secondhand) in this price range.
These high end Tannoy speakers have a reputation for reliability that seems almost unmatched in the secondhand hi-fi world.
Whilst they are not to everyones' taste, the cabinets are well finished and have a convenient flat top that is suited to Supertweeter use.
Easy matching to Tannoy Supertweeters.

Weaknesses:
Bass could be deeper

Similar Products Used:
Linn Kans,Keilidh,Tannoy DC2000, D700, ST100

Price Paid:  $250.00 from private

Summary:
Originally costing around £700 or so, the Tannoy 637 should be available for under £300 s/h now. Although the design is about 10 years old, I doubt that you could do significantly better for that kind of money if you bought a contemporary new speaker. The Tannoys have an engaging presence and immediacy -probably a result of the dual-concentric driver arrangement- which I find musically highly communicative. I've auditioned the 637s side-by-side with a speaker having a conventional, i.e. vertical, driver arrangement, and found that the conventional speaker to sound phasey by comparison, slightly blurring transients and leading edges. The Tannoys present music with an unusually (at this price level) high degree of coherence. The 637s have excellent 3-dimensional imaging which even remains stable off-axis. So all's fine, then? Not quite. The speaker suffers from some midrange honk and splashy treble. While the former is a form of colouration I can easily live with, the latter can grate after a while and may require some counter measures, depending on listening taste. I have switched amplification from transistor to valve, which has papered over the worst cracks, but some more work definitely needs to be done. One last remark: They're not exactly pretty. Conclusion: Good for drama and involvement, avoid if tonal purity is a priority.

Strengths:
Engaging performer, highly coherent, very good imaging.

Weaknesses:
Coloured mid and treble, the latter can grate. Needs to be partnered with care.

Similar Products Used:
My other speakers are standmounts: Audiovenctor M1 Super, BBC LS3/5a

Price Paid:  $300.00 from Soundstage

Summary:
I am delighted with these inexpensive (second hand) loudspeakers. They combine excellent stereo imaging with a dynamic sound. Playing a 1996 Royal Philharmonic Orchestra recording of Holst''s Planets Suite I was staggered at the dynamic swings - the rasp of brass and the rumble of kettle drums in the first movement for example. The construction is unusual - an 8" dual concentric driver above an 8" long throw woofer. The cabinet is finished in drab black vinyl. It is tapered from front to rear to eliminate resonance. The cabinet is made from sandwiched materials in a lossy frame, again to eliminate resonance. The top is marble finished and has a raised rim to cope with drinks being put down on top - clever eh? They lack some of the magic of the really big tannoys that I have owned. This is in the area of really low bass - the 20-30 hz region. That said these produce surprisingly deep bass for the size of cabinet, and it is fast, punchy, and tuneful . Mine are currently driven by a Primare A20II / D20 combination. I have also used them with a low powered creek amplifier and with high powere QUAD equipment. All of the amps worked well with these speakers and all drove them to high sound levels. If you come across some of these second-hand - or for that matter the 636 or 638 variants - give them a try.

Strengths:
Clear dynamic sound. Imaging

Weaknesses:
Lack of very low bass. Drab finish.

Similar Products Used:
Tannoy Cheviot, Chatsworth, Mayfair and R3. Proac response 2.5 clone KEF cantata Linn Index Plus

Price Paid:  $600.00

Summary:
I purchased these used speakers from Tannoy some months ago. My system: CDP: harman kardon amp: Musical Fidelity A1 cables: good cables made by myself Many aspects impress of these spekers: the dynamic, first of all, is explosive in high, mid and low: metallic percussion, trumpets, and "low percussion" are incredible; timbre is excellent too: violins, cellos, cymbals,... are all very good. Just low bass is somehow lacking: but keep in mind that common bookshelves don''t have bass at all!! Instead high are exellent, much better that those produced by common tweeters. Even the resolution of these speakers is unbelievable. About bookshelves speakers... These babies smokes EVERY ridiculous bookshelf, even if it costs $50.000, in dynamic, timbre and timing, and they cost much less... If you find a couple you MUST by them: but you must match a good (not expensive) amp... Because of their medium sensitivity (91 Db) 20 watts (musical watts) are enough in the amp.

Strengths:
dynamic; great High, very good midrange, good bass; great "timing"; high resolution

Weaknesses:
lack low bass (I mean LOW bass)

Similar Products Used:
various bookshelf speakers, some florstanders from klipsch; others floor standers; previously I used bookshelves from dynaudio (audience 40)

Price Paid:  $444.00 from BigBang

Summary:
These speakers are about 10 years old small floorstander model from Tannoy. Quite some years ago they cought my eye (ear), because they sounded very good, but they were too expensive.
This summer when I was in the very same shop buying something else, I saw them discounted. They were obsoleted by Tannoy long ago and it was the last pair. I had them hooked up just to see if my memory from years ago was correct and after 5 min they were all mine. $444.

System:
A tuned Marantz CD-63 KI and a 13 years old Accuphase E-205 integrated amp connected with Van Den Hull the first interconnects. Speaker cables are Kimber for the bass cones and some silver cable (forgot the brand) for mid-highs. Tannoys are biwired of course.
The room is acousticly treated with no compromise.

Sound:
Alive, natural, emotional, open and with great soundstage in all three dimensions. Very detailed and with great precision of performers positioning. They are very neutral, which means that they deliver just about everything they get from the amp and don't add anything to the sound. They dissapear at the same moment the first tone reaches your ears and I caught myself couple of times thinking that speakers are in the way of the music - you know, something like "If I moved them out of the way to the walls, to enjoy the music even more directly".
They play classic very well, but their strongest point is jazz and vocals. Sax and pianno are just amazing. Bass freaks, who combine speakers with subwoofers, probably won't need to do this, because bass goes very low indeed. I have also tried some pop and rock and they handle it also quite ok. They reveal a lot of mistakes in a non-audiophile material, but they keep all CDs not just listenable, but quite enjoyable, which becomes hard with the equipement that could almost be classified as high-end. Or could it be?

Conclusion:
Definetely price-performers! I have heard many, but mostly those I really liked better were priced much higher - Avantgarde Audio about $9000! Hm...?
You can't buy them new anymore, but if you get them second-handed somewhere, grab them!

Strengths:
Natural and detailed sound, neutral, best for jazz, vocals and classic

Weaknesses:
None really, sometimes maybe too revealing with pop and rock material

Similar Products Used:
B&W 602, 601 S2, Tannoy S6, Sonus Faber Concerto, Nautilus 800