Jaro Pirnat

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 4.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I have them for 12 years.
During that time i bought and built many much costly speakers, but M1s are still here, those others are not.

At first, when i bought them, i changed internal wiring for old QED no name(todays crap copy of those is named QED Silver Anniversary), then i added MKP capacitor instead cheap electrolytic.
Big change in all means!!! I feel i love with theis outmost musical character!

Final, this years tunning revision.

Mundorf Supreme caps and resistors, Tempoelectric silver internal wiring(thinner silver solid core wire for tweeters+ Burklin wire wrap, thicker+thinner silver solid wire for midbass).
Tempolectric are also speaker my cables and interconnects, fitted with Eichmann Silver Bullet RCAs..
It is very important, that all wiring is the same and of high quality!

CDP Marantz 63 Ken Ishiwata Signature, DAC Stylos, tube driven prototype, 5881-6922 Tube integrated amp 2X 23 W A class, ultra linear.
Spiked stands filled with sand, slightly tilted in front, 1,5 from rear wall.

Those M1 puppies now can comfortly withstand with the most sophisticated audio gear..The can also made it ashame, or lighten its qualities..

Why?
Both drivers of M1s are totally musical and perfectly sonically matched, no matter the power you brought to them..
Like Lowther, but without the problems caused by the huge and complicated boxes of Lowthers..

Only minimonitors can play "out of the box magic" and have no problems with positioning in the room.

Microdetails are plenty and they are vivid and passionate and they draw you into the music in an instant..

Forget Sonus Faber, those are way more musical and they can fill very big room, without banging, with just lifelike sound without a slightest harshness or edginess..

Deep, full, extremly fast, lively and precise bass for such small speakers ..

Only for organ and live music i use their much expensive bigger brothers, M4s, tweaked very similar as M1s.. Darn good speakers, but M1 are just little miracles when it comes to music..
Oh..I almost forgot..
Pinponting of every musician is Swiss precise, you can even feel and see him thru your room moving around, if his moving is recorded..
Considering types of music, after my last tweak, they really are all rounders..
No problems with any kind of music..

Now i can feel and understand messages of Paco de Lucia and Ramon Algeciras, hidden in their spanish blood, i can feel Indias monsun thru Meeting by the river by Ry Cooder and Bhatt..A lot of ordinary music now sounds almost like Chesky samplers.

You can buy those very fragile M1s almost for nothing and additional Investment in Tempoelectric cables and Mundorf Supreme capacitors and resistors, 2 meters of Burklin wire wrap, Eichmann Silver Bullets, spiked stands, will bring you in, and over the world of true high end, especially if you are on quality tube amplification..

Some triode tube amps may have some problems with driving the 87dB/m of M1s...

Also good with Yamaha XV550, P-3500 power amp, Hafler 200-101, even T amp and Gainclones..

But best with high end gear..

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
warm but shallow sound stage. lacks pipoint imaging and focus. quite easy to listen to and not as fatiguing. good all around coherent and decent enough to live with. would buy at around $50

Strengths:
warmth

Weaknesses:
sound stage, imaging, tranparency

Similar Products Used:
epos es 14, magnepan smgc, soliloquy 5.0, b&w 604

Price Paid:  $60.00 from used

Summary:
I have quite a while listening to these speakers and they are nice sounding,precise and so on.But there is something that bothers me.Soundstage is not what it should be.Sound goes direct forward without any circulationon left and right-It's not filling the room with the sound,like nearfield monitors.But for the price I got them,they are a very good buy.

Strengths:
prcise sound,

Weaknesses:
bass is lacking,no sound width

Similar Products Used:
Jamo Cornet 145,B&W 302

Price Paid:  $200.00 from Tat Chuan , Adelphi

Summary:
I bought these pair of speakers in 1998 when I bought my Sony CMT-MD1 mini combo . Those Sony one-cone speakers sucks big time .When I hook up the M1s , the difference are OH MY GOD ! The sound is brilliant, the music is crispy and it looks fabulous ! The Sony speakers are junked immediatly.
Of course , in Singapore most kids below 21 (no pun intended) know nuts about Wharfedale ( Huh?) , Mission ( Whats that ?) , B&W ( BMW is it ?) , Tannoy and so on .These products are strictly meant for older(35 & up)people whom have too much money and nothing better to do . On our Sunny island there is only 2 dedicated shopping centres selling audiophile products .
Ok, currently , I using a Yamaha RXV-620RDS AV/amp with a Yamaha DVD-S510 coupled with klipsch Quintet speakers and a Sherwood never-heard-of subwoofer. Before I sold my M1 (I know , dumb ) , I tested my 620 amp with them , they sounded even more brillant ,clearer and much more crispy than my Sony CMT-MD1 . But because of space constraints, monetery problems, desire of surround sound plus I had a great deal on the Quintet speakers ( $180 , cost about $700 new ) so out the M1 goes .
The Quintets are very good ( at least by my standards) for stereo but the europhia of Lisa Ekdahl's The colour of you , the wholesomeness & touching feeling of Bohemian's Rhapsodly from the M1 is gone . Tannoy should be kicked for knocking M1 off the perch with the China made Mx1.

Strengths:
Clarity , response , sensitivity , great quality finish & design .

Weaknesses:
Perhaps a tad weak in bass when compared to Mission m71 or Wharfedale Diamonds 8.1

Similar Products Used:
Wharfedale 8.1

Price Paid:  $250.00 from Handos

Summary:
You can't buy the gorgeous little M1s anymore which is a real shame. The original mercurys sound far better than Tannoys replacements - the Mx. I've had these speakers for 2 years and they're every bit as good as the day I bought them.

When it comes to positining, the M1s are quite forgiving. I do recommend using sturdy 60cm stands preferrably ones you can fill with sand or leadshot. Placing them close to a rear wall will add some depth to the low end but they work equally well in free space.

OK so how do they sound? They rock, they roll, they whisper, they wail. The sound these speakers produce belies their compact dimensions. It's big boned and muscley. The bass is never going to threaten peace loving citizens within a 1km radius but there is no doubt its there. Tight, taught, fast and rythmic and superbly balanced. Even on tracks made up mostly of low frequencies (Dire Straits is excellent) you never feel that there's anything missing from the music.

But their talents dont end yet. Midrange and treble is presented sweetly and smoothly. True, some detail is sacrificed here - the Tannoys sounding a little more laid back than speakers like the Acoustic Energy Aegis model. But what these speakers excel at is making all sorts of music listenable and involving. Lead guitars have appropriate snarl. Female vocals sound rich and atmospheric (try Dido - No Angel). Solo instruments like piano, violin and sax have real timbre. You can play just about anything out of these speakers and they will replay a faithful convincing soundstage picture.

Hifi press label these speakers as budget entry level. True they're inexpensive, being designed to slot in well with a wide range of equipment. But I can't stress this enough. The Tannoys will really sing when partnered with quality electronics. NAD, Rotel, Marantz, Musical Fidelity for example.

If there are any faults to be mentioned they are ones that are apparent in any small bookshelf design. The Mercury M1s will sound quite lost in large listening rooms. Their sensitivity of 87db/w/m and 8 ohm impedance means most amps will have no trouble driving them, but don't expect stadium like sound levels. There are other speakers available which will definately go louder.

To conclude, the Tannoy Mercury M1s really deliver much more than they should for their price. If you are able to pick up a pair 2nd hand, these speakers will not disappoint. Buy with confidence!


My system:

- Bellogetti 4 tier stand
- Rotel RCD-951 HDCD capable CD player
- NAD C340 integrated amplifier
- Yamaha TX-492 tuner
- Tara Labs cables and interconnects
- Tannoy M1s
- Solidsteel lead filled stands

Strengths:
Well balanced. Great overall clarity, depth and body for a bookshelf design. Able to handle anything from Tool to Tchaikovsky.

Weaknesses:
A touch muted at high volumes. Being small they don't go that loud. Could do with more detail - but I'm being picky.

Similar Products Used:
Tannoy M2, AE aegis 1, Dynaudio, Monitor Audio, Jamo, Magnat