bass, all that bass

I bought these speakers after reading many many reviews about speakers. I can't say I could be more pleased. I love these things.

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nothing reall, hence casual listener

clean highs, neutral midrange, very soft sound

dynamics?

I sold my old speakers and started a listening tour through audio shops near me, here's the list of the speakers I tested:

Acoustic Energy (some ~$250 and some ~$470, don't remember the models), Amphion Helium+, B&W DM601S2, Chario Syntar 200, Chorus Compact 66, Dali 2002, Gradient Prelude (as reference), Infinity Reference RS-2, JPW Mini Monitor (just wanted to hear these, awful!), Kef Cresta 2, Kef Q15.2, Tannoy Revolution R1, Wharfedale Diamond 7.2 Anniversary.

These tannoy's were almost the only ones that I liked very much. Those ~$470 AE's were good ones too. Oh, and Gradients :)

I wanted to have soft sound after my previous Wharfedale Valdus 500 speakers but still I didn't want to lose vocals in songs, these speakers are just what I was looking for. Clear and soft.

I haven't been using sub with music after I got these, one day I tried "007 and the Golden Eye" without sub and I was amazed how well these could perform the explosions, almost like with sub.

And for you to know, my sub is Peerless XLS-12 in ~80l 22Hz vented box. I only use it to give the _lowest_ bass, like 20 to 40Hz.

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many

Small, nice looking, good sound.

the "made in Taiwan" printed on the backside of the speakers...and I thought thay were made in England.

Very nice sounding if you don´t drive these speakers up to party-level sound.

If you, like me, don´t have the money to buy high-end speakers. And also doesn´t have the space to place floor standing speakers (in the 500-1000$ class) in your tiny apartment. Then these speakers are the right for you.

Very much sound for the price paid.

(I use them together with Arcam 7se CD-player and Linn Intek amp.)

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Simple and cheap speakers, that comes with your "hifi mini system".

Excellent soundstaging, glorious mids, inexpensive, quite well-built

Leaflet manual

I guess it's because these are fairly new, thus the low number of reviews for them so far. I've had these for a couple weeks now and initial impressions are good. First thing I noticed was a more accurate rendition of the treble and highs when I plugged them into my modest home theatre system - Kenwood VR-309 receiver, Sony LD/CD transport, AR cabling with banana-plug terminators (for music listening I use stereo mode with help of D-Box David 300 subwoofer). Initial impression was that the bass sufferred a bit (what bookshelf doesn't!?). As the first week went on, with at least 4-6 hrs of music playing each evening at moderate volumes, and some repositioning on sturdy supports, the lows started to fill in (though I'd still use the sub to enhance). Finally settled on ~1.5' from the back wall with toeing. As with other units, the rear port doesn't like being too close to the wall.

This baby sounds very clean. Transitions are smooth on well recorded tracks (old 80's pop still sounds harsh to my ears but that's the recording's fault). Dynamic range is impressive on classical pieces (eg. Eiji Ouie's Stravinsky Firebird Suite), and jazzy pieces (eg. Diana Krall) sound marvellous with lots of crisp detail and sound staging. I was particularly impressed with the American Beauty theme in the soundstage and showing off tonal balance.

Comparisons: I had originally wanted to buy the Paradigm MiniMonitor given my Canadian patriotism (:-), but in direct comparison, I preferred these. I don't think you can go wrong with the MM's, just that for my taste in music (classical, jazz, some pop, NO hard rock/metal), these sounded better on the equipment I use. I found these similar to the NHT's in sound although slightly more efficient. Wish I had the Tannoy m2 & m2.5 to compare this unit with though (reviewers tend to think these other ones less revealing in the high range).

Overall, I think these are excellent speakers. To my ears, they surpassed the others I auditioned at this price range. I bought the light maple version and although at first I contemplated taking them back for the darker finish, have grown to like the more classic look (time to start looking at other colors than just the black boxes feeding them ;). You'll definately need a good stand and to invest some time with positioning.

One thing I realized was that the manual did not talk about how the connectors are arranged for biwiring. With trial and error, this is the arrangemnt on the back (note, kudos to Tannoy, they responded to my E-Mail about this quickly):

R = red
B = black

R R B B
| | | |
| --Tweeter-- |
---- Woofer -------

Hope this helps!

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various "mid"-fi speakers - Aiwa bookshelf, Sony bookshelf; Audiosphere Research floorstander, Sansui full range (20-yrs old!).
Auditioned: Paradigm MiniMonitor, NHT SuperOnes

Smooth, Airy, Excellent mid range, Vocals are natural, Non fatiging, and very musical.

Fit and finish, a few loose shavings.

The Tannoy MX2 is an honest speaker. The research, technical engineering advances are what you might find in a much more expensive speaker. The soft dome tweeter is sweet and clear. The mid range is outstanding, low distortion, airy, and vocals that draw you into the music. This is a result of good quality crossovers and dope paper cones done right. If you want to relax and let the music take you away,then I would recommend an audition. Your ears will thank you.
P.S. Applicable to small enviorments.

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B&W 602, Monitor Audio Silver

Exellent sound. Exellent looks, even without grilles.

none really

These were purchased for my girlfriend and we evaluated more than ten models in the same price range. Tannoy MX2 was a clear winner.

Results and models are presented below, best ones first. Speakers roughly in the same price range ($300+-$50) are marked with - and much cheaper ones with c.

Tannoy MX2
- Chorus 66 (from Finland)
- B&W 600s3
- JPW ML 510
- B&W LM-1
c JPW ML 210
- Kef Cresta 2
- Mirage FRX-1
- Dali 2002
c Paradigm Atom V2
- Infinity Alpha 20
c JPW Minimonitor

Tannoy MX2 is free from any annoying colorations and frequency range is in very good balance. Sound is perfect in a sense that you can't pinpoint anything that needed to be changed. (Of course this does not mean, that you couldn't buy overall better speakers with more money)

I own ProAc Tablette III's myself and I have compared their sound to more expensive ProAc models, ie. ProAc Response 2.5. Bigger models naturally have bigger sound, but the character of the sound remains the same as in cheaper models and I'm quite convinced that if ProAc would do a $300 model then they could sound something like MX2.

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Infinity Reference 21i, also see below

Wonderful sound!!! Will flood a small room with music, well imaged.

Bass... obviously (get a sub!)

I went shopping for a reasonably priced pair of bookshelf speakers for my dorm. I went from shop to shop and narrowed in on my favorite speakers.... I tested everything in my price range ($200-$600) I could get my hands on. I listened to the bookshelf models for Polk, B&W, Paradigm, Klipsch, Kef and infinity.
The Tannoy mx2's were, in my humble opinion, only closely rivaled by the B&W 602's. I had heard a lot about the 602's, and compared them to the mx2's lastly. The 602's obviously had much stronger bass, and I would imagine can hold out being turned up louder, but I liked the mx2's sound much more. THATS RIGHT!!!! I liked the little $370 tannoys MORE than the popular B&W 602's listing for almost 600 bucks. Listening to them side by side, the mx2's imaged much better, and had a clearer sound than the 602's.
Basically, according to my listening adventures, the Tannoys blew everything else out of the water, for less money and less size. Don't expect to get deep, pounding bass though w/out adding a sub.

Trust me, give these guys a listen, you WON'T be disapointed.

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See below

Natural sound: nothing more, nothing less; well balanced;
extremely good detail; deep bass, awesome mid and high range.

I have not found any yet. :)

Well, if we are talking about cars, maybe we should mention Rolls-Royce or Cadillac. Talking about speakers though, I've got to say "Tannoy". Not only because Tannoy produces great speakers, but also because their speakers produce great sound. What do I mean by "great sound"? It is simple: neutrality.
This means that the sound coming from a speaker has to be the same as it comes from a music instrument or a voice…yes, it’s that simple. Not every speaker can do that though. The MX2 and the Tannoy in general do make the music (instruments, voices, etc.) sound like it does in real life. This is what I call “The right sound”. When I listen to that cute bookshelf MX2, the only thing I miss is the performer who stays in front of me. MX2 has just realistic and full musical image. I would recommend those speakers to anybody who wants to listen the “Right sound” and nothing but that. If you connect them to the same class amplifiers, CD player, cassette decks (Marantz, Denon, Arcam, Nakamichi, etc.) you should be able to listen and enjoy the best sound image of your favorite music styles.
GREAT SPEAKERS! HIGHLY RECOMMENDET!

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Infinity IL40, B&W, Bose.

Cabinet quality, Sheer punch from the box

Naff grills

Having recently purchased an AV amp and a DVD deck I noticed the limitations of my old Mission boxes. After listening to several speakers in the price range Kefs, Missions,Celestion to name a few the Tannoys really stood out. They were simply light years better than the rivals. Rock music is awsome in my small lounge and they are more than capable of holding a party or two. Clean punchy bass and a lovely warm mid range is the best way to describe these speakers. If you are looking for a budget set of speakers these are about as good as it gets.

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Kef crestas, Mission 7's

Overall, a very well balanced package

Reed on

While everything in life is after all a compromise – and that’s of course include loudspeakers, a 2 way loudspeakers have "compromise" writing all over them, since woofer and midrange have an opposite requirements (ultimately speaking).
There are really only two major differences between a very expensive 2-way loudspeaker to a cheap one, and they are usually the tweeter, and sometime, the enclosure. In the case of the mX2, is mainly the tweeter.

I needed a small 2-way speaker for a secondary system in a large room. Originally, I was thinking about something larger then the mX2. I set the price point of about $500 and at this price range, there are quit a few options, yet, after some sniffing around, I choose the mX2.
(At this price point, it didn’t make any sense to design and built it myself - what I'm usually doing.)

I couldn’t compare it directly to the B&W 300s' and 601/602. But in a quit similar environment, and about 30-min apart, I think that only the B&W 602 S2 is better then the mX2, but I can't be really sure about it.

When comparing the Tannoy directly to the Paradigm Mini-Monitor & Monitor 3, it took me couple of minutes to choose the mX2, mainly because it sounds more open.
What surprised me the most was that I preferred it to the Monitor 3 – a much larger speaker and the one I had my mind, originally, set to. I was surprise to see how low the mX2 goes - even when switching to the much larger Paradigm Monitor 3.

In a room, I was able to get a +/- 1dB from about 40Hz! Yet, when compared with my main system – homegrown 3-way loudspeakers, actively biamp by homegrown 4-channels amplifiers – out of all the obvious shortcoming of the mX2, the two biggest problems were:
1. Not very clean and not very fast midrange.
2. While even, rather un-exiting highs.

With the highs, the only thing you can do is to keep the Tannoy on a short stand. Tannoy recommending that the listener would be able to see the top of the speaker, and they aren't kidding! That’s mean a 20" stand. Other then that, there is nothing much we can do - those tweeters must cost less the $10 OEM, and that’s really cheap. Since they are smooth, at this price, they cannot be also fast and reviling.

However, to improve the midrange performance there is a lot you can do.
The reason for the restraint midrange – as in MANY other, even much more expensive 2-way - is that the same driver must produce midbass and midrange – a huge increase in the TIM & ITM distortions compare with a 3-way design.
(Compare ANY 2-way speaker – regardless of cost – to a good 3-way, and you will see it yourself. Btw, GOOD 3-way are not cheap or easy to design and build).

So the solution here is to actively biamp, with crossover point at minimum of 150Hz. This required a good "subwoofer", front firing only (the down-firing one cannot be taken much above 60Hz ~ 80Hz). All you need then is to build a simple first-order passive line-level crossover in front of the power amp.
I did it with a cheap, run-of-the-mill NAD and Arcam, and its sound excellent.
(An integrated amplifier with pre-out and power-in. together with a small power amp. The "subwoofer" is an old, 10" sealed unit I've build long time ago with f3 similar to the Tannoy! But it sound much, much, much better)
This way, you're really pushing the mX2 to a level of performance you wouldn’t believe they are capable of.

When I picked-up the mX2, someone was audition a used Acrian Alon V – an upscale speaker, used to be retail for about $5K couple of years ago. The guy plays a disk, which I happened to be very familiar with. Not only those speakers sound quit lame, I think that if you will take my advise and mate the Tannoy with a good "subwoofer", you will get much better sound at less then 1/3 of the price. (The used Alon was priced I think at about $2,600).

In any event – enjoy.