"The high-frequency driver is a wide-dynamic-range compression unit," Deal wrote. "The Tulip Waveguide is a low-compression, phase-compensating device that allows the driver to exhibit high dynamic levels with little power. The throat of the low-frequency cone ... provides a second waveguide with acoustic impedance transformation to match the high-frequency radiation into the listening environment." The Stirling's Dual Concentric driver uses neodymium magnets and a diecast chassis. The loudspeaker's crossover includes ICW ClarityCaps for the high-frequency circuits and metalized film capacitors for low frequencies. To connect drivers and crossover to the outside world, the Stirling uses van den Hul CS-18 halogen-free, silver-plated cabling.
The Stirling Prestige Gold Reference stands a regal 33.5" high; it is 15.5" wide, 14.5" deep, and it weighs 50.7lb. Its nominal impedance is 8 ohms, and its reported sensitivity is 91dB/2.83V/m, which together should make it exceptionally easy to drive. The stated frequency response is 39Hz to 46kHz, –6dB.
"The speakers are built one at a time in matched pairs, fully finished and tested before tests are run," Deal added. "A test track is run on a reference speaker that's a perfect specimen called the Gold Sample. The newly built speaker is then tested against those measurements."
Setup
The Stirlings required more work on placement than the usual move-away-from-walls and toe-it-in ritual. Tannoy suggests positioning the speakers so that their projection axes intersect at a point slightly in front of the listening position. Tannoy also advises that the Stirlings should be no closer than 1m to sidewalls and at least 0.5m from the front wall. I ended up with the speakers 42" from the back wall, 60" from tweeter to tweeter, and 8' (2.4m) from my comfy listening chair. Had I been listening in a larger, deeper room, the hornlike Stirlings would probably have had me sitting farther back. In a comfortable sitting position, my ears are slightly above tweeter level. Someone suggested I slouch, but I found it made little difference.
Along with traditional technology, the Stirling incorporates an interesting feature Tannoy calls energy control, which allows adjustment of the treble output. Treble response can be adjusted from Level (center) to +3.0 and +1.5, on the left, or to –1.5 and –3.0, on the right, which was counterintuitive. The resulting change in sound was anything but subtle, and it took a while to home in on the best treble setting for my listening room.
The speaker's treble, which at the neutral setting is somewhat forward, can be ameliorated by adjusting the energy control, but it is also affected by the grille. In contrast to any speaker I've previously auditioned, the Stirling sounded better with the grilles attached: its tone fuller, its treble more open and revealing, its low end weightier and better defined.
Listening
At its core a horn speaker, the Stirling is fast, communicative, coherent, and demonstrative. It was transparent to equipment and music sources while retaining its trademark sound. As noted, that sound can be adjusted to room conditions. The Stirling sounded balanced and exhibited enhanced coherence and more weight with the grilles in place and the energy control set to neutral. I also experimented with the energy control set to –1.5, which, at equivalent volume, resulted in weightier bass that at times was boomy.
When I played César Franck's Symphony in D Minor, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Pierre Monteux (LP, RCA LSC-2514), the Stirling boldly surged on orchestral climaxes without breaking up. The Stirling was so fast and expansive—with such stark dynamic contrasts—that I had to run to turn down the volume on my Sugden preamp for fear the room would burst. Similar moments occurred on Mahler's Symphony No.6, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Sir Georg Solti (LP, London CSA-2227), and on Wagner's Tannhäuser, with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, also with Solti conducting (LP, London OSA 1438).
Playing the Stirlings with my Thorens TD 124 and its Ortofon SPU Classic GE Mk.II MC cartridge, through Shindo amplification, I found the sound saturated and blooming within a massive soundstage. The Stirling's clean, extended treble exposed surface noise on Jimmy Smith's "These Foolish Things," from Softly As a Summer Breeze (LP, Blue Note BLP 4200), but that did nothing to obscure the deep organ-pedal notes and the dense, physical, liquid textures of Kenny Burrell's guitar.
Whether I used solid state or tubed gear and whether my source was vinyl or digital, the Stirling had a special way with texture and physicality. Together with its lively sound, it made jazz and classical music corporeal, record after record.
The Stirling revealed the full, riveting microdetail in Caroline Shaw and the Attacca Quartet's album Orange (LP, Nonesuch 75597921434). String instruments were reproduced with rich, realistic tone with every string pluck; each draw of a bow sounded natural and visceral. Again, the Stirlings presented a room-filling soundstage that was grand and deep, though imaging was diffuse.
Belgian vocalist Melanie De Biasio, on her album A Stomach Is Burning (LP, Igloo IGL193LP), had excellent tone, highlighted by cymbals and brushed snare drum that the Stirlings presented in deep ambience and that special sense of live performance that horn and hornlike speakers can create. The Stirling's treble extended so high that I easily noted percussionists playing out of time even on delicate instruments such as the triangle. Well-recorded orchestral music sounded fantastic on the Stirlings. Their Dual Concentric drivers belted out the full, epic dynamics and deep-boweled thrills in records such as The Rare Wagner: Overtures and Marches (LP, EMI ASD 2837) and Kalinnikov's Symphony No.1 in G Minor (LP, Melodiya/EMI/His Master's Voice ASD 2720).
Exchanging the Shindos for the Sugden LA-4 preamplifier and the Pass Labs XA-25 power amplifier caused some diminution in tone and color but gains in resolution. Recordings had more ambience and faster decay, and the Stirling was better able to reveal differences in recordings and equipment. On the Wagner disc, images were better located and more precise, but the presentation lost some of its former bloom. The De Biasio LP showed roughly the same trade-off: more precise imaging, less saturation and immediacy. The soundstage remained large and full—a Stirling constant.
Changing to my Kuzma Stabi R turntable with the Luxman LMC-5 MC cartridge, music gained focus, with more body, less coloration, and a more fleshed-out midrange. The Stirlings were quick to lay bare these differences.
Conclusion
Like other speakers I've reviewed that have horn-loaded drive units, the Tannoy Stirling Prestige Gold Reference is fast, plays with marvelous dynamics, and presents a full, believable, densely populated soundstage. It requires careful setup, but once that's done, it rewards with excellent transparency, fine treble resolution, good midrange and bass fundamentals, and impressive textures. I'd go so far as to say that the Stirling, which just had its first price increase since 2013, is a bargain. Considering the adjustability of its treble output to accommodate different room sizes and conditions, the Stirling is an easy speaker to love.
Despite changes at the company, the Tannoy legacy continues with the Stirling, which proudly carries the torch for a classic, timeless design.
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COMMENTS
can these be properly evaluated subjectively in a 10' X 12' room?
You guys are great but man the small NY apartments you have will in no way reflect how any speaker will sound in a larger suburban listening room- or do justice to any larger speaker.
Peace.
PS- send some speakers my way for review- 19' X 27' baby !
I seriously hope the listening room wasn't just a small 10'x12'. Hard to imagine that such a space would be able to provide a fair reflection of the sound produced by speakers like these.
Given the importance of room acoustics, I would hope that subjective reviewers make sure to assess products in environments that such products are likely meant to grace.
I doubt customers of speakers like these would be putting them in a 10x12.
Hi
Good question !!!
My basement is some 700sq ft being evenly rectangular shaped. So I only used one end of it out of the air-free-flowing spaceous area: measured 17'x15' only. Simply because I don't want to sit so far away from the loudspeakers.
Free air flowing is crucial for any home audios. When soundwaves from the loudspeakers are forced to bounce around in a too confined space is nooot a blessing at all, musically & sonically ! This is physics.
Listening to believing
Jack L
Not having heard the Stirlings but owning the similar Kensington SE speaker I think I can say that a large room should be no problem. before buying my speakers I heard them at a dealer in a huge room sitting about 6 m from the speakers, and they sounded amazing. We were there to audition The the current Sonus faber floorstander costing about half of the Kensingtons that the kid running the demo offered as comparison.
Why in the world would a speaker with a dynamic cone driver in a wooden box cost $7000???? Is anyone really this dumb? This speaker is worth maybe a hundred bucks. But I guess those who believe the more it costs the better it must sound will buy this.
Ever wonder if every item in a 99cent store is actually worth 99cents?
Have you?
"Is anyone really this dumb?"
Just look in the mirror David.
Do you actually think speakers (or any other consumer item) should cost (your ill-assessment) of the sum of their parts?
Do you really think that's how businesses work?
Have you ever tried to run a business where you sell manufactured products? No other expenses other than parts to cover?
Yeesh.
I went to the doctor who assessed me. In the end he just handed me a sheet of paper on which he wrote a prescription. I'm enraged that he's charging more than the cost of that piece of paper, which must be worth, what, 25 cents?
Hi
If you think David Harper doesn't know "how businesses work". you think YOU would know better in this Tannoy case ?
The hidden agenda of manfaucture off-shore is to make bigger profits by saving the high cost of local manufacture in term of materials & assembly labour, undermining its long term quality & reputation in case of premature failure.
One word: profiteering, IMO.
Jack L
Hi.
Good question, Davd. But also hold your breath as well !
"The handsome cabinet is constructed of MDF (medium density fiberboard..with oiled-walnut veneer." qtd K Micallef.
For whoever don't know what is MDF board, it is widely used in cheap furniture to replace much much expensive real timber. MDF boards are made of recyled wood bits & pieces, pressed together with certain ADHESIVE under high heat/pressure. It looks "handsome" like real timber, but tons money cheaper !!!
It is the adhesive used raised health concern worldwide. The adhestive used is urea-formaldehyde/urea-methanal formaldehyde, which can escape as gases in its surrounding.
Centers for Disease Control & Preventioin found high levels of such adhesive "off gasses" can irritates the skin, eyes, nose & throad, enventually increase lifetime risks of getting cancer !!!!!!
Estimated 6-30 extra cases for every 100,000 people per year.
US Government passed a law of such chemical levels in composite wood products in 2010: not over 0.11ppm, Europe not over 0.07ppm. California Air Resources Board set it at not over 0.05ppm.
Thanks goodness, my young son & family live in the Silicon Valley. Better health protection from MDF furniture!
So hold your breath in case you already owned $7,000 Scotish made loudspeakers & the like built with MDF boards.
Good luck, good health & God bless you who already own loudspeakers built with MDF boards.
Jack L
Good loudspeakers are NEVER made with mdf. Let that sink in for a moment, and let all the negative "bullshit" thoughts build to a big boiling crescendo. But before you say anything, understand that the product actually used is HDF, or high-density fiberboard. The fibers are much smaller, air gaps between particles are exceptionally tiny. Yes there's resin involved, but there is VERY LITTLE left after the HDF product is "squeezed" during the manufacturing process to remove all of the excess resin. For some reason, the loudspeaker manufacturing universe has never really explained this very well. MDF has been used since the 1980s, taking over from particle board with veneer. But HDF is a much better and much more expensive way to manufacture loudspeakers. The pressure applied to HDF during manufacturing is described as being "immense". This makes HFD much denser and much more effective at rejecting resonances and vibrations that are undesirable in loudspeakers. HDF weighs 2 to 4 times as much as the same volume piece of MDF. That mass and "deadness" from all the small fibers (there are NO "chips" in HDF, it is all powdered wood fiber before being made into HDF. And while MDF is quite inexpensive, HDF is not NEARLY as cheap because the manufacturing process takes longer and uses more highly processed fibers. HDF produces much "deader" cabinets than ANY type of "solid wood" or plywood or MDF or particle board. Some of the best loudspeakers in the world use HDF specifically because it has proven to be one of the BEST materials to resist resonances. Furthermore, both HDF and MDF are available in formulas with small amounts of formaldehyde and ZERO formaldehyde. But the high amount of "squeezing" HDF receives in manufacturing eliminates huge amounts of the resin used to bond everything together so there's really not much left and 95% of any outgassing if there is any, is gone before a consumer receives the speakers made with HDF. I cannot explain why speaker manufacturers keep referring to speakers made with HDF as being fabbed with MDF when HDF is clearly a better, more expensive, and more widely used product for loudspeaker manufacturing. In fact, there may be ZERO speakers (outside of the ones you buy out of a van parked in the parking lot of a closed/shuttered Circuit City store) made with MDF any more. People have made speakers with boxes fabbed from glass, aluminum, plastic, cement, stone, liquid silicone resin that hardens to a stiff rubbery consistency, stone, and metals other than aluminum... none of those materials is as good as HDF for high performance loudspeakers. And with 100s of millions of loudspeakers made with HDF exist in the world and NOBODY has even the SLIGHTEST side effects, including those most exposed to HDF in manufacturing where all manner of production tools cut, router, and otherwise shape HDF for each speaker model. Those workers are exposed to the "freshest" HDF 8 hours a day and 5 days a week and there's no history of illness including cancer among those workers. The fact that you did not KNOW there are low-formaldehyde and no-formaldehye versions of HDF and that speakers are not actually made with MDF (I have a pair of tiny 2-way desktop speakers that sell for $280 per pair that are made with HDF, for example) unless they are the ultra-cheap "sold out of a van" variety or some super-low-priced speaker with no intentions of sounding good. And your thoughts that "real wood" is better for making loudspeakers is 100% WRONG. No real wood is as dense and resonance-free as HDF. That's why HDF is a TERRIBLE material for making musical instruments... because THOSE DO WANT RESONANCES in the wood they are made from. That makes real wood a bad choice for speakers. For speakers you need the complete absense of resonances to make the best sounding loudspeakers. And FURTHERMORE... since most HDF loudspeakers also have wood veneer over the HDF, the adhesive for the veneer and the veneer itself help suppress fumes from escaping if there are any. The inside of the HDF is completely sealed in many speaker designs so no gasses from formaldehyde can escape into the room... they are "trapped" by air-tight cabinets (again, not that HDF has much outgassing compared to older and cheaper materials). Your message this reply addresses is remarkably built on "old tapes" that have never been updated with actual current knowledge of production processes and how easy it is to find HDF without formaldehyde.
This (this $7000 speaker should be sold for a couple of hundred bucks) is what we like to call "internet level knowledge" meaning, wrong. In the audio world, you typically multiply the cost of the raw materials by 5 to determine the retail price of a product (there can certainly be exceptions when products have a lot of hands-on tuning to produce a higher quality sound than high production volumes without the manual work being equired. And that 5X markup of parts cost has to cover the expenses of making HDF or metal parts for the speaker, making or buying drivers, assembling crossovers, assembly of subassemblies and complete finished speakers, advertising, the cost of the shop time, the "office" time (parts procurement and all the other activities that bring all the bits together to be assembled into complete products. And from that markup, the manufacturer keeps about 50% of the sale price and the seller keeps the rest. Well established brands that have stores beating down their doors to sell those products may give retail stores only 45% of the sale. Newer players in the market often have to give dealers 55% of the sale in order to get representation in retail stores. Please write back after you've had 10 years of experience creating high-precision products that requires you to pay people salaries, get them health and dental insurance, pay for their vacation time, staff an office, staff a production shop, buy and maintain tools used in production, and ALL OF THAT and when the product has precision tweeter and woofer integrated into a single basket/frame with precision magnets and voice coils. Those have to be assembled very carefully with incredible precision, because the closer the magnets are to the moving voice coil, the better controlled the speaker's sound is. So the more expensive the speaker, the more expensive the driver. Centering is critical and essential for dynamic drivers in speakers. Loudspeakers are precision instruments for recreating sound from an electrical signal. This isn't anything that can be accomplished with a $10 box, $10 tweeter and woofer, $5 in crossover parts. The total for parts in this theoretical speaker is $35. Using the typical 5x markup, a speaker with those component part costs would have a retail price of $175 EACH, or $350 per pair. That happens to be a very competitive price point in loudspeaker manufacturing. Also, people underestimate how incredibly perfect Asian factories can build cabinets and speakers without them having to cost an arm and a leg. Few manufacturers sell inexpensive components for very high prices. And the ones who have tried that in the past have all failed in the marketplace. The speaker costs $7000 because you can't make and sell it for less without going out of business. Remember, the manufacturer only gets half the retail price, roughly. An extablished brand like Tannoy may have a marketplace strength that allows them to keep 55% of the sale price. It doesn't matter what you think of all this, this is how the industry works. Everybody who thought they could come in and "clean up" with a $500 speaker that sounds as good as a $3000 speaker has failed because no matter how many they sold, there was no profit after their take on the sale.
Why would you think the value of something is equal to it's component cost? If this is really what you think, I suggest you purchase the components and heap them in two little piles in your listening room. While you're enjoying the classic Tannoy sound, reflect on the value of the design, manufacturing, engineering, testing, reputation, service and support employed by the company offering these speakers.
No, I don't work for Tannoy. I am an engineer and I find your comment offensive.
Hi
So Mr."Engineer", would you consider my comment on $7,000/pair loudspeakers using cheap & health-hazardous MFD boards "offensive" ???
With such hefty price tag, should we consumers expect a reputable loudspeakers manufacturer as such would have used natural timber boards to build the cabinet ??????????
Jack L
PS: I am an engineer too, decades involved in the electrical power industries. Audio electronics is only my hobby to supplement my addiction to vinyl classical music.
Speakers in the middle of a line tick me off.
All they do is make me want to upsell.
It's like telling my realtor my budget but then they show me stuff above my budget!!!!
I'm an easy mark for salespeople, I guess!
I love the timeless look of these speakers. Admittedly, I have never heard them, but their iconic status probably means I would love them. I keep returning to this page just to look at that beautiful cabinetry.
Hi
"All that glitters is not gold", my friend, Hopefully, it were not "a wolf in sheep's skin" to the owners' health !
Jack L
Where are these products really manufactured? I visited the old Tannoy factory in Coatbridge pre-Music Group, where they manufactured everything including drivers and crossovers – the workmanship was fantastic.
You state everything is supplied from China and you provide a Tannoy factory address….but this address belongs to a Healthcare and a Logistics company who are not connected to Tannoy, in fact Tannoy is not listed as a client on their website.
So, are these products legally “Made in the UK” or is this a scam?
Expensive price for Chinese made copies either way.
I'm also skeptical about the "Made in the UK" tag. There's probably a legal loophole whereby simply assembling something (drivers from China, cabinets from Poland, etc.) in the UK means a company can claim to have made it there.
Reminds me of how in Japan rice can be sold as "Japanese rice" even if a bag contains only a single grain of rice actually cultivated in Japan (with the bulk imported from Thailand and elsewhere).
It's a sad state of affairs. The bottom line in both situations is that transparency (a new word for honesty) would have a negative impact on consumer perception and reduce the price the sellers can charge.
Provenance. Anyway, I've had Turnberry SEs for 10 years. Had many others previously in the same room/location (Spendor, Harbeth, Magnepan, Klipsch, B&W, Vandersteen, etc.). No urge to replace these.
Provenance. Anyway, I've had Turnberry SEs for 10 years. Had many others previously in the same room/location (Spendor, Harbeth, Magnepan, Klipsch, B&W, Vandersteen, etc.). No urge to replace these.
And please don't get me wrong: I love dual concentric Tannoys. I just think it would be a better world if the manufacturers of speakers (Tannoy included) were more open about their processes.
TVs assembled from Asian parts in Mexico are labeled "Made in Mexico".
Hi
Good question !
I don't see any information of its country of origin from the pictures of the Tannoy cabinet panels as shown in the above review despite the specifications following the review stated clearly: "designed, engineered & manufactured in the United Kingdom".
So why "made-in-UK" is not imprinted on the cabinet ?????
Jack L
PS: even my vintage KEF standspeakers with cabinet made of natural wood still got a small metal plate at the back panel showing model no, serial no & "made in England".
Devores are listed as associated equipment but no comparison.
Odd not to see some type of comparison in the review.
I've owned Tannoy Sterling Gold Reference for about the last three years. Without question they are wonderful speakers not only in looks but sound wise. I have them paired with a Luxman L-507 UX Amp. Both the the speakers and the amp were purchased from authorized dealers at deeply discounted prices. I feel very lucky to have them in my collection but the icing on the cake was the price I paid for both.
According to Upscale Audio’s web site:
The Stirling GR cabinet is hand built from the finest plywood using traditional joinery methods to ensure that attention to detail and unique styling go hand in hand. A distributed port design for exemplary LF response from the 85-litre enclosure, the cabinet is finished in Prestige oiled real walnut wood veneer and complimented with solid walnut trim and edging, machined metal trim and adjustable HF power.
It is NOT made of MDF. I believe Ken has it wrong. I have a pair of these speakers, have removed the driver, looked inside and can confirm this. So all this caterwauling about speaker companies ripping folks off is way off way base. The Gold Reference series is designed as a luxury enclosure. Tannoy also makes studio enclosures and modern enclosures at all different price points. But the top end Tannoys have always been relatively expensive. The dual concentric design is fairly unique and is a Tannoy signature. The materials in it are top notch and this is a precision piece of kit. You may decide that these are overpriced, but base it on facts and build quality. You don’t have to spend more than 5 minutes inspecting them to come away with a favorable impression of the build quality and attention to detail. And I have them in a room that has a bunch of odd angles and open areas and they sound great: punchy, efficient and involving. Just my 2 cents worth.
I have these, and, for me, they're keepers.
The cabinets are plywood - I found no MDF/HDF.
One fault: the gold-plated flat-tongue connectors used inside are very weak. I had two fail. Suggest owners replace them with soldered connections, which is very easy for anyone with basic soldering skill.
The bottom end is good to the mid-40's, which is fine for music. Adding a sub to extend the bottom is easy. Thanks to the 12 dB/octave rolloff, the sub doesn't affect the overall sound of the speaker, other than adding a little bottom for, say, some film audio, which sometimes goes lower.
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