Tannoy Cornetta speakers - vintage Tannoy Gold coaxial drivers

Pair 1960s vintage Tannoy 10-inch Monitor Gold coaxial drivers in 1970s Japanese-design Cornetta cabinets. Back in the 1990s and 2000s, my sadly departed audio expert/friend, Arthur Loesch, and I sought out improved cabinet designs for the wonderful vintage Tannoy coaxial drivers. After years of trying out the various Tannoy coaxial drivers, Arthur felt that the 10-inch Gold monitor was the least colored and most balanced. We found most of the 15-inch Tannoy speakers had issues in the bass (wooly, ill-defined).

After searching various cabinet options, a friend of mine in New Zealand came upon a design from the 1970s that was published in a Japanese hobbyist magazine. I got a copy of the article from him and a woodworker friend of mine made up the cabinets. The Japanese called them Cornetta cabinets, even though they were nothing like the original Tannoy Cornetta cabinets that were a rear-horn-loaded scoop design. Arthur and I tried these original Cornetta cabinets, too, and they were nowhere near the excellent performance of this Japanese design.

This Japanese Cornetta is a wonderful sounding speaker, with front horn loading down to about 500 Hz and bass reflex below that. It is similar to an Altec A7 cabinet in overall design. Either the 10-inch or the 12-inch Tannoy coaxial are designated for this cabinet. The cabinets measure 33 inches wide at the widest point, 21 1/4 inches deep from front to back corner, and 41 1/2 inches tall. We also built up another pair with a rounded back, thinking that it would help to disperse the back wave. However, I preferred the sound of the original design, as it had superior bass performance.

As a reviewer for the online audio magazine, 6moons.com, I reviewed this exact pair in 2004. At the time, I used them with my Red Rose 2A Silver Signature EL34 tube amp and Hovland HP-100 tube preamp. You can Google the review and read how much I like them. They have a tremendous musicality and richness of tone, which is characteristic of Tannoy. However, this cabinet also has tight and clean bass that goes low and will shake the floors of my room. No kidding! They are probably about 95 dB sensitivity and are 8 ohm impedance. While the backs look like they are corner cabinets, I got my best results with them out into the room some. These are some of the best-sounding Tannoy speakers I have heard, and I've heard quite a few of them. They do not have the wooly/boomy bass that plagues a lot of the vintage Tannoy cabinet/speakers. The cabinet's front horn adds life to the already exemplary midrange and highs. As with most vintage Tannoys, there are rotary controls on the speaker terminal connection plate for crossover point and treble (brilliance) level. I have upgraded the stock push-pin style speaker terminals to modern 5-way binding posts.

My living situation has changed this past year (girlfriend moved in with me) and I need to scale back my stereo hobby to a single system and clear the downstairs for more normal living/entertaining. I am now using a modern system in my upstairs listening room exclusively and am sadly selling these Tannoy Cornetta speakers that were in my downstairs listening space.

I got many requests for the plans for the cabinets after my review for 6moons, but they are now available online by Googling. FYI, about a year ago, I got a quote from another woodworker friend of mine to build another pair of these cabinets of $2,500.

I have decided to set my price at $2,500 for the pair including the 10-inch Gold coaxial drivers. Since the cabinets are unfinished, I have set their condition as 7/10. The cabinets can be easily stained, painted, or veneered to your taste.

I can demo the speakers for interested buyers. They sound fabulous with my Marantz 8B, but will work great with push-pull EL84 tube amps like the Leak ST20, too. They do, however, need more power than most SET tube amps will deliver. I can demo them for serious potential buyers.

I can have them shipped by freight, but would have to get them palletized/shrink-wrapped, or crated. Pickup is greatly preferred. Cash only if picked up. Otherwise, Pay Pal adds 3%.