Vintage TANNOY Monitor Gold 12 Inch Dual Concentric Drivers in Immaculate Condition

Immaculate Condition Pair of Vintage Alnico TANNOY Monitor Gold 12 Inch Model LSU / HF / 12 / 8 Dual Concentric Drivers Complete with All Original Tweeter Diaphragms, Cones, Surrounds and Voice Coils as well as the Original Matching Pair of Tannoy Crossovers with Original Attenuators and Terminations. Made in England!

Please note that this listing is for a pair of Tannoy 12” Monitor Gold Dual Concentric Driver Assemblies They sound identical and look identical, and meter almost identical and come with their original matched electronics and cabling as depicted in the photos consisting of:

(A) – the Tannoy 12” Gold Monitor Dual Concentric Driver
(B) – the accompanying Crossover
(C) – the accompanying Attenuators
(D) – the accompanying Cabling

The 85 year old Tannoy brand is one of the oldest and most prestigious names in high end audio, having begun in 1926 out of Scotland. They pre-date such venerable iconic companies like JBL, Klipsch and McIntosh by more than two decades, and continue to be a viable and innovative force in the audio industry. They are famous for developing and manufacturing the “Dual Concentric” point source speaker systems used both in professional studio and extreme high end home environments. Vintage Tannoy Drivers can fetch a small fortune on the used market in pristine condition – a pair of rare 50 year old Tannoy 15” Silvers recently sold for $15,000. These are sought after not just for their rarity, but for the unique beauty of their sonic presentation. While Tannoy is famous for their sonic clarity, their high efficiency and their exceptional engineering, they are truly prized for their ability to render the elusive emotional soul of a recording. In the right system they are magic.

The first Monitor Gold’s were released in 1967, and have been coveted ever since and are perhaps the most desirable of all the Tannoy drivers. These 12” Monitor Gold Dual Concentric drivers are still considered to be one of the most sophisticated and well-engineered driver designs ever made. These Monitor Gold speakers are being sold with the original Crossovers and Attenuators. One of the beautiful aspects of these drivers is that they can be used in relatively small enclosures and still achieve the desired tuned balance and rich mid and low tones that these drivers are renowned for.

As with most vintage Tannoy Drivers, they are incredibly easy to drive with extremely high efficiency (greater than 94dB) and 8 Ohms. These are a SET lover’s dream - the manual states that 15 watts (that’s tube watts) is all you need to make these 12” Monitor Gold drivers perform to specification. They are without question one of the most efficient goose bump inducing machines ever made!

These particular Monitor Golds are truly a rarity not only because of their condition, but because they are completely original – no reconing, no re-surrounds, no repairs or modifications and they have their original tweeter diaphragms – they are completely unmolested. Like right out of a sealed time capsule, these 50-year old vintage Tannoy drivers look spectacular and – more importantly – play like new! There are no issues. The cones, dust caps, surrounds, spiders all are 100% functional, and cosmetically they look fantastic. Even the original rim gaskets look great. There are no real blemishes other than incidental cosmetic marks, and an accumulation of small dust particles on the surrounds somewhat sticky doping compound. I went with tweezers to remove everything that could be picked off, and there is still a certain amount of microscopic dust that has built up over the decades. Although they have always been sealed behind the grill cloth of their Tannoy cabinets, both of the cones have a little sun fade – one more than the other. In my effort to remove all sorts of tiny particles that accumulated over time on the cones and surrounds, I flecked off what I thought was a tiny particle imbedded on the cone near the dust cap, and it turned out to have been there forever and removing it showed how dark grey the cone surface underneath was that had not been exposed to filter light for 50 years. It is tiny, less than a third the size of a grain of rice. There are areas on the extreme outer edge of the surround where the glue has areas that has turned white – it is neither a mold or any other issue, it is just a function of aging with time. The cast metal chassis looks great, with just some wear at the bolt holes. The gold magnet caps are flawless – like new, as are the rear labels. The crossovers looks like new, and the attenuators work without issue. There is some minor scuffing on the outer bezel of the plastic protector cup for both attenuators. Here is information from inspecting and measuring them:

[1] – Tannoy 12” Gold Monitor # 073395
… Cone Stamp: 25 310 011
… Woofer DCR Meter: 11.0 Ohms
… Tweeter DCR Meter: 5.6 Ohms

[2] – Tannoy 12” Gold Monitor # 072458
… Cone Stamp: 25 310 011
… Woofer DCR Meter: 11.3 Ohms
… Tweeter DCR Meter: 5.5 ohms

There are innumerable web sites that have an abundance of online reference material for these spectacularly good Tannoy Monitor Gold Dual Concentric 12” drivers. Here is info about the “Tannoy Monitor Gold Website” is a fantastic website created by Hans Hilberink and is obviously a labor of love. This web site is so incredibly extensive and detailed – it draws one in like a moth to a flame. Why can’t more web sites be like this? It is extraordinarily fascinating and very helpful - one of the best Tannoy reference sites with a wealth of knowledge on Tannoy’s. Unfortunately, the "new" AudiogoN will not permit me to post links.

This is one of the world’s most desired vintage speaker systems, and it is extremely rare to see complete assemblies of this Tannoy Monitor Gold in such pristine functional and cosmetic condition. Sales of these complete Dual Concentric assemblies (with the crossovers and attenuators) in lesser condition have sold for as much as $1,150 apiece and frequently bring in more than $1,000 an assembly. Here is a great opportunity to buy either one or two assemblies that have been thoroughly tested, have no issues, and look stunning! Payment is via US Post Office Money Order or Cash Upon Delivery (COD). Please note that after packaging these speakers will be both large and heavy, and as a result shipping will not be cheap. I am happy to deliver for free if you are local to me in the San Francisco, Berkeley or Marin County area.