Takes me back to the 80's when they were my weapon of choice, front end was a Dunlop Sytemdek with an RB300 arm and i think a Nagaoka cartridge. Nad 3130PE amp and Technics tapedeck though can not remember what model. Didn't buy a CD till the Nineties as liked the warmth of vinyl too much. Great looking back on these old speakers thanks for the video.
Reminds me of the year I got into separates and the speakers I bought were the Paradigm 7se, a bit taller but similar in driver size. At the time, hard to beat at the price in the States and sounded really good with strong mid bass and actually would dip in to the mid 30s Hz region as well. Today, I have shrunk everything down in size, amps, speakers and a small sub with equally good results albeit sounding a bit different than my original equipment. Not to mention my hearing and tastes have changed over the years. Nostalgia.
I had exactly the same problem with the fittings for the grilles - some pegs had snapped off in the retaining holes. Solved the problem by using some Velcro strip with sticky backing. Cut some small sections, stick one part over the holes on the speaker and one part on the matching corners of the grille and push them together - you can separate the two again when you need. Great speakers - mine are in black, bought new in the late 1980s.
I recall being very impressed by Tannoy Mercury….around the same size as these M20s & the smaller Eclipse. The Eclipse were rather unique in that the baffle was toed in so that the drive units are aimed directly at the listener. Bass was rather impressive for a small bookshelf. However, when i got a taste of the bigger brothers from the prestige series like Stirling, there was no going back to these bookshelves.
@@dittonworks Interesting. I didn't know there were black cone versions. Do you know if there is any sound quality difference between the models? Thanks for such a fast reply!
@@owpidcock I honestly couldn’t answer that, I’ve not heard the other ones. The Tannoy’s in the video were actually pretty good for the price you can pick them up for these days.
@@dittonworks thank you. I am about to buy a pair of clear cone ones. They look fantastic but I haven't heard a pair in a long time. Your video was really helpful
Hey... My mate had some M20 Golds in the late 80's (massively jealous!). I bought the Mercury Mk II's. I didn't quite have his budget, but was very happy with those too, but they did lack just a smidge in the bass extension compared to the M20 Golds. Then, Tannoy got rid of the M20 Golds (gooness knows why!) and re-branded the Mercury MkII's as 'M20 Mk II's' and that's what you can see in Ditton's video. You're right, though, the original M20 Gold speakers did have that translucscent white poly cone and both the Mercury Mk II's and the later M20 Mk II shared the same black poly cone - and tweeter also - basically making them identical.
Have you heard heybrook Hb 1 you would love them listen to the ones with green writing on the front they are the best they did most musical put a lot of speakers to shame even today
Takes me back to the 80's when they were my weapon of choice, front end was a Dunlop Sytemdek with an RB300 arm and i think a Nagaoka cartridge. Nad 3130PE amp and Technics tapedeck though can not remember what model. Didn't buy a CD till the Nineties as liked the warmth of vinyl too much. Great looking back on these old speakers thanks for the video.
Reminds me of the year I got into separates and the speakers I bought were the Paradigm 7se, a bit taller but similar in driver size. At the time, hard to beat at the price in the States and sounded really good with strong mid bass and actually would dip in to the mid 30s Hz region as well. Today, I have shrunk everything down in size, amps, speakers and a small sub with equally good results albeit sounding a bit different than my original equipment. Not to mention my hearing and tastes have changed over the years. Nostalgia.
Thanks for watching
I got the Mercury MKii. Paid $150 CAD for the pair in good condition. Awesome sounding speakers! No complaints at all.
I had exactly the same problem with the fittings for the grilles - some pegs had snapped off in the retaining holes. Solved the problem by using some Velcro strip with sticky backing. Cut some small sections, stick one part over the holes on the speaker and one part on the matching corners of the grille and push them together - you can separate the two again when you need. Great speakers - mine are in black, bought new in the late 1980s.
I recall being very impressed by Tannoy Mercury….around the same size as these M20s & the smaller Eclipse. The Eclipse were rather unique in that the baffle was toed in so that the drive units are aimed directly at the listener. Bass was rather impressive for a small bookshelf. However, when i got a taste of the bigger brothers from the prestige series like Stirling, there was no going back to these bookshelves.
Thanks Kevin nice review, good looking speakers as well.
@Michael, thanks mate. I wasn’t expecting much from the Tannoys but honestly they sound pretty good..
always fancied a pair of T125’s
Nice little speakers. Wanted them as a teenager 😛
@Martin, do you think the MK1’s look better? Quite like the clear cones 👍
@@dittonworks yes. The translucent cones look higher quality. BBC ish
Good match. Some sticky sound speakers are good match with tube amps feeling EL34 or 6bq5.
Nice speaker. Just a tad uncertain in terms of the overall separation, but a fabulous entry level choice in their day.
The M20’s do tend to throw the music at the listener.
Not tiring to listen to but not something you really need to “listen” to. If that makes sense?
Great 👍
Do these have a replaced cones? Are they usually white/transparent?
No these are the original drivers, different model to the clear ones.
@@dittonworks Interesting. I didn't know there were black cone versions. Do you know if there is any sound quality difference between the models? Thanks for such a fast reply!
@@owpidcock I honestly couldn’t answer that, I’ve not heard the other ones.
The Tannoy’s in the video were actually pretty good for the price you can pick them up for these days.
@@dittonworks thank you. I am about to buy a pair of clear cone ones. They look fantastic but I haven't heard a pair in a long time. Your video was really helpful
Hey... My mate had some M20 Golds in the late 80's (massively jealous!). I bought the Mercury Mk II's. I didn't quite have his budget, but was very happy with those too, but they did lack just a smidge in the bass extension compared to the M20 Golds. Then, Tannoy got rid of the M20 Golds (gooness knows why!) and re-branded the Mercury MkII's as 'M20 Mk II's' and that's what you can see in Ditton's video. You're right, though, the original M20 Gold speakers did have that translucscent white poly cone and both the Mercury Mk II's and the later M20 Mk II shared the same black poly cone - and tweeter also - basically making them identical.
How do these compare to the MK1? interested to see what sounds better
I’m
Sorry I’ve no idea as I didn’t have MK1’s to hand when I made this video.
Have you heard heybrook Hb 1 you would love them listen to the ones with green writing on the front they are the best they did most musical put a lot of speakers to shame even today
Hi Kurt, thanks for watching.
I’ll see if I can find a good pair of HB1’s 👍
What song is this?
Melody Gardot, One Day 👍