Convert Tannoy DC10Ti to 10A (but with two drivers per speaker)

[NickinPortugal]

Hi everyone

This is my first post - new member.

I have a pair of Tannoy DC10T, the ones with two drivers per speaker, they also make a DC10A which goes for three times the price, with one less driver per speaker (this is a strange hobby). Mine has started making a buzz from one of the DC woofers, I have checked inside and the noise is not due to wires rubbing or loose wadding etc, the driver has to go.

It transpires that this driver (priced at less than 500GBP) is not the same as that used in the DC10A (around 700GBP), the latter benefits from a different magnet material and a different tweeter design, but my guess is that other than this they are pretty similar and almost certainly interchangeable.

My question is can the "wrong" drivers be used and will there be a benefit in sound? I have no idea about crossover specs etc.....does anyone have any experience?

Many thanks

The rest:
McIntosh C2700 / MC312
Audiolab Play 6000N streamer tuned by AVS Oyman
Pro-Ject RPM1 2M Blue

 

[tuga]

Hi everyone

This is my first post - new member.

I have a pair of Tannoy DC10T, the ones with two drivers per speaker, they also make a DC10A which goes for three times the price, with one less driver per speaker (this is a strange hobby). Mine has started making a buzz from one of the DC woofers, I have checked inside and the noise is not due to wires rubbing or loose wadding etc, the driver has to go.

It transpires that this driver (priced at less than 500GBP) is not the same as that used in the DC10A (around 700GBP), the latter benefits from a different magnet material and a different tweeter design, but my guess is that other than this they are pretty similar and almost certainly interchangeable.

My question is can the "wrong" drivers be used and will there be a benefit in sound? I have no idea about crossover specs etc.....does anyone have any experience?

Many thanks

The rest:
McIntosh C2700 / MC312
Audiolab Play 6000N streamer tuned by AVS Oyman
Pro-Ject RPM1 2M Blue

Even if the two drivers are physically interchangeable (same diameter, same screw holes, etc.) it is extremely unlikely that the Thiele/Small parameters and respose are identical so it is a bad ideia, from a sound quality perspective, to replace a driver without changing the crossover, the cabinet volume, the port tuning.
And you would have to replace that driver on both speakers anyway, paying £1,000 instead or £700.

Personaly I wouldn't do it. Either contact the distributor or the manufacturer directly for a replacement or try to find a used pair with the same drivers. Or maybe see if you can have it repaired.

 

[jhaider]

The more expensive speaker’s driver is obsolete: phase plug, motor, and magnetics straight out of the 1950s. It’s basically the equivalent comparison as a Beetle vs the current Golf. Things have moved way forward, at Tannoy and elsewhere. However, there’s a vocal minority who want things as bad as they were and are willing to pay a premium for it. So occasionally they release that sort of speaker.