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Title: Tannoy Reveal 502's... Post by: elwoodblues91 on June 20, 2014, 03:50:29 AM Well...the quest for the most appropriate studio monitor for my room,never ceases to be tedious.Years ago...about 5 or so,is when I became more serious about monitors,as after all...what is more important than a pair of honest monitors,since they are the final filter before the sound hits your ears?
Equally important of course,is the configuration of one's room in terms of acoustics,as they effect your listening experience just as much as the very acoustical design that goes into a studio monitor. That being said and after years of critical listening with my Adam A7's,I realized that my A7's did not have the mid range clarity that one would expect a $1,000 pair of monitors to have. Currently....not only have I developed a finely tuned sense of what to look for in monitors,the market for monitors has been flooded with choices and due to advances in technology,accurate monitoring has become more affordable than ever. In the case of the latest Tannoy Reveal series however and despite how impeccable Tannoy's rep is for their accuracy in their higher end monitoring lines,Tannoy has...unfortunately,cut far too many corners,in trying to undercut the cost of the competition within the budget market. While Tannoy's specification sheet has very impressive numbers,the focus on tonal accuracy,has been seriously compromised by the p*ss-poor quality of the Reveal's amplifiers,as they emit a absurdly loud electrical hissing sound(or buzz)...which negates the possibility of mixing accurately. Even with the gain knobs at zero,this noise is still very much present.I've owned several monitors over the years and with the exception of my old Alesis M1 Active 502's,the Reveals are the only monitors to behave this way(at any price point). As you know,I never go into any monitor purchase blind,as I always do a lot of research beforehand...but in recent years,the only research available to me,are online inquires. Though my main interest was the Tannoy's,I did become..over time,a bit torn between the Tannoy's and the JBL LSR305's...which prompted me to purchase a couple of SoundOnSound magazine's articles on both the Tannoy and JBL's for $.99 each,which seemed like the most pragmatic thing to do,as I've trusted SOS's reviews implicitly,for many years. Both models had their little pro's & con's,buy SoundOnSound mentioned nothing about the electrical hissing sound of the Reveals and given Guitar Center's 1/2 price sale on the Tannoy 502's,the choice was clear. What attracted me to the Tannoy's as well,was the front bass ports,so that I didn't have to be to critical about monitor placement in relation to the wall of my bedroom. So....3 hours after I had received my Tannoy's via UPS,I had them packed into their boxes,ready for a return for a refund.In some respects,SOS's article did seem somewhat more favorable with regard to the JBL monitors,but GC's 1/2 price sale,made time a factor and the Tannoy's had seemed worth a try. I should mention also,that many other consumers had the same noise issue with the Tannoy's and given the fact that my equipment is clean and that the Tannoy's power supply only supports two prong electrical plugs,it's clear that Tannoy's components are to blame for this issue,as many others on the internet can attest to this. The good news,is that I've remedied the situation,by ordering a pair of the JBL LSR 305's and due to Sweetwater's JBL product page listing 62 positive reviews,I feel I've made a very sound purchase this time around. -Thom Title: Re: Tannoy Reveal 502's... Post by: Oren on June 22, 2014, 03:54:04 PM Thanks for the warning about those Tannoy monitors, Thom. It will save a lot of people needless grief. O0
I'm quite surprised, actually. Who would have suspected such a thing? Title: Re: Tannoy Reveal 502's... Post by: Moon on June 23, 2014, 07:39:03 PM Not sure if the Tannoy's were a faulty pair or if the issue is related to this model. In the past I had similar problems with my older monitors, untill I started to use balanced cables. The his was gone... well, in my case at least...
Moon Title: Re: Tannoy Reveal 502's... Post by: elwoodblues91 on June 23, 2014, 08:52:47 PM Not sure if the Tannoy's were a faulty pair or if the issue is related to this model. In the past I had similar problems with my older monitors, untill I started to use balanced cables. The his was gone... well, in my case at least... Moon Moon, I am running high end,balanced Planet Waves audio cables and that had done nothing to correct the noise issue with the Tannoy's.No matter though and in fact,it turned out well in my favor,as my JBL LSR305's are a much better monitor in many respects! :) -Thom |