Tannoy Monitor Gold 15" Speakers - Sold

Update 2. The gentleman has paid for them and collected them

Update 1. A gentleman has said he wanted to buy them. He said he will be banking in a deposit shortly and settling with me the following day. As such I have changed the status to reserved. As such price and my contact details temporarily removed.

Thanks for looking. Not sure if anyone is interested as these are quite expensive things but I am selling my Tannoy Monitor Gold 15" speakers. I am moving into a new line of work and sadly have to dispose of a few of my things to finance the purchase of some video equipment. I am selling these Tannoys for RM XXXX.

For those of you who are still reading, let me tell you a bit about these wonderful speakers. I first saw these speakers some 25 years ago in Penang. I used to fix cars and the owner of these speakers flew me to Penang to fix his Sunbeam Alpine. He wasn't around but I stayed at his house around the corner from Gurney Drive and that's were I first saw these Tannoys. At the time I did not know what these speakers even were as this  was the first time I had ever seen a pair of these. In fact even today, I have never seen another pair of Monitor Gold 15's. They are a very rare speaker. I did know about other Tannoy's as one of the hifi shops I used to go to in my student days in Australia  used to have this interesting Tannoy poster on the shop wall displaying ripples in a pond radiating out to highlight Tannoy's dual concentric design. Even in Australia this was a rare speaker. That hifi shop used to buy vintage audio stuff and beneath that Tannoy poster he had 3 JBL Paragon sets yet no Tannoys.

Some years later the owner moved to Kuala Lumpur and that's were I actually got to first hear them and I found that I absolutely loved them! From that day on I wanted to get a pair. What is great about these Tannoys is that they fill the room with sound. Having those big 15" drivers in big boxes enables these Tannoys to drive and fill the room with sound effortlessly. The owner and I used to learn salsa together and a teacher would come to his house and we would crank up the salsa music on the Tannoys. We didn't need to go the clubs! And when we did go the clubs, we both always ended up saying how much the club sound systems suck and if only we could bring his Tannoys over! Latin american and jazz music just comes to life on these things!

A few years later the owner passed away and I approached his widow. I wanted to buy them from her and the only place to find a price on them would be over at ebay. They were selling for 1000 USD there and it was agreed that that's what I would pay her for them then. 

Whilst I am one who generally loves vintage hifi, I am not a blind romantic... just because it's vintage doesn't mean it's going to sound good. But these Tannoys are the real things. They do sound good. They make music so enjoyable. And they are very reliable. The models that came after this used a foam surround and that ended up rotting away. This Monitor Gold 15" is a very special model and people now recognize that. And in fact they are actually a great investment. In the passing of two years or so, they have actually doubled in value and now I have seen them go for around 2000+ USD for a pair of drivers and crossovers. 

Are any of you still reading this?  Well if you are, there are some issues I need to tell you. One problem is that they are really big speakers. If you curl up, each box can accommodate a man inside it. As a matter of fact, the house I was staying in was kind of small and was so full of stuff that when I bought them those years ago, I had to keep them in the ex-girlfriends store room. And that's where they remain until today, in her storeroom in Subang Jaya. I have endured years of nagging from her about them. So, if you have a wife that nags, do yourself a favour man and walk away now! 

This leads to the next problem. I have these in storage. I can imagine that there are quite a few people who would want to come by and just listen. Well that can't happen as they are in a storeroom and there is no audio system there. So this would be a purchase for someone who really knows what these things are, understands them and wants them. And if someone wants to buy them, then when we do the transaction I will bring over an amplifier and cd player just to make sure that they work. Truth be told when I bought them, I never tested them. 
They had been moved under the staircase as the widow just wanted to get rid of them. So for the few who know what these are you will understand. For those who aren't sure I suggest you Google Tannoy Monitor Gold 15". There are quite a few sites out there dedicated to these marvelous things. Do your research. Go also to YouTube. I would suggest if you can, look at YouTube on a desktop computer as for some reason some YouTube videos are not available on a handphone. Strange but true. I say this because there is a YouTube video of the Monitor Gold 15"s that I can watch on the desktop but not on my handphone!

Next issue is the cabinets. Maybe. These cabinets are home made cabinets. Back in the 1960's, what Tannoy did was offer the Monitor Golds in their own cabinets, or just sold the drivers. The problem with most of the Tannoys cabinets is that they were simply too small. Some of the people who bought these Tannoys new were recording studios. And one company, who are still around, had a cabinet design called Lockwood. So these cabinets are Lockwood style cabinets. From what I read, Abbey Road used to use these Tannoys and when the Beatles records were produced, they were thus mixed on Tannoys! Being a studio cabinet, they were originally black. I used to say to the owner.... do something about your cabinets lah. And so one day he called a carpenter over and what the carpenter did was veneer them with a nyatoh veneer. So they certainly look better then they did when he first got them made in the late 60's. Now in the passing of years, the nyatoh has gotten a bit scratched. But not deeply. So one would have to touch these up with a stain. For me, I consider it a 1960's vintage style cabinet that has a certain handmade look to it and I have no issues with it. But if you want to, you could always make your own cabinet with whatever finish you like!

If someone does buy them, I sell them in the hope that I can buy them back from you one day! My reasons for buying them were that I wanted to one day have musical appreciation evenings. Over the past years I would go to various 'audiophiles' houses here and what i see is that sadly very few people listen to real music anymore. Often it's this test track and then another test track. Also, the new generation today see music as digital downloads listened by way of earphones. So where can one go and be able to listen to a good record playing good music on a full range system?  The experience of just sitting down listening to a record side is something that few kids today could ever get. So alongside my video studio which I have been trying to setup, I wanted to have a music room that the public could have access to for free. Well that was my aim but I will have to postpone that for a while...  My old Quad ESL's only allowed one person to enjoy the music due to the poor high frequency dispersion. And they simply can't drive a room. The Tannoys being a very efficient speaker in turn only need a modestly powered amplifies to fill a room with great sound.

Anyways thanks for reading. Should there be another crazy person out there like me be interested in buying them and taking them home, do give me a buzz. My name is Zahari and my mobile is xxxxxxxx. If you have any questions feel free to just call me. Cheers!

Great story
Great speakers
I am sure u will get what u want for them - whatever that is !

Hi highcut28

Thank you for your reply here. Very hospitable of you! True story. Great speakers indeed! I did a quick video before handing them over. I'm going to upload it to YouTube. If you'd like to see them and me narrate the story above in person unscripted then send me a private message for the link. Cheers.

Hi Mr Zahari,

Thank you for a really wonderful story! I totally believe you. These vintage Tannoys are for real. I'd like your opinion on the newer Tannoys like the 6 series. Are they decent? I know they won't be able to match the Gold's, but given the constraints and availability issues, what newer speakers are worth buying?

Also, the buyer of your Gold's are a very fortunate. Hope I know he is and have a chance to listen to the Gold's in real at least for once, it'd be my reference for hifi sound in future!

Thank you.