Tannoy Autograph Mini evaluation: bijou bookshelf audio system which might be genuinely enjoyable, stunning, and sound far greater than they’re
Tannoy Autograph Mini: Two-minute evaluation
Take a fast have a look at the Tannoy Autograph Miniature and it’s straightforward to seek out your self asking some transient however pointed questions reminiscent of “what’s that?” and “why does it appear to be an vintage?” The Tannoy doesn’t appear to be most different audio system as a result of Tannoy has been making audio system for a very very long time and when it has a product vary referred to as ‘Heritage,’ you’d higher consider that there’s a appreciable quantity of heritage concerned – a few of these merchandise can hint their lineage again over fifty years.
The catch is that a few of them are additionally on the massive facet. They’ll clock in at the most effective a part of a metre broad, which suggests you’ll want a good quantity of room to accommodate them. The Autograph Mini is designed to embody the styling and engineering of those bigger audio system however at a measurement that enables them to slot in smaller rooms with out overwhelming them. Whereas every Autograph Mini speaker is a superb deal extra manageable than its greater brothers, the engineering and expertise (sure, regardless of the seems, there may be expertise in there) is precisely the identical. Tannoy feels that sure points of how a speaker behaves and interacts with a room require very particular engineering options which form the design of the speaker.
The end result seems and appears like nothing else in the marketplace. However does that end in a set of the best stereo speakers – ie. is that this a speaker proposition you really wish to personal? $2,200 buys some extraordinarily proficient choices, so is that this timewarp Tannoy ok to vie in your consideration?
Tannoy Autograph Mini evaluation: Worth and launch date
- Launched in 2020
- £2,200 / $2,200 / AU$3,599
The present model of the Autograph Mini has been on sale for a couple of years now (TechRadar’s audio editor actually held it in on her knee at High End Munich 2023) and it changed a really related model that debuted in 2008. If this sounds prefer it has been on sale for some time and is likely to be at risk of alternative, you might want to begin pondering extra when it comes to ‘Tannoy time.’ The total measurement Autograph on which this speaker is predicated first went on sale in 1954 and not too long ago had a seventieth Anniversary version launch. If it ain’t broke, Tannoy won’t be dashing to repair it.
Within the UK, a pair of Autograph Minis will set you again £2,200 for a pair. Within the US, this appears to be a greenback equal $2,200 and in Australia they price AU$3,599. This could really feel a little bit on the steep facet for a speaker as dinky as this one however it displays that among the strategies required to construct it are fairly labour intensive and the supplies used will not be low-cost both.
This worth doesn’t embrace stands of any description (and neither is one provided as an adjunct) and the Tannoy is a passive speaker that may want amplification and supply tools to work. I used a research however… useful… trying pair of Customized Design stands for testing however the next feedback needs to be relevant to any respectably stable pair of stands which might be 50-60cm tall.
Tannoy Autograph Mini evaluation: Specs
| Weight | 4.4kg |
| Dimensions | 356 x 209 x 156mm |
| Frequency response | 60Hz – 20kHz -10dB |
| Sensitivity | 88 dB (2.83 Volts @ 1 metre) |
| Impedance | 8 Ohms |
Tannoy Autograph Mini evaluation: Options
- 120mm Twin Concentric driver
- Bespoke Crossover in a ply cupboard
- 60Hz- 20kHz frequency response
Because the Tannoy is a passive set of stereo audio system, it isn’t overburdened with performance however among the causes it seems the best way it does are right down to the {hardware} it makes use of. The total measurement Heritage fashions use drivers that fluctuate between 8 inches (203mm) and 15 inches (380mm) in measurement. The Autograph Mini makes use of a fairly smaller 4inch (120mm) driver, however the rules on which it really works are the identical because the bigger fashions.
The place you see a single driver on the entrance of the Tannoy, there are actually two. A four-inch midbass driver is made from handled paper (and a pleasant reminder that nevertheless unsophisticated it sounds, paper is a superb materials for speaker drivers) and connected to a rolled rubber encompass. Within the centre of driver, the place you’d normally discover a mud cap or section plug is the tweeter. This can be a 25mm unit made from titanium. It’s sunk inside a cylindrical housing that improves its sensitivity and there may be an meeting that Tannoy calls a ‘Tulip’ waveguide that helps to radiate the vitality from the tweeter out in a way that works with the mid bass.
Tannoy calls this association ‘Twin Concentric’ and it’s been a component of the corporate’s audio system for many years. This newest iteration features a system that Tannoy calls Omnimagnet. This manages to put the drive magnets for the mid bass driver and the tweeter in the identical place with out them interfering with each other, which additional improves their relationship. The interior wiring is all silver and the crossover makes use of proprietary Tannoy capacitors and low loss laminated core inductors within the pursuit of the absolute best efficiency. Connection to an amplifier is through a single set of binding posts.
We’ll cowl the Tannoy’s seems in a short while, however it’s necessary to emphasize that the means by which it’s constructed is genuinely completely different to most rivals. The place most audio system on the worth are made a variation of MDF, the Autograph Mini is comprised of sections of ply that use precise carpentry to suit collectively. Reasonably than making this as thick and inert as they will, Tannoy makes use of inside sections which might be designed to behave as resonance and damping management by being much less inert than the principle sections of the cupboards and bleeding vitality off.
Simply above the speaker terminals on the rear of the cupboard you’ll discover a small bass port to assist the mid bass driver in its excursions. Even with this current, any buying determination concerning the Tannoy must be made within the data this isn’t a bass monster. A small driver in a small cupboard (not solely is the Mini solely 35cm tall, its sharply tapered sides imply that its inside quantity is proscribed) just isn’t a recipe for seismic bass and Tannoy quotes a decrease roll off of 60Hz however at a whopping -10dB (or solely in a really restricted sense for these of you not too invested in numbers). On the plus facet although, sensitivity is superb at a constant 8 ohms.
Tannoy Autograph Mini evaluation: Sound high quality
- Distinctive three dimensionality and imaging
- Very good tonality with good recordings
- Restricted bass… however extra grunt than you may count on
It’s exhausting to not decide how the Tannoy goes to sound based mostly on these classic seems however it’s crucial that you simply do as a result of some points of the Tannoy’s efficiency are past extra fashionable trying rivals. Tannoy hasn’t been diligently working away at twin concentric drivers for many years for the hell of it. The 2 drivers have a relationship that’s so seamless that there isn’t the primary clue the place they’re handing over info to 1 one other. The impact is extremely cohesive.
The eye that has gone into making the drivers radiate vitality in a constant manner additionally signifies that the Tannoy produces an attractive stereo picture. Paint the Roses, a reside live performance recording of Larkin Poe and the Nu Deco Ensemble, is recreated in a way that basically provides you a way of the venue and the performers relative to the viewers. Having created this impact, should you shut your eyes, it’s extremely exhausting to really place the place the Tannoy’s cupboards actually are. It’s an especially spectacular disappearing act.
What’s extra, voices and devices are recreated in a manner that’s astonishingly convincing. An aged however pretty vinyl urgent of Joan Armatrading’s Me, Myself I, is packed stuffed with guitars each electrical and acoustic, bass, piano and strings, all supporting Armatrading’s elegant vocals. The way wherein the Tannoy will get caught into All the best way from America is greater than a easy copy. It’s a efficiency that encourages to you cease fussing with telephones (or certainly attempting to put in writing a evaluation) and provides it your full and undivided consideration.
The caveat to this positivity is that the recordings talked about up to now are superb ones. The Tannoy just isn’t a very cruel speaker; you may put one thing like To Lose My Life by White Lies on and never begin grimacing, however the Autograph Mini will let you know what the constraints of this recording really are. This isn’t a set of audio system that may take a music assortment and gloss over the tough edges – and the Autograph Mini will even present up limitations in your partnering tools whereas it does so. Regardless that every Tannoy isn’t exhausting to drive, I nonetheless discovered these audio system did their finest work on the tip of a potent Naim Audio built-in amplifier. This isn’t an affordable speaker pair, and it may well’t actually be pushed on a budget both.
The place the Tannoy springs extra of a shock is the bass extension. So there isn’t any confusion at this level, in case your musical leanings have a tendency in direction of dub and drum and bass, that is realistically not the speaker for you – however there may be much more precise grunt on provide right here than you may count on. The way wherein the Tannoy makes its restricted reserves of low finish obtainable does a formidable quantity to persuade your mind that there’s sufficient bass. It blasts its manner although the ‘not fairly jazz, not fairly electronica’ of Kessencoda’s Outerstate in a manner that by no means feels skinny or gentle. There’s a pace and cohesion to the Tannoy that the Antiques Roadshow aesthetic by no means actually hints at.
Tannoy Autograph Mini evaluation: Design
- Oiled Walnut end
- Oatmeal material grilles
- 209 x 356 x 155 mm and 4.4kg every
In some methods, it doesn’t actually matter what I sort right here or what my ideas on the Autograph Mini’s styling are as a result of I’m fairly positive most individuals studying this made up their thoughts shortly after they began studying. Let’s put one thing in context although, as a result of I do assume it issues. The Tannoy seems the best way it does largely for the engineering causes already talked about. It’s not a mock-Tudor speaker however as an alternative the logical results of many years of engineering work.
This doesn’t imply that the Autograph Mini isn’t going to look a bit odd in some conditions. In case your residing area is glossy, fashionable and minimalist, the Tannoy goes to take a seat in that area in a manner that’s largely at odds with it. Don’t go pondering that becoming the grilles will make a lot of a distinction ether. There are grilles, and so they have good magnetic trim tabs too, however they use the basic ‘oatmeal’ material the corporate has used for many years which signifies that the Autograph Mini audio system look simply as determinedly quaint with them on as they do off.
The factor is although… when you’ve got an area that’s remotely sympathetic to how the Tannoy is styled, it’s exhausting to not fall for simply how beautiful an object it’s. In a world the place even audio system that price fairly a bit greater than this nonetheless really feel like instruments, the Tannoy sits on the intersection of artwork and furnishings in a manner that may win many individuals over to their charms. That is helped by the usual of construct being immaculate, even judged on the worth.
Tannoy Autograph Mini evaluation: Worth
This isn’t an affordable speaker and it’s unlikely you’ll save any cash selecting appropriate tools for them. You may see the place the cash has gone although. The usual of construct and end is actually glorious, even judged at $2,200 / £2,200 and you might be additionally paying for a stage of engineering knowhow and pedigree that makes most different speaker manufacturers appear to be the younger upstarts that they’re. Then, when it’s really time to hearken to them, used inside their surprisingly broad efficiency envelope, they will delight.
Must you purchase the Tannoy Autograph Mini?
| Attributes | Notes | Ranking |
| Options | Twin Concentric driver association, good sensitivity. | 4/5 |
| Sound high quality | Distinctive three dimensionality and imaging, restricted bass however good energy. | 5/5 |
| Design | Oiled walnut end, distinctive retro styling. | 4/5 |
| Worth | Costly, however extraordinarily excessive normal of construct, tech and end. | 4/5 |
Purchase it if…
Do not buy it if…
Tannoy Autograph Mini: Additionally contemplate
The Monitor Audio Studio 89 is a special form of nostalgia and is fashionable in ways in which the Tannoy won’t ever be and delivers bass it has no reply to. Bowers & Wilkins’ talented 705 S3 is a formidable all rounder with a special (however in some methods, no much less pretty) tackle a wooden end too. Lastly, a extra area of interest however fascinating gadget is the Neat Petite Basic. That is one other compact retro speaker providing, however whereas it’s nowhere close to as fairly because the Tannoy, it combines loads of low finish clout and an impressively forgiving nature to make it a formidable all rounder.
How I examined the Tannoy Autograph Mini
I used the Tannoy with a mix of Chord Electronics Qutest DAC taking a USB feed from a Roon Nucleus and a Naim Supernait 3 built-in amplifier; a superb sounding gadget that appears to coax good outcomes out of most audio system however that will even spotlight what they’re doing mistaken. A Rega Planar 10 turntable utilizing the brand new Nd7 transferring magnet cartridge was related to the Naim’s phono stage to permit for a little bit of vinyl testing too.
Testing was carried out in my comparatively regular front room which I exploit as a listening area. In addition to the listed recordings, a bunch of different materials was streamed from my native music library and Qobuz and interspersed with vinyl as nicely.
Supply: www.techradar.com
