Tannoy Super Gold Monitor SGM10

There aren’t many loudspeaker or hi-fi brands that can truthfully say they have become a household name, but Tannoy is one of them. Tannoy has a phenomenal heritage, typified by models like the Super Gold Monitor SGM10 tested here. These are a re-working of a classic design from the Sixties.

Guy R Fountain kicked things off in 1926 by setting up the Tulsemere manufacturing company in London, but two years later he changed its name to Tannoy after the materials it used in its rectifiers – TANtalum and lead allOY. It started out with PA speakers but made the move into domestic speakers in the Thirties.

Landmark Moment

The landmark moment came when the company invented its dual-concentric drive unit in 1947. The original Monitor Gold Concentric range, which included the Super Gold Monitor, came along in 1967. Tannoy studio monitors have quite a pedigree and have been used on albums from artists such as Michael Jackson, The Eagles, Elton John, Billy Idol, Depeche Mode and Christina Aguilera.

All of this means that Tannoy will soon be celebrating 100 years in business. It has seen several changes of ownership, most recently in 2015, when the TC Group, of which it was a part, was acquired by Music Tribe, which is the parent company of Behringer and Burgera as well as British pro audio brands Midas, Turbosound and Klark Teknik.

In April last year, Tannoy appointed Symphony Distribution as its new UK distributor and in May launched the new Stirling III LZ Special Edition. They were followed in September by the Super Gold Monitor series – the standmount SGM10 at £5,995 with 10in dual concentric driver, and two floorstanders, the SGM12 (£8,249) with 12in driver and SGM15 (£11,495) with 15in driver. These were Tannoy’s first new speaker launches for seven years.

Revitalised

Tannoy’s global brand category leader David McCaffrey told me: “The UK market has been revitalised by the introduction of Symphony Distribution. Our strategic partnership has seen incredible growth and exposure within the UK. Tannoy turns 100 in 2026 and we have major plans for the future.” And to that end, he also revealed that Tannoy has plans for a new flagship premium series.

The Super Gold Monitor 10 is intended for stand mounting and features the 10in dual-concentric driver, where the tweeter is mounted at the centre of the bass/mid cone. It has a reflex-loaded cabinet with two forward-facing ports and, which is very unusual these days, two sets of adjustment to its frequency response by means of a screw-in knob that can be moved from hole to hole to tweak ‘Treble Roll Off’ and ‘Treble Energy’. The roll-off provides an adjustment of +2dB to -6dB from 5kHz to 30kHz, while the energy adjustment gives a shelved boost or cut of 3dB over a range of 1kHz to 30kHz. On the rear panel, two sets of high-quality gold-plated binding posts are provided so that the user can bi-wire or bi-amp them as required.

The speaker certainly has a presence about it, looking so different from the modern generation of tall, narrow-baffled designs. The 10in dual-concentric looks splendid with its classy gold-coloured mounting ring and those treble adjustment controls also give the speaker an unconventional demeanour. I guess you could say old-fashioned, but hey, this is a retro model, albeit a retro model brought up to date. 

Update

So what exactly has changed and how have Tannoy brought this Sixties design into the modern era?

One change is that the new cabinets are finished in real wood veneer as opposed to the melamine of the originals. They also use thicker, 19mm particle board and MDF inserts. Internal bracing has also been improved with plywood. The new model also sports a double sandwich front baffle brace, which is said to significantly reduce vibrations. The second reflex port is a new addition to help reduce internal standing waves. 

The 1.3in (33mm) aluminium/magnesium alloy dome tweeter sits in the middle of the 10in paper cone bass/mid driver and now uses a tulip wave guide as opposed to the old pepper-pot type, and its range has been extended up to 30kHz. The crossover network has also been brought up to date, using premium-grade polypropylene capacitors, high-power resistors and low-loss inductors that are hard-wired to avoid avoid the unwanted metal-to-metal contact of a circuit board.

But what remains the same is the philosophy behind the dual-concentric driver. The idea is that a more coherent and accurate sound can be achieved by integrating the tweeter into the centre of the main driver. This means that both high and low frequency sound waves emanate from a single point source, which Tannoy says helps to eliminate phase and time alignment issues that occur when sound waves from different drivers may not arrive at the listener’s ears at the same time.

Many Benefits

Tannoy says that the benefits include: point source imaging, coherent sound, wide dispersion for more uniform sound quality throughout the room, and a smoother fre-quency response.

So how do they sound? To find out, I hooked them up to my Audio Note TT3 turntable with Arm2/Io1 with S9 transformer and Meishu Tonmeister valve integrated amp. An Audio Note CDT-Five/DAC 5 Special CD front end was also on hand. And with 89dB sensitivity, the SGM10 is eminently suitable for partnering with the ever-growing roster of valve amplifiers now available, most of which have lower power output than transistor-based designs.

To begin with, I tried adjusting the treble energy and roll-off controls, but found that in my room, they were best left flat. It is worth experimenting though to get the best balance with your room and system. I also tried inserting the foam reflex port bungs, but I found these gave the music a more restricted and less open sound, so I left them out. I found the best balance in my room was achieved with the speakers around 18in from the rear wall and 12in from the side walls.

From the first few bars of music, I knew I liked the Tannoys. You might look at them and be afraid they are going to sound old-fashioned and coloured, but trust me, they aren’t. They are fun. They are dynamic, punchy, detailed and they really bring the music to life and got my foot tapping to the beat.

Friend of the Drummer

On the superbly recorded and very dynamic ‘It Didn’t All Come True’ from jazz singer/pianist Ben Sidran’s Bop City album, the first thing that hit me was how good the Tannoys are on drumkit. Drums had a real crack to them and when the drummer really hit those skins like he meant it, you knew it. The Tannoys also dealt with the delicate detail and nuances on cymbals and hi-hats. Sidran’s voice was open and articulate, and on fast piano runs when his fingers really flew along the keys, the notes were well separated and not blurred together. At the same time, the bass line was tight, deep and tuneful and really drove the track along with great pace.

I then reached for Linda Ronstadt’s ‘Hasten Down the Wind’ and the track Lo Siento Mi Vida. The SGM10 conveyed the body and inner detail of the guitars on the intro beautifully and Ronstadt’s voice came across with the emotion and power that I know and love. At the same time, I could follow what the pedal steel was doing and that is often lost in the mix on poor equipment. The bass line too was tight, deep and controlled.

With each subsequent track I played, I found myself warming to these speakers more. On Dave Koz’s ‘All I See Is You’ from the saxophonist’s Saxophonic album, his tenor sax was conveyed with great inner detail, power and its characteristic rasp and sensual edge, while the complex drum programming had great syncopation and the bass line moved well and drove the track along apace.

Touching Tribute

On George Benson’s touching tribute to the late, great John Lee Hooker on his That’s Right CD, the nuances and inner detail of each guitar note and his masterfully understated technique were well presented.

As impressed as I was with that guitar masterclass, so the vocal masterclass I was treated to on the track ‘So Amazing’ from Luther Vandross’s Give Me the Reason album also left me breathless. Luther is still my favourite vocalist of all time and the Tannoys captured his power, finesse, emotion and unique style very well.

These Tannoys are a thoroughly modern reworking of the Sixties original. They are dynamic, detailed, tuneful, fast and fun and they capture the essence and life of the music. They did not to me have any significant vices and I would not hesitate to recommend them at an exceptionally reasonable £5,995. You owe it to yourself to hear them. 

Technical specifications

• Type: Two-way reflex-loaded stand-mount loudspeaker
• Driver complement: One dual-concentric driver with 10in bass/midrange cone and 1.3in dome tweeter 
• Frequency response: 40Hz-30kHz ±6dB
• Treble adjustment shelving: ±3dB over 1kHz to 30kHz
  +2dB to-6dB slope over 5kHz to 30kHz
• Crossover frequency: 1.2kHz
• Impedance: 8 ohms
• Sensitivity: 89dB/W/m
• Dimensions (HxDxW): 350.5mm x 309mm x 523.2mm
• Weight: 18.5kg
• Price: £5,995/$7,267 per pair

Manufacturer

Tannoy

www.tannoy.com 

+44(0)1236 420199

UK distributor

Symphony Distribution

www.symphonydistribution.co.uk 

+44(0)7776 511691

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