Product Review
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Tannoy 800a Studio Monitors

Versatile, affordable studio monitors
The Good

I like how these studio monitors are padded with high density polyurethane to dampen any and all internal reverberations. The highs through these monitors were clean and sharp and they sounded great. I liked how vocals sounded warm through these as well.

The Bad

Not all sides have the same level of EM protection and this means that one has to be extra careful when it comes to placing the speakers around the room. This can cause a big headache to those who are not careful enough, and unfortunately the bass seemed unnaturally heavy and blurred.

Full StarFull StarFull StarHalf StarEmpty Star The Verdict

There were a lot of good things about these monitors like the highs and mids, the technology is cool and they look awesome too. On the other hand, it was not all candy and roses, as the bass was heavy and blurred.

Staff Reviewed (Default Seal for Staff Written Reviews)

Checking The Tannoy 800a Studio Monitors

These studio monitors are good as reproducing sounds on an average scale but when it comes to serious studio work these are just not going to cut it for many of you.

The Tannoy system 800a near field monitoring speaker is a worthy contender in the already crowded field of mid priced near field home studio monitoring speakers. Tannoy has long employed the dual concentric drive unit in all of their professional audio gear, and the system 800a is no exception.  This driver solution is beneficial because all of the frequencies are effectively generated within the same space; although the actual utility of this design has long been up for debate it at least looks and sounds good.

The design of the Tannoy system 800a is sturdy, and solid; measuring in at 18 inches the 800a is rather large for near field monitoring speakers, however not large enough to cause problems. The speakers come padded with high density polyurethane to dampen internal reverberations, and shielded on several sides to protect from EM interference. A cautionary note: not all sides have the same level of EM protection, so be extra careful when placing the speakers.

The sound quality of the speakers was commendable. I found all ranges to be accurately represented and sharp. I have to say though that when it came to bass performance, the half space mode offered significant performance increases over the full space mode, even when oriented in a full space configuration. The high-pass filter Tannoy uses with free space mode made the bass seem unnaturally heavy and blurred. When it came to reproducing the tones of a human voice (both vocal and spoken), I found the Tannoy to be slightly warm, though not overly so-- I, myself, prefer this quality.

The Tannoy is competent at reproducing a wide dynamic range, especially for its price, but tends to distort the sound as the limits are reached. This is an acceptable limitation so long as you are a competent audio engineer and know your speaker's limits. For its price, the Tannoy 800a offers a great compromise between functionality, aesthetics, and price point.

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