The Tannoy Kensington GR may be named after a palace, but thanks to its more compact dimensions, you won’t need one for it to fit into your home.
We’ve recently looked at Tannoy’s fabulous GRF loudspeaker – also part of the Prestige range. If that blog whetted your appetite for Tannoy’s beautiful, high-end prestige range, but left you longing for something a little smaller, and a little more affordable, the Tannoy Kensington GR might be just the ticket.
Prestige Performance
Tannoy’s Prestige GR Range represents the pinnacle of Tannoy’s many decades in Loudspeaker design and manufacture. They are, to date, the longest running loudspeaker manufacturer in the world.
The cornerstone of Tannoy’s success over the years has been the virtually unrivalled transparency and realism afforded by Tannoy’s legendary Dual Concentric loudspeaker. Every model in the Prestige range is hand built at Tannoy’s famous factory in Scotland and utilises the legendary and original Dual Concentric loudspeaker driver.
Every model in the Prestige Range utilises premium components and the finest woodworking and cabinetry. In the case of the Kensington GR these are available in a highly traditional walnut and gold finish, or for those who prefer something a little more Gothic, there’s the limited edition Kensington GR Black with contrasting Silver. Either finish is bound to be a talking point in any high-class home.
Tannoy Kensington GR – The Best Seller
The Kensington GR has become a best seller amongst the Prestige range for a combination of qualities including price and physical size.
At £11,149 the Kensington’s sit fairly smack bang in the middle, in terms of price, within the Prestige range. The Kensington utilises a 10″ version of the Dual Concentric driver, coupled to a tall (1.1m) distributed port cabinet.
As a result of the ‘tall thin’ style of cabinet, the Tannoy Kensington GR presents the smallest footprint of any speaker of the Prestige Range. Whilst no means a speaker that can be hidden out of sight (and why would you want to hide something so beautiful away?), it can be more easily accommodated by more modestly sized rooms.
The Gold Reference
Hanging a title such as ‘Gold Reference’ off any loudspeaker implies strong impressions of grandeur. Whilst their aesthetic appearance certainly backs that up, do the hard specifications? In short, yes.
As one would expect of any loudspeaker in the Prestige range, the Tannoy Kensington GR is highly sensitive; 93db is the quoted sensitivity figure. Bandwidth is reported to be from 29Hz to 22kHz – all of that bandwidth reproduced in the classical style of a Dual Concentric Tannoy – transparency.
Another feature of the Prestige range is in evidence here, that being the user-adjustable crossover for HF shelving and slope. The crossover itself allows for bi-amping or bi-wiring via the multiple binding posts on the rear of the loudspeaker enclosure. Suggested amplifier wattage to pair with the Kensington GR is 50w-225w with the continuous power handling a very healthy 135wRMS.
A Solid Investment
In an age of increasingly disposable goods, quality, timeless units such as the Tannoy Kensington GR loudspeakers are a rare blessing. Whilst not cheap (none of the Prestige range is) viewed as a lifetime investment, the Kensington GR represents excellent lifetime value for money.
If you’d like to audition a pair of these fantastic Tannoy speakers in person, please contact us at Audio Affair. We’d be glad to help out.