Tannoy Crossover Autoformer

For those playing with vintage Tannoy Dual Concentric Drivers, they know that the original crossover is crucial to the outcome. Some went for DIY path but the tricky part is the Tannoy original autoformer / multitap choke in the crossover. One cannot simply just replace the Tannoy original autoformer with a choke since it is not as simple as choosing just a choke with a specific inductance.

There is EQ in the crossover to match the response of the tweeter that making it a simple crossover just wasn't possible. Having multiple chokes to mimic the original Tannoy autoformer was not possible too as it is not equal to the same thing. 

Therefore, the original crossover is selling like hot cake in eBay. Plenty of theories float in the internet on designing the right crossover for the vintage Tannoy Dual Concentric Driver. One can find dozens of design on the internet but one will question themselves whether they are correct or not, or are just simply junk data.

I'm a Tannoy-phile myself and I have a pair of Tannoy HPD385 without the original crossover. I went for active crossover, customized active crossover, and both didn't sound right to me. Only after I got the original crossover (that cost me quite a bit!), it started to sound like the originals.

For those that are not as lucky as me to get their hands on the original crossover, now this is a good news for you. An audiophile has approached us and asked for a remake of the vintage Tannoy autoformer. A few weeks after that, the modern Tannoy autoformer is born.

Below are the results:

Tannoy Autoformer Potted

This pair is made with 80 Watt Z11 EI core, with silver plated OFC. The potted case provides shielding and vibration damping especially if it is going to be used in a speaker enclosure. This enables audiophiles to build their own vintage Tannoy Dual Concentric crossovers themselves.

For those that do not have the original Tannoy crossover, they can use this. For those lucky ones that have the original, they can consider making another upgraded version with all the audiophile parts like Dueland or Mundorf capacitors, branded resistors and 5N-7N oxygen free copper with this clone Tannoy autoformer without sacrificing the parts from original Tannoy crossover.

They can compare to see if the brand new is better than the originals where some has complained that the original are made with budget in mind, as it is a commercial product made many, many years ago. Now isn't that fun?

J&K Audio Design
25 September 2014

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