5 Stars for High-End Tannoy Definition DC10T

Tannoy as one of the longest established manufacturers in British Hi-Fi, have had a long and proud tradition of producing high quality loudspeakers since the dawn of Hi-Fi. Tannoy are keeping that heritage alive with their current range of loudspeakers,including the Definition range, of which the DC10T, featured here, is the flagship model.

At over 1 metre tall the DC10T is by no means a compact loudspeaker, but thanks to its smart contemporary styling, and superb quality of finish it is sure to look good in most settings. The DC10T is hand built, with a heavily braced birch-ply cabinet, that is tapered towards the rear, to
eliminate standing waves, which would otherwise colour the sound. The cabinet is available in two hand finished veneers, high gloss cherry, or dark walnut, as well as piano black. The quality of construction is certainly fitting for a speaker of this class, and even shames a number of far more expensive rivals. Fitted into the cabinet is a 10” version of Tannoys famous Dual Concentric drive unit, constructed from treated paper pulp, which at its centre has a titanium tweeter, featuring a new 'wideband' tweeter, which is ideal for reproducing the extended treble available from SACD and DVD-Audio. The tweeter also has Tannoys 'Tulip waveguide' to give excellent high frequency imaging. The lower drive unit is 10” bass unit, again made from treated paper pulp, to give a consistent match with the dual concentric main driver.

As befits a speaker of this class the DC10T contains a number of features designed to maximise performance, including a DCT treated, minimalist, crossover, and high quality internal wiring. As mentioned, the cabinet is heavily braced, and provides an inert mount for the drive units.


Around the back the Tannoy has provision for bi-wiring or bi-amping, plus a fifth speaker terminal for driver grounding.
In terms of build, finish, and technology, the DC10T is a stunning example of British craftsmanship at its best, but how do they sound?
In a word, superb! We first tried them with 'This World' a track from the band Deadwood Dog, and the big Tannoys effortlessly reproduced the predominantly acoustic instrumentation including bouzouki, of this up and coming band, with ease.

The bass was deep yet tuneful, whilst the different instruments were easy to differentiate in the mix, whilst vocals were reproduced with superb clarity.

Moving onto Elgar's Cello concerto, the DC10Ts gave a very accurate image, making it easy to visualise the positioning of the different sections of the orchestra, whilst the cello itself was given superb clarity, making it a breeze to follow every subtle inflection of the playing.
As a complete contrast, the classic “Paranoid” album by Black Sabbath was played back with the bass weight and power that this music demands, but at the same time the vocal clarity was superb, and each instrument was reproduced as it should. An ideal speaker for high level rock music, but one that is equally at home with more acoustic styles of music.

In conclusion the Tannoy DC10T fully justifies its price, both because of it's class leading performance, and its superb build, finish and styling.

Reviewed By Mike Foley