Tannoy Mercury M20 loudspeakers

From 1983, Tannoy started their planet series: Jupiter, Venus, Mercury. Mercury was a good size bookshelf based on a 2-way bass-reflex embracing the traditional 2-way Tannoy architecture.

The Mercury model won the Best Buy award from the british magazine "Hi-Fi choice", each year in a row from 1983 for 1985. This M20 evolution uses the traditional one inch silk dome tweeter but the woofer cone is made from translucent polyolefin, a material used in Rogers monitors woofers as well. A traditional, no-nonsense filter completes the setup.

Used to two-way bookshelf Tannoys, we quickly found our marks when we started our listening session. Smooth vocals, warm tone color, very good image and some low end punch for the size. Very fluent on acoustic, they also do good on pop and electronic.

What is notable as well is their capability to be pleasant and complete at low playing volumes. Not that the sensitivity is very high, but with only a few watts they already have a good spectrum exposure, very enjoyable for background music while you work, read or cook. Good to know for those of you who want to marry them with a modest powered seventies amp.

The front bass-reflex allow easy positioning, will it be on a bookshelf or on stands.

A good and reliable choice for the audiophile on a budget.