Tannoy Revolution XT 8F Floor standing speakers

The first Dual Concentric speaker of Tannoy goes back to 1946, and since then the design has been refined by the firm up to the new XT series. The notion of putting a coaxial speaker joining mid/bass and treble units into one drive unit is an exceptionally great one.

We've reviewed and liked the smaller XT 6F model in this range already; the XT 8F is the largest floorstander in the series and proves to be among the greatest designs in the group. It sports a 25mm PEI dome tweeter set in front of a 200mm multi-fibre mid/bass unit, which crosses over at 1.8kHz. The 200mm driver beneath works below 250Hz in concurrent. The reflex-filled cupboard has its own platform and is rigid. Build is to a high standard at the price, or even quite as much as the finished KEF R500.

Sound quality

Being so big, the 48-litre cabinet can move a lot of atmosphere relatively easily, which makes for an excellent claim of 91dB sensitivity, as well as the XT 8F goes not soft with any amplifier per channel from around 25W RMS. Truly, that's the overwhelming opinion the moment you start to play music through the Tannoy - one of power and great scale. Yet this loudspeaker does not deliver a clout that is unfocused; rather it's sharp and extremely fast having a great awareness of vibrancy and pace. It really is quite a thrilling listen, and injects great energy into Madness's The Sun and The Rain - as if this track needs any more...

Provide the Tannoy a pacey, punchy pop song and you will be bouncing up and down in your seat. It resoluteness leading edges and has great speed. In addition to this, the bass reaches just the right balance between being physically strong rather than overwhelming the listener and is very tuneful. Fed by the punchy Exposure 3010S2-D, it gives a massive soundstage, as if one had pressed on a 'stereo broad' button. The Misty of Kate Bush sounds ethereal having a cathedral-like recorded acoustic, along with the Tannoy carries her distinctive voice smoothly and sensitively. It truly is also able to hang instruments in the mixture back with commendable ease, and this makes for a truly immersive soundstage.

There's undoubtedly a distinct tone to it, which is not at all unpleasant but marks it out ever so slightly coloured.