Tannoy Mercury V4 review: Floorstanding speaker greatness?

Just a Tannoy Mercury V4 review, which looks at how the floorstanding speakers sound, look and play music and video games.

Due to the very nature of their size, floorstanding speakers are always going to have much more impact over their stand-mounted and bookshelf counterparts, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will be music to your ears. More often than not, what you get in potential volume and power handling you lose in audio ability. That is, until you start parting with serious amounts of cash – cash many of us would love to spend on the very best hi-fi components but are unable to.

Fortunately, those of us who find the allure of floorstanders too difficult to ignore and aren’t about to cough up at least a grand need not give up hope, Tannoy has come up trumps with its Mercury V4 beauties.

Please note: This review was originally on License to Quill, which has now been shutdown. I reposted it here for posterity.

Tannoy Mercury V4 review: First impressions

Encased in either a Dark Oak or the lighter Maple Sugar (photographs are of the former), the Mercury V4s are distinctly slender but their impressive height ensures they don’t sit quietly in the background. In fact, the reserved styling gives the impression of excellence, and this extends into the build quality. Make no mistake, the finish is of a high standard. Whether it is the connectors on the back, the sturdy wooden casing or the tweeter.

Taking off the grilles reveals two 15cm paper cone mid-bass drivers above and below a 25mm woven polyester dome tweeter. At the back is a bass port for pushing out the lows, which means they do require a little space to breathe unlike front-ported counterparts – I would recommend over 20cm from a wall but experiment.

A shiny metallic Tannoy badge completes understated but undeniably attractive styling. I must admit, even before hearing them you get the feeling the Mercury V4s are going to sound good. As luck would have it, that’s exactly what they do.

Test equipment

• HiFi speakers: Tannoy Mercury V4 floorstanders – £340
• Amplifier: Yamaha AS-500 – £300
• RCA-to-RCA connector: Cambridge Audio 500 series – £29.95
• Speaker cable: QED Micro
• Music player: MediaMonkey

Music

Pharoah Saunders – You’ve got to have freedom

There’s plenty going on in this song, ranging from a variety of jazz instruments, smooth mids and bass, all of which the Tannoy V4s handle perfectly. The balance is spot on and maintains enough grumble without clouding the highs. I also noticed a few parts of the song I’d never head before.

The Pharcyde – Right b4

Not the best Pharcyde album by a long shot, but the mixture of moody bass and smooth rapping is hard not to enjoy. Once again, the V4s show surprising low-end ability without muddling everything up and The Pharcyde’s smooth lyrics sound as effortless, as they should.

Lost Prophets – The fake sound of progress

Apart from a lack of slam – largely down to the Yamaha amp’s tendency to reproduce clarity – every cymbal and every guitar strum sounds the part. In fact, there is a subtle bass line I had never heard before, which indicates the competency of the V4s.

The Prodigy – Voodoo People (Pendulum remix)

At low volumes, it’s easy to hear the bass but it doesn’t shake the house. Crank up the volume and that soon changes, though – the Tannoy V4 and Yamaha amplifier blasts the guitar and heavy bass line through with liveliness and confidence, but we’re not talking subwoofer performance.

Switching of the amplifier’s Pure Direct setting and ramping up the bass displays a great deal of low-end power but bass-heads will probably want more at the expense of everything else, though.

Adele – Hometown (High Contrast remix)

The build-up is fantastic, with the storm-like boom practically punching you in the face, and Adele’s lyrics are almost haunting. But the actual drop lacks that thunderous bass attack. Again, the mids are great but even with the rear port bass-lovers will be looking for more. If drum and bass is your bag, I’d certainly recommend getting a dedicated subwoofer to compliment.

With that said, musically speaking, Hometown still sounds exciting. The treble and mids are powerful and beautifully balanced but never shrill or tinny.

Roots Manuva – Dub Witness

Massively impressed here: The recognisable bass line is epic but the treble never divorces the mids and marries the lows. Every sound, including that iconic British hip-hop melody, raises a smile. Crank this one up and the Tannoy V4 speakers unleash an immense sound Rodney Manuva himself would be proud of.

Jimi Hendrix – Voodoo Child

For such an iconic song, the Tannoy V4s had a lot to live up to. Fortunately, the guitar prowess sounds like you are actually in a room with the legend. Of all the test songs, the musicality of Voodoo Child sounds best – the track practically comes alive with vibrancy and depth. An impressive soundstage is really shown off.

Gaming

I’d always preferred playing games through hi-fi speakers unless in a competitive mood. Apart from being more comfortable, some games have surprisingly detailed sound tracks that a good pair of speakers can bring to life. There’s also something nice about cranking up the volume to make your games startle and impress you.

In the case of the Tannoy V4 floorstanders, their balanced sound makes blasting your way through the desolate city in Crysis 2 have more impact. It’s possible to pinpoint where sounds are coming from if to the left or right of you, but not so clear once they start coming from behind. On Call of Duty: Black Ops, I was able to trace where the sound of the an AK47puts a player with enough accuracy to hunt the target down, but it’s not quite as easy to pinpoint directional sounds. More often than not, knowledge of the maps combined with a rough hint of a direction is enough to get the edge but 5.1 surround sound will prove better and more immersive.

Still, the uber-competitive among you will rightly favour being able to hear footsteps loudly and clearly whilst using a mic, and this means opting for a headset like the Plantronics Gamecom X40. For everyone else, unless you want subwoofer bass impact, the Tannoy Mercury V4s are more than adequate particularly when paired with the Dolby Virtual Speaker abilities of the Asus Essence Xonar ST sound card.

Movies

It’s fair to say most speakers won’t create cinema-like sounds without having five of them placed around your room, but that doesn’t mean a good pair can’t add something. In the case of the Tannoy V4s, you get a very detailed sound that gives films more oomph. Directional sound adds movement to a scene – enough to keep your ears busy.

The rear bass port does provide a lot of slam and power for the deeper end of the sound spectrum, but serious film-lovers will crave the power of a subwoofer. For casual use, the Tannoy V4s are very good but obviously not going to compete with a dedicated surround sound system.

Verdict

The challenge for the Tannoy Mercury V4 floorstanders was always going to be competing with the level of audio precision you could get from a similarly priced stand-mounted speaker and they end up very close. While the V4s may not be quite as accurate or refined, a small reduction in detail is easily made up for with more power, more slam and above all else, greater impact.

With the Yamaha A-S500 amp behind them, the Tannoy V4 floorstanders are able to maintain excellent detail whilst packing low-end punch. There’s a certain carefulness and warmth to them that is very likable, which may not be to everyone’s taste, but as someone who likes heavy-hitting bass, I was still more than happy.

Simply put, if you are in the market for hi-fi speakers and have a £500 quid budget, the Tannoy V4s should be on your list of considerations. I didn’t realise just how much I had missed hi-fi speakers until I cranked up the volume, sat back and enjoyed audio bliss. At twice the price I’d still be impressed.

Update: Three months on

Having bedded the Tannoy V4s in fully I thought it would be good to add a catch-up comment. Moving them a little further away from the wall has really helped them to breathe. The sound is much, much warmer but still as crisp and punchy as before. My ears have obviously become accustomed to them but I’m still impressed every time I turn the volume up, especially when the lows seem to have opened up. Definitely no regrets – if anything, I want the full set for 5.1 movie enjoyment.