Hi-Fi & Boris Djatlov
&...
 PRESTIGE SERIES
LOUDSPEAKERS
 
     Tannoy Dual Concentric Loudspeaker systems are the choice of
discriminating music lovers the world over. Renowned for exceptional
accuracy and naturalness, Tannoy Loudspeakers are chosen by recording
and broadcasting professionals. Many leading studios worldwide have
professional monitor systems developed by Tannoy design engineers. Many
favourite artists choose Tannoy equipped studios.
 Qality Performance
  Tannoy is proud to field one of the strongest audio engineering teams in
the business. Their design skills have won for Tannoy many outstanding
critical reviews, Best Buy and Recommended awards. Tannoy takes an
all-encompassing approach to loudspeaker design. Musical excellence is first
designed in. High production values and tight quality control are then
  applied to keep it in. Our cabinets in selected hardwoods are hand finished
to a traditional craftsman's standard that is unsurpassed.
  Whatever the style of music or its source, digital or analogue, CD, LP or
tape, Tannoy loudspeakers perform to a standard unequalled by other
products.
   lnovation and Excellence
  Tannoy is the only manufacturer to have been awarded Japan's
prestigious 'Golden Sound' award three times. that degree of recognition
speaks for itself. Japanese music enthusiasts have long recognised the
excellence of our loudspeakers. The Tannoy following reaches far beyond
Japan to music lovers seeking excellence all over the world.
    A Household Name
  Some dictionaries refer to 'Tannoy' as the generic term for public address
systems. The company has been designing and building high quality
loudspeaker systems for over 60 years. The history of the company goes
back to the early days of broadcasting in London. Radio sets needed DC
power that had to be supplied by batteries. These lead acid radio batteries
needed regular rechargiag.
 
Cut-away of Westminster
Royal enclosure
Guy R Fountain was an engineer who owned a
London garage. Many conunercial garages at the time made recharging radio
batteries a profitable side line.
    An Enterprising Begining
  In 1926, Guy Fountain perfected a new type of electrical rectifier with
the aim of designing a charger more suitable for home use. His rectifier
consisted of two dissinrilar metals, Tantalum and a Lead alloy, held in a
special electrolyte solution. So successful was this invention that Guy
Fountain founded a British Company called Tannoy (a contraction of the
words 'Tantalum' and 'Alloy').
  Not long after Guy's first Tannoy factory was established he began
experiments with moving coil loudspeakers using DC energised magnets. In
1930 the company won a contract to supply the Bertram Mills Circus with a
sound reinforcement system. Tannoy never looked back.
 
       Researhch, Development and Progress
  A discrete two-way loudspeaker system followed in 1933 and shortly
after a range of microphones and loudspeakers capable of high power
handling. Later Tannoy equipment was installed both in the House of
Commons and in major United Nations buildings. Tannoy has always been
at the front of the communications revolution, developing its own equipment
and production technology. The company has built a fund of knowledge and
experience. This is invaluable in the development of loudspeakers for a truly
wide range of applications. Tannoy established itself in the 1940s and 5Os
as the leading manufacturer of recording studio monitors outside the USA.
Tannoy had by now also become well-known for its high quality
loudspeakers supplying the fast growing audio and hi-fi markets.
 
      Unprecented Accuracy
  The now famous Tannoy Dual developed under Guy Fountain's direction
around 1950. It is highly regarded by music enthusiasts, and in recording
and broadcast studios because of its unique properties in faithfully
reproducing sound to an unusually high standard.
Our design philosophy is to produce loudspeakers with a level of performance
beyond the most exacting specifications of contentemporary source
equipment. Loudspeaker design is no longer 'mystical'. Computers can model
designs and predict results. Computer test equipment is used to pin-point
problems with cabinets or drive units; anechoic chambers help in producing
accurate measurements. Computer aided design (CAD) and advanced
custom-built test equipment are used extensively at Tannoy.
However, we always remember that listening tests must be the final judge.
 
    The Control Of Musical
         Excellence
  Approved by HM Government as a supplier n eeting the stringent AQAP-4
standard, Tannoy follows a policy of stringent quality control procedures
using sophisticated measurement facilities. Strict quality control is more
easily achieved because all the loudspeakers are bailt in-house at the Tannoy
factory in Scotland. All drive units are designed and manufactered by Tannoy.
All incoming pans are thoroughly tested 10 ensure that th.ey are as
  specified. Not only is all data computerised but our custom-built test
equipment ensures every loudspeaker meets or exceeds our exacting
standards.
 
    The Tannoy Dual Concentric Drive Unit
  The ideal drive unit is one that can effeclively reproduce the entire audio
spectrum from deep bass to high treble. Unfortunately, such a drive unit does
not exist. Two-way, three-way and multiple driver loudspeaker systems are
adopted as working compromises. The fundamental drawback of covering the
full audio spectrum with two drivers---one for mid and bass frequencies and
one for treble--in a conventional two-way loudspeaker is simple. The
high-frequency (HF) and low-frequency (LF) signals come from different
places.
  The offending time delay is not large-- in the order of tens of thousandths
of a second. However, this delay is enough to produce a distorted and
unnatural sound --no matter how good the individual drive units. The human
ear becomes confused. You 'hear' the loudspeakers but you cannot reconstruct
a convincing stereo image of the original performance.
     Approaching The Ideal
  This is not so with the ideal drive unit. Nor with the Tannoy Dual
Concentric, where the complete audio band is reproduced from a single point
in space. The Tannoy Dual Concentric has three fundamental advantages over
conventional discrete systems: it is a coincident acoustic point source with
a very wide dynamic range potential and constant symmetrical directivity.
  The HF unit is mounted behind, and concentrically with, the LF unit. High
frequency sound radiates from the centre of the LF unit. By careful
mechanical and crossover network design the virtual acoustic sources of the
HF and LF units can be made 10 occupy the same point on the axis. Therefore
the total sound appears to emanate from a single point source located
slightly behind the drive unit. This gives the Dual Concentric driver a
  coincident acoustic point source, permitting a full and accurate stereo
image to be generated. Realism in sound reproduction is enhanced as the
drive unit both preserves the harmonic structure of complex sounds and
provides a linear phase response.
  There are other significant advantages in having the HF unit within the LF
section. The HF unit does not obstruct the LF unit in any way (a unique
feature when compared with other so-called coaxial systems). Polar
dispersion of sound is symmetrical in both horizontal and vertical planes
giving constant symmetrical directivity The advantage here is the constant
integration of room energy. A Dual Concentric loudspeaker is less critical of
toons boundary proximity. Off-axis listeners benefit from the lack of a
stereo 'sweet spot' and the maintenance of the full midrange energy spectrum
off-axis.
  Tannoy Dual Concentrics can handle the widest dynan1ic range material
faithfully. Presenting an undemanding current requirement to the driving
amplifier the Dual Concentric has a fast rise time and is capable of high
sound pressure levels. The thermal mass and power dissipation of the design
guarantee low acoustic compression at high power outputs adding to the
realism and dynamic excitement of the sound produced.
 
--- TANNOY prestige series ---
 
THE Stirling TW LOUDSPEAKER
specifications
THE  Edinburgh TW LOUDSPEAKER
THE G R F Memory TW LOUDSPEAKER
 
 THE Westminster TW LOUDSPEAKER
 
THE  Canterbury 12 LOUDSPEAKER
 
THE Westminster Royal LOUDSPEAKER
 
     The Westminster Royal is Tannoy's crowning achievement. This
loudspeaker otters a compound horn-loaded enclosure driven by álassic Dual
Concentric technology. The Westminster Royal sets the standard for low
frequency, dynamics and 'presence' that no other system can match. This
horn-loaded classic pushes back the limits of loudspeaker design, while
remaining a magnificent and timeless piece of forniture.
     Based around the Alcomax 3 version of the famous 15-inch Tannoy
Dual Concentric the Westminster Royal now features the benefits of signal
handling by gold-plated terminals with BiWire/Normal wiring and a
Hard-Wired time compensated crossover network.
     This Alcomax 3 magnet system gives the Dual Concentric an
exceptional transient response and increased sensitivity. The substantial
530 litre cabinet --- clad in fine walnut veneers with solid walnut
edgings--conceals a complex horn loading system that gives greatly
increased efficiency and a wavefront area approaching that from real
instruments. The Westminster Royal is effortlessly capable of the realistic
reproduction of truly low frequencies and the widest dynamic range.
Van den Hut wiring is used throughout. Removal of the wood-framed grille
with its specially woven cloth, using the ornate scrolled key, reveals
an engraved brass plate behind which are the treble energy and roll
offhigh current switches. The Tannoy Westminster Royal is one of only a
few loudspeakers capable of reproducing the dramatic real-world dynamic
range of musical instruments without apparent effort.
 
specifications
 
Send me e-mail to: 261@iname.com
This page last updated on 10.1.1998
Copyright © Boris Djatlov