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Tannoy – a famous name
with a proud heritage
Few companies’ products have such a
profound impact on our lives that their
names enter the dictionary as generic
descriptions for their inventions.
There are notable exceptions such as
Biro, for its ballpoint pen, and Hoover for
its vacuum cleaner. But in the audio fi eld,
Tannoy stands alone as a name synonymous
with sound, appearing in the dictionary as:
Tannoy (n) ‘a communications system
with loudspeakers’ …and the
phrase ‘Over the Tannoy’ is
universally used to describe a
PA announcement.
The company’s success in
developing public address
systems and then continuing
its reputation for pioneering
audio solutions within the studio
environment is legendary.
Despite being steeped in history, the
company has never dwelt on its past.
Proud of its heritage and the credibility
built up with its long association with the
professional recording industry, Tannoy
has always been an innovator where quality
sound reproduction is concerned.
Unique Technologies
Tannoy Dual Concentric Drive Unit
Tannoy’s core technology, the Dual
Concentric, is unlike ordinary drive units
in that it is effectively two drivers properly
merged into one. The high-frequency unit is
positioned on the back of the low frequency
driver so that they are on the same axis. As
a result, sound energy is propagated from
the same point and delivered through the
centre of the low frequency cone providing a
26 TANNOY
Few companies’ products have such a profound
impact on our lives that their names enter the
dictionary as generic descriptions for their
inventions. In the audio fi eld, Tannoy stands alone
as a name synonymous with sound.
true point source. This integrated approach
provides a constant time delay over the
frequency spectrum offering better transient
performance and sound quality with better
harmonic alignment than a displaced source
monitor design. The crucial benefi t at the
mix position is the delivery of a more natural
and cleaner sound with greatly
enhanced intelligibility.
The ‘Dual’ design provides
a very wide sweet spot with
an exceptionally even response
throughout the listening area and
extraordinary transient response.
This phase accurate Tannoy-designed
drive unit has, for all these reasons,
been the choice of professional
studio engineers for decades.
WideBand Technology
Tannoy has been at the forefront of
developing loudspeakers with WideBand
performance. Extending the high
frequency roll-off out to 51kHz corrects
the time or phase response at the upper
end of audibility, resulting in enhanced
accuracy and ‘air’, improved clarity within
the essential mid band area, and even
enhancing defi nition of low frequencies.
Tannoy WideBand Technology is an
essential component of the Precision and
Ellipse monitor designs delivering increased
tonal accuracy of the individual instruments
in the recording process – a mix-critical
factor allowing the best EQ and placement
decisions to be made.
iDP (Interactive Digital Programming)
Technology
Accurate room optimisation has taken
a quantum leap forward thanks to the
development of Tannoy iDP technology
and its incorporation into Precision iDP
and Ellipse iDP models. Utilising iDP
software, precise matching to the listening
environment is possible as each monitor
can be individually optimised, taking into
account its exact position within the room
relative to the room boundary, and its
own performance relative to the acoustic
properties of the room. iDP technology
also allows the user to control parameters
in ‘real time’ – such as bass management,
global level, recall of different preset
settings, solo/mute functions etc.
Tannoy is the longest established loudspeaker company in the world, having been in
‘the business’ for more than 80 years. It was Tannoy’s invention of the Dual Concentric
speaker in 1948 that brought the company into contact with the top end of professional
audio. Arthur Haddy, chief recording engineer at Decca, heard the Monitor Silver version
in 1951 and ordered it for the famous Decca FFRR studios in London. EMI subsequently
ordered Tannoy Dual Concentric loudspeakers for Abbey Road recording studios.