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Glenair Introduces Modern Styling for Tannoy Prestige Loudspeakers (2/3/2006)

Tannoy Prestige loudspeakers have certainly always been out of the ordinary; wonderfully individual and totally unlike any other speakers. Distinctive, distinguished and proud, they transcend mere fashion and have captured the imagination of music connoisseurs all over the world. While embodying the long established company philosophy of no compromise acoustic performance, the new Glenair brings a fresh and modern styling approach to the Tannoy Prestige range.

Utilising the proven acoustic benefits of a trapezoidal cabinet design, Glenair bears all the hallmarks of bespoke loudspeaker craftsmanship but with a more contemporary feel. Plywood manufactured from birch grown in slow-growing cold regions of the world and selected for its denser quality is used for the main structure of the speaker cabinet. The combination of heavily damped material, comprehensive internal bracing and nonÐparallel side panels alleviate the problems associated with standing waves, ensuring that the loudspeaker is free from unwanted resonance.

Externally the cabinet is finely crafted with American Cherry veneer and solid wood mouldings hand finished and polished to a standard that is unsurpassed. When the curved, acoustically transparent grille is removed there are no unsightly retaining lugs spoiling the clean lines of the speaker's front panel thanks to the cleverly designed magnetised fixing method within the baffle structure.

As with all other Prestige models, Glenair benefits from the unique advantages of the world-renowned Tannoy Dual Concentricª drive unit. With the HF unit mounted behind, and concentrically with, the LF unit, low and high frequency sound radiation is generated on the same axis. High frequency sound radiates from the centre of the low frequency unit through a carefully designed high frequency exponential horn. Low and high frequencies are therefore fully integrated at source. It is this feature that gives the Dual Concentricª driver its unique and superior sound reproduction qualities.

Assembled on a substantial die cast chassis and produced from selected multi-fibre paper pulp, specially treated to absorb internal resonance modes, the low frequency section of the Dual Concentricª driver has exceptional power handling and dynamic range. Large excursions of the massive cone area are controlled by the treated fabric surround which provides optimum compliance and linearity at all volume levels. The cone piston is driven by a high power motor system consisting of a single layer copper ribbon coil suspended in a precision magnetic air gap. To ensure consistently reliable operation at high peak power inputs the coil is wound with a special high temperature adhesive system and individually cured. The cone flare continues the high frequency horn profile to ensure a smooth transition at the crossover point and additionally the precisely engineered shape provides optimum dispersion of audio frequencies at both the high and low ends of the spectrum.

The high frequency driver consists of a wide dynamic range compression unit giving superb transient performance with a smooth uncoloured response. Formed by a specially developed process and producing a piston with a very high stiffness to mass ratio, the optimal molecular grain structure of the HF driver's aluminium alloy diaphragm gives long-term durability. Providing the driving force for the diaphragm is a low mass precision single layer copper clad aluminium coil, energized by a powerful ferrite magnet system. A copper pole piece cap ensures Eddy Current losses are minimized, thus reducing non linear distortion. Acoustic power from the compression unit is fed through a phase compensating device, the Tannoy Tulip Waveguideª, to the throat of the acoustic horn. This horn provides an acoustic impedance transformation to match the compression unit radiation into the listening environment. A damped acoustic cavity controls the compression driver response and ensures further correct acoustic impedance matching to the horn throat.

These carefully engineered components of the latest version of 15Ó Tannoy Dual Concentricª fitted to the Glenair present an astonishingly true to life performance with an open, coherent and utterly involving soundstage. Effortless bass dynamics, open midrange and meticulously detailed high frequency with a delicacy of treble nuances are assured.

Ensuring perfect integration of the driver elements, the carefully designed crossover network exhibits true audiophile qualities. All components are high precision, low-loss and thermally stable. For the high frequency feed a single Hovland MusiCap(R) capacitor is used providing class-leading sonic consistency; exceptional dynamics, speed, focus, correct timbre and depth of field. Two large laminated iron core inductors are used to avoid saturation effects. Careful consideration has been given to the precise layout of the crossover in order to minimise inter component coupling and it is positioned well away from the driver to avoid any detrimental magnetic field effects. Top quality silver-plated copper wiring is used for the low frequency section, and Acrolink 6N ultra high purity (99.9999%) copper wire is used for the high frequency wiring for complete signal path integrity.

The bire wire terminal on the twin ported rear panel also features an 'earth' or grounding point. With the driver chassis grounded, this proven technology, developed on earlier Prestige models, minimises the effects of RF interference resulting in a more transparent midrange.

Each component part of the new Glenair complements one another to deliver an audiophile loudspeaker that runs true to the highly respected pedigree of the Prestige range and maintains Tannoy's leading position as an innovator of premium audio solutions.

UK retail price: £3,999 per pair inc VAT.

www.tannoy.co.uk