Forty years after its launch, Tannoy is revamping its famous Tannoy Legacy range. The Tannoy Legacy Eaton, Tannoy Legacy Cheviot and Tannoy Legacy Arden speakers benefit from time-tested acoustic technologies, renewed with the latest generation of materials and electronic components.
Tannoy Legacy speakers: adjustable tonal balance
Tannoy is one of the most eclectic manufacturers of acoustic speakers. For the past 90 years, it has been building its expertise with a variety of speaker ranges, available for anywhere from 200? to 70,000?. This wide price range is justified by the technologies implemented, which are different for the Tannoy Eclipse and the Tannoy Prestige Kingdom Royal speakers, for example. While the Tannoy Eclipse compact speakers are conventional 2-way models fitted with small drivers, the large Tannoy Prestige Kingdom Royal is a technically and esthetically prodigious speaker capable of filling a ballroom with exceptional sound thanks to its enormous 38 cm (15?) drivers and 120 kg (265 lbs).
If we?re mentioning the Tannoy?s very expensive Prestige range, it?s because the three new Tannoy Legacy speakers inherit a large number of its components, despite their less hefty price tag.
For example, the Tannoy Legacy speakers are equipped with an adjustable passive filter. There?s no need to disassemble the speaker and take out a soldering iron: a specific set of terminals found on the speaker?s front panel allows the user to adjust the sensitivity of the tweeter as well as the cutoff frequency of its low-pass filter. To this end, the user simply has to move a metallic pin to the desired level: +3 dB, + 1.5 dB, 0 dB (default level), -1.5 dB and -3 dB. As a reminder, 3 dB represents a doubling of the sound level. The tweeter?s cutoff frequency can be changed in the same way in order to reinforce or tone down the mids, to which our ears are particularly sensitive (frequencies between about 1 and 3 kHz). This is quite a fantastic feature, as the listener can adapt the speaker?s sound very easily. A bit of listening fatigue? In a flash, you can tone down the tweeter and deepen the exploration of the mids.
Tannoy Legacy speakers: Dual Concentric drivers
The unique characteristic shared by the Tannoy Legacy Eaton, Tannoy Legacy Cheviot and Tannoy Legacy Arden is their Dual Concentric coaxial driver. This driver has the particularity of integrating a central tweeter which uses the cone to mechanically amplify the mids, which it produces in addition to the highs. The tweeter is a 3.3 cm (1.3?) dome composed of an aluminum and magnesium alloy and accompanied by a Tannoy Tulip waveguide.
Of the three speakers, the Tannoy Legacy Eaton is the smallest. With a height of only 53 cm (21?), it is designed for placement on a low stand. Its 25 cm (9.85?) Dual Concentric driver is accompanied by a dual front-firing bass-reflex port and covers frequencies from 40 Hz to 30 kHz (+/- 3 dB), with a sensitivity of 89 dB per Watt (at a distance of 1 m). This is an average sensitivity rating considering the size of the driver, and it translates into a truly linear frequency response. The Tannoy Legacy Cheviot is the range?s midsize model, with a 30 cm (11.8?) Dual Concentric driver which is also associated with a bass-reflex port. Standing 86 cm (33.8?) tall, it can be placed directly on the floor. It boasts a wider frequency response, ranging from 38 Hz to 30 kHz, as well as a higher sensitivity of 91 dB per Watt. Lastly, the Tannoy Legacy Arden is the biggest model in the range, with a 38 cm (15?) Dual Concentric driver. Its frequency response is the same as that of the Cheviot, but with 2 dB more per Watt in terms of sensitivity.
The magnificent finish of the Tannoy Legacy speakers combines natural wood with English cloth. Each speaker is delivered with a mat to protect the floor and a container of natural polish to keep the wood in excellent condition.
