 There are many established names in the audio world, brands we all know and follow. While you may be familiar with their products, and maybe even some of the people behind the products, often we know little about the company behind it all.
To that end AV Enthusiast is going to start publishing the AV Enthusiast Spotlight. The purpose of the Spotlight will be to illuminate the history of the brands we know and love, and hopefully will offer some information that will further your appreciation of the people who bring us the objects that fulfill our obsession.
The inaugural AV Enthusiast Spotlight is near and dear to my heart, as I use their loudspeakers in my home theater and have been a big fan of their product through the years: Tannoy Loudspeakers.
Tannoy was founded by London-based engineer Guy R. Fountain in 1926. It was the dawn of radio broadcasting, and early radio sets depended on lead acid wet batteries, and these needed frequent recharging. Commercial garages had such chargers, and recharging wet cells for home radio sets quickly became a profitable side venture for them. Guy R. Fountain owned such a garage.
Guy started looking for a way to simplify this charging process in an effort to make it suitable for home use. He developed an electrolytic rectifier that was simple and reliable enough to be used in homes. The metal used in this rectifier was a tantalum-lead alloy, and the Tannoy company was established to produce them.
Expansion of the business into loudspeaker production saw the company grow, and landing a contract to supply public address speakers to Europe's largest circus in 1930 cemented Tannoy's future.
World War 2 saw Tannoy's production facilities used for communications devices for the military, and further established Tannoy's place in British culture. Brits say 'Tannoy' for public address speakers the same way we Americans often call a photocopy a 'xerox'.
After the war, Tannoy put their facilities, which had enlarged considerably during the war effort, to good use, increasing the reach of their public address and communications businesses.
In 1947 Tannoy introduced the product that made them famous in the audio world, and one that is still produced by them today: the Dual Concentric loudspeaker. A horn loaded compression driver mounted inside a direct radiator, sharing a common coil and magnet. The original drivers were 15 ohm with a power handling of 20 watts. The first six units were purchased by Decca, for use as studio monitors, a specialization that Tannoy is still an industry leader in.
Dual Concentric design produces a loudspeaker that offers point-source delivery. That is, the frequency spectrum is delivered from the same point in space, making tonal differences and crossover anomalies less of a problem than in two-way designs. In addition, point-source loudspeakers have a more balanced, integrated sound and offer time and phase coherence.
Tannoy Dual Concentric loudspeakers also enjoyed high efficiency ratings, making them an ideal partner for the low-wattage amplifiers of the time. This is one of the reasons that vintage Tannoys are still sought after by tube amp aficionados today.
Tannoy drivers were denoted by the colored magnet covers on their posterior. The original Dual Concentric drivers were Blacks (1947-1953). Next came the Silvers (1953-1958), followed by the Reds (1958-1967), and finally the Golds (1967-1974).
 Today, Tannoy studio monitors can be found in a large percentage of active recording studios. Tannoy public address systems grace such establishments as the Sydney Opera House, the London Palladium Theatre, Coca Cola's headquarters in Atlanta, the Hard Rock and The Bellagio in Las Vegas, and the Finnish National Theater.
Sold to American group Harman International Industries in the early 1970's, Tannoy's production facilities were moved to their current location in Coatbridge, Scotland in 1976. Beatrice Foods purchased the venerable mark in 1977, and after a few bad years of declining hi fi industry sales, the company was bought out by the working directors of Tannoy in 1981. They turned the company around, and within a couple of years Tannoy's loudspeaker business, public address, recording studio, and residential, had resurrected itself.
Tannoy residential loudspeakers are available in a wide variety of price ranges, as well as in-wall and in-ceiling models. Oh, and they still produce their lovely, furniture grade Prestige line of Dual Concentric loudspeakers too.
Tannoy has a rich audio heritage and continues to build loudspeakers that are deserving of every audiophile's attention. Whether you're looking for loudspeakers for a two channel system or for home theater, see if there is a Tannoy dealer in your area. You will be surprised they don't get more press once you hear them.
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