User manual TANNOY SANDRINGHAM

[. . . ] 1926 Sandringham Tannoy - A Short History In the early days of broadcasting radio sets needed both low and high voltage DC power and this had to be supplied by batteries. The lead acid batteries commonly used in the radio equipment of the time therefore needed regular recharging. Fountain perfected a new type of electrical rectifier with the aim of designing a charger more suitable for use in the home. His rectifier consisted of two dissimilar metals held in a special electrolyte solution; one was Tantalum and the other an alloy of Lead. [. . . ] Electrical cables are selected for minimum loss and maximum information resolution considering the type of electrical signals they are designed to carry. A good solution to the problem is to 'Bi-Wire' the loudspeakers to the amplifier. This means providing two separate sets of cables from the power amplifier to each loudspeaker and dividing the electrical signals into high current, 'slow' signals and light current, 'fast' signals. Of course, the loudspeaker must be fitted with two pairs of terminals to take the two sets of cables; your Tannoy loudspeakers are of course equipped for just this type of connection. Please note in bi-wire mode that the link leads, which are supplied in the accessory pack, should NOT be fitted. · Be sure that the amplifier is switched OFF and then prepare the two sets of cabling for each 'side' of the system separately. Label two of the cable lengths Left LF and Left HF (low frequency and high frequency) then repeat this process for the right pair. · If your amplifier is not equipped with separate output terminals for bass and treble information then, at the amplifier end of the cables, twist the Left LF+ (positive) and the Left HF+ (positive) together. Connect these to the amplifier Left channel positive terminal marked + (plus) or coloured red. Twist the Left LF- (negative) and the HF- (negative) cables together and connect them to the amplifier Left channel negative terminal marked - (minus) or coloured black. At the loudspeaker end connect the cables labelled Left LF+ and Left LF- to the left hand loudspeaker LF terminals, ensuring that you note the polarity markings on the cable sheathing. Then proceed to connect the Left HF+ and Left HF- to the HF terminals on the same loudspeaker. · Repeat this process to connect the right hand loudspeaker to the amplifier right channel output, once again ensuring that polarity is correct throughout. · Switch the amplifier on with the volume control set at its lowest setting. Select a favourite source and slowly turn up the volume to a low level. The flattest, most linear response from the loudspeaker will be obtained with the control set at the LEVEL position, and this position should be used for initial listening tests. If the overall quality of the high frequency sound seems too prominent the ­1. 5 position should be tried. If the sound appears subdued in the treble region +1. 5 setting may be preferred. Remember the change that can be made by moving the energy control from one position to another is subtle. It may not easily be heard if the programme material has very little content in the frequency band under consideration. The correct setting will be found when the loudspeakers 6 are no longer evident and only the musical performance is heard. Running in Like all loudspeakers, the drive unit in your Tannoy Sandringham SE requires a while to reach optimum performance, as the stresses in the materials relax - especially in the suspension system. For this reason, it is beneficial to run the system at fairly high levels at normal room temperature, for approximately 20 hours to achieve best results. Tannoy Dual Concentric TM Drive Unit One of the unique advantages of the Tannoy Dual ConcentricTM principle is that the low and high frequency sound radiation is generated on the same axis. The high frequency unit is mounted behind, and concentrically with, the low frequency unit. High frequency sound radiates from the centre of the low frequency unit through a carefully designed high frequency exponential horn. It is this feature that gives the Dual ConcentricTM driver such unique sound reproduction qualities. [. . . ] When a fault occurs in a hi-fi system the effect is always heard through the loudspeakers although they may not be the source of the fault. It is important to trace the cause of the problem as accurately as possible. A fault heard on one source (only CD or tape for instance) is most unlikely to be a loudspeaker problem. Loudspeakers do not in themselves generate hum, hiss or rumble although high quality, widebandwidth loudspeakers may emphasise such problems. Tannoy Quality An important part of Tannoy's design philosophy is to produce loudspeakers with a level of performance beyond the most exacting specifications of contemporary source equipment. [. . . ]