Tannoy Canterbury 15-HE Owners manual
Canterbury 15 НЕ
prestige series
TANNOY
The Canterbury 15 HE
In combining the best of traditional crafts and the latest production and design skills Tannoy presents the Canterbury
loudspeaker. The Canterbury embodies the Tannoy philosophy. Cabinets in selected hardwoods are hand finished and
polished to a standard that is unsurpassed.
The Canterbury 15 HE is a truly special loudspeaker made
only to order with certification and personalised nameplate.
The speaker uses the classic Alcomax 3 version of the famous
Tannoy Dual Concentric driver. This magnet system endows
the Dual Concentric with an exceptional transient response
and increased sensitivity. This high performance driver is
installed in braced birch-ply cabinet with burr walnut veneers
and solid walnut mouldings. Silver plated Van den Hul wiring
is used throughout. High frequency energy can be tailored
through a high current gold-plated switch block with controls
for both treble energy and roll off. Low frequency adjustment
is through the Tannoy Variable Distributed Port System
(VDPS). The specially designed twin-roll impregnated fabric
surround used on the drive unit's cone, ensures midrange purity combined with tight, controlled bass.
Canterbury 15 HE-page 1
Tannoy—A Short History
In the early days of broadcasting radio sets needed both low and
high voltage DC power that had to be supplied by batteries. The
lead acid batteries used in the radio sets of the time needed regular recharging.
In London, in 1926, Guy R. Fountain perfected a new type of
electrical rectifier with the aim of designing a charger more
suitable for use in the house. His rectifier consisted of two dissimilar metals held in a special electrolyte solution. One metal
was Tantalum and the other an alloy of Lead. So successful was
this invention that Guy Fountain founded a British Company
called Tannoy (a contraction of the words 'Tantalum' and
'Alloy'). Tannoy soon became internationally known and highly
regarded in all aspects of sound reproduction.
Moving coil loudspeakers with DC energised magnets began
Tannoy's continued success in the field of loudspeaker technology. A discrete two-way loudspeaker system followed in 1933
and shortly after a range of microphones and loudspeakers
capable of high power handling.
Tannoy has always been at the front of the communications revolution, developing its own equipment and production
technology. The company built a fund of knowledge and experience, that has proved invaluable in the development of
loudspeakers for a truly wide range of applications. The now
famous Tannoy Dual Concentric principle was created and
developed under Guy Fountain's direction around 1950. It is
highly regarded by music enthusiasts, and recording and broadcast studios because of its unique properties in faithfully
reproducing sound to an unusually high quality standard.
Guy Fountain retired from the company in 1974 but the Tannoy
company continues his philosophy dedicated to the accurate and
realistic reproduction of music for both enthusiasts and professionals around the world.
The Tannoy Research & Development unit has further refined
the innovative Dual Concentric principle. Using the latest
design and material technologies, with sophisticated circuit
techniques in crossover design, Tannoy has produced a loudspeaker system with superb reproductive capabilities and
exceptionally wide dynamic range.
page 2—Canterbury 15 HE
Tannoy is now part of TGI pic; this makes the group one of the
largest manufacturers of quality loudspeakers in the world.
Unpacking Instructions
Unfasten the bottom of the carton and remove all staples. Fold
the end leaves out of the way and remove the packing tray to
reveal the plinth and bottom of the loudspeaker cabinet.
Locate and remove from the carton the key for removing the
grille and the jar of wood wax. Turn the carton and loudspeaker over so that the cabinet now stands on the floor inside
the carton. Lift the carton upwards to reveal the loudspeaker.
Examine all pieces of packing material and inspect the carton
for signs of external damage. If there is evidence of excessive
damage to the packaging and resulting damage to the loudspeaker inform the carrier and supplier immediately. Always
keep the packing in such circumstances for subsequent examination.
Tannoy strongly suggests that you store the complete packaging set for possible future use.
Initial Positioning
Locate the loudspeakers so that the favourite listening position
is approximately 15° from the axes of the cabinets. The axes of
both cabinets should intersect at a point slightly in front of the
listening position. Remember that the proximity of the loudspeakers to walls and corners will affect the sound. Some
experimentation will probably be needed to fine tune the
stereo image depth and low frequency sound quality. Close-towall positions—and room corners more so—have the effect of
increasing very low frequency sound energy. Reflective adjacent walls may upset the stereo image by causing unwanted
reflections.
The loudspeakers are designed to be used at least 1 m from any
side wall or reflective surface and at least 0.5 m away from a
rear wall. Only in this position will their exceptional stereo
image depth capabilities be realised.
When the optimum position for the loudspeakers has been
determined, position the three metal cups, provided in the
accessories pack, so that they sit under the three support cones,
on the underside of the loudspeaker. These are positioned two
at the front and one at the rear. This will give maximum stability, and enable your loudspeakers to provide their full
dynamics and resolution of detail.
WARNING; this operation should be carried out by two people, to avoid the risk of personal injury, should the speaker slip
or fall.
Canterbury IS HE-page 3
Amplifier Connections
Connect the loudspeakers to the amplifier using the heaviest
gauge of multistranded cable that can be fitted. Spade connectors may help in connecting heavy duty specialist loudspeaker
cables to the loudspeaker terminals.
Arrange the connections so that the right hand amplifier channel
terminals are connected to the right hand loudspeaker as viewed
from the listening position.
Correct polarity of the connections between the amplifier and
speakers is essential. The positive terminal on the amplifier left
channel, marked + (plus) or coloured red, must be connected to
the positive terminal on the left loudspeaker. The negative terminal on the amplifier left channel, marked - (minus) or
coloured black, must be connected to the negative terminal on
the left loudspeaker.
Repeat this connection for the right speaker. Remember, the
amplifier right channel positive terminal, marked + (plus) or
coloured red, must be connected to the positive terminal on the
right loudspeaker. The negative terminal on the amplifier right
channel, marked - (minus) or coloured black, must be connected to the negative terminal on this loudspeaker.
Good quality cables and tight, well-made connections are necessary to eliminate resistive losses and maintain the correct
damping of the loudspeaker by the amplifier.
If the cables and connections have been made correctly as
described above the loudspeakers will be automatically in
phase with each other. However if phasing is felt to be incorrect (for example, diffuse stereo image, lack of bass) then apply
the following test:
Place the loudspeakers side by side and play a monophonic signal from the amplifier, choosing programme material with a
strong bass content. If phasing is correct bass will be full and
rich. If incorrect there will be very little bass due to cancellation
effects. Incorrect phasing can be remedied by reversing the connecting leads to one loudspeaker (at either the amplifier or the
loudspeaker terminals but not both).
Note:
Be certain to ensure that the amplifier is switched off when connecting or disconnecting loudspeaker leads. Amplifiers fitted
with output capacitors can damage the loudspeakers under these
page 4—Canterbury 15 HE
circumstances. Also accidentally shorting the loudspeaker leads
together can damage some amplifiers. Such damage is outside
warranty provisions.
Bi-Wiring Theory
Loudspeakers need power signals to produce acoustic energy
when reproducing music. The range of electrical currents passing down the cable from the amplifier to the loudspeaker is very
wide. In decibel terms this is called the dynamic range. Modern
loudspeakers are capable of resolving a dynamic range of at
least 80 dB with a suitable power amplifier.
An 80 dB dynamic range corresponds to voltages of between
50 Volt and 0.005 Volt at the loudspeaker terminals or equivalent currents of between 0.0006 and 6 Amp. This is a truly
wide range of electrical signals to pass down one cable without some interactions causing a loss of resolution in the very
small signals.
When electricity passes down a wire or cable, what goes in at
one end is unfortunately different from what comes out at the
other. The degree of loss or modification of a signal depends on
the physical characteristics of the cable and the nature of the
signal. Heavy electrical currents flowing down thin conductors
cause heating effects. Very high frequency signals passing along
conductors or cables of certain lengths cause electromagnetic
radiation effects (aerials). 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.
Bi-Wiring
Bi-Wiring releases the full potential of the Tannoy Prestige
loudspeakers. Two complete sets of cable are required.
Switch the amplifier off. Deal with each 'side' of the system
Canterbury 15 HE-page 5
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