Tannoy Nearfield Monitors Reveal User Manual

Reveal

Nearfield Monitors

User Manual

Tannoy Loudspeakers are manufactured
in Great Britain by :

Tannoy Limited, Coatbridge, ML5 4TF. SCOTLAND
Telephone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

Internet:http://www.tannoy.com

Tannoy North America Inc. 335 Gage Avenue, Suite 1, Kitchener, Ontario, CANADA, N2M 5E1
Telephone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

Tannoy Nederland BV, Anthonetta Kuijlstraat 19, 3066 GS, Rotterdam THE NETHERLANDS
Telephone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

GH 22nd Jan. 1998, AVG 2nd Feb 1998

CONTENTS

1.0 INTRODUCTION

2.0 THE BASICS

2.1 Unpacking and visual checks

2.2 Preliminary recommendation

2.3 Connecting your speakers

2.4 Observing polarity

2.5 Power Amplifiers

3.0 PLACEMENT OF THE SPEAKERS

3.1 Orientation

3.2 Positioning

3.3 Console Reflections

3.4 Speaker Mounting

3.5 Bass Ports

3.6 Equalization

4.0 PERFORMANCE DATA

5.0 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

6.0 SERVICING

6.1 Cabinet finish

6.2 Driver removal

6.3 Crossover

6.4 List of spare parts

7.0 WARRANTY

8.0 Declaration of Conformity

1.0 INTRODUCTION

You’re thinking, “Come on, a user’s manual for speakers? That’s like a user’s manual for a
toothbrush.” You know enough not to plug your speakers into an AC outlet, and you know you
should hook them up in phase and then you listen to them. How much more do you need to
know? We know these speakers are headed for the professional or semi-professional studio
market, so we know we don’t need to tell you about putting your potted plants on top of the
speakers, or to avoid putting the right one on the bookshelf, and the left one on the floor behind
the sofa. We know you are serious listeners or you wouldn’t have bought Tannoy monitors. We
decided that someone needed to produce this type of manual, and because we’re actually
interested in monitoring, not just speaker sales, we figured it would have to be us. This user’s
manual will tell you how to get the absolute best performance out of your new monitors.

2.0 THE BASICS

The Reveal is the latest playback monitor from Tannoy, a company with unrivalled experience in
studio monitoring. It has an extremely detailed, dynamic sound with a wide, flat frequency
response – all of which are essential for monitoring with reliable accuracy.

The 25mm (1”) soft dome HF unit is seamlessly matched to a 165mm (6.5”) long throw bass unit
by the precision low-loss crossover network. The drive units are mounted on a massive 40mm
thick baffle, curved to minimise diffraction and creating the loudspeakers distinctive styling. Both
drive units are magnetically shielded to allow the system to be used close to video monitors.

Don’t put potted plants on top of your speakers, don’t plug them into AC outlets, or hook them up
out of phase. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about some of the technical things
to keep in mind.

2.1 Unpacking and visual checks

To remove the speakers from the carton without damage open the end flaps fully and bend them
right back (remember they are packed in pairs). Turn the package upside-down on the floor and
lift the carton vertically up to leave the speakers resting on their packing tray. Nothing on or in
your speakers should rattle about. Inspect each speaker for signs of transit damage. In the
unlikely event of this having occurred inform the carrier and the supplier. Keep all the packaging if
damage has occurred, as this will show evidence of excessive handling forces. It is also a good
idea to keep the carton if possible for future transportation.

2.2 Preliminary recommendation

Initially we would like to give a word of warning on high sound levels, which these speakers are
capable of generating over sustained periods of time. Levels over 95 dB for 8 hours per day will
eventually cause permanent hearing loss. Because Tannoy monitors have very low levels of time,
amplitude and frequency distortion it is not always obvious that the sound level is high while
working with them.

For continuous exposure we recommend the occasional use of a sound level meter capable of
integrating the sound level over a period of exposure according to noise control standards. This
should be used just to check that noise levels are always within safety limits.

2.3 Connecting your speakers

The types of cable used to connect the speakers to the power amplifier will marginally affect the
sound. The cross-sectional area of the cable should be large enough so as not to affect the

damping factor, generally a cable with a cross-sectional area of 2.5 mm², or greater is
recommended.

The lower the resistance of the cable between the amplifier and the speakers, the better the
damping factor acting on the speaker. This has been covered in every audio magazine that has
ever been written about speakers, so we won’t beat it to death here. You don’t need to buy
speaker wire that costs as much as your speakers to get some benefit from wire size, select a
finely stranded speaker cable, and dress the cable ends to prevent “hairs” or stray conductors
from shorting across the terminals. If your amplifier will not directly accept that size of cable, you
can trim down the cable size at the amplifier end. Ensure that the binding post retaining nuts are
screwed down firmly without stripping or over tightening them.

2.4 Observing polarity

You already know about connecting the positive terminal on the amplifier to the positive terminal
on the speakers, and ensuring that both channels are “in phase” by checking to ensure that
there’s more bass with both speakers on and not less bass. Absolute polarity is a bit trickier to
confirm. Absolute polarity is the maintenance of a positive pressure wave from the microphone
capsule to the listening room. A kick drum, for instance, has the drum skin whacked by the foot
pedal, and it pushes the air, which pushes the microphone diaphragm, which goes through the
electronics and should eventually come out of the speakers as a positive pressure wave, which
should have the speaker cones moving towards you, just like the drum skin. It turns out that you
can’t trust a conventional recorded source to test this because there is no way to confirm that
absolute polarity was maintained, it can even change from track to track. This isn’t a trivial thing,
especially when you’re using a true stereo microphone setup, or trying to accurately place things
in your mix. This is something that should be rigorously checked with every microphone and
every signal line in a studio, but the first step would be to use the kickdrum test described above
with a few microphones. If you don’t believe it can make a difference, set up a little test using a
mix you know and flip the polarity of both channels at the same time, while listening to the same
program...imaging, vague imaging, imaging, vague imaging. Believe it.

2.5 Power Amplifiers

The power amplifier should be reasonably well matched in power to the power rating of the
speakers (see specifications). The use of a powerful amplifier (i.e. in excess of the recommended
figure) provides headroom, which is useful especially for highly dynamic programme materials.

Due of the high peak power handling of Tannoy monitors, responsible use of even more powerful
amplifiers should not represent a danger to the speakers if the amplifiers are not overdriven. Now,
just because you have a Ferrari, it doesn’t mean to say you can drive it at the red line all of the
time, it will eventually blow up. Same thing goes here, just because the speakers will handle a
large amplifier, it doesn’t mean that you can run them flat out constantly without eventually
blowing something up.