Tannoy Turnberry SE Owners manual

O W N E R ’ S M A N U A L

1926Estd.

In combining the best of traditional crafts and the latest production and design skills Tannoy presents the Turnberry SE loudspeaker.

The Turnberry SE embodies the Tannoy philosophy. Cabinets in selected hardwoods are hand finished and polished to a standard that

is unsurpassed.

The Turnberry SE is a compact high performance loudspeaker based around

Tannoy's unique 10 inch ribbon wound Tulip Waveguide™ twin-magnet Dual

Concentric™. Signal handling is by gold-plated terminals with captive link bi-wire/normal wiring and a hard wired time compensated crossover network.

The Turnberry SE offers high frequency energy tailoring through a high current

gold-plated switch block. Silver plated copper Van den Hul wiring is use

throughout, together with specially selected high quality crossover components.

The specially designed twin-roll impregnated fabric surround used on the drive

unit's cone, ensures midrange purity combined with tight, controlled bass.

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 and 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.

Tannoy is now part of the TG Group, whose goal is to design, produce and distribute the best engineered, most recognised and respected

brands of audio products in the world.

Unpacking Instructions

Unfasten the bottom of the carton. 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 accessories pack. 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

The Turnberry SE is a floor-standing speaker and therefore does not require a separate stand. To get a detailed sound with a 'fast' bass

and accurate stereo imaging it is necessary, however, to 'fix' the loudspeakers at a point in space.

Holes are provided in the base of the speakers for down-spikes that give maximum stability. Special floor-coupling spikes are provided

and these should be screwed into the base of the loudspeakers, taking care not to over-tighten them. When the loudspeaker is installed

in its upright position, the spikes should pass between the weave of your carpet to contact the floor beneath.

For polished wood floors, hard nylon self-levelling 'ball-and-cup' feet are provided.

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-to-wall 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 1m from any side wall or reflective surface and at least 0.5m (20”) away from a rear

wall. Only in this position will their exceptional stereo image depth capabilities be realised.

Amplifier Connections

Connect the loudspeakers to the amplifier using a high quality speaker cable. Your dealer will be able to make recommendations. The terminals will accept either spade or banana plugs.

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.

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 the 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. 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 80dB with a suitable power amplifier.

An 80dB 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 separately. Label two of the cables Left LF and Left HF (low frequency and high frequency).

Label two of the cables Left LF and Left HF (low frequency and high frequency). Do the same for the right pair. Undo the loudspeaker terminals, remove and retain the Bi-wiring links so that the same polarity terminals are no longer joined.

It is essential to get the polarity correct. If your amplifier does not have separate output terminals for bass and treble then, at the amplifier end of the cable, connect the Left LF+ and HF+ cables together. Then wire to the amplifier Left channel positive terminal marked + (plus) or coloured red.

Connect the Left LF - and HF - cables together to the amplifier negative terminal marked - (minus) or black.

Note the polarity marking on the cable. At the loudspeaker end connect the cables marked Left LF+ and LF- to the appropriate left speaker LF terminals. Connect the Left HF+ and HF- to the appropriate + and - left speaker HF terminals.

Make the same connections with the Right LF and HF cables.

For optimum performance, the earth connection on the terminal panel should be connected to the amplifier chassis earth or other ground point. This screening effect can give an improvement in detail clarity, depending on the amplifier used. Optimum results are achieved using a screened loudspeaker cable designed for such a system, such as the Tannoy TLC.

Switch on the amplifier with the volume turned down. Select a favourite source and carefully turn up the volume. Check that bass and treble sounds come from both speakers. If not, switch off and remake the connections.

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