Words and photos by Rafe Arnott unless specified
Cutting through the rush of churning locomotives, squealing buses and the din of countless voices is a formidable design précis for a loudspeaker, but that is exactly what the original Tannoy drivers were meant to do in their guise as public address systems in pre-WWII Great Britain. There are few loudspeaker companies which can claim an unbroken lineage of production for almost 100 years, and today’s Tannoy Legacy models – the Arden, Cheviot and Eaton – continue a speaker-building enterprise going back to 1926 when Tulsemere Manufacturing Co. was started by Guy Fountain. Like many of the company’s loudspeaker designs since the late ‘40s, the Legacy series are equipped with a coaxial driver (or in Tannoy-speak, a Dual Concentric driver). This is where the tweeter is situated behind the centre of the mid/bass driver within the same frame and magnet assembly, which, like its predecessors, is still capable of penetrating the dull roar of life’s audible background. The Cheviot loudspeaker under review is built upon principles that, while from another time, are no less refreshing in their capabilities today than they were almost 50 years ago.
A syllabic abbreviation of tantalum alloy (used in an electrolytic rectifier developed by the company), Tannoy became a trademark in 1932, and thanks to the distinctive logo prominently displayed on every PA system speaker grille it built and supplied – to the military in particular – Tannoy became a household commonality by the end of WWII. In fact, in the UK the term “tannoy” became so ingrained in its association with the PA that the name still refers to any public-address system, and to “tannoy” means to make an announcement. While early designs destined for home or broadcast use capitalized on the popularity of the company’s PA-system roots, it was not long until the technological advancements of Tannoy’s studio monitors – in particular the launch in 1947 at the London Radio Show of the aforementioned Dual Concentric driver – built up their reputation throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s as a gold standard in recording fidelity.
Photos below: Left – an undated image from the Tannoy factory, most likely in the mid-'50s or late '40s. Right – Lancaster cabinets with Monitor Gold drivers installed at BBC Studio 2 for the mastering of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Both images courtesy Tannoy.
"I was turned on to the original ‘70s version of the Berkeley and Arden when I interviewed UK musicologist and selector Donna Leake earlier this year. Hearing her describe their full, rich sound, transparency to source and pinpoint imaging how could one not be intrigued?"
–Rafe Arnott
By the ‘70s and ‘80s Tannoy were employed as reference monitors in dozens of studios throughout the UK, Europe, Japan and North America, with London’s Abbey Road, AIR, Decca and Olympic Studios in particular standing out as big name examples of the brand’s embrace by the recording industry. Abbey Road’s Studio 2 had Tannoy Lancaster cabinets equipped with Monitor Gold drivers installed to master Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and Vangelis famously composed the soundtrack to Blade Runner with Tannoy Dreadnought monitors. The demands of studio and broadcast accuracy drove the company to further refine driver assemblies, voice coils and magnet structures as seen with the Monitor Gold in 1967 through to the Super Red studio monitor driver series in 1979.
Much like Altec Lansing, Tannoy were more about the driver array than the cabinets per se, with many Dual Concentric drivers and crossover assemblies being purchased on their own to be fitted into DIY or custom cabinet configurations (Truefi is a great resource on Tannoy and custom cabinets). Many of the company’s own highly-popular cabinet/driver pairings secured a place in the annals of speaker design history. Tannoy factory series such as the Autograph, Canterbury, Chatsworth, and Little Red Monitors (to name but a few) were all roundly embraced by high-fidelity enthusiasts, and (as years passed) collectors alike.
The current Legacy series of drivers/cabinets builds on the ’70s namesakes they owe their configurations to. The new designs feature an updated HPD integrated drive system (High Performance Dual-concentric), that as mentioned off the top, consists of a direct radiator bass unit and a high frequency compression driver positioned concentrically within the same frame and magnet assembly. Tannoy no longer implements the original’s AlNiCo magnets, now using ferrite instead. In the Cheviot’s case it is a 12-inch driver (paper-pulp cone, twin-roll impregnated fabric surround, a two-inch edge wound voice coil for the mid-bass, and a one-inch aluminium/magnesium alloy dome with edge-wound voice coil for high frequencies). The Arden is equipped with a 15-inch version, and the Eaton a 10-inch unit. All feature new (albeit similar) cabinet materials, revised crossover/treble energy circuitry and 24 carat multi-layer gold plated five-way binding posts with the new models all equipped for bi-wiring, plus an additional ground post (unlike the original two-post versions).
Photo left: The Tannoy Cheviot Legacy Edition.
Unlike some speaker designs, the 91dB efficient Cheviot (the mid-size offering in the Legacy range, eight ohms, 38Hz~30kHz +/-6dB), was refreshingly unfussy about amplification or placement, and was just as sonically satisfying performing on its wooden cabinet base (old school style), as it was on either the provided footers or spikes. Another option for shoeing the Cheviot (or the considerably larger Arden) would be to affix casters to the base to ease in maneuvering them. Despite their unfussy placement nature, odds are you will want to experiment with location and casters make moving their 70-pound bulk infinitely easier and more enjoyable (based on personal experience with my own Altec Valencia).
The walnut-veneered Cheviot enclosure (33.9 x 17.6 x 10.2 inches) is going on 45 years, it’s driver can boast 75-years of production. While the modern mindset may chafe at these figures, they are to be embraced. There is much to be said for leaving well enough alone, and while manufacturing efficiencies may have improved over time (the latest iteration Legacy models feature more internal bracing and stiffer chassis for touted resonance control and utilize what the company refers to as DMT – Differential Materials Technology – for coupling drivers to cabinets), the fact that original Cheviots can still be had in good nick for $2k speaks volumes about the design’s longevity and staying power. Not everyone wants a used loudspeaker, nor has the wherewithal for the maintenance four-decade-old driver surrounds and crossovers may require, and that’s why Tannoy continues to build the Legacy series by hand at the company’s Coatbridge, Scotland workshop; after five decades, demand is still strong.
Photo above: Tannoy Cheviot are relatively unfussy in their positioning. Adjustments, of course, do have effect, as does toe-in. Less so the distance from the rear wall. As in all things hi-fi, YMMV.
I was turned on to the original ‘70s version of the Berkeley and Arden when I interviewed UK musicologist and selector Donna Leake earlier this year. Hearing her describe their full, rich sound, transparency to source and pinpoint imaging how could one not be intrigued? Further research revealed the brand’s studio monitor history and my curiosity was piqued. A few months later, thanks to Igor Kivritsky at Vancouver Hi-fi Centre I had a pair of Cheviot stuffed into my car and my summer of Tannoy began. Listening sessions were spread over several months with the Cheviots shuttling between two rooms utilizing analogue and digital sources from Technics, Audio Note UK, and dCS. Valve amplification and a variety of preamplifiers and mixers from Audio Note UK, MasterSounds and Varia Instruments were also put to use. Cabling throughout consisted of Audio Note UK silver and copper runs, with Oyaide NEO D+ Class A/B RCA and turntable cables taking turns in the mix as well.
Running the Cheviot in the music room of the wood floored, plaster walled 100-plus year old house we call home with low-powered SET amplification proved them to be capable of pressurizing more conservative spaces (9-foot wide x 12-foot long x 12-foot sloping ceiling) without adverse bass response. Depending on the genre, bass tuning was easily dialled-in with or without either one or two of the supplied port plugs (four in total for the pair of speakers), but usually only for more challenging sub-40Hz electronic selections. The qualities of the Cheviot that first impress the listener are lifelike scale to vocals and instruments, a palpable presence and texture to drum skins, horn reeds, Arco and pizzicato on stringed instruments, piano keys being struck by felt hammers and vocal inflections which possessed more promising ‘chesty’ emanation, as opposed to being limited to throat projection. Moving the Cheviot out to the main living area of our home allowed them to breathe, as it were, and here being driven by either a 300B power amp/pre combo or an EL84 phono integrated, they effortlessly scaled upward to fill the large open floor plan.
Photo above: Even when hemmed-in or tasked with working to spec in more challendging spaces the Cheviot always delivered.
Romantic, tonally and harmonically lush when presented with such fare, but also utterly transparent to source, and a tendency to startlingly real, in-the-room presence with the best recordings (digital or analogue) of jazz or blues trios, quartets or even ‘50s and ‘60s jazz/pop orchestral accompanied affairs by the likes of Sinatra with Gordon Jenkins and Nelson Riddle (or Holiday/Fitzgerald with Norman Granz, Duke Ellington) the Cheviot played from strength-to-strength with valve amplification behind them, and showed how easily their design could pivot from power and transient speed on rock or electronic recordings to the delicate, spectral shimmer off a high hat or the spatial decay produced by the vibration of a plucked string in the recorded space of stripped-down acoustic albums. The Cheviot, while not shy in their room presentation or point-source imaging capabilities, create a unique combination of luring one in to catch a breathy turn of phrase, or texture of resin on bow, while at the same time pushing one gently back into their seat, to ponder both the musical and intellectual context of every performance. The ability to adjust ‘treble energy’ and ‘treble roll off’ also helps tune the Cheviot to actual room acoustics, which along with the bass port plugs makes the speaker refreshingly practical.
Photos above: Left – The Audio Note UK Conqueror Silver 300B stereo amplifier. Right – the Technics SL-1210GR turntable with vintage AT155LC moving magnet cartridge.
Emily Cross, Dan Duszynski and Jonathan Meiburg bring an ethereal wave of post-punk nostalgia to their downtempo electronic artefact Don’t Shy Away (Sub Pop Records, 2020, SP1366). The trio’s second studio album under the moniker Loma is filled with heavy horn sections, deep beats, hypnotic bass lines and Cross’ haunting vocals. Pop darlings feted by Brian Eno (who participated on the cut “Homing”), the trio’s obvious attention given to high-quality production pays superb dividends. Sprawling tracks “Ocotillo,” “Half Silences” and “Elliptical Days” unfold like giant black spiders as the Cheviot’s 12-inch coaxial brings its excursive abilities to bear, moving large volumes of air to create a performance stage of almost believable dimensions well beyond the physical cabinet boundaries. Indeed, for such a point source-centric design, the Cheviot does an amazing job of creating a deep-V sound stage in all axis between the speakers. Exquisite tonality and timbral shading brought forth by the translational capabilities of a Technics SL-1210GR turntable with either an Audio Technica VM760SLC or vintage Shure M44G moving magnet cartridge affixed left little doubt of the Tannoy’s accuracy to source. The evocative and melancholy finger picking and strumming of Dylan Golden Aycock on six-string and slide guitar presented his forceful and compelling acoustic melodies that populate Church of Level Track (Scissor Tail Records, 2016, ST40) without pretence or embellishment through the Cheviot.
The unmistakable gravelly drawl of Louis Armstrong has a weight and grain to its character which over many years one becomes intimately familiar with. Ella and Louis Again (2x45 Analogue Productions, MG V-4017) remastered in 2012 by George Marino at Sterling Sound is one of the finest examples of a reissue I’ve heard. The amount of resolution pulled off the original tapes of this 1957 recording session is staggering. Every subtle nuance and detail to the recording studio – spatial cues, vocalizations from Fitzgerald and Armstrong, breathing, chairs moving, and the peccadilloes of play from each musician is laid utterly bare. Visceral, punchy, with astonishing speed to attack on notes and delicious decay to cymbal, high hat, guttural weight to percussion and adroit bass Pizzacato, it swings and romps with abandon with Fitzgerald’s airy, lilting counterpoint to Armstrong balancing the tenor of the entire experience. The emotion, the camaraderie to the relationship between the two leads… all devoid of artifice on any technical or cerebral level I could ascertain through the system feeding the Cheviot. Any change to cabling, cartridge, source or even the inclusion of spiked maple stands under the amps or turntable and CD player did not go unnoticed through the Tannoy.
There’s a romantic facet to a product, especially in high fidelity, that can draw a line back through history to harken an era of simpler times; more corporeal means of communication, where the ideas of ones and zeroes being part of daily life was relegated to classroom chalkboards. A time machine on multiple levels, the Cheviot highlights not only how technology and design from decades past can deliver performance challenging any modern transducer iteration, but also how particular types of analogue technology has lasting appeal. When further lensed as a product for well being in an era of ubiquitous stress and hyper consumer disposability on multiple levels, it becomes clear the Tannoy Cheviot is built to outlast.
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