Tannoy Westminster Royal HE + Supertweeters

Description :
In the early eighties the hi-fi industry seemed to be concentrating on smaller cabinets with increasingly low levels of efficiency. The Tannoy Engineering team was keen to demonstrate that a large an effective compound horn loaded system could provide a level of sophisticated reproduction that no other type of system could get close to. They were part of only a handful of speaker engineers around the world who were capable of designing and engineering such a system. And so the Westminster was created- 250 pounds weight of speaker with a transient attack and low frequency performance that many people in the world could not believe. Music lovers had to be prised away from the demonstration seating at exhibitions, where Westminster’s were being put through their paces, to make room for the queues outside.

The potential in the design of the Tannoy Westminster Royal for a superb performance loudspeaker was well demonstrated with the incorporation of the Alcomax cast alloy magnet system. The longer HF horn resulting from the increased magnetic length of the magnet gave an even better match to the acoustical front loading of this very complex and special cabinet. To take full advantage of the Dual Concentric drive unit the cabinet was specified as birch plywood throughout and to compensate for thicker internal partitions the whole cabinet and low frequency horn mouth area was increased accordingly. In addition to the increased height of the cabinet distinguishing the Westminster Royal from the Westminster HW the solid walnut top and bottom moldings were sharpened in profile and subtle inlays of burr walnut were added to the front baffle. Increasing awareness of the effects of the purity of the copper interconnecting wires during associated research projects pointed the way for all the internal wiring in the Westminster Royal to be specified as Van Den Hul cable. Careful listening tests determined the gauges of cable in various areas; even the connecting wire integral with the drive unit HF section was re-specified. The result was another landmark in loudspeaker design and performance and is recognized throughout the world as one of the finest loudspeaker systems ever to have been produced.

There have actually been five different versions of the Westminster over time, the first version being produced from 1982 to 1987. That first Westminster used a 15-inch Dual Concentric™ speaker with a foam surround on the bass driver, and was installed into a massive and complex compound horn cabinet, with both front and rear horn loading. The second version of the Westminster, called the Westminster Royal, was produced from 1987 to 1998. The Westminster Royal had an even larger cabinet than the first Westminster, and was made more rigid by using thick birch plywood for its construction. The Westminster Royal also used better capacitors in its crossover and Van den Hul wiring throughout. The third version of the Westminster, called the Westminster TW (Tulip Waveguide) was produced from 1992 to 1998 in parallel with the Westminster Royal. The Westminster TW was a lower cost version of the Westminster that used a ferrite magnet instead of the more expensive (and better sounding) Alnico magnet, and had a smaller cabinet volume than the Westminster Royal. The fourth version of the Westminster, called the Westminster Royal HE, was produced from 1999 to 2007. The ‘HE’ in its name referred to the ‘Hard Edge’ impregnated fabric surround on the bass driver which stored less energy, and which gave it a faster and more articulate sound than its predecessors. The fifth and current version in the evolutionary development of the Westminster Royal, the Westminster Royal Special Edition (SE), which was introduced in 2007. The Westminster Royal SEs have entirely hand built compound horn-loaded birch plywood cabinets, each with a volume of 530 liters, and weigh a hefty 304 pounds per loudspeaker. The cabinets have casters on their bottoms to aid moving them into position. The speakers come with machined cups that the owner can place under the casters for additional isolation after the speakers’ final position is determined.

The Westminster Royal speakers are Tannoy’s crowing achievement, with beautiful pieces of hand crafted cabinet made of exquisite veneers of walnut and solid walnut. There is almost 35kg of wood in each cabinet, and the high quality of the wood has a direct bearing on the reputation of this speaker. This loudspeaker offers a compound horn-loaded enclosure driven by classic Dual Concentric technology. The Tannoy Westminster Royal sets the standard for low frequency, dynamics and presence that no other system can match. This horn-loaded classics pushes back the limits of loudspeaker design, while remaining a magnificent and timeless piece of furniture. Based around the Alcomax 3 version of the famous 38 cm Tannoy Dual Concentric, the Westminster Royal now features the benefits of signal handling by gold-plated terminals with bi-wire/passive wiring and a hard-wired time compensated crossover network. The Alcomax 3 magnet system gives the Dual Concentric an exceptional transient response and increased sensitivity. Removal of the wood-framed grille with its specially woven cloth, using the ornate scrolled key, reveals an engraved brass plate behind which are the treble energy and roll-off high current switches.

The substantial 530 litres cabinet – clad in fine walnut veneers with solid walnut edgings – conceals a complex horn loading system that gives greatly increased efficiency and a wavefront area approaching that from real instruments. The Tannoy Westminster Royal is effortlessly capable of the realistic reproduction of truly low frequencies and the widest dynamic range. Van den Hul wiring is used throughout. Many modern horn systems have major timing discombobulation between the woofer, midrange and tweeter. All of the driver diaphragms are great distances apart so there is negative time coherence and the aural matrix is completely confused. Tannoy solved this problem by having a completely cohesive wave front. The tweeters is in exact alignment with their woofers, thereby solving this timing discombobulation problem. The Tannoy Westminster Royal is one of reproducing the dramatic real-world dynamic range of musical instruments without apparent effort.