Audiophiles and musicians alike will recognize the name Tannoy from the pro-sound world — the company’s speakers are used in recording studios around the globe. So I was surprised to see speakers from such a serious outfit show up in a funky, fun package like the Arena system. The Arena’s podlike satellites owe a debt to 1970s sci-fi style: think rounded, organic, and amoeboid. If, like me, you’re into that kind of thing, you’ll dig the look. Another thing that sets this system apart is its use of a point-source Dual Concentric driver configuration. This means that the speaker’s midrange driver and tweeter are both positioned on the same axis — an arrangement that enhances imaging by locking sounds to a precise point in space.

What We Think

A well-built, mod-looking six-pack that sounds crisp and precise, but comes up short on bass and dynamics.

Along with far-out style, the Arena system has excellent build quality and versatile installation options. The one I auditioned consisted of four matched cast-aluminum satellites for the front left/right and surround speakers, a cast-aluminum center speaker, and a cool, compact subwoofer with a 10-inch driver and a 300-watt amp. The sub, which comes with a substantial set of metal carpet spikes and rubber feet for bare floors, can be mounted either upright or on its side. Tannoy offers optional metal stands for the satellites (shown, $149 each for left/right, $$159 for center), which can also be swiveled around to mount the speakers on the wall or ceiling. Optional, sculpted floor stands (shown, $250 each) are also available for the L/R satellites.

SETUP System setup didn’t take much work. I mounted the front L/R sats on the Tannoy floor stands at either side of my TV stand and placed the center speaker on its middle shelf. The surrounds ended up on table stands at either side and slightly behind my couch, and the sub found its way into the front right corner of the room. The only challenge I encountered was with the cable-management system used in both the table and floor stands. While it effectively conceals wires, my heavy-duty speaker cables were barely able to clear the narrow holes. The swiveling bases on the table stands turned out to be very useful. By pivoting the surround sats slightly upward, I was able to give their sound a more diffuse, movie theaterlike quality that enhanced the spaciousness of surround effects.

MUSIC PERFORMANCE Listening to Bill Frisell’s reverb-soaked guitar licks in “Outlaws” from the CD Bill Frisell, Dave Holland, and Elvin Jones, I was impressed by the sense of spaciousness that the Arena sub/sat combination delivered with plain-vanilla stereo recordings. Ride-cymbal hits were crisp, yet airy and well defined, and the bass put out by the sub sounded well integrated and tight. Skipping forward to “Moon River” from the same disc, I got an even better demonstration of the Arena sub’s capabilities. Although it had fairly limited bass extension, individual notes in Dave Holland’s bass solo sounded tuneful and clean. My biggest gripe with the system’s sound came when listening to more folky vocal tracks. In the Shins’ “Pink Bullets,” for example, there was a slight edge to the singer’s voice, and the Tannoys’ sound had a somewhat brassy bite during a harmonica solo.

The Short Form

TANNOY.COM / 519-745-1158 / $2,199 / SATELLITES 7.375 IN HIGH (CENTER 9.625 IN WIDE) / SUBWOOFER 17.5 x 13.75 x 8.25 IN, 31 LBS

Plus

•Great looks and build quality. •Crisp, clear sound with good imaging. •Flexible mounting options.

Minus

•Limited bass and dynamics. •Center speaker loses clarity at off-center seats.

Key Features

•Dual Concentric point-source satellite-speaker design •left/right satellite 3/4-inch tweeter, 4-inch midrange •center 3/4-inch tweeter, two 4-inch midranges •subwoofer 10-inch driver, 300-watt amplifier, crossover-bypass switch •Aluminum speaker cabinets finished in silver, white, black, or bronze

Test Bench

Frequency response for the Arena satellite measured relatively flat below 12 kHz but was marked by some treble roughness. Subwoofer measurements showed uniform but somewhat limited dynamic capability, which correlates with Al Griffin’s subjective impressions. The sub showed a bass limit of 25 Hz at 82 dB sound-pressure level (SPL) with distortion held to a maximum of 10%. Average SPL was 96 dB from 25 to 62 Hz. — Tom Nousaine Click to view full results

When I cued up “Rammstein” from the Rammstein concert DVD Live aus Berlin, the Arenas conveyed a good sense of crowd envelopment. Vocals coming through the system’s center speaker sounded clear and full, and the band’s thunderous rhythm section sounded predictably tight. But, again, dynamics were somewhat compressed compared with some other systems I’ve tested in this price range. The bass wasn’t at all boomy, but it came off a little too polite when it needed to deliver real low-end slam.

MOVIE PERFORMANCE Lack of low-end slam when you’re listening to Teutonic heavy metal doesn’t bode well for action movies, so when Detective Del Spooner (Will Smith) slammed his vehicle up against the sides of a traffic tunnel in a scene from I, Robot, I wasn’t surprised to find the impact of the hits somewhat thin. That said, the Arenas conveyed a powerful sense of underground tunnel ambience, and the sound effects were clear and precise as robots skidded off the sides of Spooner’s car. In a scene where Del speaks to Lawrence Robinson in a posh high-rise office, their dialogue sounded full and clear when heard from a dead-center position but lost some crispness when I shuffled to the side of the couch.

BOTTOM LINE Tannoy’s Arena system is no ordinary sub/sat six-pack. These speakers’ mod styling, awesome build quality, and versatile mounting options all stand out compared with many other systems in the same price bracket. Bass hounds will find its performance a bit lightweight for the heavier types of music and action movies, but most folks will appreciate its crisp sound, precise imaging, and overall musicality.

Test Bench: Tannoy Arena

By Tom Nousaine

Sensitivity (SPL at 1 meter with 2.8 volts of pink-noise input)
front left/right/surround: 86 dB
center: 87 dB
Impedance (minimum/nominal)
front left/right/surround: 7.3/8 ohms
center: 8.5/14 ohms
Bass limits (lowest frequency and maximum SPL with limit of 10% distortion at 2 meters in a large room)
front left/right/surround: 80 Hz at 77 dB
center: 80 Hz at 71 dB
subwoofer: 25 Hz at 82 dB SPL
96 dB average SPL from 25 to 62 Hz
102 dB maximum SPL at 62 Hz
bandwidth uniformity 94%

All of the curves in the frequency-response graph are weighted to reflect how sound arrives at a listener’s ears with normal speaker placement. The curve for the left/right front channels reflects response of the Arena L/R satellite averaged over a ±30° window, with double weight at 30° (the most typical listening angle). The center-channel curve reflects response of the horizontally oriented Arena center speaker averaged over ±45°, with double weight directly on-axis of the primary listener. The surround-channel curve shows the response of the Arena L/R satellite averaged over ±60°.

Some high-frequency irregularity and marginal low-frequency dynamics cap overall performance of this system. The L/R satellite had uniform directivity with increasingly pronounced roughness above 6 kHz. However, the latter was most significant above 12 kHz and response fit inside a ±3-dB window below 13 kHz. The center speaker had a notch at 2 kHz that was apparent in every trace and became deeper at wider angles. Because the speaker has an asymmetrical driver array, lobing will be worse for listeners seated to the left side.

The Arena subwoofer’s bass limits were measured with it set to maximum bandwidth and placed in the optimal corner of a 7,500-cubic-foot room. In a smaller room users can expect 2 to 3 Hz deeper extension and up to 3 dB higher sound-pressure level (SPL). The subwoofer had reasonably uniform but limited dynamic capability. Although the crossover control is labeled 50 Hz to 150 Hz, the acoustical turnover frequencies range between only 73 and 95 Hz. There is no crossover/level interaction in the top half of the crossover control range, but level dropped by 8 dB when the crossover was set to a marked 50 Hz.