When it comes to HD, flatscreens offer better visual performance than old-style CRT displays. But they do have a generic weakness – audio performance. The feature that makes flatscreen TVs so attractive is what impedes them when reproducing sound. Their integrated speakers lack depth, meaning they are subject to early reflections from inside the enclosures, which typically translates into high distortion levels and, crucially, loss of intelligibility. This is made worse by the lack of resources available to be put into the design and build of the speakers. Flat panels have quickly turned from luxury to commodity items, and like all commodities there is pressure on manufacturing costs to meet target-selling price points. The net effect is that an external solution, based around separate speakers, is a prerequisite if premium audio quality is important. This is the target market at which Tannoy's Arena HighLine 500 system is aimed.
An evolution of last year's highly regarded original Arenas, this HighLine set comprises a tall, floorstanding column, and a shorter column that can be used on stands, shelves or attached to the wall, in a vertical orientation; or, in the almost identical centre version, horizontally. These models can be mixed and matched at will, and are technically closely related, with an identical drive unit configuration in each case.
The tall columns are supplied with a weighted pedestal stand, which ensures that their centre of gravity is low. To improve performance, rolls of MDF have been inserted into the columns, making them acoustically inert. Alternatively, the satellites and centre channel speaker can be attached to walls with the supplied brackets.
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The system tested here consisted of two towers and three satellites for rear channel and centre-channel duties, plus a subwoofer, which is also unusually discreet, with a very shallow front-rear depth, despite specifying large (30cm) drivers. The sub can be used in various orientations, flat against the rear wall, flat on the floor or projecting out from a wall or corner. Inventively, it has spike points on every side. This allows you to choose a placement which is most effective, musically, in your listening room.
Tannoy's subwoofer includes a 500W Bash digital amplifier, (uprated from the original Arena's 300W musculature), featuring a switch-mode power supply and a power amplifier configuration that offers a combination of the qualities of both digital and analogue power amps. The input to the TS500 sub can be passed through an adjustable low-pass filter when dealing with a full bandwidth signal, or unfiltered if working with an input that has been pre-filtered, for example when connected to the LFE (sometimes ‘sub') output of a home cinema amplifier.
The remaining 500 series satellites are far from conventional. The key drive unit in each case is a 100mm Dual Concentric, a Tannoy proprietary technology in which an ultra wide-band tweeter is buried in the mouth of the bass/midrange unit, which acts as an acoustic guide for the high-frequency output.
DCs are tricky to design and optimise, but have the benefit that all frequencies appear to come from a single point in space, which has a number of psychoacoustic benefits. Because the bass cones are quite small, a second unit with the same cone diameter, but limited exclusively to low frequencies, supplements the output. The super-tweeter extends high frequency output to 54kHz. The original Arena satellites had only a Dual Concentric driver – these improved models have a DC and separate bass driver all-round.
The main structural materials used for the enclosures is ‘extravagantly thick' aluminium, with extensive internal bracing, and multiple layers of electrostatically applied paint, each layer sanded and polished to give a near mirror like deep gloss finish. The sub enclosure is made from thick MDF; finished in silver or black to match the rest of the system.
Performance
We had ample opportunity to compare this system directly to other sub/sat systems, which will remain uni
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dentified because they were not directly comparable mostly in configuration or price. Nevertheless, it was quickly apparent that the
Tannoy system is a distinctly superior solution. If asked to sum up in a word, the Arena HighLine 500 system would best be described as ‘intelligible'.
Dialogue in the centre channel was reproduced extremely clearly. The same applied to the other channels too, though. Individual instruments or sound effects were always explicit and well separated, both tonally and spatially. With this system you feel that you can hear much more clearly than usual what is going on.
In addition, the system is capable of playing loud without changing in sound as the volume is turned up – a failing we have found with even quite ambitious loudspeaker systems. As a result, the Tannoy system is easy to listen to.
The subwoofer is good, and extraordinarily versatile. It has more than adequate bass extension and is well filtered, so that it works seamlessly with the satellite speakers. Nevertheless, there is a perceptible slowness in its delivery, which is far from unpleasant, but which tends to reduce its power and impact with powerful, transient-led material.
