Tannoy Reveal 501a Active Studio Monitor

No longer available at zZounds
Outfit your studio on a budget with the Tannoy Reveal 501a, a professional monitor with an integrated 60 watt amp.

The original Tannoy Reveal Active near field monitor has become an iconic fixture in recording studios across the world since its arrival in the mid-nineties, widely recognized as the product that defined the category and has been the active monitor of choice for thousands of amateur and professional recording, creative composition and post production facilities worldwide. Building upon this world-class reputation, the Tannoy Reveal Active series represents the evolution of Tannoy's high resolution active reference monitor technology.

Whether you're building a studio on a budget and don't want to compromise on sonic quality, or you need an active monitor with a small footprint, the Reveal 501a offers the perfect solution. Built to the same superior standard as the rest of the Reveal range, the Reveal 501a packs performance, accuracy and value into a compact enclosure. Priced competitively with the entry-level recording setup in mind, the Reveal 501a delivers a wide bandwidth performance that will impress even the most seasoned pro.

Features

- Integrated 60W total power amp unit
- 5-inch (130mm) LF/MF driver and 1-inch (30mm) soft dome tweeter delivering wide frequency response of 64Hz - 30kHz
- Sculpted and rigid front baffle design to minimize diffraction
- Response has been optimized for quarter space near-field operation, such as on a meter bridge or on a table either side of your control surface.
- Front firing reflex bass port to negate boundary-coupling
- Bass unit read more development using to minimize offsets and linearise the suspension components.
- Wideband tweeter design extending the amplitude response beyond 20kHz audibility to 30kHz to improve the phase response from within the audible band.
- LED indicator shows power status
- + 1.5 / 0 / -1.5dB HF trim switch for custom room adjustment
- Rear mounted volume control for convenient Home Studio and PC/MAC laptop/desktop use.
- Balanced XLR and unbalanced jack connectors

Ahead of the Curve

The sculpted curved edges of the Reveal's front baffle help to eliminate unwanted diffraction caused when sound dispersed from the sides of the cabinet is scattered back into the near field causing interference and phase distortion. By carefully smoothing off these edges, this unwanted diffraction is significantly reduced, delivering critical improvements to frequency response and crystal clear imaging, even when off-axis.

Optimized Tweeter Design

In the pursuit of achieving a wide and even nearfield monitoring 'sweet spot', delivering accurate and highly controlled high frequencies is critical. The Reveals feature a tweeter design comprising of soft dome HF driver coupled to an elliptical waveguide that has been optimized to provide very controlled high frequency directivity and minimize diffraction, providing a wide and consistent listening field.

Forward Thinking

Most studio monitors feature bass ports on the rear of their cabinet. This type of design leads to an inherent problem called bass-coupling whereby low frequencies are amplified when the monitors are located close to room boundaries, leading to colored and inaccurate mix results. The Reveals feature front-firing reflex bass ports however, to allow for ideal positioning even within small or confined studio spaces, while still providing defined bass performance.

With the benefit of being active (self-powered), the Reveal 501a's perfectly matched integrated amplifier ensures maximum efficiency from the 5" woofer and 1" soft dome tweeter and removes any need for a separate power amp. Response has been optimized for quarter space near field operation, such as on a meter bridge or on a table either side of your control surface, while independent gain control is provided on the rear panel, along with HF trim control, to allow fine tuning.

The low distortion 5-inch LF/MF driver voicing has been enhanced to deliver a natural and accurate ultra-linear response in the low and midrange frequencies, while the wide bandwidth tweeter extends the amplitude response beyond the 20kHz audibility threshold to 30kHz to improve the phase response within the audible band. This preserves the harmonic structure of sounds and the stability of the stereo image, ensuring stunningly accurate mix translation.

The rigid MDF cabinet construction provides stiffness and minimizes coloration, while internal bracing of the sides and rear against the back of the bass driver provides a rigid reactive mass for the moving cone assembly; this ensures fast tight bass response and clear midrange. The curved edged design of the front baffle helps eliminate diffraction, while the front-firing bass port avoids the problem of exaggerated bass response as a result of boundary-coupling -- a pitfall inherent with rear-firing designs when positioned close to a wall. The elliptical tweeter waveguide has also been optimized to control high frequency directivity and minimize diffraction, ensuring a wide and even sweet spot.

Both balanced XLR and unbalanced TRS jack inputs complete the versatile package, ensuring the Tannoy Reveal 501a is easily integrated into any home or project studio with the minimum of fuss.
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For support or warranty questions, please contact the manufacturer:
Phone: 519-745-1158

Reviewers gave this product an overall rating of 5 out of 5 stars. (8 ratings)
Submitted May 8, 2011 by a customer from gmail.com

"Trust your ears!"

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
After all the researching I've done before buying these, (even my wife does not like shopping with me for ANYTHING as it takes me so long to decide) I can't see ever replacing them. If I could justify the expense, I would probably buy something like the Event Opals (haven't heard them for myself yet, but I'm impressed with the press they're receiving). I would still keep these as a reference.

Sound
I wholeheartedly agree with the previous reviewer. I'm learning to trust my ears. I have previously owned Alesis M1's, KRK Rocket 5's, and Mackie 626's for my home studio. Ended up starting over again recently and do not like the second generation of any of these as much. (Found out I'm not alone in that opinion either.) After listening to many monitors side by side I had decided on the Dynaudio BM5A MKII's until I heard them beside these. I think they sound cleaner, crisper, tighter and more revealing. I would have bought the 601's but I knew I was going to buy a sub (Yamaha HS10W) so I figured I would put the $200.00 I saved into that. I have come to the realization that despite the fact that the whole reason for buying monitors instead of hifi speakers is to give you a flat reference to mix with, all monitors do have a "sound" and you're still going to have to check how your work sounds on casual listening sources. With that being said, I think these monitors sound flat but not to the point of sounding dull. (Personally, I do not like the sound of read more the smaller Genelecs that I have heard. Their bigger ones may be a totally different story though.) These have a little excitement about them. I see pictures of studios of successful producer's and artist's studios with various brands of monitors I've tried out and I think "How in the world can they work with those things?" So, to each his own. YOU are the most important piece of equipment in your studio.

Features
I'm not absolutely sure the cutoff frequencies of these and my sub are going to play nicely together, but I'll have to wait until I'm in a position to treat my room. Right now I'm having to work in an untreated room until I move again.

Quality
They seem to be very well made. They're hefty anyway.

Value
This is one of those products that I wish nobody else knew about but I can't help but tell everybody about. I bought a pair of these and a sub for just $100.00 more than a single Dynaudio. To me, this category deserves a 15! I would have paid as much for these as the Dynaudios but then I would have only rated it a 10. :)

Manufacturer Support
I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for right now. I trust zzounds though. :)

The Wow Factor
Don't get me wrong, I like products that look nice, and these do, but what most appeals to me in recording equipment (or any product for that matter) is what can I do with it? Is it going to enable me (provided I have the skills) to produce a professional product? Hopefully, at the very least, it won't get in the way of what I'm trying to do. I do think these look better than most monitors, but I would have absolutely no interest in them if they didn't sound as good as they do (to me).

Musical Background:
Hobbyist (for now)

Musical Style:
Praise and Worship/Jazz
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