'Tannoy' was the trade name of a company formed by Mr. Guy R. Fountain in 1926. He owned a garage with the usual accumulator charge service.
The name originates from a solid-state rectifier for home use, invented by Guy Fountain and made from an alloy or mixture of Tantalum and Lead.
This Tantalum-Lead Alloy produced the name 'Tannoy'. The name stuck fast to the company's products over the years and eventually became the company name, Tannoy Ltd.
From 1926 through the recession of the thirties and during the Second World War Tannoy produced many different products all to do with speech and music communications. One innovative design was an universal speaker system designed for a travelling circus.
In WW2 Tannoy delivered most of all the acoustic communication systems for the Royal Navy and the Royal Airforce.

After end of WW2 Tannoy were called upon to provide the first Public Address System ever used at Buckingham Palace. Similar equipment was provided to mark the end of the Japanese war and, of course, for the combined Victory celebrations some months later.
In 1947 Tannoy issued their first 'Dual Concentric' speaker: the 'Monitor Black'.
In 1953 follows the 'Monitor Silver', in 1958 the 'Monitor Red', and in 1967 the 'Monitor Gold'.

The "DC" (Dual Concentric) speakers was and are used actually in heavy studio monitors, PA systems and home speaker cabinets.
Important for collectors:
In 1978 Tannoy changed the magnet material from the (kind of weak) AlNiCo to the much better lasting anisotropic barium ferrite.
From 1985 Tannoy abandoned printed circuit boards and wafer switches in the crossover designs.