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Let's talk Tweeters!

Another thread which talked about specific speaker brands was taken over, so I’d like to start a new one.

Mind you, I do not believe in a "best" type of tweeter, nor do I believe in a best brand of speaker, so lets keep that type of conversation out, and use this instead to focus on learning about choices speaker designers make and what that may mean to the end user.

There is no such thing as a speaker driver without trade offs. Some choices must be forsworn in exchange for another.

In the end, the materials used, magnet and motor structure, and crossover choices as well as the listening room come together to make a great speaker, of which there are many. In addition, we all listen for different things. Imaging, sweetness, warmth, detail, dance-ability and even efficiency so there is no single way to measure a driver and rate it against all others.

Also, please keep ads for your 4th dimensional sound or whatever off this thread. Thanks.
erik_squires
alkaloid
50 posts
 
I still like the old silk domes. The lighter the better, and good mathematics to match the power of the magnet to the moving mass. I often read Science Daily and one topic area is new materials. They are continuously coming up with thinner and lighter and stiffer materials, so I hope the speaker manufacturers are paying attention and ready to take advantage of the latest and the greatest. Don't forget laser vibrometers. Accuton has a driver that has no breakup at 5oooo hz. The biggest problem I get frustrated with is the lack of standards with recording. Signal quality all over the place.
erik_squires OP
16,008 posts
 
Alkaloid,

Nothing wrong with that! I’ll take a silk-dome with a strong, modern motor over a lot of poorly implemented Be or AMT’s any day. :)

Their natural rolloff also helps with crossover design and prevents harshness.

Best,

E
douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
"please keep ads for your 4th dimensional sound or whatever off this thread. Thanks. " Ha, love it! :) 

Boy, I love 'em all! I recall Giani Borinato (apologies if misspelled) of Pathos used to say of tubes, "They're like women, they're all beautiful!" What a nice man, a pleasure to chat with when I reviewed the Pathos Classic One (three different versions I wrote up for Dagogo.com). Man, Pathos gear is gorgeous, and so smooth, utterly unfatiguing sounding. 

I feel the same about drivers of various sorts, including tweeters. They all are lovely when set up well. The only one to date which was a bit too strident to my ears was the ring radiator. Laser-like precision but tough to calm. However, that was a while back since I used it. 


erik_squires OP
16,008 posts
 
Hey Doug!

I think it depends on the ring radiator, but also the designer.

A lot of DIY designers cut their teeth on soft dome’s which naturally have a roll-off in the last octave. Switching to a ring with perfect extension past 20 kHz really can bite them in the butt, or the ear canal. :)

I’m using the Vifa/Peerless XT25BG (the dual magnet versions) and I have nothing but good things to say about their sound and measurement. However I have read some complain about it’s harshness, something I absolutely cannot find in the 3 I use.

Of course, like everything, Ring Radiators vary a lot! :) The XT25 comes in at least 3 different off-the-shelf versions (who knows about custom?) and I have not heard them all.  Versions been used in designs from Magico, Sonus Faber, YG, Krell, Polk. Harshness was not attributed to them.

I have listened to speakers with the top line ScanSpeak's with the needle-like phase plugs and never been overwhelmed.

Best,


E
wolf_garcia
6,681 posts
 
I have to mention the extremely inexpensive piezo tweeters that don't require a crossover. HERESY! Although an audio snob myself (a fan of aluminum, magnesium, titanium, ribbons, all that), I've experienced these things over the years in cheap "pro" gear and actually stuck one to a little "Hot Spot" monitor I used mounted to my mic stand when gigging…a little vocal monitor a foot or so from my face that worked really well. Go figure. I have a pair of rarely used little Peavey speakers with 10s and a piezo that sound amazing and cost bupkis. This note should serve as a thank you to piezos everywhere.
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