The best tweeter design

steakster,

re amps and MBL 121s.

I'd had concerns that I would have to use more powerful amps than my Conrad Johnson Premier 12 tube amps (140W side).   But before I bought the MBL 121s I read that reviewer Peter Breuninger had used the tiny 14W classic Eico amp to briefly drive the much larger MBL 116 speakers, so that gave me some hope.  (I also own the Eico amp).
I'd also heard the bigger MBL 101s on tube amps before and they had never sounded better to me.

As it turned out I had nothing to worry about.  My Conrad Johnson tube amps drove the 121s beautifully - they have dense, punchy drive to the sound as well as finesse.    But what amazed me more was the little 14W Eico HF-81 amp on the MBLs!   The Eico's are simply magic in that they produce such a big rich midrange, with tons of "sparkle" and don't sound "slow."  But they do have a bit of an overripe bottom end on most speakers - the sound down there just gets bigger and deeper.

The Eico was an incredible combo with the 121s because it makes them sound lush and gorgeous, though not slow, and it gives the sense of deeper richer bass - the overall sensation is like it made the speaker "bigger" than it is. 

Ya never know until you try....

I"ve heard them all in one form or another.  It's all about implementation.  Plenty of threads on here about best 'mid', tweeter, woofer etc...

I personally feel that the reason speakers sound better now days is due to the better quality materials designers have to use.  The problem is that too many of the designers (my opinion only) don't think past what they know and just make the same mistakes with a better quality material.  Again, it's all about implementation.

The best speaker I've ever heard is the Vandersteen 7 Mk 2.  He has figured out a way to marry the right carbon fiber cloth with an in house made balsa wood core that the carbon fiber sandwiches with.  It's an expensive process, just like using other materials, but he gets the strength to weight ratio down just right and has married these carbon fiber drivers to produce the most coherent speakers "I've ever heard using multiple drivers.  I wonder why so many folks over look such a great design as his drivers are rarely mentioned when talking about 'best drivers'.

Again, there are plenty of outstanding speakers for all ears out there, but for me, Vandersteen has just nailed it with his carbon fiber (he auditioned a lot of different cloths before selecting what he's using) with the balsa wood (CNC machined) core.  Give near perfect pistonic movement that is a must when reproducing sound. JMHO

As the facts unravel I’ve found this to be true: Tweeters don’t tweet by themselves as the design of the crossovers and any element the designer utilizes to make ’em work seems to trump (sorry, I hate that word) the physical material…I’ve had ribbons, horns, soft domes, magnesium/aluminum, etc., and some are bright, others not so much…some more coherant than others, and all having seemingly zero to do with the material they’re made from.

You know everyone who is lauding the MBL tweeters, I wonder how much of it is really the tweeters. I mean, if you turned them off, you'd still hear most of the piano notes. :)

Perhaps there is more to the MBL sound than _just_ the tweeters?

Best,

E

Late to the party....

wolf__garcia *L* The 'organic approach' isn't for everyone.  Besides, having to replace the bird after every session is really a PIA.....

Eric, absolutely right.  The smaller AMT's, esp. the one's made to 'front radiate' only seem to be a general disaster.  Perhaps size does matter in this regard too.
A lot of the less expensive 'leaf' planars seem to be fails as well.  Again, perhaps the radiation issue.  The only ones to seem to have gotten that right is Newform.  I'm surprised I never 'hear' anyone mention them.

There's only one source for a 'commercial' plasma that I've seen; you can DIY them, but you'd best be committed to that quest.  That, and a bright spot of light burned into your eyeballs. ;)

But all of the best of the above are dipoles or an omni....which requires a change of mind and taste....not to mention a revamp of the listening array and space....

Well, MHO....