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The best tweeter is no tweeter

In a recent review in Stereophile for the Elac Carina over an AMT based speaker (I’m a fan of AMTs by the way) the author, Herb Reichert, makes this statement:

My personal experience suggests that the overall sound of any loudspeaker is greatly determined by the designer’s choice of tweeter.


and then he goes on to list some speakers with AMTs, some of which I like, some of which I hate, which he feels share the same qualities. And it got me thinking about something as I hook up my home theater again. In my mind, the very best tweeters are completely invisible and transparent. I do not suggest you should use a single-driver, full ranger with a whizzer, heavens no. That’s just wrong (grin) and a clear cry for help.


What I am suggesting is that in the very best tweeters in the world, of which some are AMTs, and many are not, you simply cannot tell what they are.


That is, they are absolutely transparent. You do not perceive sound emanating from them at all. Music is just there, in front of you. Some of these are ring radiators that are really reasonably priced. Some are German or Spanish AMTs, some are diamond or Be tweeters.


In fact, my home theater has both ring radiators and AMTs in them, both of which may be found among the most prestigious brands of speakers. Though they have entirely different operating principles and materials, their performance is absolutely seamless. I barely use EQ except for the sub and center due to the latter’s location on a shelf. What both of these tweeters share is incredibly smooth output (unlike crappy AMTs or Be tweets) that is flat to beyond 20 kHz.


Please, buy what you like, but to me, if you want to talk about a world class driver, it’s not one you can sit in front of and say "aha! I know this is an Aluminum/Be/Diamond/AMT tweeter!!"


If you can tell the type of tweeter you are listening to, I can assure you it is not among the best in the world.
erik_squires
prof
3,473 posts
 
To me the vast majority of speakers sound like a compilation of drivers, and artificial in that way. 

An exception has been my Thiel 3.7 and 2.7 speakers.  They are as perfectly coherent as I’ve ever heard in the mids and highs.  There is zero sense of discontinuity or any hint at all that there is a tweeter doing anything.  It just sounds like the mids extend smoothly right up and out of hearing range.   (All this is helped by their particularly strong coherence and control down to the bass frequencies too).

Are they the best quality highs I’ve ever heard?  No.  I’ve certainlh heard more beautiful, exciting or refined highs (eg my Joseph speakers).

Nut for sheer sonic invisibility of drivers and treble coherence I haven’t heard them beat in a box speaker.
mozartfan
2,143 posts
 
If you can tell the type of tweeter you are listening to, I can assure you it is not among the best in the world.
erik_squires
I finannly  understand what Erik is trying to get across. 
All tweeters suck.
I concur after extensive experimentation past few months. I hate all dome tweeters, Now I did purchase a AMT, as per Erik
I hate it. 
Its not efficient, sounds like a  tinny cheap piece of junk./
Now as  for tweeters.
My 1963 made in the USA Magnovox horn tweeter, = best in the world. 
However just as good/better is the 
Full range/Point source drivers comming out of Germany.
a  FR/PS  is the finest tweeter in the world. Other than of course the pricey FC from Japan/Germany.
Ribbons, AMT.Domes all junk , trash as far as I'm concerned. 
Horns or FR/PS, Nothing superior. 
Full Range out of china are all junk, trash. Garbage. The sens is too low and distortion  levels  do have fatigue, Cheap,  but really not worth the money. 
mozartfan
2,143 posts
 

prof2,764 posts02-24-2020 7:55amTo me the vast majority of speakers sound like a compilation of drivers, and artificial in that way.

An exception has been my Thiel 3.7 and 2.7 speakers.  They are as perfectly coherent as I’ve ever heard in the mids and highs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next to a  good quality FR/PS, all speakers in mids/highs will not stand up to a shoot out,
Including your beloved Thiel's. 
Yeah yeah, I know, *My  Thiels are wonderful....**
Once you get a  FR/PS in your system, then the Thiels weakness will be fully exposed. 
Everyone here should get at least 1 chinese FR just for testing purposes only,. Then you will understand why I am a  totaly fan-atic over high sens drivers. 
make ita  DL FR, sure its $400/pair, you can dump it on ebay at half price. Now you will have your 1st experience in FR. Perhaps audio shows will start back in 2022, and there you can actually hear a  true FR , AER and Vox. 
Waiting line to get in the room.  You will have to listen from outside  in the hallway. 
mozartfan
2,143 posts
 

kw6596 posts02-23-2020 9:18pmI am listening to the Monitor Audio Gold 100 5g in my second system. Very natural and musical 👌
~~~ At least this is your limited exp. 
Wait til you hear a  true FR, 
Then you can say like Jimi Hendrix,, 
*Have you ever been experierienced??
WEll I have*
murphythecat
181 posts
 
Mozartfan and Kenjit...

audiogon is turning into a sad joke.

I dont trust a word they say. 
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