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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
wolf_garcia
6,696 posts
 
I’m about to take delivery of a pair of speakers that use ribbon tweeters…a first for me…and I hope they sound as good as the aluminum/magnesium tweeters in my current "I won’t mention the brand as to not anger the OP" speakers designed by Alan Yun. I’m trying these new speakers due to their substantial efficiency with the plan of scoring a single ended low wattage tube amp at some point simply to see what all THAT fuss is about…I'm currently in Push Pull tube land for my main listening rig. I have noticed with my current speakers that although they utilize aluminum/magnesium for both the tweeters and woofers, they’ve been voiced to simply sound somewhat neutral and certainly not "forward" like one might assume metal drivers would sound…nothing hot or metallic in these, and I am certain that the crossover and voicing choices made by competent designers is the thing that matters here, not driver material.
erik_squires OP
16,060 posts
 
Gents,

I agree, it's impossible not to discuss brands entirely, especially when a technology is entirely proprietary like MBL seems to.

I would like to focus on the technology and trade-offs. The post by @prof reads identical to an MBL speaker review. I'm sure it is well intentioned, but I'd like to discourage them in this thread, other threads may of course be started by anyone.

As mentioned, here are my guiding principles:

  • Stay focused on tweeters and their manufacturers (when known)
  • Discuss the technology, materials, construction, and trade-offs
  • Discuss comparisons to other similar and dissimilar tweeters

    • We will sometimes have to mention specific speaker brands, it is inevitable, but if we make speaker reviews common in this thread it destroys its focus. I really want to avoid this thread becoming "Speakers with good tweeters"

    Ultimately of course, this is a group effort, so the contributions are what make a good thread, I just hope we maintain the purpose and add in the spirit of discussing technology and value.

    Best,

    E
    erik_squires OP
    16,060 posts
     
    @prof
    Maybe I missed it, but in your original posting there was nothing about the technology. I only saw subjective opinions.

    Also, no reason why you can’t mention it in comparison, in fact I would like you to. :) Let’s talk materials, operating principles. How does the motor work? How does it measure? What about room tuning and placement?

    Of course, it is also impossible to take a tweeter out of the context of an entire speaker. However, I really want us to discuss trade-offs, benefits, costs of the technology.

    "Brand X makes the most realistic speakers I’ve ever heard" doesn’t enable that type of discussion, and there are plenty of those threads around.

    Look forward to talking about how the MBL drivers work, and even how the tweet is different from their woofers, etc.


    Best,

    E
    prof
    3,473 posts
     
    erik,

    I made my comments in regards to the tweeters used in the speakers I mentioned, and how I perceived their effect.

    Do I understand then that you are looking only for technical contributions?  Maybe this is more of a DIY speaker builder discussion thread?


    audiokinesis
    2,737 posts
     

    Erik, I hope you don’t mind some feedback.

    While I’ve participated here a bit, I felt pressured to choose my topics and my wording carefully. My impression is that the majority of what I could theoretically contribute on the subject of tweeters and their implementation would be unwelcome. Not that that’s necessarily any big loss to anyone...

    My point being, your "guiding principles" may be stifling participation more than you realize.

    Duke

    dealer/manufacturer

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