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Ribbon tweeters...out of favor these days?

Hi,

Just a quick question about ribbon tweeters on tower speakers. Has the technology with metal dome and fabric dome tweeters produced results that obviate the need for or advantage of ribbon tweeters. I know that some manufactures such as VMPS and Legacy still seem to favor ribbons, at least as a super tweeter.

But I have been researching speakers, and it seems most of the mid to upper line brands such as B&W, Thiel, Vandersteen, Eggleston, and others employ some type of dome tweeter.

What are the relative advantages/disavantages of each type for a 50/50 mix of music and home theater?
mtrot
jtimothya
612 posts
 
Top speakers from Verity, the Lohengrin II and Sarastro II, each have aluminum foil ribbon tweeters.
slumdogmillionaire
1 posts
 
I also own a pair of VR-8's and I'm wanting to replace my damaged tweeters (the original Focal TC120TDXT's are no longer in production). Did you have to change/modify the crossover circuits when switching to the Raal 140-15's? Any advice in making the modification will be welcome.
Slumdog
weseixas
519 posts
 
Most of the speakers being discussed, do not have ribbon tweeters, they have planer magnetic tweeters, very different!

regards,
rebbi
1,326 posts
 
In speaking with one speaker manufacturer who had worked with ribbon tweeters, I was told that while they may sound excellent in and of themselves, they are extremely difficult to integrate with a pistonic (cone) woofer.
That said, the LSA1 Statement monitor, which has been very well reviewed, uses a ribbon tweeter.
ojgalli
165 posts
 
Ribbon and ribbon-like tweeters are "faster" in that they can produce extended ultrasonic frequencies. The questions to ask are, how important are ultrasonics, and are they in the recording?

Ribbons/planars typically have a rising response or peak in the mid/upper treble. This response is often favored by those with some high-end hearing loss.

Ribbons typically have higher levels of distortion, interpreted positively as detail and speed, or negatively as etched and "too hi-fi."
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