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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
b_limo's avatar
b_limo
2,277 posts
 
I think what Erik is saying is that a well implemented and integrated tweeter that disappears, is best.

I seem to be preferring silk domes lately (maybe always?) in my personal setups. I’ve liked ribbons in the past, and planers as well.  I’m curious about AMT’s.  
I really liked Wharfedales new Evo’s but those are the only AMT I have heard so far.  A pair of Adam T5V’s will probably be a near future purchase.

MBL seems to always make an impression on me, and Alsyvox blew me away this year.

I been floored by plasma tweeters as well. The delicacy in sound is awesome but what really got me was the bite that brass instruments have.
erik_squires OP
16,303 posts
 
I think what Erik is saying is that a well implemented and integrated tweeter that disappears, is best.


That is exactly what I mean.

I been floored by plasma tweeters as well. The delicacy in sound is awesome but what really got me was the bite that brass instruments have.


I'm going to see if I can hear just this sometime.  My experience is limited to audio shows and hotel rooms and I was not floored. :)
kw6
692 posts
 
I am listening to the Monitor Audio Gold 100 5g in my second system. Very natural and musical 👌
ozzy62's avatar
ozzy62
3,200 posts
 
The Spatial Audio X3 is my first speaker with an AMT driver. I can say that it is well integrated and never calls attention to itself. Just a very natural representation of high frequencies. I'm a fan now.

Oz



prof
3,479 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.
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