Tweeter type and brightness


I presently own Martin Logan Odysseys that I purchased new in 2005. I've enjoyed them very much but I'm having to replace the power supply board in one of them as I did in the other one about 5 yrs ago and I'm thinking that it may be time to look into speakers using more recent technology.

I auditioned several new sets at Sound Advice including the Monitor Audio silver 2, 6, 8 and 10 plus a small pair of ML's. I thought all of them were very good. Additionally, I bought a pair of Jamo Concert Eights several months ago that were fantastic for my type music which is mostly solo guitar. I regret selling them but at least I learned how good quality bookshelf speakers can be.

Anyway, I've read in several posts that metal dome tweeters have a tendency toward exaggerated or tinny brightness which can be very uncomfortable for me because of a hearing issue that I have. I want to avoid this and am asking for advice regarding this experience of others and what tweeter construction, if any, is generally best to avoid what I call screechiness.

I've been told that the technologies that best avoid this are ribbon tweeters or domes of some softer material than the various metals used in many of them. In one of the forums here on Audiogon this subject was discussed in some detail and at least several participants seemed to minimize the relationship between tweeter design and this problem. They suggested that more likely potential causes would be such things as room acoustics, interconnect quality, rake, crossover problems, etc.

I agree that each of these considerations could lend to the issue but I'm looking for a good starting point to at least minimize the contribution of the speaker design to this problem.

I've heard the gold series Monitor Audio speakers which do incorporate ribbons and they seem to work perfectly with my music but they, like the larger new ESL's are substantially outside my current budget limits. I'm currently using some borrowed temporary speakers while I'm waiting for the new circuit board so I can sell my Odysseys. In the meantime I would appreciate any advice I could use to help with an approach to selecting a speaker best suited to my needs. My upstream equipment includes Shanling solid state CD player, CAL DAC and Rogue Audio Sphinx 100W hybrid amp.
128x128broadstone
Johnny,
            I agree the B&W speakers with aluminum tweeters are a bit too crisp/fatiguing, but when I demoed the 805’s with the diamond tweeters, I was SOLD! I also agree that carbon fiber sounds like a WONDERFUL material for tweeters, but I wonder if they can go as high in their frequency response as diamond tweeters can. And even though they go beyond 20K Htz., they are NOT fatiguing at all to listen to. And maybe my Macintosh amp is on the warm side for a solid state amp. I’m not totally sure, I’m just happy!! And I’ll take “happy” anyday, during this crazy time we find ourselves in. Music keeps me sane in this insanity around me. That and my religious beliefs. I’m loath to watch the news, because it raises my BP. Music is my way to relax, and I guess sort of like meditate as I’m listening. Not listening like it’s background music, but REALLY listening. Thank God for music!! 
Pistonic


I really don’t think many people using this word to describe dynamic drivers know what this means. A dynamic, voice coil motivated driver is either one of two things:

  • Pistonic
  • Crap


Saying a driver is pistonic means it acts reasonably close to a piston, and that we can use certain formulas to predict the motion and therefore output, but since all drivers are flawed, this doesn't really mean much.

If you can’t say a driver is pistonic then you don’t really have a very useful driver at all. It’s like saying some one is "well spoken." Well, the alternative is they are an idiot.


Best,


E

Greetings Eric, hey I agree with you on most of your observations and amp recommendations especially doing it with your own experience in the field of discovery. You may already know in this context pistonic means the first breakup mode is above 20K and that many soft domes break up at 8K or so and go into controlled Kaotic motion. This goes back 30+ years when Celestion campaigned their pistonic tweeter which was one of the first. Best, JohnnyR

Having found many speakers with beryllium or other metallic tweeters too harsh, bright (eg focal, Magico)  I bought Sonus Faber which are superb in the high frequency range for acoustic guitar, classical and jazz. Instruments sound true in terms of timbre and character. No listening fatigue.  I do not listen to rock and similar genres so cannot comment on the suitability for those genres.