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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
mozartfan
2,143 posts
 
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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Look In late Oct / RMAF there will be a  room with Vox and AER,
Go listen with a  UNBIASED ear, to the highs in these 2 speakers,
Then come back and report.
The older models with whizzers may  have issues reproducing highs. 
The new models represent a  new development.
AMT's would never work for me, Sure it was a  random pot shot buying some cheapies on ebay, but they give me a idea of what to expect from that  design. 
Just go to the RMAF, and report back on the FR/PS speakers in the high fq's. 
Jere is one FC from 1929,, which to my ears, has incredible soundstage ~~presence~~ at least in the mids. 
EDIT  upon 3rd listen 
 Plase Include the highs as STUNNING , natural , super high fidelity, This is ~~1929~~ mind you.  
Blows away most speakers I've heard over the years, 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrqv5nOjLuw


stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,468 posts
 
I have the Burmeister sound system in my little Porsche....It has AMT's for the tweeters (probably to save space).....not so impressed.
andy2
1,549 posts
 
Most AMT will not have a good low frequency response compared to the typical dome tweeter, which means you have to cross them with a rather steep slope - most likely a 4th order slope.  Having a high order slope in itself will have its own sound signature
audition__audio
1,482 posts
 
The plasma tweeters I have heard put the AMTs to shame. As andy points out certain tweeters require a very steep crossover which dictates aspects of the speaker's design which may or may not be to your liking. Not a fan of high order crossovers as a whole. So the tweeter itself means nothing without looking at the speaker as a whole. 
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,318 posts
 
https://www.lii-audio.com/

On YT there are a number of clips with pretty impressive demo's of these drivers and speakers.
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