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Townshend Maximum Supertweeters

Yes, Maximum. I don’t come up with the names, I just review the stuff, okay? ;) And I got em because everyone keeps telling me I should, and once again they are right. Whew! That was easy!

Kidding! We will now laboriously delve into why you cannot live without these tweeters, that you can’t even hear.

For sure I can’t. My hearing rolls off somewhere north of 15k. If that. These things extend to 90k. Why? What difference can it possibly make?

Who knows? And since when has that stopped me?

So out they come and what have we here? Two heavy black bricks, with a screen on the front and a couple binding posts on the back. In between the posts is a little knob you use to turn them off and set the levels. On the bottom are rudimentary rubber dimple feet. Guess I was expecting Pods or something, this being Townshend. No such luck.

They go on top of the Moabs. Well there is already a BDR Shelf on top, and a HFT dead center right where this thing is supposed to go. Moving HFT even an inch changes the sound so executive decision, the Maximum Supertweeters go just outboard of the HFT. They are first just placed there not even connected, just in case this somehow messes with the sound. It doesn’t.

Okay so now you need to know my system is all messed up. No, not the usual mess I mean really seriously messed up. No turntable. Chris Brady has the bearing for some resurfacing and stuff. So we are slumming with the heavily modded Oppo. Not to fear, Ted Denney sent me some of his latest Atmosphere X (review to come) which with the right tuning bullet the Oppo now sounds....digital. Oh well. KBO.

The usual: Demag. Warmup. Listen a while. Hook em up. What level? Who knows? Moabs are 98dB. How ya gonna know anyway? How can it even matter? How do you even set the level of something you can’t hear? Level 3, good as any. Plug em in. No change. Not the slightest peep out of these things. Total dud. Knew it. Sit back down.

What the...? No way. There is not the slightest hint of top end coming from these things. They may as well not be there at all. Except the whole presentation is somehow different. Top to bottom. No way!

I get up and turn the black magic off. Sit back down. Crap. Flat, grainy, digital. Turn em back on. Deep, liquid, analog.

No, not analog like my turntable. They are just supertweeters after all not magic. But way more analog than it was. More dimensional, more solid, more liquid detailed. More black between the notes, and in the black it is now easier to hear the natural acoustic decay. I do NOT want to go back to listening to CD without this! I cannot wait to hear it with my table.

And I haven’t even had time to get them dialed in yet!



128x128millercarbon
pedroeb
493 posts
 
millercarbon

And I haven’t even had time to get them dialed in yet!

I note their Max sensitivity (2.8V @ 1m) is 89dB, and the level control settings are 1: 74dB, 2: 79dB, 3: 83dB, 4: 85dB, 5: 87dB, 6: 89dB.

My speakers have a sensitivity of 88dB, so I've gone with level 6. Works for me.

I should add that I've upgraded my speakers by treating all internal surfaces (including the rear of sealed speakers) as well as encasing crossovers to reduce reflections and filled the internal space with a sound absorption material. The results are fantastic and there is barely a hint of contamination impacting the cones' movement, which can be heard as a hint of ringing. (I suspect it could even be why some speakers are considered bright.) Perhaps that's why I can go higher than the recommended starting point without feeling uncomfortable.
pedroeb
493 posts
 
Here's a link to some interesting research - Inaudible High-Frequency Sounds Affect Brain Activity: Hypersonic Effect - 
https://b01fe120-8355-4a65-8abc-c8b51b6192cc.filesusr.com/ugd/d25f4f_a07d2fffb4244c4aa3341eb3c12e1e3...

I found it while looking at The TAKET BATPRO 2 Supertweeter with a range of 18kHz -150kHz or more - https://www.atelier13-usa.com/taket-supertweeters.
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon OP
12,531 posts
 
Fascinating paper. It would appear the CD standard was fatally flawed from the beginning by the measuring and testing methods used to set the standard. Instead of playing music they tested bits of sounds. This is similar to the way RMS watts have been used to create a false impression of power, IM and THD to create false impressions of distortion, dB and microphones to create false impressions of tone. On and on.

People will argue but we have the facts to back that up, at least in this case. I look forward to the paper that proves all watts are not created equal.
roxy54's avatar
roxy54
8,067 posts
 
I have read some of this before, and I am amazed and happy that in spite of the shaky foundation that it was built on, brilliant minds have managed to make digitally reproduced music sound really good.
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon OP
12,531 posts
 
Yes. The dumbest thing you can do in designing a sports car is put all the mass behind the rear axle. Well dumber I guess would be in front of the front axle, which SAAB I think it was actually tried. What a joke. But behind the rear axle is a total nonstarter. No one would ever do that. Unless you are Porsche, and then with brilliant engineering it winds up being the best performance car, ever. It all comes down to the details. Always.
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