One thing I have begun to notice in myself, is that metal dome tweeters are just too harsh for me. Soft dome or ribbon are more to my liking. I've not hear enough of the air motion types to form an opinion yet.
New cart for under 1K
I am looking to buy a new cartrdige for my setup. My current system consists of a VPI Scout II with a Black Knight platter and 10.5SE tonearm (the TT Michael Fremer demonstrated a cartridge setup at last years show in NYC), JM Focal 936's, Mac solid state power & pre, and a Dynavector P-75 phono pre-amp. The Focal's are very accurate and tend to be bright in the highs. Brightness is what I am trying to avoid. I've found the highs to be too harsh for my liking, especially with vocals. Sibilance is also an issue and something I have attempted to control with speaker placement, VTA, damping fluid, and the tone controls on my old Mac preamp. My current cart is a Grado Gold. I am hopeful that upgrading to a new cartridge helps eliminate some of the treble harshness and provides a sweeter overall sound. I'm interested in the Dynavector 20x2 so far. Any other suggestions for 1K or under, Benz, Ortofon, Sumiko (Blackbird, a little over 1K, but what the hell)?
Thanks for you assistance!
Thanks for you assistance!
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- 83 posts total
Johnnyb53, A buddy of mine bought a pair of Martin-Logan Motion series on my recommendation and the retailer had them on sale for 50% off. When I listened to them, I was really impressed by the smooth quality of the highs. As a matter of fact I was a little pissed that my speakers retail for 6K and he spent 500 bucks and they sound better (at least in the highs). Anyway, I went online and discovered the method in which they are manufactured. It's very interesting how they layer and fold over the materials to create the tweeter. And it's logical that the sound produced is smoother than metal domes. When I was in my teens I remember Infinity speakers being very popular due to the ribbon tweeters. Back then they were one piece of ribbon that only handled approximately 2 watts. Hence, people that were turning up their rock were blowing the tweeters. Infinities response was to insert an array of multiple ribbons. |
Davidlillis: Those Infinity tweeters were from their EMIT series of drivers, correct? I sold stereos in SoCal in the mid-'70s including ESS. Their Heil AMT tweeter (the basis of this current crop of folded tweeters) were incredibly fast and clear. They could also handle a fair amount of power. The current ones take up much less space; the old ESS AMTs had a huge magnet structure. I'm really glad to see air motion transformer tweeters come back. I'm really thinking about getting some GoldenEar Aon 3s or Triton Sevens for the living room. Also, for a computer desktop or small home studio, the Emotiva Airmotiv line of powered monitors with folded ribbon tweeters should provide some great bang for the buck. The entry-level Airmotiv 4 is only $349/pair. |
Thanks Johnnyb53, I don't remember what series from Infinity, I was probably 13/14 years old at that time. I'm definitely going to audition the Golden Ear's and the others that contain the "folded tweeter" design and looking very forward to it. I bought a pair of Wharfedale 10.2's for my office and I have to say, they're impressive for 500 bucks. I've got them connected to a Marantz PM5004 which is perfectly sufficient for an office and I was keeping my office budget below 1K (which is the first time I've ever stuck to a budget with audio gear!). |
- 83 posts total