Tweeter types

[Labarum]

I have lived with the same titanium tweeters for over 20 years and prefer them to the ribbons I have heard which, to me, seemed to have edginess with which many metal tweeters are charged. The good silk domes seem a bit rolled off and lacking detail - they don't quite have it with brass instruments, high piano and a violin when the high harmonics are being played.

That's my experience anyway, but I am quite prepared to accept that my tweeter preference is determined by my high frequency hearing loss.

Violin harmonics? It's a fingering technique that excites a harmonic rather than the fundamental of the stopped string. It produces a higher but thinner tone.

[WAD62]

Metal tweeters are much better for cymbals too...IMHO :)

[Labarum]

I wonder why!

[WAD62]

I wonder why!

;)

Indeed...can't remember the last time I heard a 'silk' hi-hat

I do think they take careful matching however, a couple of years ago I put a chord chameleon (silver RCA) interconnect between my DAC & pre-amp, and until it had 'burned in' (I didn't believe it at the time either!) the treble was shrill to say the least. Happily it sounds lovely now.

[Techno Commander]

I have found some titanium tweeters to be a bit shrill with certain set ups, although the clarity can be amazing. The best dome tweeters I have listened to are Morel MDT33s.

I am currently using ribbons and find them to offer excellent clarity, detail and smoothness

[WAD62]

I have found some titanium tweeters to be a bit shrill with certain set ups, although the clarity can be amazing. The best dome tweeters I have listened to are Morel MDT33s.

I am currently using ribbons and find them to offer excellent clarity, detail and smoothness

As you say Andy, they need good matching...

I suppose it depends a little on your listening habits/tastes, for me they only come into their own when someone is playing a metallic object...

[Techno Commander]

My JBL monitors has ti tweeters. When I first listened to them, the trebble was enough to take your head off!!. They did mellow with age somewhat, but I eventually tweeked the crossover to provide a bit more attenuation to them.

[DSJR]

Since any mention here of Harbeth isn't going to bring the "active righteous" bullies out ;)
my tuppence worth is that as long as a metal dome tweeter is correctly used well within its comfort zone, then the results can be first class, as I understand these tweeters to be very "piston like" in their passband. I would respectfully suggest that when metal dome tweets let go, they go big time and what we hear bad of them is usually these resonances. To be honest, metal domes have come a long way since the Epos ES14 one, which was good in an over-engineered way, but a bit "crude" in an absolute analysis IMO (and its designer's I remember), BUT, and this brings Brian's comments regarding fabric domes back in, if the crossover is crude and allows too much output near the bottom frequency resonance every dome tweeter exhibits, the overlap of the drivers, coupled with the resonances of the two drivers not being attenuated properly, can be a very unpleasant listening experience IMO. Use both drivers well within their capabilities and not stressed, the results are far better

[Rare Bird]

I like Audax textile dome tweeters

[DSJR]

I love the narrow band but still so capable Celestion HF1300 :)

[Rare Bird]

I love the narrow band but still so capable Celestion HF1300 :)

HF1300 with Coles 4001 is a super combo.

[Labarum]

I understand these tweeters to be very "piston like" in their passband. I would respectfully suggest that when metal dome tweets let go, they go big time and what we hear bad of them is usually these resonances.

My titanium dome tweeter, Dave, crosses over to a aluminium dome mid, presumably that will be something like the ATC driver. MB Quart make, or used to make, all their drivers in house.

With Quad amplification I have never noticed any harshness or misbehaviour, but with other amps . . . well, I won't go there.

I have always thought the strength of my Quarts was in the metal mid - but I have no basis for saying that.

[Canetoad]

I have found some titanium tweeters to be a bit shrill with certain set ups, although the clarity can be amazing. The best dome tweeters I have listened to are Morel MDT33s.

I have a set of these ready to replace a set of Vifa metal dome tweeters in my kit speakers. I'll tweek the crossovers to suit. This was a suggestion by the designer as an improvement in sound.:)

[DSJR]

My titanium dome tweeter, Dave, crosses over to a aluminium dome mid, presumably that will be something like the ATC driver. MB Quart make, or used to make, all their drivers in house.

With Quad amplification I have never noticed any harshness or misbehaviour, but with other amps . . . well, I won't go there.

I have always thought the strength of my Quarts was in the metal mid - but I have no basis for saying that.

As long as the crossover is properly designed (yep, active makes it easier :)) then everything will be fine.

I've just gone back from the 303 to the bridged D-60's - so much "clearer" but it took some getting used to. After half an hour, they wake the BC2's up beautifully and the increased perceived bandwidth is much appreciated, especially as I've turned it up a bit - the bass is in a different league and if I close my eyes, these old Spendors could almost convince they're "actively" driven :lol: naughty, aren't I?:

[Beobloke]

As with so many things, I've heard good and bad of all types, although I think I've probably heard the most 'good' from material domes.

That said, ADAM Audio's x-ART tweeter is quite spectacular.

[Marco]

One of the reasons why I like Tannoy DCs is because of the rather 'seamless' way music is presented, due to the 'point source' effect of the drivers, in order that there is little sense that one is listening to a tweeter, midrange and bass unit. This type of coherence is now invaluable to me.

I understand some feel that horn tweeters are coloured, and I agree that this effect is prevalent in most Tannoy DCs, but to my ears since upgrading the ancient crossovers on my Monitor Golds, there is little (if any) effect of horn coloration - just simply beautifully clear treble detail, with incision and clarity, but without the annoying over-emphasis (for effect) I hear in many modern speakers.

Let's face it, with speakers or tweeters, or anything in hi-fi, all we're effectively doing is choosing our own favoured brand of coloration; and with it, our own set of compromises, as nothing in audio is perfect.

However, now my ears have been accustomed to my modified Monitor Golds, I simply couldn't return to any form of domed tweeters, or indeed multiple drive-unit speakers, although I put up with it when listening to my Celestions! ;)

Marco.

[Welder]

I rather like the sound of my ferro cooled Scan Speaks soft domes but they aren’t the greatset at very high frequencies, but as mentioned elsewhere I cant hear past 16kHz :eyebrows:

[John]

My Hawthrones are very similar in arrangement to Marco Tanoy golds I really enjoy the coherence of the duel concentrentric designs Marco has a bit more treble detail mine more mid bass. I firmly believe if you are obsessive as most of hear are you end up with a system based on your own preferences

[technobear]

Dome tweeters generally need a tweeter damping resistor in parallel and close to the tweeter. A value of about 47 to 51 ohms is usually about right. This damps the fundamental resonance of the tweeter which is often in the sensitive 1 - 2 kHz region. Without the resistor, vocals can sound whiny and grating and electric guitar can sound like nails on a blackboard.

Ribbon tweeters have a different problem at the bottom end. Once you enter the bottom octave of the ribbon's passband, distortion rises rapidly. A ribbon tweeter should either be used as a supertweeter or it needs a very steep crossover so that it is producing very little sound in its bottom octave.

It follows that a ribbon should be used with a very capable midrange (or bass-mid) which can play nicely up to 5 or 6 kHz at least. In the Zu Essence, the bass-mid driver plays nicely up to very high frequencies so the crossover can be set at 10 kHz and is a shallow first order type. The ribbon is never stressed in this implementation.

In the Zu Druid, a horn loaded phenolic compression driver is used. This also uses a first order crossover and is set at 10 kHz. I found that adding a tweeter damping resistor still brought about an improvement in that 1 - 2 kHz region mentioned above.

I suspect a lot of tweeters get a bad rap because of poor crossover design and use of cheap and nasty components. I've heard first hand the changes that can be brought about by fitting decent resistors and caps in the crossover. The difference is not small.