Super Tweeters - Fact or Flights of Fancy?

[Stratmangler]

63's don't need a supertweeter, not if they're angled back and raised off the floor a foot or two...

They are on stands raised off the floor and angled slightly back, and defineately benefit with the HF help. The HF units are very attenuated, and roll in around 12kHz (ie just where the Quads are rolling off).

Chris

[Stratmangler]

Ali

Colin's on his Tang Band project at the moment; I think we're more likely to see these than the Quads.

Chris

[Filterlab]

When I had my Martin Logans some years back, I had a pair of Townshend super tweeters on loan (Max lives just down the road from me). It was strange, they added not only a little more air as one would expect, but they also added mid and bass clarity. I can't really explain why. I didn't go for them in the end despite the positives, the imaging was so good on the MLs that when the supertweeters were added the imaging became more two dimensional, and that was too big a price to pay.

Had I have wanted more crispness only, then the supertweeters would have been a superb addition, with the benefits of added clarity further down the scale, but repositioning the angle of the stators cured the slightly muffled presentation (take the word slightly as 'infinitesimally'). Very expensive too at £800 a pair.

**EDIT** They now seem to be £499 per pair.

[Stratmangler]

Very expensive too at £800 a pair.

**EDIT** They now seem to be £499 per pair.

There's probably still a lot of fat in the bottom line at £499.

Chris

[The Grand Wazoo]

I found after a while that I could get a good proportion of the effect of the Coles from using open baffles (the air and ambience side of things) and later I discovered my current Mirage speakers which do the same sort of thing but add bass.
I'd completely agree with the effect that they have on the lower regions - completely inexplicable to a logical mind!
An impeded ability to hear high frequencies will most certainly not mean that super tweeters will do nothing for you.

[smithy]

I use a pair of CTS Powerline piezos to give my fullrangers a bit more sparkle at the top end.I remember seeing a pair on top of Jimmy Hughes Impulse speakers i HiFi Answers many years ago.

[Filterlab]

There's probably still a lot of fat in the bottom line at £499.

Chris

I don't doubt that for one second mate!

[electric beach]

It's a well known fact that you can't hear much above 15Khz but you can certainly hear a super tweeter in operation - it adds air and space and is difficult to do without once you have heard it.

Back in the early 80's I used to have a pair of cheapo Piezo super-tweets on flying leads with croc clips on the end. I used to tack them on to any and every speaker I got my hands on and most agreed that it was an improvement. I don't think it cost more than 8 quid to do....

My understanding is that the effect of supertweeters has more to do with how we process and perceive sound, rather than extending the audible spectrum. It's the same for sub bass, but you notice and feel the inaudible vibration more readily . The processing of real sound (as opposed to reproduced sound) by the human 'DAC' must consider these vibrations which are detected by the body - converting sound vibrations to a perceived 'realistic' sound.

These cheap Piezo horn supertweeters are still available from Maplin; they just need a resistor in line to minimise the output and you can have a play for less than £10. I used them on TDL transmission line floorstanders for years and they did as much for bass texture and tone as they did for creating additonal air and space - I felt they just made the reproduced sound for all frequencies more real!

I'll try to find the Jimmy Hughes article and post it.

[Kris]

These cheap Piezo horn supertweeters are still available from Maplin; they just need a resistor in line to minimise the output and you can have a play for less than £10. I used them on TDL transmission line floorstanders for years and they did as much for bass texture and tone as they did for creating additonal air and space - I felt they just made the reproduced sound for all frequencies more real!

Ok, I'm up for it at that price. What's the resister value?

I'll try to find the Jimmy Hughes article and post it.

On condition I don't have to turn up the corners of my curtains with safety pins.

[Filterlab]

These cheap Piezo horn supertweeters are still available from Maplin; they just need a resistor in line to minimise the output and you can have a play for less than £10.

These ones?:

Link image


What resistor value would you use?