Positioning a supertweeter? Advice wanted, please.

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I am going to use a pair of Townshend ribbon supertweeters with my ACTIVE (tri-amped) 3-way speakers which are already electronically phase compensated in the crossover.
Please can anyone confirm my thoughts about the proper position of the supertweeter in relation to the soft fabric dome of the main tweeter?
Position A or B in the diagram. Which is best?

Thank you.

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Are the mid and treble delayed to match the output of the bass?
If so, then the supertweeter should be located back at the effective source distance of the tweeter.

If you take the tweeter output which is delayed and then cross that into the supertweeter with no further delay, then you could locate the super at A and test for a phase notch to confirm if you have the phase close to correct.
 
Hi Andrew.
Thanks for that info.
Yes, the mid and treble are phase compensated and I think delayed, to match the bass driver.
The Townshend supertweeters are designed to be connected in parallel to the main tweeter's connections. The Townshend's instruction sheet, however, is not very clear on positioning.
So if I use position A, which is where the ribbon of the supertweeter is positioned level with the back of the main tweeter's dome, how do I 'test for a phase notch?'
Cheers, David
 
use one of the mic+soundcard measurement systems.
Swap the phase of the supertweeter and you should see a noticable phase notch when it is wrong and much flatter when it is right.
If both swapped and unswapped shown ripples around the crossover, then I think that means there is a phase error that makes neither correct.

Simply adding a filtered supertweeter seems wrong to me.
That would require the exisating treble to roll off at the correct rate to match in with the output of the super. I fear that will get you into a wideband region of both drivers radiating and end up with that third composite when neither snaps into "in phase".
 
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I agree, superexpensive supertweeter with "one size fits all" filter (crossover) is beyond wrong.

I agree that it's best to have 'bespoke' tailored crossovers, but the Townshend Maximum supertweeters are 6 position adjustable, and having had my pair for around 6 years sitting on top of some Rega Xel Transmission Line speakers, I know that they make a great contribution to the sound in many ways.

I had hesitated before buying them but I am so pleased I did. The Townshends really make a positive difference.

This is one of my Townshends on top of my Rega Xel in my Office system....

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And this is the other one in its new location on my DIY speakers, able to be moved forwards and backwards (a little) due to its resilient 'Poron' foam surround.

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If I could afford TWO pairs I would do, but I can't!
 
From the photo, I thought it looked like it was set to horizontal.
It appears it's the aperature showing the magnets that led me to believe I was seeing it horizontal.

A narrow tall ribbon is the normal way to orient a tweeter to help reduce reflections from the two nearest surfaces and still give a listening window that is wide enough for two or three folk sitting across the listening area.
 
From the photo, I thought it looked like it was set to horizontal.
It appears it's the aperature showing the magnets that led me to believe I was seeing it horizontal.

A narrow tall ribbon is the normal way to orient a tweeter to help reduce reflections from the two nearest surfaces and still give a listening window that is wide enough for two or three folk sitting across the listening area.

Yes Andrew, that's correct. Same vertical orientation as my old Decca Ribbon tweeters used to be, albeit in a horn assembly. And these go MUCH higher, frequency wise....

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Hi Andrew, I used the Townshend in the orientation that they come with. The actual ribbon IS vertical within the Townshend casing. (it's about 10mm wide x 30mm high, in between 2 large magnets) Is that what you meant?

A 40kHz wave is just 0.86cm long.
This thing will have a very narrow polar pattern horizontally and even narrower vertically.

If it had a wide polar pattern, then reflections still wouldn't be a problem, because even a stone wall with latex paint on it will absorb all these high frequencies.
 
I paid FAR less than that in the UK for a mint used pair, and the bandwidth is superb, far greater than most of the ribbons that Madison offer, BUT...the point is not that I want to argue about that. Just, simply, I have experienced what they have to offer with my other speakers and I wanted to put them to this use. VERY pleased with my decision, but also I thank you for your suggestion.
 
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