Tweeter for SEAS W15CY001 and L26RFX/P

[novec]

I've been building some 3-way speakers with a SEAS W15CY001 (5" Excel) and L26RFX/P (10" alu cone), and find myself in need of a tweeter. I was going to use a couple of Vifa XT25s from my old speakers, but I've got a buyer for them instead, which will open for a better tweeter.

I've been thinking about the new SEAS T29MF001 Magnum and the T25CF002 Millennium, but there's also the Scan-Speak Revelator and AirCirc. I don't mind going cheaper, as long as it's good, but no higher than Millennium prices. I'll be using software crossovers, so slopes and levels are easily adjustable.

What I'm looking for is a sound to match the quick and accurate Excel mids, but in case there's a tradeoff, I value imaging and realism more than that last bit of detail.

The center and surrounds are set with the Vifa XT25 tweeters and some mids from some other speakers I've had, but I'm not looking to match the fronts to them, stereo sound is my first priority.

[Jay_WJ]

If you look for the best dome tweeter, look no further than the Scan-Speak. Better measured distortion performance than Seas.

The Seas W15 needs to be crossed between 1.7 k - 2.0 kHz with a LR4 or higher order filter. In this case, I'd consider SS 6600 AirCirc for soft dome or SS 9800 for metal dome.

[novec]

Thanks! In that case, it'll be the AirCirc. Do you have any comparison to the XT25? Afterall, the AirCirc is about four times the cost of the XT25.

[sreten]

http://www.zaphaudio.com/tweetermishmash/

Hi, 4 times the price, not 4 times as good, /sreten.

[novec]

4 times the price is never 4 times as good, but us audiophiles still get fooled :-) Both according to Zaph, numerous other threads here, and my own ears, the XT25 is a damned fine tweeter, regardless of price. And some mods suggested by Duelund in this thread should push it quite a bit further - maybe enough to make the quadruple price of an AirCirc or the likes just a bit too stupid.

Then again, good speakers are good speakers, and my economy nowadays can allow it every once in a while. It's just a bit annoying that the SEAS speakers actually cost twice as much here in Norway, where they're made from beginning to end, than in the states. It's almost as bad with ScanSpeak, but not quite. Anyone got some nice used ones? :-)

There is the question of crossover frequenzies, as well. From what I remember, the W15s are best left on the low side of 2kHz, while the XT25 isn't quite happy with anything below about 2.5kHz. Haven't had the time to do all the research on the others.

[Jonasz]

I have W15CY together with Hiquphon OW1, not the best combo on paper (if you're a slave under distortioncurves) but it sounds awesome!

[Jay_WJ]

Originally posted by novec
There is the question of crossover frequenzies, as well. From what I remember, the W15s are best left on the low side of 2kHz, while the XT25 isn't quite happy with anything below about 2.5kHz. Haven't had the time to do all the research on the others.

It's workable if you cross them at 2.0 kHz LR4 or steeper. No doubt it will sound nice.

If you want more flexibility with xover freq and at a lower cost than the SS, the Peerless 810921 is also an excellent choice, IMO. You will need to EQ its rising top octave response, though.