Aluminum dome Vifa D25AG35 is very good (about $25) and has been used in many commercial product for a long time. I heard that the newer model based on D25 has recently been released. For that price range, I think it's the best one. Variations of Seas tweeters (25TAF-series, 19TAF-series) are also famous but personally, I find them sound not as good as the Vifa.
Vivek, Vifa D25AG35 is the one. I checked catalogs and found that no upgraded model has been released yet. I have no experience with Pioneer or Philips domes, but I don't think it's easy to beat the Vifa, for the price range.
However, its integration to the speaker systems is a very important factor. It takes luck to just drop the tweeter into an existing design and it will sound good.
When I say D25AG35 sounds good, I mean it sounds better then others, given that all of them have been properly applied.
Blmn, from my experience, distinguish soft and metal dome sound is quite possible. I believe I hear difference, but cannot put into words. Mostly, a metal dome is better in terms of detail and sounds rather thin compared to the soft dome. Most soft domes are relatively less detailed sound, but it sounds fresh in certain way that i can't easily explain. An analogy that I can make is metal dome sounds like metal bell and soft dome sounds more like glass bell. Not exactly so, but that's a way to explain what I feel.
However, its integration to the speaker systems is a very important factor. It takes luck to just drop the tweeter into an existing design and it will sound good.
When I say D25AG35 sounds good, I mean it sounds better then others, given that all of them have been properly applied.
Blmn, from my experience, distinguish soft and metal dome sound is quite possible. I believe I hear difference, but cannot put into words. Mostly, a metal dome is better in terms of detail and sounds rather thin compared to the soft dome. Most soft domes are relatively less detailed sound, but it sounds fresh in certain way that i can't easily explain. An analogy that I can make is metal dome sounds like metal bell and soft dome sounds more like glass bell. Not exactly so, but that's a way to explain what I feel.
I am in touch with another audio freak and he says Peerless domes are a good choice as he has been using them. They may not be as good as Vifa and Scan Speak, but I understand they are good.
As far as the comparison between the soft and metal domes goes I am confused as to which one I really want.
As far as the comparison between the soft and metal domes goes I am confused as to which one I really want.
As to whether metal or soft dome, I really think it's the matter of preference. The construction and design quality of each driver affects the sound quality than the dome material. For example, Scanspeak D2905 series are excellent (arguably the best) soft dome (to me, they are clearly better than the Vifa D25 but of course, they cost about 3 times more) . My personal experience with Focal T120 (titanium dome) has been very good too. Difinitely different characteristics from Scanspeak, but when properly applied, its very difficult to say which one is better.
I agree with namui.
I had experience both with titanium and silk dome tweeters, and I prefer the soft ones, the sound is somewhat "softer".
It is hard to explain, but IMHO the sound of titanium domes is too "sharp": very focused, but "tiring" after a while, on
the other side the silk domes are maybe a little less precise (but did anyone listen to the Dynaudio ones?), but surely more "relaxing".
As for the brands, I had good experience with Peerless, but better with Vifa which I recommend.
Morel is another good brand.
Vivek: what about JBL titanium ones?
Best regards, gimpus.
I had experience both with titanium and silk dome tweeters, and I prefer the soft ones, the sound is somewhat "softer".
It is hard to explain, but IMHO the sound of titanium domes is too "sharp": very focused, but "tiring" after a while, on
the other side the silk domes are maybe a little less precise (but did anyone listen to the Dynaudio ones?), but surely more "relaxing".
As for the brands, I had good experience with Peerless, but better with Vifa which I recommend.
Morel is another good brand.
Vivek: what about JBL titanium ones?
Best regards, gimpus.
Audax makes an inexpensive, good sounding 1 1/8 inch soft dome that fits that price range. As far as metal vs soft dome goes, I think that some of the higher end soft domes are equally as precise as the metal domes, without that fatigue that is all too common. I prefer soft domes, certain Scanspeak units in particular. The one line of metal dome tweeters I will vouch for would be Focal's inverted dome units, but I'll never have that much money to burn on a tweeter.
(By the way, I believe that Wilson uses modified Audax tweeters for the "ambience" drivers on its SLAMM speakers)
(By the way, I believe that Wilson uses modified Audax tweeters for the "ambience" drivers on its SLAMM speakers)
The Audax TMO25F7 is a very good dome, and yes it's used as the ambient tweeters in the X-1 SLAMMS because it goes to almost 40Khz
A excellent metal dome at a good price is the MB Quart 1" Titanium dome on sale at Madisound. Until they upgraded to the Accutron units, Avalon Acoustics used the MB's. Actually Avalon developed this dome as a speciality unit for their speakers, MB later put it into mass production.
Metal domes can provide a very smooth detailed response, but the XO design is more critical since metal domes in general tend to be more revealing/less forgiving
A excellent metal dome at a good price is the MB Quart 1" Titanium dome on sale at Madisound. Until they upgraded to the Accutron units, Avalon Acoustics used the MB's. Actually Avalon developed this dome as a speciality unit for their speakers, MB later put it into mass production.
Metal domes can provide a very smooth detailed response, but the XO design is more critical since metal domes in general tend to be more revealing/less forgiving
Guys, has anyone compared the Scanspeak 2905 series with Audax's HD3P ? Well ,the price range is about the same but it kept me guessing for quite a while about the sound quality. The reason is that I'm not sure if my next speaker project will be based on the Scan Speak or Audax. Could somewone pls advise ? thanks.
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