Newbi few questions on Dayton Audio PT2C-8 Planar Tweeter

[golgiapparatus]

Hello all,
Yes I am new and really want to learn. For my first project I will jump right in. I had purchased (really great price that is why) a set (two) "Dayton Audio PT2C-8 Planar Tweeters".

My wife has always wanted a pair of speaker with a planar tweeters. Here are a few questions that I have.

I read that some people will use the as a midrange speaker or at least use another tweeter with it. I want to create a 3.5 speaker with the Dayton Audio PT2C-8 Planar Tweeter.

I know that I am cheating but I have to ask, what would you the reader do. Am I crazy for what I want to do? For this project, what supporting speakers would you (the reader) use???

When gathering testing data for creating the xover, I have read that planer's cannot be tested without a xover. If this is so, how can I hook the planer up to a computer record data from a mike???? How does one test a planer???

thanks for the help, I know that I will learn much.

Agolgiapparatus

[twest820]

There are two basic options.

1) Break in the PT2Cs, measure THD at the target SPL to determine the desired crossover point, and continue driver selection based on that data. Most planars require relatively high crossovers and Dayton's 3kHz recommendation here is no exception. If you want good directivity that likely means you're looking at either a horn loaded two way to move the crossover down or a three way.
2) Exchange the PT2Cs for BG Radia Neo3s. As with any driver the crossover point varies with SPL and THD requirements and crossover slope. In most applications the Neo3s will cross closer to 2kHz, allowing a two way with OK directivity or a three way with more flexibility in midrange and sub selection than with the PT2Cs.

Any driver can be tested without a crossover and testing planars is no different than other drivers. Other than some planars requiring a little more care to ensure test levels don't exceed the driver's wattage rating. There's a long thread in this forum about HOLMImpulse; that's a good place to start for understanding how to do measurements.

It's a generalization, but basically two way isn't quite enough degrees of freedom for most primary listening systems. Three way is usually plenty. 3.5 and four way are typically only required if high SPL requirements are present. If you're thinking to do passive crossover and EQ simpler is probably better to start with as getting all the impedances dialed is not exactly trivial. In comparison, triamping or quadamping from a digital crossover is essentially turnkey and makes higher order crossovers, linear phase, and greater equalization quite a bit simpler. The result is quite a bit more freedom in driver selection. You also need to clarify what type of speaker you're building. Design tradeoffs and prefered driver selection do vary between acoustic suspension, ported, transmission line, dipole, cardioid, omni, and so on. Particularly if you want deep bass reach versus, say, mid-30s and up.

As for how I'd implement a system with planar tweeters, you can find my current build here.

[sreten]

Hi,

Lots of technical issues, far too long winded to describe.

A separate tweeter is not needed for horizontal dispersion but
vertical is an entirely different matter, your stuck with poorer
vertical dispersion due to the driver choice you have made.

Like all tall thin drivers, efficiency, and the cylindrical wavefront
is only maintained above wavelength = < ~ the driver height, its
a weird power response to marry to other arrangements.

An open baffle MTM section, combined with boxed bass
might be a way to go for best integration and room
energy balance, but its very complicated,
and not recommended for a novice.

rgds, sreten.

I own 2ft long 1/2" ribbons + bass units, very difficult to marry.

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