The RAAL may benefit from the relatively large radiating area and is a mini line array, which you pay for. Maybe using a pair of SB ring tweeters close together would be a better match. There are so many ways of using drivers that a pair of much cheaper units will beat a RAAL The RAAL uses a flexible ribbon and a be dome uses a very stiff dome, whilst modern silk tweeters can sound great with teir less stiff dome. So we know the Youngs Modulus is not the limiting factor for faithful reproduction.
You can buy 10 or 20 cheap good domes for the price of one expensive ribbon. For the DIY er there is no contest if all you want is an excellent sound. Linkwitz already says this with his latest design with front and read firing SEAS tweeters.
No disagreement on VFM. Just depends if you can afford and justify expensive drive units. Unfortunately I've yet to hear anything cheaper that is as good. If others prefer cheaper and easier to implement drivers, fair play to them. Annoyingly I find I prefer RAALs and BG planars to conventional drivers!
Like all these things, it is the sum of the whole, that applies where these drivers are components in a system. It is almost impossible to make a level playing field for them in a system. The problem with most ribbons is that they must be input via a blocking capacitor as a minimum and usually a resistor of suitable value possibly in a T pad arrangement. Ribbons are best crossed over around 4KHz. And you may need 10uf of very expensive capacitors to justify the ribbons merits and we all probably agree that RAAL are very good, but you would have to match their speed to a mid that blends well with them. You have to consider the whole system.
Try this : Raal tweeters-are they worth it ?
... and read it to the last page. Aleksandar is a participant and he revealed some of the techniques he uses and states some of the reasons his ribbon tweeters are the best there are today.
Bottom line is that no one can tell you if they are worth it to your ears but most of the guys who buys them never sells them so go figure.
cheers
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They seem to have their charm. Lynn Olsons project is an example.
The ribbons, compression tweeters and domes seem to be the main choices currently, and while the RAAL had made a great contribution to the ribbon route to nirvana, the others have generally gone into Be diaphragms. I do not know of anyone actually using Be dome tweeters in the DIY world but the compression drivers seem to offer realistic professional value. rather than the audiophile prices which I really cannot not pay.
I have a pair of 20XR ...how do you design a crossover for it/them when it has a built in one at 1800hz? I would like to try them with another project crossed at 4000hz.
Just playing with the cap values will get you some usable options either side of 2kHz and the good thing about that model is that it appears to be usable down there. At 4kHz you could use a 70-10D, but at an octave above the built-in rolloff you should be able to implement a textbook crossover for the 70-20 of whatever order you fancy if the impedance is as flat as the other models. I would go with the lowest crossover point possible personally, aiming at 2-2.5kHz. More options with partnering midrange units due to the potential for better matching of directivity at XO.
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