It does not make much difference what kind of material a tweeter
is made of IMO. Metal dome tweeters are somewhat scary because
a person can not get rid of the image of metal being something that
can hurt you. Silk does sound like a better solution in that sense.
The key to a nice and unfatiguing sound is knowing how to voice
a speaker for that kind of sound regardless of tweeter material.
There is still silk dome tweeter manufacturers in the same league as
Dynaudio like Morel, Scan Speak, Visaton. Seas does have nice fabric
drivers. I am sure there are more.
is made of IMO. Metal dome tweeters are somewhat scary because
a person can not get rid of the image of metal being something that
can hurt you. Silk does sound like a better solution in that sense.
The key to a nice and unfatiguing sound is knowing how to voice
a speaker for that kind of sound regardless of tweeter material.
There is still silk dome tweeter manufacturers in the same league as
Dynaudio like Morel, Scan Speak, Visaton. Seas does have nice fabric
drivers. I am sure there are more.
hi sheep
I don't really have a preference. I'm currently listening to the Seas 27TBFC/G aluminum tweeters paired with Tang Band 5" W5-1685 midwoofer. They're sweeter than my Vifa XT25TG30. That's not to say aluminum is better. I'm sure there are fabric dome tweeters that are just as sweet. The best advice I can give is to listen for yourself and find one that fits your budget.
Regards
Mike
I don't really have a preference. I'm currently listening to the Seas 27TBFC/G aluminum tweeters paired with Tang Band 5" W5-1685 midwoofer. They're sweeter than my Vifa XT25TG30. That's not to say aluminum is better. I'm sure there are fabric dome tweeters that are just as sweet. The best advice I can give is to listen for yourself and find one that fits your budget.
Regards
Mike
Look at the waterfall plots, they tell a lot more than what the material used to make the tweeter is made from. I prefer a slightly falling response rather than a rising one. besides I can't hear above 15k anymore anyway
For me being able to cross low is far more important but if I have to choose perhaps silk domes are my preference.
For me being able to cross low is far more important but if I have to choose perhaps silk domes are my preference.
As far as dome tweeter goes, I prefer aluminum over titanium. To be fair, I've not tested any of the new titanium ones. This is based in the 80s where titanium was the rage. I had a pair of JBL Control 5 that I used for recording monitoring then. I wasn't impressed by all the hype that JBL was saying about their state of the art titanium tweeter. IIRC, they were used in all their hifi speakers, including some very costly ones. They may have gotten better since.
However, I have no issues with using titanium compression drivers. But compression drivers are a different story entirely.
This is hardly a fare comparison. The diamond tweeter is a completely different beast than the metal domes B&W used before it, pretty much from the ground up in all aspects of its design.
I don't disagree about the dome material mind you. Stiffer is better providing that any resonance is far enough away to not be considered a problem.
The resonance associated with alu and titanium is usually not high enough to be called completely out of the way, that is from all objective angles, but it tends to be unobjectionable for the most part.
IMO you want the dome breakup to occur at beyond 60kHz, ideally at around 100kHz and be reasonably well damped.
There is certainly nothing wrong with soft dome materials mind you, just the same as there is nothing wrong with traditional paper and poly cones, it's more a case of whether or not the driver is well designed.
Dayton makes some silk tweeters that are highly rated as well as a few others,
http://www.parts-express.com/cat/tw...eca:matches(.,"P_Searchable","1")]&PortalID=1
FWIW
jer
http://www.parts-express.com/cat/tw...eca:matches(.,"P_Searchable","1")]&PortalID=1
FWIW
jer
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Nobody's mentioned ceramic yet. I listened to an accuton ceramic tweeter and found the sound very pleasing.
The Seas Millennium (fabric) and scan-speak revelator D2905-9900 (fabric) were included in the same test and the group conducting the test eventually selected the millennium as the best of the group. My preference went to the accuton.
Nick
The Seas Millennium (fabric) and scan-speak revelator D2905-9900 (fabric) were included in the same test and the group conducting the test eventually selected the millennium as the best of the group. My preference went to the accuton.
Nick
Just a general point that's worth making: while nobody is likely to argue that different materials behave differently when used in drive units (since the laws of physics dictate that they do), it's almost impossible to make blanket assertions that a specific dome material will automatically sound a certain way. Dome material is only one part of a greater whole -motor & suspension design, dome design, frame / mounting, grill, diffuser where applicable etc. have just as much impact on the end results.
As I understand it, Seas approach product development with an eye on the kind of sound they happen to like -once the general design is done & samples made, listening tests & the preferences of their engineering / development team dominate. This may be why the Millennium does not have especially distinguished distortion performance. Not bad, but not as good as some. I like it well enough -response is good, it's a doddle to work with & it's built like a tank, but even as a fan of Seas I find it hard in performance terms to justify the fourfold increase in price over some of their 1in Prestige models.
Incidentally, am I the only one who has a jaundiced view of some supposedly high-end tweeters that need considerable EQ work in the XO (as in 'extra components') just to get the basic FR into line? One thing the Millennium at least doesn't need, so I'd take it like a shot over some others on that score.
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I've read that the surround has plenty to do with frequency response. I believe that celestion engineers did a lot of analysis during the sl6/600 days when switching tweeter materials for their sl700. They found that a small surround (like 1mm wide) improved overall clarity in HF. Diffraction at those frequencies really muffles up the response.
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