optimus linaeum dipole tweets, what to do with them?

[Puggie]

I have a pair of these tweets, they came with a pair of Bandor 150 drivers that I want to use for something else. So anyone know of any good designs for these dipole tweets. I kind of wondered about a really cheap driver (Im in the UK before someone gives me a nice partsexpress buy-out link ) line array or similar.

what does anyone suggest?

[Ian J]

Hi Puggie,
I also have a pair, obtained from LX-5 speakers. The main problem is low sensitivity - they were measured by HiFi World at ~82dB/W. I had moderate success joining them with a pair of Audax AP100Z0 (sorry, that was a close-out sale from Maplin), which are ~85dB/W, but still had to pad down the APs! I think they need bi-amping ideally. What sort of x-o (if any) came with them?
Ian

[Puggie]

I'll check the Xover plans, there were some, drawn up by Wilmslow audio!!

I have no idea they were so inefficient, there was me with ideas of needing a super light high efficiency midbass to keep up

I have a couple of pairs of the Audax AP100Z0s you mention, one pair 'virgin' and the others have had the dustcaps removed and metal phaseplugs fitted. maybe the plugged ones with their lower Sd (and probably efficiency) would be a good partner.

[Puggie]

Damn edit button dissapears before brain kicks in

I'm now thinking the little Audaxs in a tall MLQWT with the dipole tweet on top could be quite effective, baffle-step compensation would get the sensitivity of the Audax into the right ballpark. Would be a horribly inefficient thing to drive though

[joe carrow]

I don't think you'll be disappointed with them. I worked at Radio Shack in the summer before college, and I heard some speakers that used these tweeters. This was back before I was really excited about audio, and definitely before I knew what to listen for- but I remember that they were the most realistic sounding speakers in the shop.

I wish I'd picked up a pair of those with my employee discount (15% on top of regular sales and clearance events!) to pick up some of those instead of the cheap/nasty piezo horns!

[dwk123]

Back in the LX-5 heyday (wow-almost 10 years ago) I made a 'poor mans Gallo Nucleus' using the Linaeum dipole. I used a Seas P14rcy/p in a 10-12" sphere with the Linaeum perched on top. I never really dialed in the xover and never ran with a sub so bass was absent, but even so they were spectacular in the soundstaging and imaging department. I still regret not following through on further refinements. If you're up for a slightly unusual 3-way, I think putting that unit on top of an angled/tapered woofer cabinet like the Aerial 10T would be a very interesting project.

I'm not sure how close the current Seas P14's are to the ones I used, but they were a very good match IMHO - the poly cone allows them to go high enough so that the Linaeum isn't stressed too low. Relatively cheap as well, but not 'close-out' cheap.

[hayenc]

I modified the RS LX-5 following the second description in this link, also using the SEAS midrange.

http://mysite.verizon.net/tammie_eri...od/lx5mod.html

Agree, not much bass and very nice sounding, but pay attention to the response curve shown on the top end. The Linneaum's really do drop off around 12K.

[Puggie]

I think I may have a go at doing something with these and a pair of the audaxs (as I have them). something tall and thin with a sloping cabinet, flat face and the tweet sat on the top.

[owdi]

If you're doing a two way, the low efficiency of the tweets is not an issue, since you will loose several db with your baffle step compensation circuit.

Dan

[sqlkev]

I've tried the linaeum tweeters with a fullranger 8" and it sounds very decent. You'd only need a simple 1st or 2nd order filter at the very up top.