Shipping Great Heils

[SilverFox]

Originally posted by Brian Beck


That would explain it!

Or "make it"? See the many ESL and ribbon designs discussed in this category.

Wait a minute, Brian. You're not getting off that easy.

Are you telling me that of ALL the tweeters being manufactured today, there are NONE that equal the capabilities and sound of the Heil?
If you can't give even ONE brand and model of one that does, then you're trying to say that the ONLY way to equal the Heil is to... "make it yourself"?

Does my skepticism show?

[Brian Beck]

Sorry, I’m not tending to the forum much these days…

Well, you’ve set up criteria to favor the Heil drivers, instead of asking what combination of drivers might sound better (always a dicey question). If you require a single driver that goes down to 800 Hz (not a good place for a cross-over, IMO, but that’s another question), and is dipolar, then your choices ARE limited. If you allow the possibility of domes ‘n cones, then there are numerous choices from Tymphany/Peerless/V-Line/Vifa, Seas, ScanSpeak, etc. I like what I’ve heard from several variants of the ring radiator tweeter, for example.

But this is not a thread about domes ‘n cones. As you might have guessed, I’m an ESL fan. That’s why I suggested considering DIY ESLs, which aren’t as hard to make as it might seem. This IS a DIY forum after all. You can make ESLs almost full-range and keep the crossover far away from the critical 800Hz to 1000Hz region. There are many informative threads here on that subject. If you want to buy a ready-made ESL driver, there are some drivers available from a few smaller companies - again these threads will tell you about them. Another choice is to use ribbons or planar magnetic drivers, like the Bohlender Graebener drivers.

A thought on the sound of the Heil tweeters: My experience is only with the original Heil drivers. I understand that they used polyethylene film in the diaphragm. Later Heil drivers used other kinds of polymers, and the sound was notably different (I am told). The Heil relies more on the bending properties of plastic than most drivers do. Every crease in every fold in the diaphragm must deform to make sound. Plastics like polyethylene have a characteristic in this kind of use that might enter into the sound: hysteresis. Hysteresis means that the material has memory; it will tend to stay where you set it, or, said another way, will not restore to exactly the starting position when the force is removed. I think this may have contributed to the plastic-y glare and lack of inner detail that some heard with the original Heil driver. All drivers have some degree of hysteresis, but modern cones ‘n domes have gotten a lot better, and ESLs nearly vanquish hysteresis distortion by virtue of the air impedance dominating over material properties.

If you like the Heils, then you certainly don’t need to convince anyone else, but you did ask the question.