Stacking ribbon tweeters?

[RobertR487]

I've been reading about the Raal 70-10 tweeter, and it looks interesting. Would it be a good idea to stack several of them to increase power handling, etc. (yes, I know it would be expensive), or would the combing effect outweigh the positives? Would the presence or absence of the foam guides make a noticeable difference?

[fivestring]

Stacking ribbons in the line array fashion is the worst thing to do, I`ve done that a lot years ago. Line arrays are good only for very large listening distances, otherwise comb filtering effects completely damp the upper frequency spectrum. I`ve tried various wiring combinations like series/parallel and tapered and the sound of arrayed tweeters was always noticeably less transparent than with a single driver.
The presence of the foam guides would all make even worse, as the driver to driver spacing would effectively increase.
I know line arrays are very popular among some "audiophiles" purely on the aesthetic basis, sound quality otherwise sucks.
The best thing to do is to go for a true (tall) line source ribbon system, with the added benefit of much lower XO frequency, you won`t go back to any other transducer type ever, examples here:

Paul's Lousy 60" Ribbons

A 60" Ribbon w/TL Loaded Extremis Hybrid

good luck!

Loudspeakers from Abyss

[RobertR487]

Originally posted by fivestring
Stacking ribbons in the line array fashion is the worst thing to do, I`ve done that a lot years ago. Line arrays are good only for very large listening distances, otherwise comb filtering effects completely damp the upper frequency spectrum. I`ve tried various wiring combinations like series/parallel and tapered and the sound of arrayed tweeters was always noticeably less transparent than with a single driver.
The presence of the foam guides would all make even worse, as the driver to driver spacing would effectively increase.
I know line arrays are very popular among some "audiophiles" purely on the aesthetic basis, sound quality otherwise sucks.
The best thing to do is to go for a true (tall) line source ribbon system, with the added benefit of much lower XO frequency, you won`t go back to any other transducer type ever, examples here:

Paul's Lousy 60" Ribbons

A 60" Ribbon w/TL Loaded Extremis Hybrid

good luck!

Loudspeakers from Abyss

Wow, I'm amazed at the DIY work by some of these guys! I wish I had their kind of tools and skills. Thanks for the info, sounds like sticking with a single Raal would be the way to go.

[fivestring]

Single RAAL ribbon will give you about as good high frequency spectrum reproduction as it gets (apart from plasma tweeters, it doesn`t have any competition), but you will probably have problems finding an equally capable midrange.

[cixelsid]

Nothing wrong with stacking planar/leaf/ribbon tweeters if the crossover point is high enough. Think of them as supertweeters.

I've used stacked planar/leaf/ribbon arrays for 20+ yrs and IMO it's all about getting the best sound quality, not the aesthetics.

The RAAL are overkill if you want to do a line array.

[fivestring]

Yeah, be prepared to listen to them from at least 70 feet away and pay 300 too 500 $ a piece, multiply with the number you need, then calculate the number of magnets you need for a pair of a seven feet tall line source ribbons, plus steel frame and be prepared for some good laugh.
Have you ever compared a line array to a true line source, pure ribbon? The difference in sound quality and cost will make you weep.
The 1 inch wide, seven feet tall ribbon is able to play all the frequencies between 300 and 30 000Hz with such fidelity, you will want to forget all this hifi/high end madness for good and just enjoy the music like you never did before.
But of course, some people say a wideband cone driven by a "gainclowne" is the ultimate in sound reproduction - it`s your call...

[RobertR487]

Originally posted by fivestring
Have you ever compared a line array to a true line source, pure ribbon? The difference in sound quality and cost will make you weep.
The 1 inch wide, seven feet tall ribbon is able to play all the frequencies between 300 and 30 000Hz with such fidelity, you will want to forget all this hifi/high end madness for good and just enjoy the music like you never did before

Being new to this forum, that idea utterly fascinates me! I've already gone the DIY route for bass with my IB subwoofer (which makes the "largest", most expensive, and most ballyhooed "high end" commercial subs look pathetic by comparison), and mating it with such a ribbon sounds like it would be the ideal accompaniment.

[fivestring]

Go for it!
There is much information in those two aforementioned threads, but you will still need something to fill in between your IB woofers and the ribbons 300 Hz lower corner frequency, maybe some open baffle woofers would do it? Or alternatively, wall mount the ribbons themself?
Check the 8 feet tall (1 inch wide) ribbon from the following link:

http://www.audiojunkies.com/blog/280...-facility-tourTC Sounds ribbon

[tinitus]

Hi fivestring
Thats a long one
Is that a single lead foil
How much is impedance

[tinitus]

Ahh, I see
Ribbon not yet attached
What looks like the ribbon foil is just some material to keep magnets from clashing together