I am looking for a current-production tweeter with high efficiency (95db+) with a frequency response flat between 5k and 20k erring on the side of "tilted up".
My budget is up to about $800 Canadian.
I am wondering if anybody can make suggestions I have not yet considered below.
Unfortunately I am one of those people who can tell when a tweeter is rolling off at 18khz... which rules out a lot of options such as the popular B&C compression drivers.
I am currently unhappy with the way my Beyma CP21/f sounds in my horn system, and I'd like to try some others. What I don't like about the CP21/f is that it seems to sound "sharp but rolled off..." despite extending to 20khz, it still lacks the shimmer I seek in most listening positions compared to other speakers i've experienced. I will be crossing over at 5.5khz
Here is the short list of the high sensitivity tweeters I have consider and their reason for not obtaining:
My budget is up to about $800 Canadian.
I am wondering if anybody can make suggestions I have not yet considered below.
Unfortunately I am one of those people who can tell when a tweeter is rolling off at 18khz... which rules out a lot of options such as the popular B&C compression drivers.
I am currently unhappy with the way my Beyma CP21/f sounds in my horn system, and I'd like to try some others. What I don't like about the CP21/f is that it seems to sound "sharp but rolled off..." despite extending to 20khz, it still lacks the shimmer I seek in most listening positions compared to other speakers i've experienced. I will be crossing over at 5.5khz
Here is the short list of the high sensitivity tweeters I have consider and their reason for not obtaining:
| Model | Pros | Cons |
| JBL 2405/077 | The "holy grail". Better response then CP21f | Availability.. unknown state of diaphragms coupled with the unavailability of new diaphragms.. the sellers guarding JBL anything seem to be a rather unpleasant crowd to deal with 🙁 |
| Selenium ST322 | Price | Phenolic diaphragm, way too rolled off |
| Fountek NEOCD3.5H | Price, good response, New* | Backordered/out of stock* |
| Beyma - TPL-150 | Available as New, great looking specs/response | Price - double my budget |
Raal 140-15D is not nearly dynamic enough for a horn system. It might work as supertweeter above 10kHz but not at 5kHz where there is still plenty of energy in a lot of music. I have had a pair of those and could not live with the very limited to a point of nearly non existing vertical dispersion and lack of dynamics. Eight or ten of them in a line array might overcome the dispersion problem but for obvious reasons I haven’t tried. The foam-bits kill too much dynamics and detail. All in all, a good tweeter as long as you can live with its compromises, unfortunately there where too many for me
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Fostex ft96h is still one of my favourites but they have become unobtaimium. Much better than the the CP21f though. It sounds very extended and does not have that “sizzle” of the CP21f
Response doesn't look great
As for budget, i'm flexible... I'm finally at that "I'm sick of dicking around with tweeters" stage of life so if $1600 is what I need to spend then so be it... I just want to make sure that there aren't any diamonds in the rough that I may have missed.
MF: JBL 2445J + 2380A horn
LF: Eminence Delta Pro12A
LF x MF @800hz
Amplification: Elekit TU8200R SE tube amp (8w/ch)
Primary listening material: Psych rock, EDM, Jazz, Pop
..well, even then the linearity is dependent on the baffle - and as a super tweeter I'm guessing there won't be much baffle to it at all. (..or is that incorrect?)
So basically below about 7 kHz the result will always be different with a different baffle (or no baffle at all).
This one was tested on a 7" by 11" baffle and you've got that increasing response below 5kHz as a result:
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/radian-lt2-planar-teardown-photos.385704/
(note that it's more efficient than shown here - about 95db at 6kHz.)
Notably it has that top-octave (10kHz+) rising response and off-axis (even out to 60 degrees) the dispersion is WIDE which tend's to provide more "air". Of course as a planar the subjective level of detail is excellent (though not the "ethereal" result of the best ribbons).
-so, you when you see a linear response graph be aware that the response is likely tested on a baffle, and often a pretty large one at that.
Ex.
https://hificompass.com/en/speakers/measurements/viawave/viawave-rt850
Pretty nice (though non-linear distortion isn't great, but shouldn't be a problem with a good high-pass at 5kHz.
Thanks efm7, did you ever consider a pa system without any horns? Do you believe crossover network is flawlessly designed right now?
Thanks Scott, this one seems affordable enough that I can use this for another project if it doesn't pan out for this one
So initially this project started off without horns, using various cone mids and was never satisfied, maybe I never used the right ones, either peaky response (cheaper PA mid woofers, low sensitivity consumer mid woofers) I was about to abandoned the project until a neighbor gave the set of 2445J and 2380A in a box from "back in his DJ days" and once I designed the crossover and hooked it up, I was floored at what I was hearing.. dynamics is the game here I think 🙂
I'm pretty confident in my crossover, especially between the woofer and 2445J, I tweak the MF x HF accordingly with each tweeter I try. Using vituixcad.
The 2445J + 2380A seemed super easy to incorporate compared to anything else i've tried for mids. I know that this combo of horn + comp driver isn't exactly the most "hifi"..
Another strategy could be getting a different horn + comp driver combo that will reach up to 20k thereby going 2-way.... but based on what i've been reading... I don't envy the crowd trying to find a flat horn from 500hz to 20khz...
Another strategy could be getting a different horn + comp driver combo that will reach up to 20k thereby going 2-way.... but based on what i've been reading... I don't envy the crowd trying to find a flat horn from 500hz to 20khz...
Adding a tweeter may look easy on paper, but in practice it maybe not so simple. Why not have a look at what JBL did in the 4430/4435, by compensating with some EQ to offset the driver roll off. That way you can still enjoy the benefits that a two way system has, without any downside.
How about a Mundorf AMT, is 94dB close enough? Madison Sound can special order them for you. This one should be in your price range.
https://www.mundorf.com/audio/en/sh...on-Transformer-U,Series-AMTU80W1,1/?card=4726
Or this one if you can settle for 93dB .
https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/amt/mundorf-amtu60w1.1-c-air-motion-tweeter-4-ohm-94-mm-round/
https://www.mundorf.com/audio/en/sh...on-Transformer-U,Series-AMTU80W1,1/?card=4726
Or this one if you can settle for 93dB .
https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/amt/mundorf-amtu60w1.1-c-air-motion-tweeter-4-ohm-94-mm-round/