I have my loudspeakers that I do not want to exchange. They work fine for me. Almost. I have thought about making a pair of supertweeters (buy?) and "add" them to my system. Are there any common howto's for this? What about the cross overs between the tweeter and the supertweeter? I am not that experienced so I would appreciate some "for dummies"-stuff.
You don't need a supertweeter. Change the tweeter with a better one (modification of the crossover is required).
If that is so how come there are so many "Add-On" supertweeters for sale?
Not all tweeters can go up to 40k but some after market ones are sold as doing so. Personally I question the benefits but only on a cost basis, not having thousands of dollars to spare
If you really do want to find out more about adding a Super Tweeter, here's some useful reading which includes construction drawings for the tweeter base:
Fostex FT17H Horn Super Tweeter
Fostex FT17H Horn Super Tweeter
At its simplest, this particular super tweeter can be run directly from the main speaker terminals via a 1 to 2uF film capacitor. However the addition of a variable L pad control between the capacitor and the tweeter will allow adjustment of the super tweeter level.
I'm not sure that it is actually "Snake Oil" because even if my ears cannot hear anything over 12k these days HF and UHF make the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stand on end, I can feel it even if I can't hear it, ditto Infrasonics
You just described a good tweeter. Add-On supertweeter is a snake oil. Instead of adding a supertweter, just replace the existing tweeter with a better one (and mod the crossover).
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Super-tweeters are good for selling useless gear to naive humans for rodent control and also to naive audiophiles sucked in by some very poor quality research and pseudo science.
Most 50 year old plus males cant hear past 15,000kHz. As mentioned any well designed tweeter will manage that.
First thing to do is measure. Measure your hearing limits with good headphones but be careful not to fry the headphones or your cochlea turning up the volume high. Then measure your speakers. Then try a 14kHz brick wall low pass filter listening to music and dont be shocked that if it makes little or no difference to your musical enjoyment as you will be in the majority.
Most 50 year old plus males cant hear past 15,000kHz. As mentioned any well designed tweeter will manage that.
First thing to do is measure. Measure your hearing limits with good headphones but be careful not to fry the headphones or your cochlea turning up the volume high. Then measure your speakers. Then try a 14kHz brick wall low pass filter listening to music and dont be shocked that if it makes little or no difference to your musical enjoyment as you will be in the majority.
\Sure Can you recommend one costing less than $90-AUD because that is my own cash limit.
If you want more high frequency sparkle, bypass the resistor that is in series with the existing tweeter with a small capacitor. Experiment with its capacitance. Something around 1 µF will work.
Complete lack of information. How could we help?
Please provide us:
What tweeter?
What loudspeakers?
What audio gear is connected?
What music source is used?
In general:
You are not that experienced? Leave it as it is.
They work fine for you? Leave it as it is.
Please provide us:
What tweeter?
What loudspeakers?
What audio gear is connected?
What music source is used?
In general:
You are not that experienced? Leave it as it is.
They work fine for you? Leave it as it is.
@ ohlala
You can add super tweeters without modyifying your existing speakers in any way.
If you don't like the results you can simply remove the super tweeters and bemoan spending all that money!
No equipment would be harmed in the making of this trial, so go ahead and enjoy a bit of harmless DIY! 😎
You can add super tweeters without modyifying your existing speakers in any way.
If you don't like the results you can simply remove the super tweeters and bemoan spending all that money!
No equipment would be harmed in the making of this trial, so go ahead and enjoy a bit of harmless DIY! 😎
Do not be afraid to try super-tweeters. I have used the Fostex FT17H (cheapest) and the T90A (their mid-priced range). The T90A is a much better sounding unit but if you just want to experiment, you can get a pair of the FT17H plus crossover parts for around $100 US. The nice thing about these is they have high sensitivity so you have plenty of margin for X/O freq. and slope and attenuation. The highest octave is important, even if your hearing starts to drop off at say 8, 10, 12 KHz, etc. Adding a super-tweeter will still work for you; it does for me anyway. I am 62 years young now and my hearing above 10KHz is practically non-existent BUT, the extra sparkle and shimmer add realism. In most cases, if you cross over above 12KHz, a 1st order should be just fine. Lower than that, you would most likely need to go with a 2nd order. You can also try different attenuation settings with a cheap, variable L-pad until you have the X/O and SPL fine tuned to your particular listening preferences then replace it with higher quality fixed resistors.
I am firmly against super-tweeters because, among other things, most of the applications are without measurements and with "1st order should be just fine" mantra. Most likely you will get very deep notch in the 15 kHz - 25 kHz range and 6dB boost below 10 kHz - the so called "super-tweeter improvement". The notch comes from 180 degrees cancellation derived from wrong tweeter to super-tweeter distance (relative to the listener).
Adding super-tweeter and getting good results are impossible without measurement and simulating software.
Adding super-tweeter and getting good results are impossible without measurement and simulating software.
I'd advice anyone who's tempted to use one to point it at the ceiling or the front wall, never at the listening position
I agree with the math and science. BUT, for people like me, we don't care about that. We care what sounds best to our hearing. I have done all kinds of
critical listening tests with CD and online test signals plus many types of recordings. I set my X/O frequency, slope and attenuation according to what sounds best to me. I am a retired Engineer, Technician and former musician so not only do I understand what you are saying; I also know what sounds right to me. It is after all about what we are satisfied with that matters most; the part science, part art, part personal preference pieces of this hobby that all need to come together. Cheers!
I forgot to mention also sometimes I try switching tweeter polarity while listening for obvious peaks and notches.
Those supertweeters
Thank you very much for your viewpoints. It seems to me that the question about "with or without supertweeters" is reminiscent of the debate "vinyl or CD".
I will try supertweeters. And arrange a blind-test, myself being the rat.
But I am convinced we can NOT narrow "sound experience" down to that the only physiological response in our ears, , after registration, are transferred to the hearing center in the brain. Just as we can feel a bass, we can also sense a 40 kHz sound, even if nothing is sensed with the ear. "Sound" sensed by the ear in the traditional sense is one thing, "sound experience" is something experienced by several senses. We have hundreds of senses, the most we are not aware of. I do not find it extraordinarily that "sound" can be sensed by other senses than the formal hearing.
So the blindtest will give the answer. But not necesserarily the technical answer.
Thank you very much for your viewpoints. It seems to me that the question about "with or without supertweeters" is reminiscent of the debate "vinyl or CD".
I will try supertweeters. And arrange a blind-test, myself being the rat.
But I am convinced we can NOT narrow "sound experience" down to that the only physiological response in our ears, , after registration, are transferred to the hearing center in the brain. Just as we can feel a bass, we can also sense a 40 kHz sound, even if nothing is sensed with the ear. "Sound" sensed by the ear in the traditional sense is one thing, "sound experience" is something experienced by several senses. We have hundreds of senses, the most we are not aware of. I do not find it extraordinarily that "sound" can be sensed by other senses than the formal hearing.
So the blindtest will give the answer. But not necesserarily the technical answer.
What confuses me after lots of research I think in the right places,
Is that tweeters can not interact correctly due to wavelength effect and physical distance at optimal crossover points, so how the hell does a super tweeter integrate.
DISCLAIMER............................................................................
All synergy/unity/meh designs not included in the above statement
Is that tweeters can not interact correctly due to wavelength effect and physical distance at optimal crossover points, so how the hell does a super tweeter integrate.
DISCLAIMER............................................................................
All synergy/unity/meh designs not included in the above statement
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