OK i know Beyma TPL is not supposed to need a supertweeter ( although Joseph Crowe measured 15 decibel drop by 20 khz on TPL 150 )
and in fact some here believe Radian LM8K doesn't need a supertweeter even though on Radian's own measurements it drops like a cliff above about 15 khz
and i agree for prosound use they can just be used full range and i probably wouldn't even hear the difference but it would not be a true audiophile system IMO
reality is that some young women can hear past 20 khz ... in fact i used to know one who would put her ear against the magnesium alloy tweeter on my studio monitors and just listen to the tweeter because she was fascinated by the sound of it ... as much as i tried to stop her ( explaining it was very bad for her hearing ) she refused to stop ...
back then i myself could hear to almost 20 khz and i'm sure it's a lot less now ( haven't tested it in recent years ) but even if i personally wouldn't hear the roll off in the Beyma TPL i would like to have a speaker where NOBODY can hear the roll off.
most true ribbons will easily hit 20 khz and go well past it ... but would they be able to keep up with an array of Beyma TPLs ?
i know what you're thinking - isophasic you can't afford an array of Beyma TPLs ! and that is true - i can't ! not a floor to ceiling array anyway. but i was thinking what if i do like a partial array that is only about 2 feet long ... it would still be hideously expensive but it might actually be worth it ( unlike a 8 foot array )
you know yesterday i compared the pictures of Beyma TPL to the non-prosound pleated tweeter from Aurum Cantus and there is no comparison. the Beyma is on a completely another level. check these pictures:
Aurum Cantus:
notice the uneven pleating. notice the thin metal bars ( the magnets are proportionally small to bar thin-ness )
notice the perfectly even pleating and the thick metal bars ( magnets are proportionally large to bar thickness )
you can clearly see the difference in price even without listening.
which made me wonder - if consumer AMT is so inferior to prosound AMT - how good can a consumer true ribbon really be ? Aurum Cantus is already on the high-end side of things when it comes to ribbons ( obviously not when compared to RAAL )
the problem with RAAL is even though it has very wide and flat frequency response ( to like 100 khz ) it is achieved by using thin flat foil and large volume rear chamber which ultimately exposes the ribbon to being SHREDDED by any kind of loud bass from the woofers hitting it. i mean there has to be a reason why you don't see any true ribbons in prosound.
so i am not sure that ultra-thin flat ribbon is really the answer. maybe a bit thicker and corrugated is better. also i think the back chamber should probably be stuffed with some styrofoam to reduce the volume of the cavity by like 90% so that there is less air movement at low frequencies and the ribbon isn't ripped. after all i don't need the ribbon going down to 2 khz, only to about 8 khz.
i actually think RAAL placing transformer inside the magnetic structure is a bad idea because although it makes for a more compact driver and larger volume chamber it is now more difficult to modify the acoustical properties of the chamber when the transformer is sitting in there. i prefer outside transformer like in most other designs.
but outside of RAAL the Aurum Cantus was already the best built true ribbon that i know yet the build quality of their AMT is a joke compared to the build quality of Beyma TPL ...
so what is a bro supposed to use as a true ribbon supertweeter to mate to Beyma TPL200 at around 8 khz ?
would be nice if Beyma made a true ribbon but we know it will never happen. and RAAL replacement ribbons are too expensive. Fountek sandwich ribbon not loud enough to keep up with TPL and Aurum Cantus loud enough but looks like it was made in some basement.
should i just accept the sketchy build quality of Aurum Cantus and simply look at it as charming rather than unprofessional ? i mean considering it would only cover the top octave a compromise there is definitely on the table.
the Beyma TPL by comparison would cover a far more critical frequency range - one in which i am not ready to compromise.
when comparing Beyma TPL to Radian LM8K there is no comparison. the Beyma is much flatter response, much more efficient and with higher power handling to boot. and this is true even when only using it to 8 khz. in fact i don't see any other driver coming near Beyma TPL between 3 khz and 8 khz. not even the Eighteen Sound AMT, which costs the same as the Beyma.
but the Beyma doesn't reach 20 khz ... i just need to find the right True Ribbon supertweeter to use above 8 khz which is about where Beyma TPL200 begins to falter based on tests by Vance Dickason:
https://audioxpress.com/article/tes...a-tpl200-h-pro-sound-air-velocity-transformer
3 khz to 8 khz this TPL200 is just PERFECTION
and in fact some here believe Radian LM8K doesn't need a supertweeter even though on Radian's own measurements it drops like a cliff above about 15 khz
and i agree for prosound use they can just be used full range and i probably wouldn't even hear the difference but it would not be a true audiophile system IMO
reality is that some young women can hear past 20 khz ... in fact i used to know one who would put her ear against the magnesium alloy tweeter on my studio monitors and just listen to the tweeter because she was fascinated by the sound of it ... as much as i tried to stop her ( explaining it was very bad for her hearing ) she refused to stop ...
back then i myself could hear to almost 20 khz and i'm sure it's a lot less now ( haven't tested it in recent years ) but even if i personally wouldn't hear the roll off in the Beyma TPL i would like to have a speaker where NOBODY can hear the roll off.
most true ribbons will easily hit 20 khz and go well past it ... but would they be able to keep up with an array of Beyma TPLs ?
i know what you're thinking - isophasic you can't afford an array of Beyma TPLs ! and that is true - i can't ! not a floor to ceiling array anyway. but i was thinking what if i do like a partial array that is only about 2 feet long ... it would still be hideously expensive but it might actually be worth it ( unlike a 8 foot array )
you know yesterday i compared the pictures of Beyma TPL to the non-prosound pleated tweeter from Aurum Cantus and there is no comparison. the Beyma is on a completely another level. check these pictures:
Aurum Cantus:
notice the uneven pleating. notice the thin metal bars ( the magnets are proportionally small to bar thin-ness )
notice the perfectly even pleating and the thick metal bars ( magnets are proportionally large to bar thickness )
you can clearly see the difference in price even without listening.
which made me wonder - if consumer AMT is so inferior to prosound AMT - how good can a consumer true ribbon really be ? Aurum Cantus is already on the high-end side of things when it comes to ribbons ( obviously not when compared to RAAL )
the problem with RAAL is even though it has very wide and flat frequency response ( to like 100 khz ) it is achieved by using thin flat foil and large volume rear chamber which ultimately exposes the ribbon to being SHREDDED by any kind of loud bass from the woofers hitting it. i mean there has to be a reason why you don't see any true ribbons in prosound.
so i am not sure that ultra-thin flat ribbon is really the answer. maybe a bit thicker and corrugated is better. also i think the back chamber should probably be stuffed with some styrofoam to reduce the volume of the cavity by like 90% so that there is less air movement at low frequencies and the ribbon isn't ripped. after all i don't need the ribbon going down to 2 khz, only to about 8 khz.
i actually think RAAL placing transformer inside the magnetic structure is a bad idea because although it makes for a more compact driver and larger volume chamber it is now more difficult to modify the acoustical properties of the chamber when the transformer is sitting in there. i prefer outside transformer like in most other designs.
but outside of RAAL the Aurum Cantus was already the best built true ribbon that i know yet the build quality of their AMT is a joke compared to the build quality of Beyma TPL ...
so what is a bro supposed to use as a true ribbon supertweeter to mate to Beyma TPL200 at around 8 khz ?
would be nice if Beyma made a true ribbon but we know it will never happen. and RAAL replacement ribbons are too expensive. Fountek sandwich ribbon not loud enough to keep up with TPL and Aurum Cantus loud enough but looks like it was made in some basement.
should i just accept the sketchy build quality of Aurum Cantus and simply look at it as charming rather than unprofessional ? i mean considering it would only cover the top octave a compromise there is definitely on the table.
the Beyma TPL by comparison would cover a far more critical frequency range - one in which i am not ready to compromise.
when comparing Beyma TPL to Radian LM8K there is no comparison. the Beyma is much flatter response, much more efficient and with higher power handling to boot. and this is true even when only using it to 8 khz. in fact i don't see any other driver coming near Beyma TPL between 3 khz and 8 khz. not even the Eighteen Sound AMT, which costs the same as the Beyma.
but the Beyma doesn't reach 20 khz ... i just need to find the right True Ribbon supertweeter to use above 8 khz which is about where Beyma TPL200 begins to falter based on tests by Vance Dickason:
https://audioxpress.com/article/tes...a-tpl200-h-pro-sound-air-velocity-transformer
3 khz to 8 khz this TPL200 is just PERFECTION