Good inexpensive tweeter

Status
Not open for further replies.
Jump to Latest
#25
Cameron Glendin said:
Its their ribbon tweeters that I would like to try!!!! perhaps the indonesian distributer?
Click to expand...

Can't answer that but I guess if that doesn't work and you need to order overseas better get them from North American distributors than European ones, at least the purchasing price will be much lower. I can't explain the huge price difference between Europe and North America for a product that comes, after all, all the way from China. I'm not aware of any EU tariff that could explain this.
 
#26
Cameron Glendin said:
Its their ribbon tweeters that I would like to try!!!!
Click to expand...

are you sure? From Zaphaudio.com non dome test:

I often hear people babble on about the shimmer, sparkle and air of ribbon tweeters. These tests show where these "special effects" are coming from - distortion. Ribbons do have a unique distortion profile that many will find enjoyable with some music. That's OK, and it does not have to relfect badly on your "golden ear" status. However, if accuracy to the original signal is what you are after, one of these ribbons may not be the best solution. Ribbons are certainly not the best solution if you want to build a high-value system. Those building line arrays may want to take a good hard look at one of the longer B&G elements.

The B&G and Silver Flute are both planar designs, but they are also polar opposites. The YAG20 is probably one of the worst performers I've ever seen, while the B&G performs on level with the best domes. It's hard to say what went wrong and what went right in their designs.

Folks, we have a winner - The Bohlender Graebener Neo3 PDR.
Click to expand...
 
#27
BobEllis said:


are you sure? From Zaphaudio.com non dome test:
Click to expand...

I have never used ribbon tweeters myself and don't intend to but I have heard a lot of praise about a particular Hi-Vi ribbon driver --can't remember which one, but it was pricey for a Hi-Vi-- so perhaps Cameron is interested in that particular one? Considering the Hi-Vi quality/price ratio I imagine that a $100+ Hi-Vi tweeter (North American price) is a fairly high-end unit and perhaps represents the only affordable option for one wanting to try out a quality ribbon driver without having to spend a small fortune.
 
#29
Re: Re: Re: Re: Good inexpensive tweeter

Willitwork said:


If you order a pair of K1's you'll see why I'm convinced they are being sold way under cost, at least in North America. For some reason they are listed upwards to 59 euros on some European suppliers websites, and even at that price they're considered a bargain. The K1 is very similar to the Dynaudio D-28 both in looks and sonic character.
Click to expand...

Hi, Just wondering if you know if the K1 has tinsel lead in wires and will tolerate low crossover points like the D-28? Most do not suggest crossing the K1 low, but I don't see any reason from the performance data, so I'm wondering if the lead in wires break?

Have you ever had one fail?

Thanks,
Pete B.
 
#30
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Good inexpensive tweeter

PB2 said:


Hi, Just wondering if you know if the K1 has tinsel lead in wires and will tolerate low crossover points like the D-28? Most do not suggest crossing the K1 low, but I don't see any reason from the performance data, so I'm wondering if the lead in wires break?

Have you ever had one fail?

Thanks,
Pete B.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I don't know if the K1 have tinsel lead in their wires, the manufacturer's description is quite confusing. Obviously Hi-Vi Research does not believe that translation services should cost anything at all otherwise they wouldn't rely on Babel Fish to translate Cantonese or Mandarin Chinese into 'English' as they seem to be doing. This being said the leads and wiring appear to be of superior quality compared with that of tweeters costing a lot more. The whole built quality is in fact surprisingly sound, the unit has a very sturdy feel to it.

While this is not a tweeter that's primarily designed for 2-way systems with low-order Xovers, neither was the D-28 (they are both reputedly designed to be used with dome mids) and yet it has been successfully implemented in higher end 2-ways with a relatively low crossing point and reasonable power handling provided a crossover specifically designed to match the K1 and the accompanying driver is being used (we're talking nominal 100-120 watts here, not arena monsters). I have not achieved good results with this tweeter using Xovers built with cheap parts, if you're using a passive design it will require some expense on reasonable gauge air-core coils and film type caps (I use Solen but there are many alternatives).

Personally I'm using a pair of K-1's in an old Dynaudio kit I built many years ago and they sound better than the D-28's they are replacing. This could be due to the fact that the D28's were showing their age of course but i sincerely believe the D-28's never sounded that good. In fact it's while looking for new D-28's that I cam across the K-1. Initially I did not believe that a $10 tweeter would cut it but it did, and nicely so. The mods to the crossover were very minor. Crossover point is in the vicinity of 2100Hz (4th order). According to what a techie at Solen told me the manufacturer-recommended crossover point at 2500 is for a generic 3rd-order Xover.

They have never failed, even at high levels they display no sign of strain, image remains stable and definition is very detailed albeit somewhat soft, just like the D-28.

Hi-Vi drivers are now being used by some of the high-end manufacturers that previously used Dynaudio drivers, such as Totem, and no one is complaining of degraded performance. To me that's a pretty good sign. Now if only someone at Hi-Vi could take English lessons!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom