Soft dome VS ribbon VS AMT

[3wayaddict]

Hello,

I´m going to give my system an overhaul, building much better cabinets, adding a powerconditioner, really do my best to get the crossovers and DSP dailed in perfectly and swapping the tweeter.
You'll probably get angry at me for wanting to swap the tweeters because my current tweeters are the SB-Acoustics TW29B-B's which are some of the best beryllium domes on the market. Though I have concluded that I enjoy hard dome tweeters less than anticipated.
So now I'm doubting if I should get a soft dome (Scan-Speak Illuminator D3004/662000), ribbon (Aurum Cantus G3, G1 or AST 25120(?)) or AMT (Mundorf AMT 25CS2.1-R).
I know this very much depends on the implementation in the design but what are your general thoughts about the characteristics of each type?

I've lately heard the DALI Epicon 6's. I absolutely loved those, especially the wonderfull texture they had in the highs. As far as is know they right now are my favourite speakers I've ever heared, which makes me like them better than the Wilson Audio Sasha DAW. The Kroma Audio Carmen and Elektra I haven't heared for over a year so I can't judge.

The DALI's combine a soft dome and ribbon tweeter though doing the same I think is beyond my budget if I want top notch drivers. What do you think I'll get mot similar results with if I have to choose between dome and ribbon if I'm looking for that texture and transparency? And what about a AMT?

 

[Inductor]

Hi, I'm interested on your workings. I'm doing a soft dome first. A Beyma TPL in the distant future.

 

[Jonasz]

Try the Satori domemid and a small Raal from 5kHz.

 

[Bill poster]

Surprised you found the Be to have a typical hard dome character. Did you try attenuating them a touch?

 

[eriksquires]

If you found the Satori Be's hard, but like the Dali ...


I don't think your problem is your drivers, it's the EQ. Keep what you have and get a miniDSP to figure out what needs to change, then either keep the miniDSP in place, or implement your changes in the crossover.

 

[eriksquires]

er, correction. Look for an EQ and/or room treatment issues.




I don't think you should start swapping tweeters out at this point.



Always fun to try new parts though.

 

[ScottG]

The DALI's combine a soft dome and ribbon tweeter though doing the same I think is beyond my budget if I want top notch drivers. What do you think I'll get mot similar results with if I have to choose between dome and ribbon if I'm looking for that texture and transparency? And what about a AMT?

Top-notch drivers aren't required to get a superior (subjective) result. More a matter of a balancing costs..

Basically a good soft dome gives that "meaty" 3D result, and the ribbon/planar gives the airy soundstage. This really only works IF the soft-dome tweeter is used lower in freq.. (..usually with a lower-order crossover at a more normal high-pass freq. with plenty of pressure below that: ie. gradually "roll-off" the low-end).

The drivers should be vertically close together - which likely requires some face-plate cutting.

ScanSpeak D3806/820000 | HiFiCompass

Spending that much on the soft-dome means less for the ribbon/planar: which is OK because you can find decent (at higher freq.) ribbons/planars for moderate prices..

Ribbons/Planars will always have more distortion, though most of that can be mitigated with a crossover at the right freq.. (typically 5-6 kHz with 2nd order high-pass). What you can't really reduce is the rising 2nd order distortion, but it's not like you can notice that at those freq.s.

I'd look to either the Fountek NeoCD 3.0 or the HiVi RT1.3WE. The NeoCD 3 gives you a bit more low freq. extension to work with while the RT1.3WE provides less low freq. extension but more pressure off-axis (horizontally) up to about 14 kHz. I'd choose the HiVi driver for this..

 

[Pilover2000]

Top-notch drivers aren't required to get a superior (subjective) result. More a matter of a balancing costs..

Aurum Cantus AST's are wonderful in spite of the cost. They aren't the most expensive option either. I have the 2560's crossed a little over 3k and like the sound stage a lot. They use little plastic like tubes with metal sprayed on them instead of foil or plastic. They aren't just another ribbon.
https://www.amazon.com/Aurum-Cantus...Diaphragm/dp/B004CSXZG2?tag=carampsforsale-20


The other suggestion I'd make is to try adding a dipole setup. It depends on taste but you don't know until you try.

 

[3wayaddict]

Looking at some measurments of ribbons and AMT's and comparing them to the Illuminator dome their performance doesn't seem that bad. And these are some random ribbons and AMT's, I can't find any measurments of the Mundorf 25 AMT so I think that should perform even a lot better. Though I did see they tent to have a large ridge in the decay. Do you think the mundorf will have this as well? And how bad are the consequences of it?

I was already thinking about a dipole. Especially the bass. It seemed like a very interesting experiment to me since people swear by them. Though I figured I should rather stick with sealed. Open baffle bass is the most detailed and quick you can get, though I think it isn't quite capable of the powerful rumble of a sealed or ported enclosure so I should stick with my sealed enclosures, offering both speed, thightness and power and punch.

And further than that, I don't have a room for open baffle. In fact, I pretty much have a room for headphones. And because the results of open baffle are very much dependant of the room. Also a lot in the midst and highest. I figured it's not for me.