What is the most used, most popular good tweeter ever? DIY or mass market and why?

..the Scan speak D2010 for instance.

I hate that tweeter. (..absolutely "bright" piercingly-unpleasant sounding, but I wouldn't say it sounded like a metalic dome per se. When reviewers talk about a tweeter sounding "strident" - that's what this tweeter is.)

I'd suggest looking at these "two" for different reasons/use: (..all are high value.)

A.

SB26STAC-C000-4 / Fabric – Sbacoustics

or its smaller alternative:

SB26STCN-C000-4 / Fabric – Sbacoustics

B.

DA32TX00-08 - Tymphany
 
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Bose 301 paper cone tweeter? Nice...

The CTS mentioned by Mr. Cal Weldon is a recreation of the classic Acoustic Research Cone tweeter]

Used in some decent Acoustic Research AR4 speakers years ago:

I have heard these things and there was a lot to like about them.

In fact I have just dug out my own homage:

Very smooth. And the price is right at a puny £6.50:

Monacor :: Monacor HT-22/8 PS6.46

Not perfect in some aspects, but I think you'll have to throw the big bucks at it for better. :D

Oh wow. Absolute bargain tweeter at that cost. As I said I have heard paper tweeters sound remarkably good. They tend to be used in extremely cheap speakers a lot of the time whose construction and build leaves a lot to be desired, or with all in one mini systems with their throw away speakers. I'm not sure if I would use any in a project myself but they can produce results you certainly don't expect for sure. Dome Tweeters do tend to dominate the market though and what most have become acustomed to seeing, hearing and using.

I seen those Acoustic Research around, never heard a set unfortunately.
 
I hate that tweeter. (..absolutely "bright" piercingly-unpleasant sounding, but I wouldn't say it sounded like a metalic dome per se. When reviewers talk about a tweeter sounding "strident" - that's what this tweeter is.)

I'd suggest looking at these "two" for different reasons/use: (..all are high value.)

A.

SB26STAC-C000-4 / Fabric – Sbacoustics

or its smaller alternative:

SB26STCN-C000-4 / Fabric – Sbacoustics


B.

DA32TX00-08 - Tymphany

That's interesting what you say about the D2010. Yes they are bright (ish) and no it does not sound like a metal dome I agree. But I do think it does a good job of sounding metallic as in reproduction of metal things like cymbals steel guitar strings etc, the way I feel it recreates/produces frequencies and harmonics anyway. And it adds more atmosphere than most soft domes. Perhaps that is down to the brightness you dislike. It does still share more of the characteristics associated with soft domes. I like metal domes and usually turn my nose up at soft domes, but not always, but it is one of the exceptions, among others. I actually think its a remarkable tweeter but the price is getting high on them. You see them in so many designs though, and often flagship speakers.

Nice suggestions on the better value for money choices.
 
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The STAC also has a "bright" character - but it's character is "airy", not "strident". Good reproduced depth of field from it (down to about 2.5 kHz).

The Peerless needs a notch at its bell-mode resonance.

-with most domes generally use them at least .5db lower in pressure than what is shown for a flat freq. response.
 
On paper cones, I still enjoy the JBL LE20 and I think because of its Alnico pole piece, (high BL) in a low power tube setup it performs very well. Then came improvements with LE 25 and LE 26, until the dome tweeter emerged, and the smoothness ended ..... but, yes, they took their response to 40,000 Hz (-6db) like the titanium dome that it equipped to the famous L-100.
In the middle there was a flop that I think was the weird-looking one ... Mike Tyson and that tweeter had the same kind of punch on our eardrums. But I do not remember the model, the people with good memory can surely remember the model....
 

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I like and respect cone tweeters so much that after many years I manufactured a new batch of high power ones, to use in my own biamped Bass and Keyboard amplifiers.
Self quoting:
FWIW, I make my own speakers, and after many years I made cone tweeters again.
I am into Musical Instrument amplification and needed a LOUD tweeter, reaching as low as possible and biampable taking a lot of power, this is the end result.

4" cone, large (for a tweeter) high power 19mm voice coil which takes 35/40W RMS, I am talking 35/40W **at the tweeter voice coil** , system power can be as high as 500W RMS, intended use is slapping Bass players, Keyboard amps, and compact PA systems, without needing to resort to a horn + driver combination .
Huge (for a Tweeter) magnet: 73 mm diameter , some 4 or 5 times as heavy the Monacor or Goldwood one.
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That it is interesting. Being an audiophile/ enthusiast for perhaps possibly a good 30 years in the UK, more if you include my childhood as well :) Those are not two I've come across much in the UK. In fact they look like some I've never seen before! Just goes to show it can very much be a regional thing as well.
CTS I have not seen, but the Philips tweeter was hugely popular in Scandinavia during 70's..80's. I would believe that in other parts of europe too, acc. to Troels G.
My first build had those Philips AD0162 tweeters + 10" Peerless in the end of 70's. Later came Seas, Audax etc.
 
Bought s/hand a pair of Heybrook Sextet Mk 1V in 98. They have Toningen ribbon tweeters, I could never go back to any other kind of tweeter. Sadly the Japanese makers would only go on making them if they received a massive order, sao sadly stopped making them.

Also bought a pair of AMT Grand Heils with a plan to use them in OB speakers, very surprised that no one mentioned ribbon tweeters.
 
Funny, i think d2010 is very good tweeter, i still use them in one of my speakers.

I have pair of vifa d26nc and not long ago i picked them up to see if i could use them for a project and both tweeters where dead, not a sound! Runned some impedance measurements and it where clear that coils where fine but domes where stucked, it turned out that the magnet fluid had dried up. Now i have a working pair but without magnet fluid

Peerless and audax had tweeters with rectangular faceplats that both where very popular
 
Peerless by Tymphany D19TD-05 3/4" Poly Dome Tweeter

As used in the Snell K, JPW P1, AP2, AP3 and loads of other commercial speakers.

Yes great suggestion. Those are extremely popular and are seen in many designs and brands. Also good value for money and certainly at the low cost end of decent tweeters. They may well be winning on those counts. I'm sure it's used in diy a lot as well, or as replacements.