It's not that I hate dome tweeters. I can live with them in my secondary system. But when it comes to realy reproducing music like it sounds in reality (I'm a sound engineer, I hear a lot in reality) then dome tweeters, or at least the ones I have heard up untill now, just don't do the job right. That's exactly what I'm missing in most commercial "High End" systems nomatter at what cost. I have heard million dollar systems fail on this. It is hard to describe what it is exactly, but I'm missing the dimension of instruments on them. It sound like it is floating in air somewhere (what High end folks like to call good imaging, they obviously don't hear much live music) but is doesn't have the attack, the weight and body and right size of the real instruments. It's hard to describe, but if you have never heard it that way you probalbly don't know better (no offence, really) and still think something like a seas millenium is the best you can get. Compare them with some Fostex T925 for example and you know what I mean. (o.k. not exactly interchangable, but it's just an example) It is not that I can not listen to them. o yes I can, as long as it play good music I can listen to anything, it's just that I think that most of the High end industry is on the wrong track at the moment.
The best highs I have heard sofar where from a Oris Horn with AER MD3 fullrange drivers. I couldn't believe it myself at first, but yes out of a 8" fullrange drivers (well one of the most expensive ones around) Too bad I don't have the room to put up a Oris Horn system, and I would also have to change my woofers cause what I have now isn't capable of playing into midrange.
Anyways, it is hard to say what is best, I fully agree. I like ribbons more but they also have disadvantages. It very hard to combine them with a good midrange in order to get a good integration and body in the upper mids. Domes are way easier to work with.
Tweeters I liked best so far are (but still not perfect) :
Raven R2 (that damn narrow vertical dispersion)
Fostex T925A and T500A
Oris Horn with AER MD3 (not a tweeter, but very good highs)
Problem is that the best highs came from the most difficult units to combine with amplifiers and midranges, too bad for me.
Over the years I have found many woofers and many midrange drivers I can live with (I can live with the PHL's as much as with the Phy-Hp's for example) , but it's getting harder and harder to find a tweeter I really like. I have spend lots and lots of money on them, just in my search for the perfect one. I think the tweeter is the most important unit of a speaker system. If you gonna build a new system, spend the best money on the tweeter and give it the best amplification you've got
O.k. back on the Yamaha. I have bought them second hand for 120 euro, not that much money, and they where intended to go with the PHL's in a small reflex system. Reason to choose for the Yamaha's where: 1: they where available at a good price 2: out of curiousity 3: a ribbon to match the PHL would be to expensive for what this system was intended for (bedroom music)
Pfffff, long post. It's not my intention to offent anyone, don't get me wrong on that please. It's just that I hope that there are more people out there that recognize my problem and are willing to admit that this tweeters they have just spend a thousand dollars on still don't sound like the real thing, it's not a shame, happened to me a lot.