Hi,
I am in need of a new project and am thinking of building a set of ZDT 3.5's. I understand they are a good sounding speaker and am keen to get back into a 3 way system. Currently i am listening to a set of ME2's with a Sub.
I was wondering if anyone has suggested mods or improvements for this speaker. I read a few people have been a bit disappointed by the quality of the tweeter, is it worthwhile upping the spec on this item? would the sound of this tweeter be a downgrade on the sound of the scan speak on the ME2's? Maybe I could make a swappable module for the tweeter to experiment with it a bit.
Listening tastes primarily Electronic, Metal, Rock, Alt rock, I especially enjoy listening to production methods
I have ordered drivers but not crossover components so far.
Cheers Chris
I am in need of a new project and am thinking of building a set of ZDT 3.5's. I understand they are a good sounding speaker and am keen to get back into a 3 way system. Currently i am listening to a set of ME2's with a Sub.
I was wondering if anyone has suggested mods or improvements for this speaker. I read a few people have been a bit disappointed by the quality of the tweeter, is it worthwhile upping the spec on this item? would the sound of this tweeter be a downgrade on the sound of the scan speak on the ME2's? Maybe I could make a swappable module for the tweeter to experiment with it a bit.
Listening tastes primarily Electronic, Metal, Rock, Alt rock, I especially enjoy listening to production methods
I have ordered drivers but not crossover components so far.
Cheers Chris
Hi Chris,
The tweeter of the ZDT3.5 is indeed an issue IMO:
I think the ZDT3.5 is a good design, but I wish Zaph would have found a different solution for the tweeter. A swappable module providing the option to try a different tweeter is a very good idea for sure.
The tweeter of the ZDT3.5 is indeed an issue IMO:
- It's a rear mount driver which calls for the construction of a removable baffle.
- The crossover is based on Zaph's own measurement which is several dBs below manufacturer specification. You possibly need to adjust the level or even redesign the tweeter section of the crossover.
- It's a bit questionable if the small tweeter is able to keep up in terms of sound quality and maximum SPL with the Dayton RS drivers.
I think the ZDT3.5 is a good design, but I wish Zaph would have found a different solution for the tweeter. A swappable module providing the option to try a different tweeter is a very good idea for sure.
For the price point I think his choice of tweeter and mid/tweeter crossover is spot on. The ND20FB has very flat response and distortion above 3.5kHz is as good as any $50-$100 tweeter, it just can't play low. In the ZDT3.5 it's not asked to play low so there should be no distortion issue. That fact that it is really compact and can be positioned right on the perimeter of the dome mid alleviates the polar response issues of crossing high as much as possible. Using a better small tweeter (SB29RDCN or XT25SC90 perhaps) you could cross lower (say 2.5kHz) and better hide the slightly peaking distortion of the RS52A that occurs around 4.3kHz. Vertical polar response would also improve a bit. I can't say that I believe the tweeter itself would sound significantly better by changing that.
What I would change first is to redesign the woofer/mid crossover from 2nd order to 4th order slopes. LR2 @ 850Hz is pushing the RS52A pretty hard and Zaph even comments that he heard distortion from the mid when the system was pushed. With a 4th order slope the distortion on the mid will remain low up to significantly higher levels.
Of course, no disrespect to Zaph - the design is an excellent balance of performance and budget. The design choices of the tweeter and lower order woofer/mid crossover are exactly that - a way to keep the cost down while only having small performance drawbacks. To effectively implement the above changes requires knowing how to properly redesign the crossover. I would recommend just building the design as-is if you aren't confident. It's a good design for the budget.
What I would change first is to redesign the woofer/mid crossover from 2nd order to 4th order slopes. LR2 @ 850Hz is pushing the RS52A pretty hard and Zaph even comments that he heard distortion from the mid when the system was pushed. With a 4th order slope the distortion on the mid will remain low up to significantly higher levels.
Of course, no disrespect to Zaph - the design is an excellent balance of performance and budget. The design choices of the tweeter and lower order woofer/mid crossover are exactly that - a way to keep the cost down while only having small performance drawbacks. To effectively implement the above changes requires knowing how to properly redesign the crossover. I would recommend just building the design as-is if you aren't confident. It's a good design for the budget.
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HI Thanks for the advice on this, i really appreciate your thoughts.
I didn't mean any disrespect to the designer just was thinking the design is a few years old now and new technology and products come to market all the time.
Well i reckon that i will go ahead with building a seperate tweeter module so maybe with the tweeter crossover built in so i can experiment with a few different models for a bit of fun. Will have to start mocking up in cad to see how it could work and still look decent.
I will start out stock and muck about from there. I have a set of those peerless xt tweeters that were given to me by a friend but are gathering dust.
Does anyone have a recommended a budgetish (sub us$100) ribbon tweeter that would be worth experimenting with as well? If I allow for the size of a ribbon tweeter in my cabinet design I can at least leave things wide open for experimentation and maintain sufficient WAF rating.
Cheers Chris
I didn't mean any disrespect to the designer just was thinking the design is a few years old now and new technology and products come to market all the time.
Well i reckon that i will go ahead with building a seperate tweeter module so maybe with the tweeter crossover built in so i can experiment with a few different models for a bit of fun. Will have to start mocking up in cad to see how it could work and still look decent.
I will start out stock and muck about from there. I have a set of those peerless xt tweeters that were given to me by a friend but are gathering dust.
Does anyone have a recommended a budgetish (sub us$100) ribbon tweeter that would be worth experimenting with as well? If I allow for the size of a ribbon tweeter in my cabinet design I can at least leave things wide open for experimentation and maintain sufficient WAF rating.
Cheers Chris
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