What kind of tweeter do you prefer ??

oldflame said:
Like Dr.Fuse, and tarior, I've always felt the implementation would be more important than material. With my high frequency hearing loss I'm surprised to prefer silk domes to metal. Although it's not supposed to matter, and it could be my sample size is too small, but the metal I've heard is harder and more etched than the silks I've had. Sure, it could be the coincidence of crossover interaction, too. So far silk tweeters seem to deliver the delicacy without metallic glare in my limited experience.
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That's been my experience, too. Although I have read that there are aluminum tweeters out there which are "smoother" than silk domes.
 
d.v.jorge said:
There are many materials to make tweeters and many tweeter models too. Silk, soft dome, aluminum, titanium, beryllium, paper, etc. I would like to hear your preferences and what kind of music do you listen to. I find that silk tweeters aren't my preference to listen to rock or metal music, however, aluminum domes sound better for me when listening to rock. Titanium is too bright to my taste causing me fatigue. I have heard people to say that beryllium (Focal) is the best tweeter for jazz. Some people say that silk domes are better for classical music and vocals. Just to know your preferences.! Thanks
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For extended periods of listening I prefer a paper/pulp inverted dome (without ferro fluid), paper cone and some ribbons. Even though there is an early roll-off they are smooth and natural. For nearfield use (mixing, studio recording playback) and brief listening periods air motion, metal dome and silk dome.
 
From L to R on the picture below :

Monacor DT-280 : 28mm Silk dome, rubber frontplate damping, FC=4.5kHz.
Beyma CP21/F-8 : blade-horn tweeter, 38.1mm Aluminium diaphragm, FC=5kHz.
Magnepan SMGb : ribbon tweeter, FC=3kHz.

Used with 6dB/Oct. Series crossover, they all sound smooth and crisp to my ears...

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Tough one The RBH reference tweeter has incredible air, great detail. But, my fav is still the Scan Speak D2905/9500. This was RBH’s reference tweeter a few years back. Like warm honey into the ears. They are stunning. Dynaudio also uses excellent tweeters.
 

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tubelectron said:
From L to R on the picture below :

Monacor DT-280 : 28mm Silk dome, rubber frontplate damping, FC=4.5kHz.
Beyma CP21/F-8 : blade-horn tweeter, 38.1mm Aluminium diaphragm, FC=5kHz.
Magnepan SMGb : ribbon tweeter, FC=3kHz.

Used with 6dB/Oct. Series crossover, they all sound smooth and crisp to my ears...

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Point of order, the SMG does not have a magnepan true ribbon tweeter, the finest high frequency reproducer to my ears, but a magnetic planar Quasi-Ribbon tweeter, a nearly as good but meshes a bit better with most magnepan midrange/bass drivers high frequency tweeter
This has been totally ameliorated with the latest gen maggie speakers, 2.7 and up, (the slight discontinuity between maggie true ribbon and qr drivers)\
 
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jazzmans said:
Point of order, the SMG does not have a magnepan true ribbon tweeter, the finest high frequency reproducer to my ears, but a magnetic planar Quasi-Ribbon tweeter, a nearly as good but meshes a bit better with most magnepan midrange/bass drivers high frequency tweeter
This has been totally ameliorated with the latest gen maggie speakers, 2.7 and up, (the slight discontinuity between maggie true ribbon and qr drivers)\
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Yes, right @jazzmans : the SMGb is a small model not fitted with a true Ribbon tweeter, but a quasi-ribbon tweeter supported by the same film as the bass-midrange section of that speaker, hence possibly the better "blend" ?

Pic taken when I reglued the wires ends of the mid-bass section :

4ojXMb-P1100391.jpg


A friend of mine has a larger model with true Ribbon : the MG 2.5/R if I recall correctly. When not in use, he has to plug the tweeter section by the back with a cover bar to avoid possible damages to the sensitive ribbon... Which offers a very crispy sound, less subdued than on the SMGb.

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It is a tougher question than it sounds. I see people say to avoid metal tweeters. I have a pair of Energy's, and Cerwin's that have metal tweeters, and to me they sound fine. My Tannoy's have silks and they also sound fine. Right up there with my old Mirage.

My preamp is pretty laid back, so I am almost sure that is why they sound fine to me. I need a better preamp I think.
 
Daveintn said:
I am curious to know why you picked this particular stone
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I like the red, gemmy, beryl because they are rare. The stone(mineral) is a " beryl" and is the primary ore for beryllium. :biggrin: It is a pretty common mineral in other colors.
 
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The material and style of a tweeter are significant factors, but are less important than how well it's use is executed. I prefer a good tweeter that's well implemented, and is crossed over to maintain coherency.
 
My favorite tweeter is the chickadee. They are plentyful and I love the way they sound. It’s sound is just warm and pleasing not harsh at all. I would describe it as a very ear friendly tweeter.
 
Lots of nice tweeters, my favorite would be the ceramic tweeter from Accuton (only ones that make ceramic drivers) , there is no other tweeter or midrange for that matter that does piano so convincing as them imo. IMG_3162.jpeg
 
restorer-john said:
Well let's break it down and summarize tweeters...

Paper. Paper is cheap. Paper tweeters must be low-end, cheap and can't sound good.
Silk is organic sounding and of course smooth.
Soft domes are, well, nice and soft, but stronger than silk.
Titanium, well it just has to be harsh and brittle doesn't it?
Aluminium, that's easy. Its metallic, bright and not really strong. Reminds me of alfoil and beer cans. Cheap sounding.
Alumina. That chit is hard, like diamond, but super thin and easy to break, but looks pretty cool. Needs to be vapor deposited for domes. Must sound fragile, like expensive crystal.
Beryllium. That chit is sure hard to work with, toxic, brittle and expensive and only a few manufacturers have ever really done it. Used in the high end so it will be polarizing and there will be no consensus on whether it is good or bad.
Polycarbonate. Well it did sound exotic 3 decades ago, but now even our headlights are made of it. Too common to sound any good.

Logical tweeter to use? A silk soft dome. It's name sounds good, they're reasonably durable and cheap and sound like their name implies.

Easy.

The best tweeter is a working one. :)
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Working and does not sound like nails on a chalkboard is fine with me. Hell I'm in my 70's and hear anything above 15khz anyway.
 
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