Should I be worried the planar tweeter will be higher than my ear level?

[PashkaTLT]

Hello,

I was going to buy some speakers that I heard at an audio show and loved. However, they are taller than my current speakers.

Their planar tweeter plays either 8kHz+ or 800Hz+, depending on the mode.

This center of the planar tweeter will be 13.5" above my ear level at a distance of 47" to the front face of the speakers.
So the angle between the line from the tweeter to my ear and tweeter's horizontal line is about 16 degrees.
I could put my subwoofers on the side and make them 4" lower, then the angle would be 11.4 degrees. I took some average planar tweeter vertical dispersion angle (the manufacturer says he doesn't have this data for that specific planar) and I made calculations, and here are how much quieter different high frequencies will be at my ear level due to the tweeters being higher:

Frequency	16° (13.5" above)	11.4° (9.5" above)
10 kHz	~3.2 dB	~1.6 dB
12 kHz	~5.1 dB	~2.6 dB
14 kHz	~7.4 dB	~3.9 dB
16 kHz	~9.8 dB	~5.4 dB

(the last column is if I put the subwoofers on the sides)

As you can see, if we are to believe my calculations (they may be wrong), there's some significant reduction in SPL at high frequencies and that stops me from ordering the speakers.

But maybe I'm overreacting and in reality I won't hear the difference?

 

[DVDdoug]

It depends on how it actually sounds.

Sometimes it helps to tilt the speakers, angling them down. But then the distance from the speaker affects the angle.

Or just boosting the highs may take care of it.

BTW - My tweeters are very high and angled down.

 

[tineared]

I have never owned any planar speakers so cannot offer a useful opinion on your justifiable concern about tweeter dispersion.
But I find it somewhat disturbing that the manufacturer does not have or is not willing to share that information.

 

[PashkaTLT]

It depends on how it actually sounds.

Sometimes it helps to tilt the speakers, angling them down. But then the distance from the speaker affects the angle.

Or just boosting the highs may take care of it.

BTW - My tweeters are very high and angled down.

I guess, I could progressively boost HFs (the higher the frequency, the bigger the boost) with my miniDSP (it allows each channel EQ)...

I assume in your case your tweetwers are separate from your speakers so you could angle them down, or you angled down the whole speakers?

In my case, the tweeters are not separate from the speakers

 

[PashkaTLT]

But I find it somewhat disturbing that the manufacturer does not have or is not willing to share that information.

I agree. I voiced my concern about tweeters being too high in my future set up first, and then asked for polar diagrams or dispersion angles, and perhaps they don't want to scare me even more with a low dispersion angle...

 

[tineared]

I agree. I voiced my concern about tweeters being too high in my future set up first, and then asked for polar diagrams or dispersion angles, and perhaps they don't want to scare me even more with a low dispersion angle...

What is the name of the manufacturer? This behavior raises suspicions and I would be concerned about longevity and the warranty situation.

 

[MarkS]

Many manufacturers do not release measurements, or release only a limited set.

Can you buy them on a trial basis, with return privileges?

 

[MayI]

I was going to buy some speakers that I heard at an audio show and loved. However, they are taller than my current speakers.

Their planar tweeter plays either 8kHz+ or 800Hz+, depending on the mode.

That's odd, "mode"? It's switchable to 10x frequency? What speaker is this?

 

[MayI]

Can you buy them on a trial basis, with return privileges?

Always best option if possible ;-)

 

[kemmler3D]

I think you are probably right to be concerned about this, flat tweeters often have narrow or uneven dispersion at high frequency.

Can you put the subwoofers off to the sides and lower the speakers more?

Beyond that I think you might also want to think twice about buying these... A selectable 800hz / 8000hz crossover sounds kind of crazy on the face of it. And the designer *doesn't have* the vertical polars? Not from the tweeter manufacturer and not from their own measurements? So they designed it totally disregarding vertical dispersion, or with no measurements at all, maybe?

It sounded good at the show, cool... But I'd recommend listening again if you can. If you are concerned about a couple dB drop >10Khz, something tells me that's not going to be the only issue with this design ...

 

[orchardaudio]

Hello,

I was going to buy some speakers that I heard at an audio show and loved. However, they are taller than my current speakers.

Their planar tweeter plays either 8kHz+ or 800Hz+, depending on the mode.

This center of the planar tweeter will be 13.5" above my ear level at a distance of 47" to the front face of the speakers.
So the angle between the line from the tweeter to my ear and tweeter's horizontal line is about 16 degrees.
I could put my subwoofers on the side and make them 4" lower, then the angle would be 11.4 degrees. I took some average planar tweeter vertical dispersion angle (the manufacturer says he doesn't have this data for that specific planar) and I made calculations, and here are how much quieter different high frequencies will be at my ear level due to the tweeters being higher:

Frequency	16° (13.5" above)	11.4° (9.5" above)
10 kHz	~3.2 dB	~1.6 dB
12 kHz	~5.1 dB	~2.6 dB
14 kHz	~7.4 dB	~3.9 dB
16 kHz	~9.8 dB	~5.4 dB

(the last column is if I put the subwoofers on the sides)

As you can see, if we are to believe my calculations (they may be wrong), there's some significant reduction in SPL at high frequencies and that stops me from ordering the speakers.

But maybe I'm overreacting and in reality I won't hear the difference?

Did you speak with me (Leo) and Joe at the NYC show? I think I remember you. You almost purchased the show speakers.

 

[PashkaTLT]

Did you speak with me (Leo) and Joe at the NYC show? I think I remember you. You almost purchased the show speakers.

Hi, Leo, yes, that was me! What a small world

 

[MKR]

Hi, Leo, yes, that was me! What a small world

@PashkaTLT Congrats on the Soundfields, superb loudspeakers, you are gonna love em