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Good thing I didn't mention the Heil AMT tweeters.
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Which type of tweeter is the best, and why are there so many types of them?
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mhardy6647
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mhardy6647
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heh -- listenin' (somewhat ironically) to the late Ronnie Lane via a pair of AR-4x at the moment. Cone tweeters. 
Most speakers are going to have dome tweeters or AMT... Dome can do even dispersion in all directions, AMT dispersion is squashed vertically and can help you avoid ceiling and floor reflections.
Horn tweeters/compression drivers are for focused sound and high SPL, which means they can go loud. (Not to be confused with sounding more dynamic. If two speakers are playing in their operating range at the same volume levels, but one can potentially handle a 200dB burst, you aren't going to hear the difference unless you turn it up.)
The best tweeter in my opinion is whatever one you can find in a well made coaxial/concentric design, as all multi-way speakers seem to have lobeing issues vertically.
Horn tweeters/compression drivers are for focused sound and high SPL, which means they can go loud. (Not to be confused with sounding more dynamic. If two speakers are playing in their operating range at the same volume levels, but one can potentially handle a 200dB burst, you aren't going to hear the difference unless you turn it up.)
The best tweeter in my opinion is whatever one you can find in a well made coaxial/concentric design, as all multi-way speakers seem to have lobeing issues vertically.
I agree absolutely with the fundamental principle behind stevenswall's opinion - namely, that the best tweeter is the one which results in the best SYSTEM.
You don't collect the prize money for using the best tweeter. You collect it for making the best SYSTEM.
antennaguru
Senior Member
True, but that's thread drift away from answering the OP's question about different tweeter types and not whole speaker systems.
It is because math with complex number involve phase angle, which I find very strange, I feel complex number is not pure anymore if they have "phase"!!!!
For insight into "which type of tweeter is best", let's consider the data we have access to:
What are Revel and JBL and Genelec and Dutch & Dutch and Neumann doing, as far as tweeters, that is so very different from what everyone else is doing? It's not really obvious, is it? None of them have a "silver bullet" tweeter solution, as there are other speakers which use similar tweeters yet fall well short.
But what Revel and JBL and Genelec and Dutch & Dutch and Neumann all do REALLY well is, system design. They choose all the parts of the system (including the tweeter) to work together extremely well. You can actually SEE this in the Spin data. And you don't get killer Spins by prioritizing "the best tweeter"; you get killer Spins by prioritizing "the best system design".
So the "best tweeter" depends on the context - what are you trying to do, and what is the rest of the system like? The Revel tweeter would not be the best for the Dutch & Dutch 8c, and vice-versa.
"The highest rated loudspeaker is the least flawed, not the most virtuous." - Floyd Toole
This of course assumes that the goal is to end up with a really good system. If the goal is to end up with a really good tweeter, get a RAAL.
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valerianf
Addicted to Fun and Learning
The Plasma tweeter from Magnat was a revelation for me: 360 degree sound imaging, crystal clarity.
The Plasma flame was moving according to the sound!
Well it was in 1985 and this technology is no more available.
No other tweeter never impressed me so much.
Going back to nowadays tweeters, for sure for a custom made speaker I would chose a horn loaded compression tweeter with a titanium membrane. I have a old one from Audax (similar mechanical construction as an Eminence APT80) and it is still amazing (cristal clarity and dynamic).
Digital_Thor
Senior Member
One thing is price.... but quality seems to have less to do with performance, since the Seas DXT and the SB26ADC seems very high on the list of recommended tweeters - yet still cheap. Did read some benefits from Blissma.... but so expensive.
Anyone who tried or have links to finished or well designed DIY with Augerpro's waveguides and SB26ADC?
Anyone who tried or have links to finished or well designed DIY with Augerpro's waveguides and SB26ADC?
My cantilever on my Shure V15 Type V had a beryllium construction. Couldn't tell the difference between that an the aluminum design.
Hmm... since this is a thread about "tweeter technology", and since @Blumlein 88 invoked ribbon drivers
40-1375 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
The 40-1375 was sold as a bare driver by R/S for quite a few years (mid-80s into the early 90s, give or take) as an add-on/supertweeter with claimed response to "50 kHz"
View attachment 149266
source: https://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/flipbook/1984_radioshack_catalog.html
1) This is not a true ribbon but rather a planar driver (not unlike the large planars used by Magnepan in the Magneplanar loudspeakers).
2) This driver was an homage to/ripoff of
3) R/S also sold a complete loudspeaker system (the Optimus-400) that employed a more substantial variant of this driver. Perhaps (???) the Optimus-400 used the actual JVC OEM driver.
View attachment 149267
source: https://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/flipbook/1986_radioshack_catalog.html
I actually have a single example of the Optimus-400 tweeter here someplace
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* I don't remember if I have already mentioned these drivers in this thread, and I am too lazy to check!
Interesting...I just fried my JVC super tweeter in my VMPS Super Towers. Actually saw sparks in them! The JVC model was JVC HSW1101-01A Ribbon (Leaf) Tweeter. And they had about 6 variations with different specs. It was considered an excellent super tweeter in its day. I am now looking for a replacement. I'm just wondering how important is it really to match the Theil/Small parameters with my replacement considering the crossover is a 1st order, but at 15kHz. I also have an L-pad adjustment, plenty of power, and can use Audyssey to adjust EQ as well. And I can't hear that high anyway!
Any suggestions?
with all the qualifiers you mention I would say find one that fits and adjust .
Sounds like a good idea. I guess my primary concern would be power handling then. Don't know if it really matters if I go with a dome or planar. We have the speakers towed in, and we sit within 10 degrees of its vertical axis. Any suggestions?
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