Omni directional tweeters

Why do some speakers feature a rear mounted tweeter? Find out why as well get an explanation of the omni directional tweeter.

[@user-dl1wx1nr7p]

I had a pair of the Ohm Walsh speakers, they were some of the most natural sounding speakers I ever owned. I still regret selling them. Beautiful sounding speakers.

[@AllboroLCD]

Ive have the privilege of visiting the OHM speakers HQ in Brooklyn years back and auditioned a few models of the Walsh series omni speakers. Sound was amazing I must say, although they are subwoofer dependent for full range.

[@jamesrobinson9176]

Hi paul! I really liked the lunch series, Chris especially seemed so much more comfortable and engaging! Really good job

[@Paulmcgowanpsaudio]

Thanks! Therre will be more.

[@IndySnowman]

Stewart Hegeman was a pioneer of omni speaker design, making them for Harmon Kardon in the 60s and later with his own company. Richard Shahinian expanded on Hegeman’s philosophy and came up with the Shahinian Obelisk in the 70s, a groundbreaking design at its time.

[@gralen]

I have the Mirage OM 10. When I was hunting for speakers in the 2003 I had picked the B&W 603. I went home to get the money and they were gone the next day. I went to 3 places in Maryland and 2 in Virginia. For some reason, they were sold out. The salesman introduce me to some very tall towers. I listen to them and bought the OM 10 They are Omni directional with the woofer and tweeter in the back, I still have them after all these years and they still sound good. They require a lot of power so they are paired up to a 150 watt per channel Yamaha. After that marriage they sounded really good

[@adrianmortimer3369]

Another great video Paul, thank you.

[@bartvanransbeeck1341]

Interesting topics thanks Paul

[@VictorWesterhout]

Hi Paul, you mention the 'Walsh'-type of tweeter around the 3 minute mark. This type of inverted cone is used by German Physiks in many of their fully omnidirectional products, ranging from regular mid/high-end to super high-end. From my own listening experience I can say that their delicate spaciousness is like nothing i've heard before: walls and ceilings seem to disappear, while still one can pinpoint an instrument of voice on a precise spot. They need some proper power to be driven smoothly though.

[@peterw2714]

I’m not sure Paul was trying to do this but he seemed to make great arguments for open baffle speakers. Have yet to hear a pair, people talk about the open spacious sound

[@zeroyum1473]

In the 1980's I had set of speakers that had a 15" woofer, a 5" mid and a 1.25" Mylar tweeter in the front and a 5" mid and a 1.25" Mylar tweeter on the top... It also on the top had a cross over control that allowed phase change and attenuation of the top speakers... They also connections for tri-amp inputs... I cannot remember the brad, but they sold from $1500 to $2000 per pair... Can you comment on this design and how it might work???

[@eugenerodriguezsolis7534]

Hey there audio loving family I have a pair of infinity monitor iia loud speakers with walsh tweeters. The walhes were one of my first omnidirectional tweeters. The first tht I noticed is the sound stage became huge

[@danieloherrick6332]

Walsh WAS? Walsh IS alive and well in Brooklyn.

[@FeeLtheHertZ]

Other notable mentions are Bose OmniJewels (aptly named), Mirage OmniSats (man those were so so sweet) and Bang & Olufsens Acoustic Lense - almost. Concepts certainly been around forever though, that's for sure.

[@koonm7774]

Thoughts on Mirage OM-6? Picked up a pair for free. Replaced all 4 tweeters with silk dome, couldn’t find titanium that fit the truncated space and I honestly didn’t feel like altering the existing tweeter housing to fit the new tweeters. They sound great to me and the sound stage is big

[@charliewilliams9811]

I have Quad ESLs (57), Ohm Walsh 4.5s, Dahlquist DQ10s, Bose 901s. All interesting speakers.

[@eliascabrera1622]

How do the Dahlquist DQ10s compare to the Ohm Walshes? Very curious

[@finscreenname]

My Emits in my RS IIIa's are wired out of phase with only one tweeter per box. If you add another tweeter in the back out of phase with the other one it would be in phase. Then what?

[@triple_x_r_tard]

thanks man i've been wondering about these og lucasfilm thx technics i've got with dual sides. they're so sexy.

[@irashapiro9189]

Did I hear Paul correctly? At 2:27 he said their new speaker was going to be the FR-80. The last I heard it was the FR-30. Does the number get higher the longer it takes them to complete the speaker out or does it reflect an increase in price?

[@MrBsgore]

Paul,love your vids and products.

[@jiml20]

Hey Paul was this idea borrowed from Bose? They have tweeters in the back also. I think Bob Carver Sonic holography did something similar with electronic trickery by delaying the sound

[@Luis-Tesla]

Que grande Paul !!!

[@jurggreuter3306]

Di-Paul speakers are the best!

[@richardlast5850]

Soooo...the old 1980s Magnat plasma tweeter was an omni as well?

[@phomchick]

On his best speakers, Arnie employed rear facing drivers to get constant power output by frequency. As frequency goes up, a driver’s radiation pattern narrows, and it will start to beam. If you want to have constant power radiated into the room as frequency increases, you need to do something.

[@vivianvaldi7871]

Sonorus, kind of new technical response for this goal, with classical speakers.

[@monetize_this8330]

I used to own a pair of Canon S50s that were, and still are quite rare. They had a downward firing 5" driver which reflected the sound 360 degrees. Omnis take some getting used to as they aren't exactly focused and your brain has to work harder to make sense of what your hearing. To me, they lacked energy and drive. Like a silent fart.

[@20somthingrealestate]

push pull ? if the mids were 180 out of phase wouldn't that kill the sound?

[@Paulmcgowanpsaudio]

Yes, wherever they should meet. But if you have a baffle or the speaker box to block the in and out of phase signals then no. On a panel dipole speaker, for instance, there's cancellation at the speaker edges.

[@mikecampbell5856]

So the Bose 901 was ahead of it's time?

[@Frisenette]

If you’ve gone omni with the tweeter why not omni with the rest? I mean bass is almost naturally omni but midrange could benefit too.

[@robtremble2277]

snell wilson cerwin vega infinity also used rear drivers

[@leekumiega9268]

Magnepan speakers are di-poles at all frequencies and are nearly as revealing as electrostatic speakers at a lower cost.

[@zeusapollo8688]

Amazing

[@Paulmcgowanpsaudio]

Yes, I would agree.

[@johnsweda2999]

Parallel or series connected , what is the rare/top tweeter silk

[@lambrosratchis3062]

Hi in my opinion the only omnidirectional speaker is pioneer HPM150/ HPM 1500

[@SwirlingDragonMist]

I suspect Klipsch might be so into their tractrix horn, that they’ve become hostile towards directional diversity! They bought out Mirage and killed the Brand. They also bought Jamo, and steered them away from Omni’s and towards typical box designs. We need more Omni directional options, less monopolies and mergers.

[@FelixtheMetalcat]

Does anyone know WHY that happened? Mirage has such a sweet midrange and overall sound....I still use my 1295's (powered towers) to this day !

[@stonecoldcustoms]

@@FelixtheMetalcat Simple explanation - cost and prioritizing profit over quality. Double the drivers = double the cost to produce a speaker, so dipolar/bipolar speakers are not very attractive from a business/profit perspective. Manufacturers also struggled to sell them for more money to make up for the added expense, since there are so many speaker options on the market.

[@FelixtheMetalcat]

I spent several months auditioning speakers and in the $2k price range, the Mirage always sounded better. That was in 1995 and we did not have the quality nor the competition we see today. I guess from a businees perspective I get your point but showcasing the greater attributes of the speakers, to me, would have been a brighter marketing move. My guess is the "home theater in a box" movement that started to invade could have been part of the problem.

[@stonecoldcustoms]

@@FelixtheMetalcat for sure that was a big part of it. In the early 2000s there was a marketing trend for all speakers to be smaller, so you could fit a 5.1 or 7.1 system in your livingroom with minimal impact. Part of the marketing was also saying that because of 'technology', a tiny speaker could perform exactly the same as a large floorstanding speaker. Of course, we eventually figured out that wasn't the case and the market expanded again. All that said, I do think the main reason that Klipsch eliminated the API brands is simply business perspective to eliminate their competition. They competed directly with Klipsch branded products and weren't profitable enough on their own to continue without cannibalizing Klipsch sales.

[@Finn-McCool]

Another feature Made famous by Bose.

[@takischristofilis8407]

And we can be so certain that this accentuates directional tonality in frequencies disrupted by ethereal intervened and assymetrical noise source atmospheres...OOps... Advantage lost...Food for thought...

[@ThinkingBetter]

Different music benefit differently from how speakers disperse the sound waves.

[@ThinkingBetter]

@Fat Rat Yeah, the 901s were best for live music because they fired music backwards creating more feel of ambience.

[@ThinkingBetter]

@Fat Rat Yes, also that. I prefer to hear the true details from the studio master rather than some random room reflection extravaganza.

[@ThinkingBetter]

@behexen250 You also appear to have some depth of knowledge in this field. For headphones and earbuds, you most certainly can hear the real bass full range. However, the efficiency of how much of the transducer's acoustic energy in the bass moves your eardrum depends on how much of the bass is leaking through any air gap between the diaphragm and eardrum. Poorly fitting headphones or earbuds will therefore lack bass while the higher frequencies are more directional between the diaphragm and eardrum and will come through with higher efficiency. I'm currently using some Etymotic Research earbuds when outside that go deep in the ears and couple very effectively between the diaphragm and eardrum. They also isolate ambient noise very efficiently.

[@donpayne1040]

Im on a PS AUDIO channel petition: BRING BACK THE ENVELOPE

[@googoo-gjoob]

*boooooo*

[@bilguana11]

Vonschweikert put such an awful, cheap tweeter in the rear of the VR4-JR that it had to be muted.

[@ganormand]

I'm not trying to be nasty here, but you used a lot of fancy words when you could have simply stated Bose 901's pioneered that "live, spacious natural sound".

[@Paulmcgowanpsaudio]

Well, yes, sort of. They did it in such a strange way and without too much regard for the quality of music that I hesitate to do so.

[@realitykicksin8755]

There is only 1 true omnidirectional tweeter as far as I know. MBL Radialstrahler

[@realitykicksin8755]

@giri kotte It says omni directional in the video title.

[@ecyfoto]

Reality Kicks in How about the Heil AMT?

[@leekumiega9268]

The TLS-1 by HHR Exotics is an updated version of the Ohm F which is omnidirectional at all frequencies and the high frequencies go much higher than the original . Unlike MBL speakers one cone produces all frequencies so there are no phase issues and there is no need for crossovers therefore no distortion or the coloring of the sound that they can cause.

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

@giri kotte Interesting that dipole antennas have an omnidirectional radiation pattern.

[@gerritgovaerts8443]

dipole is absolutely not omni at all , not even quasi

[@kc9scott]

He did differentiate between them, quite accurately in my opinion.

[@DodgyBrothersEngineering]

Inclined to agree with Gerrit, takes a huge liberty on the word omni to even get to quasi. I run RAAL dipoles using a single element for both directions, and it is in no way omni.

[@kcjones7634]

I think it's funny the owner of ps audio doesn't use any PS audio equipment in his own home that should tell you how much he really thanks of his own products.

[@kcjones7634]

I've watched all his videos and his wife uses the sprout and that's the only ps audio //Amazon components, Chinese housing and 100lb torodial transformer they use.

[@johnsweda2999]

He's got a PS sprout what else do you want anyways under the thumb

[@kcjones7634]

@Fat Rat Thank you for the fact check I see your really licking at the boots of Paul McGowan. Do you own any PS trash. I didn't think so, Goodman ,Goodman.

[@kcjones7634]

@@johnsweda2999 so if you owned a audio company, You would build your own private system from components of other brands. That's so sad.

[@kcjones7634]

@Fat Ratwe know by this fact just what paul thinks of his own products.

[@FeeLtheHertZ]

I wonder if Paul smokes some Dank while editing these 4:20 minute long videos. Sweg.

[@montynorth3009]

I don't care for rear mounted tweeters or drivers pointing towards the wall, any more than I want musicians playing, or people speaking with their backs to me, and then coming up with the excuse, " I did it to bounce the sound off the wall for greater ambiance" The mouth is at the front for a reason I tell you!

[@DodgyBrothersEngineering]

@behexen250 put a piano in the middle of the room and play it. Show me a single spot in the room it can't be heard. Roof, floor, walls... They will be at slightly different volumes but can still be heard due to reflections. That is the point of the dipole setup, to better simulate the natural reflections of an instrument. Because upper frequencies are very directional (due to the wave length) they can sound very "source point" by adding sound in the opposite direction you double the source point.

[@Gabriel-of-YouTube]

Masked marketing...