The best tweeters

[@petarst]

Raal "Original 140-15D" Ribbon Tweeter with Amorphous Core is the best that i have listened.

[@faustoperez2653]

Totally Agree with ribbons, never looked back on domes

[@erod9088]

This is why I prefer AMTs. I have Aurum Cantus tweeters in my RBH speakers, and they are so smooth don't fatigue the ear at all.

[@peterotremba8980]

Lance Mathes I have a pair of rbh 641-se tower speakers with there soft dome tweeter. I am wondering what tweeter did your rbh speakers use and which Arum Cantus tweeter are you using? I will be upgrading to an Aurum Cantus Aerostriction tweeter, just wondering how they would compair and what to expect.

[@socksumi]

Are you referring to the original or up to date ESS AMT designs with their "air motion transformer"?

[@bikdav]

That is what I figured. When I was doing DIY speakers, 3 way speakers were much less of a problem as far as tweeters were concerned.

[@musicman257]

Hey Paul we need a another Demo on the Irs V in the new music room

[@jesusgavemeaids]

Are they letting people come in to listen again???? He'll yeah

[@CaptainCrunch823]

KEF LS50’s are my favorite small speakers (I own two pair). They can sound bright/harsh with the wrong equipment pairing but can be truly magical with the right pairing.

[@johnclark3067]

I have heard these and didn't find them harsh at all. Listened to the powered ones also and came really close to buying them. Did get the Q150 for half price and I may buy more for a small surround sound setup if they sound good with the Sony 1080 receiver which sounds lively/bright.

[@thunderpooch]

@@johnclark3067 What is your age?

[@thunderpooch]

@@johnclark3067 Typically, the older one gets the less harsh kef and many Klipsch speakers sound. Hint: you're losing your hearing, especially the high frequencies.

[@brandonbrodbeck6688]

Listened to some ls50's and then some def techs d11. The d11s just completely destroyed the ls50's tried them with a bunch of different amps and avr's thinking something had to be wrong. But nope. Maybe they just aren't my preference tho

[@CaptainCrunch823]

@@brandonbrodbeck6688 I probably should have mentioned that LS50's require fast musical subwoofers to sound amazing in my opinion. I use some REL T7i's in one of my systems and some very old 8" infinity subs with the other system. I also tried several AVR's with LS50's and didn't find one that I liked. The best relatively affordable preamp + amp combination was the PS Audio Gain Cell DAC + Crown XLS2502. Add a great DAC like a DirectSteam DAC and the magic happens. I was also impressed with a Denon 4400h for streaming running RCA into the Gain Cell DAC.

[@d.l.2401]

Vifa Aluminum domes sound very good, one of my favorites is the Vifa D25AG-35-06 which has the through hole to a rear damped chamber. What I also like is by removing the rear chamber is the tweeter can then fire out the back to use in an Open Baffle design loudspeaker. I have experimented with a few Vifa rear chamber tweeters including the Fabric Domes. It can help to put a soft very open cell round foam plug in the through hole to dampen the rear output. I have had excellent results using this method and it shows in my measurements using REW/Room EQ Wizard and the minidsp UMIK-1. The first time I used this tweeter D25AG-35-06 I thought is sounded bright, but it is not at all. I was just used to using soft domes for so long. The D25AG-35-06 is my favorite of all the different Tweeters I have. It works excellent with my AUDAX HM130CO mid bass drivers in an open baffle design. These were both used in the Von Schweikert VR3, 4,and 5 loudspeakers. Unfortunately it is discontinued and can found on ebay at times but the asking price is high.

[@johncrochet8508]

We like the way you stand next to the answer. Big ole IRS full of ribbons.

[@SuperMcgenius]

Yes, the dreaded x-over does either make or brake the speaker

[@word2RG]

Membrane material is probably Kapton. If it were Kaladex, Paul would surely be promoting that.

[@janinapalmer8368]

Ribbons are great in large numbers ✅ but on their own they are inefficient and do not all have great polar curves

[@roylcraft]

Love those Reference Line Source Infinity, the golden age!

[@TheTruthKiwi]

Picked up an old Philips DVD surround system a few years ago. The DVD/receiver part was trash (rusted) but kept the small surrounds and sub and just plugged them directly into my Pioneer receiver to use as a "quadrophonic" + sub setup in my office as computer audio. The surrounds are neodymium ribbon with a small midrange driver as well. The first time I played a lossles file throgh them I was blown away. The clarity and dynamics are amazing. It was a high end system when new (my guess mid to late 90's) but yeah, for an integrated, old school system they sound pretty good

[@Hutzjohn]

Back in the late 80's I went into a "Good" Hifi shop (in Chesapeake, VA) --- low and behold they had Barbara Streisand and Neil Diamond there singing their hit "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" --- I forgot about looking at what I went in to see --- I wanted to see THEM in person, so I walked back to the room they were in --- AND ------ 🤷‍♂nothing they were not there ------ what had fooled me was a pair of B&W's Concept 90 CM1 & CM2 their sound was absolutely totally 100% REAL ---- up until that point I thought the KEF 104's were the ultimate speakers --- I never knew it was possible for any "speakers" to reproduce the human voice and music that detailed and REALISTIC! I wish I would have paid attention to the eletronics driving them also BUT I was so in disbelief of just how REAL they sounded I wasn't thinking straight. I can't understand why B&W has changed the CM1 CM2 -- since then I got some B&W Nautilus 805"s and they're GOOD ---- BUT --- NO WHERE near as real sounding as what I was listening to back then! ----- the tweeters are /were aluminum alloy and they were NOT harsh they sounded very real.

[@mrpmj00]

After 23 years, in 2023 I bought thin-film AMT ribbon tweeter speaker GoldenEar BRX and I love them so much that I bought a 3rd one as the center speaker for the home teater. source=Apple Music lossless

[@cruise2023]

There are a few great dome tweeters available, not forgetting bellirium and ribbon tweeters but at the end without a quality designed crossover they can sound average instead of great.

[@Edwinvangent]

Hey Paul, is there a way to measure the quality of an FPGA chip. The more logical blocks the better the sound(quality ), or is the sample rate predefined in the other parts of a fpga DAC. Or should I ask how many logical blocks are needed for an outstanding DSD signal? I can't seem to find that answer anywhere online? thx keep up the videos.

[@ohjoy40]

A pretty good answer by Paul. It is a good question and one that doesn't have a simple answer. There are vast versions of tweeters, each with its pluses and minuses. There are your typical conventional cone type tweeters and then you have ribbons, electrostatics, planar Magnetic s the list goes on. I would agree that there are certain characteristics of metal or ceramic dome tweeters and those of soft dome tweeters. You simply have to listen and judge for yourself. I am partial to soft dome tweeters on conventional cone driving speakers. My favorite overall are electrostatics. They have a naturalness and detail that makes them sonically my favorites. But understand with any speaker what is behind them in the audio chain also plays an important role in its sound. But yes as Paul pointed out how they are used also is a factor.

[@uzyh7622]

Is it important that the planer and the ribbon have an aluminum leaf or can the leaf of the planer be made of another material?

[@keeferdog5617]

SONUS FABER = SILK DOME = SWEET n SMOOTH....

[@selfelements8037]

Excellent explanation. I love tweeters!

[@sudd3660]

if we put a practical spin on it planars do very well, especially if it's in a 2 way system, ribbons could be excellent in line sources.

[@odkKoma]

Once you go AMT, you never go back!

[@arande3]

Which brand?

[@odkKoma]

@@arande3 Has to be HEDD

[@arande3]

@@odkKoma Cool thanks

[@ryanschipp8513]

Some of the best readers I've ever heard are from Canton and Gallo acoustics. Tons of detail but not a bit of harshness. Canton uses of ceramic tweeter and Gallo uses a Piezo Electric film.

[@ThinkingBetter]

PS Audio is putting some serious passion behind their coming speakers. I'm getting excited and hope there will be ways we can hear them before we buy them.

[@brucermarino]

Hi Paul. Are the IRS tweeters and mid-ranges really ribbons or are they, more properly, planar magnetics? Thanks!

[@VicariousAdventurer]

SB Acoustic?

[@anthonyhfe6450]

Hi Paul, I enjoy your videos. Nice to see an American company holding their own in audio. Boy, I have always thought you to be a normal sized person, but those midrange/tweeter arrays can make any of us look small. They are like the monolith in 2001: A Space Oddesey. But they are just beautiful. Yes, our beloved tweeters. I have heard many, but no ribbons yet. This may sound nuts, but I enjoy the sound that comes out of my vintage Wharfedale, W70 speakers' tweeters from the '60s, and this system uses a paper cone tweeter!!!! And I have many speakers with soft domes and hard dome tweeters as well. Anyway, Love the BHK amps. I hope to own the stereo one some day. I enjoyed the talk you all gave, which included Arnie Nudell and Bascom. I loved the theory and the design of that amp. Once again, Thanks for the vids. I watch many of them. Anthony

[@arande3]

I'm with you, paper tweeters can sound awesome, I have some really great old JBL studio monitors that really sound awesome with those old tweeters. However I think it's not just the fact that it's paper I think it's also the overall design of the speaker and the quality of the drivers and things like that.

[@yournightmare9999]

How about ferrofluid cooled tweeter?

[@ericlegrue6775]

What about triple ring radiator tweeters

[@stonefree1911]

Ribbons (or AMT)! But I am biased...

[@thunderpooch]

Amt, it can cross lower.

[@jaygreene4477]

The one thing about planar and ribbon tweeters is that they do not have a frequency response that is necessarily as flat as dome tweeters... This can be hard to work with in the crossover and can also discourage a designer for using them as the final goal in speaker design is always a typically flat frequency response for accurate playback.. So with that said I'm very curious to see your new line of speakers and how you dealt with this challenge..

[@chrisboylan4599]

Hey Paul, what's the best crossover point between mid n highs in a dual ribbon dipole design???

[@marcus1970]

AMT tweeters for me.. But specifically the rear vented design by Audiovector.... Can't imagine I'll ever return to any dome tweeter.. No matter what the material of construction.

[@smwsmwsmw]

I wish Paul understood the difference between ribbon tweeters (as seen in such speakers as the Magneplaner 3 series and higher; yes the woofer and midrange of the Magneplanars are planars, but the tweeters are ribbons) and planer tweeters (and midranges) such as those used in the IRS. The difference is thus: with a ribbon tweeter, the diaphragm and the conductor (a/k/a the voice coil in dynamic drivers) are one and the same. So you'll have a long, narrow strip of very thin aluminum foil suspended between two magnets. This produces the sound. With shorter ribbons, due to the small amount of resistance in the conductor, a matching transformer is sometime required between the ribbon and the crossover to bring the impedance up to something manageable by a standard amplifier. With a planar driver, the diaphragm is Kapton, mylar or some other thin, light and strong non-conductive material) with the conductor (usually aluminum) applied to it (with older Magneplanars, the conductor is actually an aluminum wire glued to the diaphragm, rather than a strip of aluminum), sort of like the traces on a printed circuit board. If you look closely at an EMIT or one of the other planar drivers currently on the market, behind the grille, you can see the traces in a sort of spiral.

[@justanotheryoutubeuser5029]

I dont have a lot of experience in audio. Im in my 3rd set now but fist was a cheap soft dome 2 way, wnd is a metal 2 way and now amt 3 way. All i can say is i dont want to go back to any dome tweeters. Ill have to test ribbons in the future but im done with dome tweeters.

[@audiorick841]

I have LS50w and I do not find them harsh at all. I figure what helps is that it’s paired with the correct amp 😉

[@finscreenname]

I like my Emits. Just put new ribbons in them a couple months ago.....I really like my Emits.

[@kunaalkhanna]

My now considered vintage Martin Logan mosaics have fantastic vocals and acoustics with ribbon tweeters AND ribbon midrange. Being dipole they also image wonderfully, better than my ls50wireless. And hence are great for home theatre where they put up a formidable wall of sound up around my 120" projector screen. Although they always had a mid bass bloat that had an unsavory distraction on some jazz tracks but have been since tamed with some room correction. Newer is not always better, especially if you're not averse to using some room correction 👍

[@ac81017]

I´ve had the IRS Beta and at least 100 other speakers, the best i´ve heard is my current speakers which are big and ugly. Tannoy FSM. Best midrange and tweeter i´ve heard, even in todays top high end market.

[@alanaban3519]

How do i know my system needs up grade and whare to start

[@ccvideotech]

Where can I get some good ribbon tweeters?

[@FSXgta]

parts express, or soundimports if you are in europe

[@ccvideotech]

@@FSXgta I know PE. Anything in particular?

[@FSXgta]

@@ccvideotech I have no experience with ribbon tweeters, so check around forums or user reviews

[@ccvideotech]

@@FSXgta Me either that's really what I was hoping to get led to.

[@FOH3663]

May as well start at the top; Raal Alcons

[@0dyss3us51]

Amazing Q&A!

[@gerritgovaerts8443]

AMT all the way

[@jareknowak8712]

Do ceramic tweeters sound similar to aluminium domes?

[@georgedenison9613]

The SB26adc aluminum compared to the SB26cdc ceramic do sound very similar. I personally give the slight preference for the ceramic.

[@gregrop4857]

Gr research will fix your crossovers that guys very knowledgeable

[@jekken333]

Ribbon or AMT tweeters?

[@jumpsuite]

the frist time i herd dy pole teters in the 80's wow i herd the fine sound of littel symbol it was right there wow and now ribbon tweeters once againe there it was againe the sound was wow.ribbons tweeter ya nice sound i agree

[@formulerd5390]

True, I DIY.. Now working on a second project. I was going for a 2 way built but I chose to do a 3 way. For me a 3 way is easier to get a good result. A 2 way system is to much of a balancing act for me.

[@bradhelms9408]

Siddhartha=The Buddha, FYI

[@lynnpoole7830]

I am quite frankly shocked that he didn't know that. Wow.

[@blackknight7017]

FICTION...

[@SvenWesti]

Actually Siddharta is a novel by Hermann Hesse and I guess that's what Paul was referring to when he mentioned '... wasn't there a story...'...

[@Kami84]

@@SvenWesti Everybody is right. Siddhartha is a novel by Hermann Hesse about the Buddha. It is fictionalized version of the person Siddhartha Gautama who was a real person and was the Buddha.

[@socksumi]

Best... plasma massless tweeters such as the old Ducane Second best... electrostatic such as the in the RTR used in the original Wilson Wamm Third... well made ribbon tweeters such as the original Decca or Sequerra

[@quant2011]

Best are omnidrectional ribbons. I know of only two. Bayz Audio and Zetazero . Some will say Plasma but plasma requires little horns =way too directional.

[@GBatya]

B&W diamond or Accuton ceramics

[@obivanJR]

Love my Martin Logan’s

[@clydeblair9622]

Stay at least an octave away from the tweeter Fs with an adequate xover slope.

[@cubinn149]

I wish all designers of av equipment took as much care into the quality that uguys do

[@lyndonramchatesingh105]

Hey Paul would u like Dali speakers better than those horn loaded like Klipsch

[@nicktarnofsky2732]

The Kefs are too bright. They make guitar pinch harmonics ring instead of pinch

[@curtchase3730]

Wouldn't the Holy Grail of speakers be just ONE driver that could reproduce sound flat from 20Hz-20Khz? A single driver, no crossovers needed. I know, it'll happen when pigs start flying! LOL. Tweeters, like all speakers, depends what the listener likes to hear, at least to some extent.

[@bartvanransbeeck1341]

Best highs i heard were ionivacs , ione tweeters massless....second close are amt's en ribons....but i love softdometweeters in kef p60 bbc monitor, amazing holografic soundstage and integration and phase accuracy , you cannot hear a tweeter , its one soundsource of soundstage ....

[@dougg1075]

Nice shorts:)

[@FOH3663]

wtf ? Pushing 60 myself, so yeah, they are nice shorts! jk

[@tothemax324]

Scan-Speak soft dome.

[@montynorth3009]

Why have paper cone tweeters fallen out of favour?

[@quant2011]

I think zellaton uses them?

[@manFromPeterborough]

They are too easy to blow, I've killed quite a few, never killed a dome though

[@johnsweda2999]

The best tweeter is my tweeter

[@monetize_this8330]

I'm curious to try out mylar domes which often appear in in-car speakers. Beryllium seems to be popular, at the moment. Because of breakup modes higher in frequency than titanium. (~30Khz)

[@PanAmStyle]

Siddarth (Siddartha) was the prince in India who became The Buddha

[@thunderpooch]

Also a Hesse novel.

[@distractionchannel4954]

...my EMiTS !❤️

[@proffessasvids]

Plasma tweeters xx

[@wishusknight3009]

Heil AMT-1 drivers. Dipole, more efficient than ribbons, more articulate than hard shell domes, soft like silk. And they go as low as 1 khz.

[@t.j.bennett6454]

I personally don't like ribbons. Too smooth of an attack and body that is not natural to me. Maybe a combination of these thing but it always seems like you can tell there is something making the sound. AMT is my preferred although they don't do some instrument timbres as naturally as a metal dome can do

[@workingclassperson2124]

Seems car audio tweeters just don’t sound good. Guess I’ll have to get creative or just not use them or uh idk. That’s why I love audio keeps my head busy.

[@fernandosierra7798]

What about BMR drivers. .....they produce a very balanced sound from upper midbass all they way to highs and have great dispersion......Cambridge Audio use them on their flagship speakers.....I have their Air 200 v2 wireless speakers and they sound great.....very impressive......I also have the Marantz Consolette MS7000 Wireless Speaker which also use BMR for the mid/highs and sound great too.....the BMR drivers are an excellent alternative for mid/high handling......

[@loudspeakerchefOriginal]

Best tweeters = Transducer Lab

[@petersouthernboy6327]

I loved their beryllium but the new carbon fiber dome from TL is very very good

[@allanjuulkristensen5132]

Hands down Dynaudio

[@socksumi]

Ribbons or ribbon like tweeters are difficult to design. Good ones can sound excellent but they are few and far between. But bad ribbons or poorly executed designs sound shrill and peaky and there are plenty of those.

[@marcbegine]

Focal inverted Beryllium tweeters are close to the best ribbon tweeters

[@googoo-gjoob]

bubbling with anticipation. i think weve been hearing about your speakers for...what, 4 years? talk about putting yourself on the line. he just promised in less than 80 days to complete what hasnt been done in over 1,300 days. heres hopin!

[@googoo-gjoob]

@Fat Rat , it would be a hoot.....

[@googoo-gjoob]

@Fat Rat because when its raining...and a person offers an umbrella....some people still _bitch_

[@johnsittard7025]

LS50’s with the right amp are magic.

[@JukeboxAlley]

The ls50 is not bright, very detailed and extended but not bright, my favorite pound for pound bookshelf to date.

[@PebblesChan]

Tweeters whistle while they work!

[@justinparkman3585]

Atc in recording studios all over the world

[@RoaroftheTiger]

It's interesting, that Paul assumes, the KEFs in question are - 'LS 50' s ... Paul, your a Magician ! ;-)

[@robbie00001]

Eh! They were mentioned in the question.

[@RoaroftheTiger]

@@robbie00001 whoa ! I must have encountered a problem with my server. As I reviewed this post 3 times, just to make sure, I wasn't mistaken ... Thanks

[@markwagner1997]

@@RoaroftheTiger Yes, at 0:32 he mentions LS-50's as he is reading the letter. I wonder if it is somehow blocked in your area?

[@RoaroftheTiger]

@M Pi - Thank You. But If You would of read the previous replies. You would have seen that server problem were causing my viewing to skip various segments of the video.

[@kcjones7634]

Ok I must admit ,great video.😑

[@ryry7886]

You're not gonna let us hear those ridiculous towers? I know its not the same thing as in person but we can still dream that we are listening to them in real life.

[@boris1968-i8l]

I did not like Kef ls50..

[@byronb.]

"You will see them (PS Audio Speakers) in 2020..." 🤦‍♂️

[@bernhardmichaelfux308]

Sidharta? It´s the Name of Buddha! lol... Prince Siddharta Gautama!

[@josephpsmithe]

A lot of metal tweeters have a breakup around 10K and you generally just hear harmonics up higher. this distortion suits certain types of music like rock.

[@fgabrieltomas]

I love tight tweeters and big hooters. I'm all in

[@pandstar]

Most hard dome tweeters are just cheap and badly designed. Marketing departments love to use buzzwords to sell their products, so, they have their manufacturing dept take a cheap aluminum dome, and spray some beryllium paint on it, so they can advertise the buzzword, beryllium. So, most consumers hear speakers with these kinds of crappy hard dome tweeters, and assume all hard domes sound as bad. When, in reality, the best hard domes in the world, are as good (or maybe better), than the best soft domes.

[@eelcosterringa1374]

Scandinavian

[@TheDrlethalassasin]

Its funny to see old people enjoy listening to what they believe it the best sounding speakers or systems. As they have lost their hearing especially this guy. His comment "i dont find them bright or harsh" that is not your invaluable experience old man it is simply because you can not hear those tones anymore. You are OLD so you can not hear correctly now, its a fact of life. You can not take the word of an old man. They have no hearing i call it listening dementia.

[@johnanderson8096]

I rarely watch/listen to Paul... good guy and all... and I thought, he's going to get thru this video without a sales pitch/ update for PS Audio... and he just couldn't get there... Ill try again in 2021... maybe???

[@CodeVenomSnakes]

Electrostatic speakers like Martin logan are the best tweeters in them because the the whole speaker is a tweeter. There is hardly no bass in electrostatic speakers but martin logan put subwoofer in there electrostatic speakers.

[@johnf6288]

I have ESL and play 80s hair metal and 70s rock all the time and I am quite happy with the bass, and no subs either. I wouldnt try techno though

[@CodeVenomSnakes]

@@johnf6288 is there any bass in them.

[@johnf6288]

@@CodeVenomSnakes Plenty. I am not getting slammed in the chest but not lacking at all

[@CodeVenomSnakes]

@@johnf6288 for me I need my bass for movie and for music not so must.

[@CodeVenomSnakes]

@ planar have good bass. Most electrostatic speakers do have bass. You can look up there video for electrostatic speakers in there channel.

[@gitmobob1714]

Never been a fan of KEF speakers. They're not bad but they never really connected with me. Guess I'm just not a fan of most British speakers.

[@monetize_this8330]

Neither am I. And I am British. I've had a few kef models and it's the plastic cones that bother me. My uncle was a fan of Linn speakers but when I borrowed a pair from a local hi-fi shop for a couple of weeks it was a dull experience. Just a borefest. I feel that the more they (manufacturers) try to control the drive units because of the limitations of the cone material. They rob us of the energy. I've also heard BBC LS3/5A and they sound "nice", but I wouldn't call them all-rounders.

[@gitmobob1714]

@@monetize_this8330 dusty thanks for your thoughts. I the Linn speakers that I believe were designed to be right up against a wall. Didn't sound bad but had no imaging. Heard Spendors and wasn't really impressed. I didn't understand the hype. Really liked the big Quads but saw one destroy itself in a cloud of blue smoke along with the Audio Research amp trying to drive it. I'm not saying any of these are bad speakers, they just never tickled my audiophile funny bone.

[@monetize_this8330]

@@gitmobob1714 You mean Quad ESLs? My uncle had his Linns right up against the wall, on short stands. They had impressive dynamics, as he demonstrated with a DMM vinyl copy of the 1812 Overture (released in 1979). We were both fans of Quad amps, he had the 405, and later the 606 and 909. I just stuck to the 306 which served me well for 30yrs.

[@gitmobob1714]

@@monetize_this8330 Yes I did mean the Quad ESLs. I have also heard their newer small non ESL speakers which were very good but did not meet my current needs.

[@cv507]

mägnät pläZmäh o³ ^?^

[@johnclark3067]

The best tweeters I've ever owned are the Focal pure beryllium inverted dome. They are in the Solo6 Be studio monitors. There is a new "M" profile version of this tweeter out now. I use live music as a reference for what music playback should sound like. Unfortunately, a lot of "high-end" is far too colored to meet that goal, not to mention overpriced.

[@hom2fu]

if tweeters sound bright, all because listener taste and/or it could be your amplifier.

[@dougg1075]

Ring

[@cb7pwn]

Isn't rule #1 in speakers :only have 1 tweeter per speaker?