Good fabric tweeter speakers (1 Viewer)

[Tom_Mack]

I have been trying to tone down the shrill upper range of my Paradigm monitor series speakers. Room positioning has helped some but not enough. I have tried a few warmer receivers than my Yamaha 596, but I think a better solution would be fabric tweeter speakers. I was watching a movie at someones house who had lower end sony speakers and altough the Paradigms were much better overall I really liked the smoothness of the upper end. I believe that this is because of non-metal tweeters.

What are some good manufacturers of fabric tweeters? I still want a lot of detail on that upper end, but I will be much happier with a much smoother upper end.

 

[Bruce Chang]

Try putting a piece of toliet paper over the tweeter and see how that sounds.

 

[John Garcia]

GR Research's Kits for the AV1 and AV1+ utilize some very nice soft domes. They sell the tweeters separately also.
What source(s) (DVD, CD, etc..) are you using and with what type of connection? Have you tried swapping sources out? What about room treatments? I have the Monitor line with a Marantz SR6200 and I don't feel they are harsh or bright at all.

 

[BruceD]

Any of the Dynaudio series of speakers use silk dome tweeters. The Audiance series would be worth investigating.

 

[Jason Wilcox]

how bout mission speakers?

 

[Brian Bunge]

John,
You should hear Danny's new speaker with his new ribbon tweeter! I was fortunate enough to meet him and hear the speakers this past weekend. All I can say is they are in a totally different league from the A/V or Paradox series.
I believe they are called the Criterion. Add those puppies to your wish list!
Brian

 

[John Garcia]

I believe they are called the Criterion. Add those puppies to your wish list!

Uh-oh...
Tom, I wouldn't recommend messing with your Monitors though, because the exisiting crossover network may not work as intended with a different driver. I'd get some other speakers, either a kit or with drivers you like already.

 

[Brian Bunge]

John,
I forgot to mention that they'll be just a bit more expensive!

 

[Chu Gai]

New speakers will cost you. Although you've stated you've worked on positioning the speakers, if there are hard surfaces at the first reflection points it can make for some discomfort.
I wouldn't dismiss Bruce Chang's suggestion of placing something like toilet paper or even a foam material. It's quick and might make for more bearable listening.

 

[John F. Palacio]

"I believe that this is because of non-metal tweeters."
What material a tweeter is made out of bears no result on the final sound of same.
I know it is a gut feeling to think that if a speaker is "hard sounding" and the tweeter is made of metal (hard) then the resulting overly aggressive highs must be because of the metal.
If this was true then everybody would be making tweeters out of silk. How about velvet?
I have heard harsh sounding speakers with anything from old paper cone tweeters to ribbon drivers. I have also heard "smooth, warm" speakers with metal tweeters and other materials.
I remember a salesman, a long time ago trying to tell me that horn speakers were only good if most music I listened to was big bands or classical with horns(meaning trumpets, trombones, etc.) He REALLY said that. He said for everything else horns were no good. Go tell this to the many satisfied owners of horn speakers. Oh wait! I can hear the laughter already.
It is not the material is the execution of many, many parameters.
BTW. I have seen the toilet paper cure used at mixing booths. I SWEAR! And it works! Don't forget after room positioning and treatment the treble control on you receiver or Preamp.
Here's another possibility but I know nothing about this device.http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...threadid=82482

 

[Mal P]

Hi John,

Absolutely, it's all in the implementation, and there are harsh examples of both soft and metal dome tweeters. However, a lot of metal tweeters have resonances out beyond 20khz or so, which is usually what causes an unpleasant character to the sound, in the form of ringing. Thus, it is more likely for a metal tweeter to be more harsh, than a soft dome type, although this is not always the case (you couldn't really call the Audium metal tweeters used in JMLabs Utopias as harsh heh).

Cheers,
Mal

 

[DonJ]

I monitor 9's and they seem warm to me I use an H/K 320 that those are warmer than the Yamaha

 

[Tom_Mack]

Thanks for the ideas.

I think I may actually try the noisekillers for a short term solution.

Before I replace any speakers, I'll try some of next years new receivers or maybe a Parasound amp. I wasn't happy with any of this years receiver models. Denon's amps were great in direct mode, but the DACS dulled the sound too much. The Marantzes had a big delay in grabbing onto a digital source but the sound was good. And the Onkyo/Integra was way,way to bright. Maybe Marantz will iron out the delay problem and maybe I'll try one of the H/K receivers.

Except for the Onkyo, I liked the sound of the amps on the other receivers I tested. Maybe seperates would be a better solution for me, But it seems to me in the long run, a speaker with a less harsh tweeter would be best (fabric or otherwise).

 

[Greg_R]

I would stop spending money on receivers and amps until you resolve your speaker issue. Dacs & amps will make slight adjustments to the sound... new speakers will make major adjustments to the sound. As John said, speaker material has little to do with the final sound. For example, Paradigm's Studio series have metal dome tweeters and they are very neutral. The Monitor line has always been acknowledged as bright...

 

[Bob Brick]

Some Jewish mothers swear you can warm up the sound of your speakers by making them wear nice thick woolen sweaters.

'Course we all know that won't work but it looks so much better than toilet paper. Hmmmm, right about now someone has gotten the idea to sell special audiophile-grade magic tweeter-tamer paper in a full array of designer colors... just $49.99 for a package of two. Guaranteed acoustically matched pairs that attenuate to within .25 db plus or minus. Get yours today!

 

[Bob Brick]

Forgive me.

It's so cold now in NY that when we talk our words are frozen, and we have to melt them in frying pans to hear what we're saying.

 

[Tony Genovese]

Absolutely, it's all in the implementation, and there are harsh examples of both soft and metal dome tweeters. However, a lot of metal tweeters have resonances out beyond 20khz or so, which is usually what causes an unpleasant character to the sound, in the form of ringing.

That they typically take care of with a notch filter.

 

[Scott_N]

Dynaudio, Opera, Tetra, Dali, Von Schweikert and Quad all make very good speakers with soft dome tweeters. My Tetra Space's have a much better midrange and better detail than the Studio 100's I used to own without the hard peaky highs that the 100's have.