Hard dome or soft dome? - Poll

[John Roger]

Which one sounds better to you? Metal domes or soft domes??

Or a full range woofer?

 

[JohnSmith]

Soft-dome.


What, a single driver to cover all frequencies??

 

[ScottCHI]

although it's probably valid to very, very generally characterize metal-dome tweeters as being "more bright" than soft-dome tweeters, i would absolutely NOT base a speaker-buying decision solely upon what material the tweeter was made from.

 

[John Garcia]

I have always preferred soft dome tweeters, but that does not mean metal - not "hard" dome - tweeters cannot sound good. It all depends on the implementation of the speaker as a whole. I have a pair of speakers in my bedroom that use all aluminum drivers and they do not sound bright at all. The crossover goes a LONG way in determining how a speaker sounds. The speakers in my main system all use soft domes.

Single full range driver ala BOSE....not good.

 

[Tony Genovese]

Like Bob Fulton used to say: a 2 1/2" cone.

A dome done right - soft or hard, and utilized right.

 

[ScottCHI]

http://www.hammerdynamics.com/

just an interesting, sorta relevant link

there are some advantages to a full range design, theoretically.

 

[Chu Gai]

There are too many variables to make a generalized statement about tweeters and whether a hard or metal dome is bright or not. A tweeter is not just the type of material its made from but how well the assembly is put together with regard to maintaining correct tolerances over a variety of operating conditions, alignment issues, baffles that aren't flat, screwed down too tight, other materials of construction that can all affect the sound, dispersion, etc. Even the best tweeter, whatever that is, can be made to sound shrill if the crossovers aren't properly designed and that is going to take some measurement capability and don't think for a minute because a company makes a lot of speakers that they can't manage to screw that up on a consistent basis.

As far a full range woofer I have no idea what you're getting at.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Full range woofers beam like crazy in the HF, if you can even get them to move that fast. Usually not the best idea.

 

[AjayM]

Personally I prefer a high quality well utilized metal dome tweeter. Compare the best metal to the best soft and I'll go for the metal every time. Now since that's hard to achieve most of the time I'll take a soft dome over a mediocre metal dome setup.

 

[Greg-ST]

I like the sound the titanium-laminate soft dome tweeters on my JBL's make (NSP1II).

 

[Kenneth Harden]

I was VERY impressed by some older Energy speakers (circa 1998 at a hi-end place in LA) I heard. They has 2, 8" woofers and a metal dome tweeter. They were great, and the guy at the dealer said he liked them before we even turned them on (not: "oh yeah, THOSE are great!")

I am a Klipsch fan, and not only do they have metal domes, but they are horn loaded