OT: Audio part 14 - super tweeters?

William · #1 12-05-2022, 10:41 AM

Do any of our resident forum audiophiles have experience with stand alone super tweeters? Not that I feel my current speakers are lacking in any way, honestly I'm just curious. Do they add any appreciable air and liveliness, or are they just a band-aid of sorts for lacking highs in a speaker?

Thanks,
W

benb · #2 12-05-2022, 11:05 AM

Figure out how old you are, how much hearing loss you have, and what your source material is.

These are designed to reproduce sounds which:

- Are outside the range of healthy hearing
- Are even more outside the range of middle-aged hearing
- Are not included on CD audio, most streaming formats, etc.. (you better have high res stuff)
- Are possibly out of the range an amplifier is designed to reproduce
- Could be artifacts of any error anywhere in the system/chain
- Could be shelved/eliminated by the recording engineer on a particular recording

Lots of psycho-acoustics audiophile grade thinking involved.

Still I would wonder if some of this is present in acoustic musical instruments in the room, etc.. It's all harmonics though. 22nd fret on a guitar on the high e string is only 1174hz. Almost no one will play that on an acoustic though. Maybe 12th fret natural harmonic though, that's in lots of songs. 22nd fret is way more common to play on an electric but the speakers on almost any electric rig will roll off everything a super tweeter could play. The highest note on a piano is 4186hz.

Bob Ross · #3 12-05-2022, 12:33 PM

I've heard a few DIY project speakers with super tweeters that didn't do anything for me, other than confirm my suspicion that most DIY project speakers make for a fun hobby while you're building them, but not once they're built and you try listening to them.

I think there is only one commercially available speaker with a designated "super tweeter" that I've heard and thought "Wow, this thing sounds good!" The Tannoy Ellipse 10 studio monitor. But note, Tannoy used to sell that super tweeter from the Ellipse 10 as a standalone product (ST100 I think?) and I heard a pair of those tacked onto another pair of speakers and was underwhelmed.

benb · #4 12-05-2022, 01:36 PM

There is a fine line (as one of my electric guitars would tell you) between "air" and "ice pick to the ears" and that rig has like zero ability to make any sounds above 10khz.

Some of these super tweeters have adjustable crossovers.. one went down as low as 6khz... I'd be super biased to want to get one that you could bring the crossover down as low as possible to ensure you really could hear *something* it was putting out. One I just looked at had the crossover at 15khz, which would imply almost everyone above the age of 25 would be in the placebo zone.

Semi-Drift but for years I've often listened to Sony MDR-7506 headphones with a dedicated amp. 7506s are known for lots of air and high frequency clarity, and I like that.

Earlier this year I got a pair of Airpod Max headphones. I kind of convinced myself their well known recessed mids wasn't that bothersome because the ANC is so nice.

I randomly pulled the Sonys out and took a hearing test through both pairs of headphones. I come back as "might have some hearing loss" through the Apple headphones and "No detectable hearing loss" on the Sony's. (I've never had any issues in actual hearing tests at the doctor.)

Makes me want to sell the Apple ones or use one of the hacks required to EQ them.