I Tested Five Different Tweeters In My Khorns

[greg928gts]

I have completed my testing on five different tweeters. I used my fully upgraded Khorns with my active tri-amp setup.

For the complete essay, including a very detailed account of how these tests were done, please go here www.voltiaudio.com/tweeters.shtml

These are the five tweeters I tested and a quick summary of the results:

#5 - Klipsch K77 (Alnico)

Crisp, forward, sharp.

An older design that still holds its own with newer designs, but I found a harshness that was unacceptable to me, given the other choices.

#4 - B&C DE10

Crisp, forward, brash

They don’t have the specific problems of the K77. Plenty of detail, plenty of power, but unrefined, and probably more suited to a P.A. system than a home audio system.

#3 - Crites CT-125

Smooth, laid back, clear

What a nice sounding tweeter, but they measured a full 5.4db less in output than my K77’s! A bit of irritating resonance here and there, but overall very nice. Lacked the realism and depth of the next two.

#2 – Selenium D220TI

Detailed, Crisp, Big

Different than the Beyma, but equally as good. Lacks the depth and sweet highs of the Beyma, but makes up for it with a sharp, clear, clean sound.

#1 - Beyma CP25

Sweet, smooth, lush

The most realistic and tweeter-like of the group, with a very sweet, smooth high end. Measured 3.4db less output than the K77. Liked a gentler-slope, simple filter. Made the others sound noisy by comparison.

One interesting note - the two most preferred tweeters in my test both have baby-cheeks. Hmmmmm.

Greg

[MechMan]

Hmmm...Baby cheeks.[H]

[soundbound]

Thank you for posting your results.

[Marvel]

Greg, have you ever heard the APT150? It is the same driver as the CT125, but has the larger Eminence horn. Much different sound.

Bruce

[sootshe]

Greg, have you ever heard the APT150? It is the same driver as the CT125, but has the larger Eminence horn. Much different sound.

Bruce

Yes, I agree Bruce, the horn changes the character of the CT125 completely. I would be interested in your impressions of the CT125 with the baby cheeks horn fitted to it.....I found it to be a lot better.

John

[Marvel]

I would have to find some baby cheeks first, lol. Not that it's out of the question. Right now it's time for sleep. []

[greg928gts]

Greg, have you ever heard the APT150? It is the same driver as the CT125, but has the larger Eminence horn. Much different sound.

Bruce

Nope, haven't tried that one. I'm starting a new list, someone else suggested a Ciare 1.38.

Greg

[Coytee]

the two most preferred tweeters in my test both have baby-cheeks.

Kind of makes you feel like pinching them eh?

[]

[Pete H]

Nice report Greg. I haven't had the chance to hear all of those, but a few of them and I really like my Beyma's.

[kevinmi]

I'm using the Crite's CT125 driver on my homemade tractrix horns, and I thought the output was a tad lower than the K-77's. I thought it was the horn design causing it, but after reading Greg's report, maybe it is the driver after all. I'm going to try out the Selenium D220Ti next and see how that sounds. Thanks to Greg for taking the time to test the tweeters in a "real world" environment and report the results to us!

[jcmusic]

Greg, have you ever heard the APT150? It is the same driver as the CT125, but has the larger Eminence horn. Much different sound.

Bruce

Bruce,

I am using the APT 150 with a bi-radial 90X90 horn, I think it's called the APT 200. This was a major improvement over the K77's.

Jay

[SkyDover]

I would have really liked to read your comments on trying the Eminence APT-200 baby-checks, it's an APT-50 (same as Crites tweeter) on a baby-cheek 5.9x5.9x5.94 horn(90x90 coverage). Would have been really interesting to see how it compared with the other two baby-cheek horns of the Beyma and Selenium! I'm using APT-200 baby-cheeks and been pleased with them.

[Tom Mobley]

No JBL 2404? I was extremely pleased with how these sounded on a pair of DBB Cornscalas.

[jcmusic]

I would have really liked to read your comments on trying the Eminence APT-200 baby-checks, it's an APT-50 (same as Crites tweeter) on a baby-cheek 5.9x5.9x5.94 horn(90x90 coverage). Would have been really interesting to see how it compared with the other two baby-cheek horns of the Beyma and Selenium! I'm using APT-200 baby-cheeks and been pleased with them.

Well call it what ever you like I know it sounds really good, it is just heads and shoulders better than the K77 tweeter.

Jay

[greg928gts]

I would have really liked to read your comments on trying the Eminence APT-200 baby-checks, it's an APT-50 (same as Crites tweeter) on a baby-cheek 5.9x5.9x5.94 horn(90x90 coverage). Would have been really interesting to see how it compared with the other two baby-cheek horns of the Beyma and Selenium! I'm using APT-200 baby-cheeks and been pleased with them.

I'm starting a new list of tweeters to try, and the APT150 and APT200 are now on the list. I'm a little confused about the model numbers, but I'll straighten it out when it comes time to purchase them.

I'm still hoping to find a tweeter I like as much as the Beyma CP25 that is not a baby cheeks horn. Looking for something flush mount. I'll keep trying.

Greg

[greg928gts]

No JBL 2404? I was extremely pleased with how these sounded on a pair of DBB Cornscalas.

I'm sticking to current production models for my testing, although I would like to hear a pair of these someday.

Greg

[jhoak]

I'm starting a new list of tweeters to try, and the APT150 and APT200 are now on the list.

Are you going to use the "new" APT drivers? The old version use the same driver as the CT125 sold by Mr. Crites. They've been redesigned. I got the impression that Mr. Crites was less than impressed with the new version.

[BEC]

I'm starting a new list of tweeters to try, and the APT150 and APT200 are now on the list.

Are you going to use the "new" APT drivers? The old version use the same driver as the CT125 sold by Mr. Crites. They've been redesigned. I got the impression that Mr. Crites was less than impressed with the new version.

You are correct that I was not impressed with the new version by Eminence. I think they are not very impressed with it either. Anyway, I gave up on Eminence for that tweeter and have now imported the "old version" drivers myself from the same place that Eminence got them. Friday, I got a shipment of 1000 of the original APT-50s.

Bob Crites

[greg928gts]

Now I'm even more confused about which APT's to try.

Greg

[Mike Dubay]

I have the APT-200 in my Cornscalas. Enjoy the sound greatly. Only horn tweeter I have listened to extensively, so hard for me to compare. But do like those cheeks!