super tweeter question

[emmet2u]

Now that my ALK'd Heresy's are sounding great, I was looking at extending the top end a bit. Looking at the Madisound catalog I see that Fostex has a tweeter that is 98.5 Db and extends to 50k. All this for $35.65.

The question is, has anyone used or heard the tweet? At this price I may just try it, but it never hurts to ask.

Thanks

[sunnysal]

for $35 you do not have much to lose, are you thinking about swapping out the existing tweeter or adding this supertweeter? I would suggest the latter is a better idea...regards, tony

[emmet2u]

This would be an add-on. Although this tweeter could replace the existing one if need be, but I am only looking to extend the top a bit. The T-35 runs out of gas pretty early. My hearing isn't what it was, but the sparkle is nice when the extension of highs is there.

[lee hankins]

The fostex FT17H is an excellent super tweeter, especially for the money. It has become the standard replacement tweeter for the DIY "single driver" Super 12 speaker.

[emmet2u]

Thanks. It looks like Madisound will be getting some business.

[radiob]

I would check into ribbon supertweets, or the focals.

[emmet2u]

Focal is out of the "consumer/DIY" business, although Zalytron seems to have a good stock right now. The only choices that are efficient enough are much more than the Fostex. Remember that the Klipsch tweeters are not THAT good. At least not the T35. As for the ribbons, I like them very much, but I have doubts as to integrating them with the horns. The Fountec is priced well, but still substantialy more than the Fostex.

I think for a trial the Fostex would be a good choice. I find that Motorola Piezo tweets too dry for my taste, and stuff like the muRata just WAY too costly to justify for this particular application. Then there is Tannoy, but at that point I should just but a pair of used K Horns.

Thanks for the observation. If I sound like I ranting, I'm really not. I have had the Raven in one of my speakers and loved it. It was mated with Focal mid-woofers. Very detailed, but not that musical. I have been enjoying my "gift" Heresys for about a year now. They were free, given to me by a friend that was moving. I have done the ALK upgrade and find this to be a dramatic change for the good. There is still the "nasties" about 9k, but it is way down in amplitude. I may ptrap it just to try.

At this point I'm almost there. I just want to add some sparkle to the top end, but keep it cost effective. The Beyma "baby-butt" tweeters might be the next step, but I don't have as much issue with the tweeter to replace, just help.

Thanks again.

[D-MAN]

Also check out the Eminence APT-50 horn tweeter as it is closer to the sensitivity of the T35 with a better high end extension. Roughly around the same price...

DM

[jonwolfe]

EMINENCE PSD2002S-8 HORN DRIVER

How about this driver for about $70.00

Anyone tried it???

[emmet2u]

The APT:50 looks to be a fine tweeter. It appears, from the plot on the website, that it has begun to roll off at 17k or so. I was looking to extend out much higher than that. I can't hear that high, but studies have shown that we do react to these highs none the less.

As for the PSD 2002, it may be better than the T35, but the frequency response is not that great either. Besides, it has about the same rolloff at 15k as the T35 does.

The Fostex is about 98.5 dB at 1 watt, but it extends out to 50k or so. The only other tweeter that I have seen go higher is the diamond tweeter from Accuton. At 98 dB, I could use this in a Heresy or a Cornwall and not have to pad much at all; 21/2 or 3 dB for the Heresy and .5 or 1 dB for the Cornwall. It looks like it could replace the T-35 outright, but I will use it to extend the top end only.

Thanks for the information on Eminence driver. I had not looked at them at all before you both mentioned them.