ct1615 Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 What is the difference between a silk dome tweeter and aluminum dome tweeter? Why did the synergy series switch between the two? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom3 Posted January 5, 2005 Share Posted January 5, 2005 ---------------- On 1/3/2005 12:13:59 PM ct1615 wrote: What is the difference between a silk dome tweeter and aluminum dome tweeter? Why did the synergy series switch between the two? ---------------- Sorry this took so long... First off I can't answer why the Synergy changed its tweeter, you'd have to ask Klipsch. This part of the answer applies to domes used as direct radiators: Generically, there are two primary differences between any fabric dome and any metal dome. The first is how the dome resonance is managed. With a fabric dome, the resonance is apt to be below the operating range of the tweeter. With a metal dome, the resonance is apt to be at the top end of the range or slightly above. In certain cases this resonance is very audible and is referred to as 'oil can resonance'-not a good thing. Some people feel that even a supersonic resonance is fatiguing to listen to. The second difference is the break-up modes of the dome. A softer dome has less rigidity and therefore has a less linear response to an input signal, but a soft dome also damps out faster and has less 'hangover' than a metal dome. A metal dome will respond in a more linear fashion, but the resonance problem means it will usually have a 'hangover' effect as the sound waves propogate quickly through the dome and reflect from the edge of suspension and back again. For direct radiators, most companies have gone to silk or other fabric domes. A few are now using laminated domes, with metal and fabric, to try to get the advantages of both approaches. For horn drivers: The distinctions are not as clear. Remember that a horn offers a high air impedence at the throat and therefore exerts a powerful constraint on the diaphram. Most horn drivers using fabric use linen covered with varnish. Due to the constraint of the horn air load, plus a suspension resonating higher than a comparable direct radiator, these diaphrams are moving tiny amounts for the same SPL as compared to direct radiators. The resonance of metal horn diaphrams is usually not an issue because phase irregularities in the throat and internal horn reflections will usually kill frequencies near a metal diaphram's resonance. Very few horn tweeters go above 17 KHz so if the metal dipahram is resonating at, say, 22 KHz it will not be an issue. Bob Crites recently posted a series of curves for fabric, polymer and titanium diaphrams on a Klipsch high frequency horn. The titanium was the best, and I don't think diaphram resonance was an issue at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ct1615 Posted January 5, 2005 Author Share Posted January 5, 2005 Thanks Boom! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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