Acapella ion tweeters


Does anyone know about Acapella ion tweeters (specifically the TW1S)? I would be interested to know about the following:
1) If you have any experience with them, are they really the best out there? Are there are other tweeters which can match their speed? Are there others with similar technology?
2) Did they have ozone problems at one point or do/did all extant versions of the TW1S have it licked?
3) Are they now available separately? I remember reading in a post many moons ago that they only came as part of their speakers (I believe the mysterious Detlof was the author) but the website has a separate listing for them. And if available separately, does anyone a) have ANY idea what they might cost? and b) who in the US or Europe (or even better, Asia) might sell them?
Thanks, Travis
t_bone

Showing 4 responses by detlof

T bone
Question 1: A clear yes. There is nothing better, more transparent, more dissolving, less coloured.
Question 2: Have them for over two years and am still alive and well. They never had ozone problems right from the beginning, it being broken down and converted inside the system.
Question 3: Yes, IF you have the right connections. They are not marketed separately.
If you are seriously interested, drop me a line and I will see what I can do.
GREG: I wouldn't know about knowledgeable, but I LOVE being mysterious.(-;
Sean, only read about the Ionovac, never heard one alas.

Travis, they have a built in amp and Acapella uses them without external amplification. The user has to fine tune the tweeters to the rest of the system which is a cinch. 2.5k would indeed be a steal, but audition them first. They need an overhaul every 4-5 years or so with normal use.

Justacoder, Switzerland is tiny, less population than greater NYC. There is only one importer and a very small market and I had to twist his arm very hard to get my pair. He of course wants to sell complete Acapella systems.

Dysmalonyx, I have a separate amplification chain for them in my system, consisting of a Spectral DMC 20 Mark I preamp and a pair of ancient Spectral DMA 50s switched for mono, all wired with the apropriate MIT cabling. This makes for an excellent match. I decided for this setup, because it gave me the advantage to really fine tune for every bit of software that I play. This is especially important with SACD. The tweeters are very wideband, go far into bat territory, like the Tannoy you mention and through them you can easily discern that something is strangely amiss with SACD in the highest spectrum of the soundfield, (apart from the hiss, which with some discs is really a bitch) some strange sort of constriction, difficult for me to describe, which redbook CD's do not have....and yes, they will go with any kind of speaker. I placed them at ear level, with their opening aimed at the point of my nose, so to speak, to get the best results. That's at least what sounded and blended best with my wall of stators, putting them at the outside, at each end, right next to the walls and aimed at ye old red nose. The effect is amazing, not only the pristine and complete effortless rendering of the high end, but the improvement in the soundstage, both in width and depth, as well as instrument placements therein. These tweeters pick up so many subtle cues, which simply were not there before, that you simply have a tremdous increase in threedimensionality. But be warned, once you have heard them, it is difficult to listen to music without them. Things become unbearably veiled....and they are so fast, they merge effortlessly with the stators. Cheers,
Vahe, hearing is believing. You cannot even imagine how good they are. I couldn't either until I heard them for the first time and I'm not even exaggerating. They are probably the most important piece of equipment I've ever obtained in my long career as an audionut and they are worth every buck spent. Besides, don't forget, they are powered, have their own dedicated tube amp, are built like a tank, completely ozone free and beautiful to look at.
Norm sorry, have no idea, where to find Coronas, in fact I must admit, I didn't even know they existed. You are right, it is quite difficult to mate the plasmas with the rest of the system and I found, I could only pull it off together with my stators, when I gave them a dedicated amp and preamp chain, so I could tune them in the way I wanted it.(Spectral) The effect on the soundstage, apart from the highs of course, was phenomenal.