If they're two different tweeters, you can't just "swap them out" without changing the crossover to account for that.
Diamond vs Aluminum tweeters for B&W 800 series
Anyone swapped their Diamond tweeter for the Aluminum?
I want to know if anyone heard both to tell us the real difference.
I have a shattered tweeter on my 803 D2 and having difficulty on buying new ones.
Diamond is rated aprox. 900usd each. Aluminum you can find around 450usd the pair.
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My experience with speaker design has shown me that tweeter material isn’t nearly as important as the designers choice of crossover values. A bright commercial speaker isn’t bright because of the tweeter material, it’s bright because they wanted it that way for a Wow-factor! They could easily pad down the high frequency response without changing the tweeter material. BTW, @roxy54 is correct! You can’t simply swap in and out drivers without reworking the crossover. It doesn’t work like that….. | ||||||||||||||
@boostedis +2 Mike | ||||||||||||||
shattered? usually you burn out the coil, what do you mean shattered? I would buy a new pair and have 1 working spare. is it possible the bad tweeter can be repaired? have you looked into that? my active horn tweeters and horn midrange drivers were made in 1958, impregnated linen, essentially indestructible. I did burn out a coil blasting Iron Butterfly, I found someone who replaced the coil way back then. | ||||||||||||||
oh yeah, there’s some Beryllium tweeters out there, that is my preferred cartridge cantilever material, lightest/stiffest .... I just acquired 2 vintage used and 1 NOS, but don’t look at beryllium when thinking unhappy thoughts, it shatters easily, I broke my original Shure V15VxMR’s beryllium cantilever, dropped it 1". Unhappy thoughts came fast. Theory: I believe in matched sets, keeping a working spare. I’m 76, ears far from normal, so it’s more ’good practice’ than needed but who knows when current stock is slightly different, or testing methods slightly different. | ||||||||||||||
It's a long shot, but before buying anything I would contact Bill at Millersound. He is a premier speaker repair person. All he can say is he doesn't repair diamond tweeters. He does list B&W as a brand they do service. From experience I will mention his repair quality and prices are unbelievable. Millersound Speaker Refoaming, Speaker Reconing and Repair Services | ||||||||||||||
OP, I wasn’t paying enough attention. I just saw the prices you mentioned, I would not personally spend that unless I had young ears and could readily tell the difference. Hasn’t anybody found a nice SEAS or SCANSPEAK, MOREL, DYNAUDIO, FOCAL VIFA something that costs a heck of a lot less and sounds darn good. You could use my favorite test tools and see what the working diamond one is giving you at the listening position, (and learn a lot more about them and your space). I could help you find a used copy of this CD with 29 1/3 octave test tones you need a hole for tripod mount on the bottom of the spl meter to set it at seated ear level make a chart, see what you are getting now, later see what your replacement’s are producing. //////////////////////////////////////// My JSE Model II’s: The Dynaudio D21 tweeter’s were famous for burning out, and a variety of alternates were eventually touted by the original maker, owners, advice from Madisound, Parts Express ..., 2 of my friends have 3 pairs, 3 different tweeters, crossovers messed with ... they now say they would stick with the lower price, they truly cannot hear any difference except when you suspect yourself of hearing a difference because you want to. I’ve haven’t directly compared, or have they documented measurements, but we heard very familiar music in their and my systems, OEM and variety of substitutes, and all were excellent, involving, not too bright, nothing lacking .... How young are your ears? | ||||||||||||||
I’ve had both. I had the 801 Nautilus speakers with aluminum Tweeters Now I have the newest diamond tweeters on the latest 801 reference build dates on the speakers are 23 years apart so I am definitely hearing more than just diamond versus aluminum but the newer diamond ones are better You are in luck I actually have a pair of brand new aluminum tweeters from Bowers in the box that I kept as backups and I no longer need them so if you private message me, I’ll give them to you if you will just pay for shipping I think they they are the same tweeters as the 802, but you might wanna check that just to make sure Nick
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roxy54 A client once told me, "I don’t have to do anything". That quieted the room. OP might want to consider the crossover, but slight changes might not be obvious, and who knows if they will be detrimental. Any product, when considering substitution, I always imagine the OEM making different decisions originally, i.e. what if the only reason they didn’t use the SEAS was availability, track record, price, color choice ..... or if they chose a Beryllium Tweeter, or Boron dusted diaphragm, or if JSE had picked a Morel Tweeter instead of the flammable Dynaudio D21. What if that engineer had taken a job with a different firm, and a ribbon tweeter and super tweeter had been chosen as the best marketing choice in that era, These designs all use ’then newest’ high technology, computer science, that does not make them perfect, then or now, So many assume a need for perfection, I would install them, listen, be happy or not. My friends listened, then altered/upgraded the crossovers, then concluded they wouldn’t bother if doing it again, it wasn’t worth the work, cost is not a consideration for either of them, and they have younger ears. | ||||||||||||||
You are missing the point. To achieve the desired frequency response when changing tweeter (or any driver regardless of the material) requires changing the crossover. There is no getting around this unless you just happen to get lucky and the TS parameters match. When manufacturers change tweeter materials it’s mostly marketing to get you excited about buying, but the magic is in other design areas than just the cone material. | ||||||||||||||
boostedis I agree, someone is missing the point. is it a high performance tweeter, handles say 1,500 to 20,000 essentially equally? so, the crossover will send it what? whatever the content is, everything the amp sends starting at ____? does it physically fit? essentially same efficiency? Q?
Pair of Randomly Chosen Morel Tweeters $899.
It ain’t rocket science, those Morels might sound better to many fed from the existing crossover. Somebody must have found successful substitutes for those expensive tweeters, and you do not HAVE to alter the crossover. It could be argued it’s a good time to restore the crossovers in any case, so that makes it even easier to try a substitute. | ||||||||||||||
boostedis they were not proposed, just a random find to clarify the idea, and in the case of those special tapered bullets, B&W owners have fewer options, the OP's question made much more sense when I paid more attention, DIAMOND? Aluminum? and I found Silk/Titanium? If mine, I would thank the member for his kind offer, switch to them, expect excellent sound, be happy without seeking the idea of imagined perfection. and buy a pair of those silk/titanium parts for $28. for the future.
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nick, I just remembered the photo of your system after the lightning strike 1-1/2 years ago,
and now I realize how deep the ash on the floor is, didn’t realize how much of the speakers, rack, .... were below the apparent floor surface. I applaud your generosity to the OP, hope you are all able to sleep thru a storm! I never clicked enough comments back then to see the other photo of the ac system
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