Diamond vs Aluminum tweeters for B&W 800 series

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

https://www.discogs.com/release/7290000-Various-Amazing-Bytes?srsltid=AfmBOooNXMBdcdGlt4nbY0C7jP8aFcMulfpAQAf-1zNUobdM25bE2z1X

you need a hole for tripod mount on the bottom of the spl meter to set it at seated ear level

https://www.amazon.com/BAFX-Products-Pressure-30-130dBA-Warranty/dp/B00ECCZWWI/ref=sr_1_8?crid=15GIXG7VNIS2J&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.5WMWcIaSti0so50ELfnJGaIly8btzoP2yM_WS-kpWFXJMM_dZFaeBMAYXHY1dOZxLZO4B3FWQ7pTDDJ9uD8TJ5G0eoV-lNdGWQUiZHqCttGdVr7O0Xk94ABdBJ9b0j2kfCBomrw-v1l7b5Ef9GhZS86k12BEZgPtNHFfoXa6nyhJvTmAqZhKnVCiWfEOGHHnfyR6Buvc7V9UE4cWaah_P_Epl_XUXDhsTZFsP9UWcnI.wRInmZAqLkxk4TppvhyWqjEOscf3uYRhWaxWoPjdYc4&dib_tag=se&keywords=sound%2Bpressure%2Bmeter&qid=1747167858&sprefix=sound%2Bpressure%2Bmeter%2Caps%2C108&sr=8-8&th=1

make a chart, see what you are getting now, later see what your replacement’s are producing.

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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?

this is the shattered tweeter.

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

Very nice of you Nick, but he'll still have to have the crossovers modified.

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.