New Tweeters: In or Out of Phase?


I fried a tweeter in a KEF 104.2 speaker and replaced it with a VIFA unit that has .5db higher sensitivity than the stock unit. The VIFA replacement does not indicate + - leads. Does anyone know how do I tell them apart and what are the sonic effects of incorrect wiring? The new tweeters are a great improvement over the orignal 1990 tweeters but are a little bright. I hope this reduces after burn in or is it that they're out of phase? Should I have gone with Morels whose sensitivty is rated at 2.5db less than the Vifa, but might have better matched the 2 midrange elements (from 1990) that might have lost sensitivity since their manufacture in 1990.
Thanks for any responses.
somec59

Showing 1 response by chasmo

I've replaced tweeters on several occasions and find that in some cases using a series resistor will increase the impedance and shift the crossover point slightly -more noticeably with higher order networks (such as the 3rd & 4th order filters most often used by KEF, or low impedance tweeters(4ohms).

I would recommend using an "L-Pad", which is two resistors (one in series, one in parallel) to maintain the correct tweeter impedance. here is a link to a page where there is a calculator for the correct values.

http://www.lalena.com/audio/calculator/lpad/

Try it both ways and see which you prefer.

FWIW, another consideration is that KEF may have used a Zobel/conjugate network to tame the fundamental impedance peak of the KEF tweeter. Unless the Vifa has the same Fs resonant frequency/impedance peak,there may be a mismatch(Just my 2 cents)

Good luck and good listening.

-chas