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soft dome versus hard dome tweeters

As my internet window shopping continues, I was reading on some speakers that listed for the tweeter textile dome and also silk dome.

So then I used the 'search discussion' function on this site on the subject of soft versus hard dome tweeters and it seemed as if most of the members who offered opinions used that "harsh" and "fatiguing" and "ringing" to describe how they felt about hard dome speakers. In the admittedly short time that I spent reading, I was not picking up a lot of love for hard dome tweeters.

But there are reputable speaker manufacturers that seem to have gone the extra mile to make their hard dome tweeters as hard as possible using, for example, beryllium or artificial(?) diamond dust.

I wouldn't expect a consensus on much of anything audio, but did I just by luck to find responses by mostly people who prefer soft dome tweeters?  Because if they really sound that bad (harsh/fatiguing/ringing) in comparison, why would reputable manufacturers choose this route?  And I do realize that appreciation of a sonic effect is subjective, so did I just happen on responses by members who had mostly the same subjective perception?

immatthewj

Showing 1 response by dlevi67

dlevi67
55 posts
 

FWIW, and bear in mind that this is one person with two pairs of speakers which - by the standards of some here - are probably classed as "not good", I would agree that hard-dome tweeters are 'harder-sounding' than soft-dome ones, but I would not go as far as saying that they are harsh or fatiguing. Over my 45+ years in the hobby I have listened to many speakers using both technologies, and the general character of both types of transducers remains fairly consistent in my memory.

There are good engineering reasons for using both hard- and soft-domes, but they do come with trade-offs in how they present music; the designer has to make a choice based on multiple factors, of which timbre is only one.

Ultimately, as in many cases, your ears are the only reliable instrument of what you are going to like.

(My speakers: Sonus Faber Electa Amator; Focal Solo 6 Be)

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