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

horn loaded titanium compression driver Klipsch Forte, RPM 160.  also have a pair of vintage Infinity CS with EMIT tweeter. The Vienna Acoustics are the “warmest” with very sweet clear treble. Focals are neutral midrange, tight warm base and clear, clean, crisp twinkling treble. Not harsh or fatiguing.  Infinity have surprisingly good treble extension and sparkle driven by a vintage Crown DC300A.  All other speakers are driven by various tube amps, KT-88, 300b, EL34 and 845.  The Klipsch are least “warm” but have incredible dynamic presence, soundstage, less base thump than Focals, with detailed, slightly forward midrange and treble extension to past 20kHz.  Klipsch are my #1 go-to for immersive sound.

There are many drivers of all sorts of design, soft dome, hard dome, compression drivers, ribbon, heil, etc. that sound good.  One of my favorites is  ancient—the Western Electric 597 fieldcoil compression tweeter.  I heard the souped up G.I.P. Laboratories currently manufactured version of that driver in killer systems; that driver costs $60k per pair and require a power supply (and good ones don’t come cheap).

The reason they go beryllium they are light fast responsive.the distortion is pushed way past 20 k hz above what humans hear.the diamond dust is hard and added as a stiffener svs just did a diamond tweeter. Beryllium causes lung problems in humans and is hard to manufacture. Having it in your speaker is not a problem bought some satori be tweets and they had 2 warning labels inside in case you missed one.enjoy the search and music

I have beryllium tweeters on my Revels and soft dome on my Arendals.  I prefer the sound on the Revels.  Great top end without being sibilant or too rolled off in my listening room.  Beryllium was suggested by a local dealer and they sound great to me.