Supertweeters Work

I looked on my window sill but could find no Towshend Supertweeters!

Curious, did the modification impact the upper registers that you needed to fix using the supertweeters?

I’m researching adding subwoofer support for my floorstanders. If the curiosity itch hits, I may try ENIGMAcOUSTICS Sopranino to fill in the top end.

@noromance the supertweeter fixed the upper register, added air and extension, and made the upper end come alive.  It also seems to have positively impacted the midrange and lower as well but quantitatively more the upper frequencies.

My supertweeters were on the window sill cause, well, I put them there lol...

There are numerous threads on supertweeters. The most common explanation for their demonstrable effectiveness is the rendition of upper harmonics above the audible range. Specifically they work well with DSD and high resolution recordings. The aim is not really to improve treble since they mostly work beyond the audible range and any normal tweeter will easily cover the upper limit of most people‘s hearing ability.

One other hint: keep moving them forward and backward in very small, i.e. 1mm increments from the seating position. The phase allignment with the tweeter is very important, i.e. in opposite phase they cancel each other out in the audible spectrum. Equally, their sensitivity should ideally not differ too much from the speaker; a limited amount of adjustment here can be achieved by toe in.

I have Townshend Super Tweeter  and I never realy knew ,  what level  is the best.

They are at level 6  now .   My Audiovector R6 Arreté have AMT  tweeter .  Frequency :   52 khz       

@maxwave

The level depends on sensitivity: chose the one closest matching your speakers, expressed in db/2.83V (typically between 85-95db). The phase issue inly depends on allignment with the tweeter diaphragm, not volume setting)

@antigrunge2 

Thanks.   At 91.5 db  ,  the level of the super tweeter should be high .

@antigrunge2 interesting points u make.  However, they do indeed improve the treble and upper register extension.  They also bring this area to life...

The problem with determining the effect of supersonics, is that all of these supertweeter units have significant output into the audible treble range. And it’s hard to discern whether we’re hearing the effect of that, or the actual supersonic frequencies. The Townshend looks like it attempts to shelve down treble below 20K, which is a good idea to mitigate comb filtering and "peakiness". But those levels could still be audible.

The Tannoy units cross over high (16kHz - 20kHz) in an attempt to avoid the issues of audible treble, but it’s not enough. It’s VERY audible. At the recommended settings for my speakers (I’ve had 3 pairs of tannoys and 3 supertweeters tried in combination), it sounded like a little treble blaster. Way, way too hot for most sources. It did however, go well with old needledrop tapes - these benefitted from the treble boost! In general, I always ended up reducing level significantly below the recommended settings (e.g. 91dB ST level for 95dB speakers). In the end, I stopped using them, every time. The "air" effect on metal percussion was nice, and the sweet spot was expanded - but in Tannoy’s case, it also came at the expense of coherence and increased listening fatigue. However, I see how it could be the right solution for some systems. 

Either you are under 40 or need to do a hearing test. Above 40 the likelihood of hearing bove 16KHz is very low

Gotta love this forum.  You make a clear honest statement about how u accidentally discovered the real positive impact of supertweeters and u get guys posting crap about age and hearing capacity.  Well I am over 40 and I will never listen to my Aerial Acoustic 7Ts without supertweeters.  The impact was dramatic to my old ears whether the resident scientists can explain it or not.

@jaymark Thank you for your insight and yes this place is full of keyboard engineers and audiologist's. 

@jacobsdad2000 the funny thing is that in real life I am a physician-scientist. There are things that are real that we can’t measure. Our explanations for explaining things that are real can be really weak and offbase. In the audio world it seems that things we experience as real defy explanations and measurement. However, the level of certainty in some posts in tearing down what others hear is comical.

@jaymark as a scientist you should continually search for the truth and a better explanation. I’m sure you’ve heard of Occam’s razor. I think the most likely explanation comes from a psychological perspective. You just spent money on upgrading your Aerial speakers and probably had high expectations for improvement. When the outcome didn’t meet those expectations you felt quite a bit of anxiety. In order to deal with that unpleasantness you decided to try the super tweeters which just happened to be on a nearby windowsill and viola! Suddenly your expectations have been met and the anxiety has gone away. Too off base and comical? Next time don’t mod your speakers, they were probably pretty good from the factory.

@perkadin u are not in the least on target.  I could hear the improvement with the mods but something was missing.  When I put the supertweeters in that I had inadvertently left out what I was missing was now present.  

Not sure why this forum attracts so many naysayers about what fellow audiophiles report that they hear.   

;-) enjoy the music

@jaymark 

what you hear from your supertweeters is better reproduction of harmonics, not more treble. Read up on stuff rather than scold people trying to help you. No matter how much louder you blast high frequencies, if you can’t hear them in the first place, it won’t help a bit, doh…

@antigrunge2 I know what I am hearing and know that I like it.  I know where I hear the improvement so you are not helping me with your comments.

@kennyc I picked up a pair of the Enigma Acoustic Soparino supertweeters.  I switched then in for the Townshed supertweeter.  They are both fine performers but the Soparinos won't be coming out anytime soon.  They give a bit more of everything that I like about the Townshed's.