SVS Ultra Monitors or Golden Ears Aon3 ?

I've heard the Aon3. Very distinctive and nice all around for the $$$s. Passive radiator in side design helps extend bass and delivers a more open room fulling sound compared to other comparable designs. Folded ribbon tweeter might be somewhat directional compared to some others and is very polite in a good way, ie easy on the ear. Might take some getting used to if one is used to more bite in the high end as may be more common with other tweeter types, like soft dome, etc.

SVS have nice price to performance ratio. Very alive. Remind me of the Zu Audio products. A nice "hot" sound with rock or punk related material.

Folded ribbon tweeter might be somewhat directional compared to some others and is very polite in a good way, ie easy on the ear. Might take some getting used to if one is used to more bite in the high end as may be more common with other tweeter types, like soft dome, etc.

Here are Stereophile's measurements from their review of the Aon 2. The tweeter has a reasonably conventional dispersion pattern, not too different from a 1" dome. However there is a bit of suckout vertically at the crossover point, but not laterally. As for frequency extension, this tweeter is down only 5dB at 30 Khz and there is no 25 Khz oil can resonance so typical of an aluminum dome.

You are right, the tweeter is uncommonly smooth, especially taking its speed and extension into account. I think it's because this design doesn't suffer from ringing, resonances, and overshoot typical of a dynamic tweeter. The folded ribbon has a much larger surface area (about 7 sq. inches), so the diaphragm doesn't have to work or extend nearly as far as a 1" dome (.78 sq. in.) to reach the same SPL. Several reviews have noted this and attribute the combination of frequency extension and smoothness to this lack of the inertial artifacts we've become so accustomed to hearing with 1" circular (esp. domes and inverted domes) tweeters.

I heard the Aon 3s and was very impressed; their fullness sounded very much like what a mid-sized (10x12 footprint, 40" tall) tower typically produces. And then there's that very smooth, natural treble.

OTOH, I'm also seriously considering the SVS Ultra Towers for my LP-sourced 2-channel system. From all reviews I've read, the aluminum dome tweeter of that design is very smooth and evenly distributed thanks to its ferrite magnet, damping, and waveguide.

I went with the aons 3 and the supercenter X, I am so glad I did. I was downsizing to a smaller sytem, I used to have aerials all around, I was looking for a aerial type sound (smooth and detailed)in a smaller and less expensive setup, when I auditioned the aons 3 I was hooked, they need some time to break in, but once they do, they are fantastic, I am using them with a HSU sub (great combination)my next step is to decide on rears, the super sats, another pair of aons, or buy the sevens for the fronts and move the aons to the rear, oh well, it never ends

Congrats. I think those will give you what you were looking for. I've heard both the Aon 3s and SuperCenter (plus a GoldenEar sub) and was duly impressed with the natural sound and the smoothness, resolution, linearity, and extension of their HVR tweeter. Much easier transition from electrostatics than to a dome tweeter. MartinLogan uses a similar tweeter when they're not using electrostatics (as in their Motion series).

a little update on the aons, I am so impressed by their sound quality, after years of spending thousands on this hobby, these speakers make me feel like a fool waisting so much money, also, the bass is so good and correct, I am using them at full range and have sold the sub, also have sold the seperates and am using a pioneer elite sc 65 with excellent results.