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Townshend Maximum Supertweeters

Yes, Maximum. I don’t come up with the names, I just review the stuff, okay? ;) And I got em because everyone keeps telling me I should, and once again they are right. Whew! That was easy!

Kidding! We will now laboriously delve into why you cannot live without these tweeters, that you can’t even hear.

For sure I can’t. My hearing rolls off somewhere north of 15k. If that. These things extend to 90k. Why? What difference can it possibly make?

Who knows? And since when has that stopped me?

So out they come and what have we here? Two heavy black bricks, with a screen on the front and a couple binding posts on the back. In between the posts is a little knob you use to turn them off and set the levels. On the bottom are rudimentary rubber dimple feet. Guess I was expecting Pods or something, this being Townshend. No such luck.

They go on top of the Moabs. Well there is already a BDR Shelf on top, and a HFT dead center right where this thing is supposed to go. Moving HFT even an inch changes the sound so executive decision, the Maximum Supertweeters go just outboard of the HFT. They are first just placed there not even connected, just in case this somehow messes with the sound. It doesn’t.

Okay so now you need to know my system is all messed up. No, not the usual mess I mean really seriously messed up. No turntable. Chris Brady has the bearing for some resurfacing and stuff. So we are slumming with the heavily modded Oppo. Not to fear, Ted Denney sent me some of his latest Atmosphere X (review to come) which with the right tuning bullet the Oppo now sounds....digital. Oh well. KBO.

The usual: Demag. Warmup. Listen a while. Hook em up. What level? Who knows? Moabs are 98dB. How ya gonna know anyway? How can it even matter? How do you even set the level of something you can’t hear? Level 3, good as any. Plug em in. No change. Not the slightest peep out of these things. Total dud. Knew it. Sit back down.

What the...? No way. There is not the slightest hint of top end coming from these things. They may as well not be there at all. Except the whole presentation is somehow different. Top to bottom. No way!

I get up and turn the black magic off. Sit back down. Crap. Flat, grainy, digital. Turn em back on. Deep, liquid, analog.

No, not analog like my turntable. They are just supertweeters after all not magic. But way more analog than it was. More dimensional, more solid, more liquid detailed. More black between the notes, and in the black it is now easier to hear the natural acoustic decay. I do NOT want to go back to listening to CD without this! I cannot wait to hear it with my table.

And I haven’t even had time to get them dialed in yet!



128x128millercarbon

Showing 10 responses by pedroeb

pedroeb
493 posts
 
millercarbon OPjay mark, Good to hear. Thanks

Now I'm wondering if there is much difference between brands?

You mentioned the improvement with CDs is exceptional. Since CDs cutoff at 20kHz, I'm wondering what is being emitted? Are they creating harmonics (1st, 2nd, 3rd) and if so, it might suggest some brands may well be better than others.

There seems to be sceptics who use human hearing range as the excuse. There is no reason to believe higher frequencies aren't entering the ear and interacting with frequencies we can hear.

Your thoughts on all of the above would be gratefully appreciated.
pedroeb
493 posts
 
Are Townshend Maximum Supertweeters the best add on option? Are there others that are almost as good or dare I say even better?
pedroeb
493 posts
 
Anyone have experience with a multi channel home theatre system? Is a pair on the main speakers going to help all speakers? I remember reading a comment that read Just put them on all speakers! Although I'm not sure that's the best approach.

It would be an expensive exercise if the benefit diminishes with the number super tweeters. I'm thinking a pair might be sufficient, although Atmos channels mostly output higher frequencies so perhaps they would benefit from their own.

Any help or guidance would be appreciated.
pedroeb
493 posts
 
Thanks millercarbon.

John Hannant has indeed been most helpful.

I'm not sure I'd ever consider going out of phase or bouncing off rear walls. Still to each his own.

As for hp, anything that does 0-60 in 6 seconds is fast enough. AWD is far better than more power!!!!

It was a testimonial on their site that said "Every speaker should have these! Stunning in every way."

I been dragged into going multi channel, but with 9.4.4, I can't imagine having 13 supertweeters. Overkill? My 9 channel amplification is all monoblock, so who knows! John is checking to see if they sell 'em separately so I can get one for the center channel.
pedroeb
493 posts
 
I don't know about Siamese cats, but I hate it when the smoke alarm goes off.
pedroeb
493 posts
 
millercarbon

And I haven’t even had time to get them dialed in yet!

I note their Max sensitivity (2.8V @ 1m) is 89dB, and the level control settings are 1: 74dB, 2: 79dB, 3: 83dB, 4: 85dB, 5: 87dB, 6: 89dB.

My speakers have a sensitivity of 88dB, so I've gone with level 6. Works for me.

I should add that I've upgraded my speakers by treating all internal surfaces (including the rear of sealed speakers) as well as encasing crossovers to reduce reflections and filled the internal space with a sound absorption material. The results are fantastic and there is barely a hint of contamination impacting the cones' movement, which can be heard as a hint of ringing. (I suspect it could even be why some speakers are considered bright.) Perhaps that's why I can go higher than the recommended starting point without feeling uncomfortable.
pedroeb
493 posts
 
Here's a link to some interesting research - Inaudible High-Frequency Sounds Affect Brain Activity: Hypersonic Effect - 
https://b01fe120-8355-4a65-8abc-c8b51b6192cc.filesusr.com/ugd/d25f4f_a07d2fffb4244c4aa3341eb3c12e1e3...

I found it while looking at The TAKET BATPRO 2 Supertweeter with a range of 18kHz -150kHz or more - https://www.atelier13-usa.com/taket-supertweeters.
pedroeb
493 posts
 
My experience is that supertweeters make ports superfluous. Blocking them with bungs makes the bass even clearer and more defined. In any case, if you have subs you certainly don't need ports to extend the bass. Some subs have ports to extend the lower frequencies, but again, with supertweeters they're unnecessary. 
pedroeb
493 posts
 

Aging audiophiles?

 

Not especially, Hearing might be limited to around 20kHz, but in real life harmonics extend well above that frequency. Indeed, research shows the frequencies above 20kHz influence hearing and could well be one difference between live performances and recordings that the CD format ignores, being limited to a theoretical 22.05kHz.

High-res files and LPs often contain frequencies well above hearing threshold, so it's reasonable to reproduce them. That's where Super Tweeters come in, as most speakers don't fare well in that domain.

pedroeb
493 posts
 

@antigrunge2

Thank you for your vote of confidence

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