The best tweeter is no tweeter


In a recent review in Stereophile for the Elac Carina over an AMT based speaker (I’m a fan of AMTs by the way) the author, Herb Reichert, makes this statement:

My personal experience suggests that the overall sound of any loudspeaker is greatly determined by the designer’s choice of tweeter.


and then he goes on to list some speakers with AMTs, some of which I like, some of which I hate, which he feels share the same qualities. And it got me thinking about something as I hook up my home theater again. In my mind, the very best tweeters are completely invisible and transparent. I do not suggest you should use a single-driver, full ranger with a whizzer, heavens no. That’s just wrong (grin) and a clear cry for help.


What I am suggesting is that in the very best tweeters in the world, of which some are AMTs, and many are not, you simply cannot tell what they are.


That is, they are absolutely transparent. You do not perceive sound emanating from them at all. Music is just there, in front of you. Some of these are ring radiators that are really reasonably priced. Some are German or Spanish AMTs, some are diamond or Be tweeters.


In fact, my home theater has both ring radiators and AMTs in them, both of which may be found among the most prestigious brands of speakers. Though they have entirely different operating principles and materials, their performance is absolutely seamless. I barely use EQ except for the sub and center due to the latter’s location on a shelf. What both of these tweeters share is incredibly smooth output (unlike crappy AMTs or Be tweets) that is flat to beyond 20 kHz.


Please, buy what you like, but to me, if you want to talk about a world class driver, it’s not one you can sit in front of and say "aha! I know this is an Aluminum/Be/Diamond/AMT tweeter!!"


If you can tell the type of tweeter you are listening to, I can assure you it is not among the best in the world.
erik_squires
Swapping out the tweeters in many speakers is not a big modification. So even if you dont have a tweeter you dont like, just swap it. Problem solved. You can easily have the best tweeter in your speakers with a quick modification. 


Thank you Eric.  Been an ESS fan since 1973, purchased a pair of  ESS AMT4.  Later purchased a pair of ESS AMT5 with the round ring tweeter. The actual  AMT driver/veils material has changed over the decades, resulting in much controversary.  IMHO, just needed a midrange/woofer to keep up.
i think it has been established that these forums are incapable of coming up with a best of anything. Its just a place to argue about opinions. It would be better to ask what is your favourite tweeter of all and which do you seek to have.   More fun 
Lots of nice drivers out there, of various designs. The implementation is at least as important as the design.
Yep... no other tweeter sounds as natural, neutral and transparent than the AMT folded ribbon tweeter, or the Magnepan ribbon tweeter.