@antigrunge2 interesting points u make. However, they do indeed improve the treble and upper register extension. They also bring this area to life...
Supertweeters Work
So, I just got back my Aerial Acoutic 7ts from being modded by ASI Teknology, Doug Jessie. I unboxed them, hooked them up, and thought they sounded nice and improved but something was missing. Specifically, recordings with high end air was missing the delicacy and presence in the upper registers. I looked on my window sill and there sat my supertweeters. I hooked them up and viola my problem was solved. A very convincing lesson that my Towshend super tweeters work and work impressively.
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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. |
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. |
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