soft dome v metal dome tweeters....do you have a preferance?

daveh75:

maxflinn:

you're dead right there pp, ive currently got dire straits greatest hits playing on a loop and as corny as it sounds, ive got over that analytical stage and am really just enjoying the music and all the little nuances of it..ive found the perfect system for me in my room not through extensive demoing, but through a bit of experimentation, logic, trust in advice and a bit of luck

Nuances!

Starting to sound like a anal retentive, pretentious true audiophile now max You'll be upgrading mains cables next

ive just ordered a black velvet blazer and joined a wine forum

daveh75:

maxflinn:

you're dead right there pp, ive currently got dire straits greatest hits playing on a loop and as corny as it sounds, ive got over that analytical stage and am really just enjoying the music and all the little nuances of it..ive found the perfect system for me in my room not through extensive demoing, but through a bit of experimentation, logic, trust in advice and a bit of luck

Nuances!

Starting to sound like a anal retentive, pretentious true audiophile now max You'll be upgrading mains cables next

I have neighbours that are total nuances....

igglebert:

Based on my own experiences and what I have read of others' it comes down to execution, i.e. how good the speakers and their crossovers are, and how well the amp drives them.

Agree.

Recently demo'd eight different speakers - which included metal, paper and composite tweeters - and there seems to be no hard 'n' fast rule; all variants were capable of being too bright/forward IME.

My current speakers will not, mercifully, generate 'tinkly' top-end treble - and they have metal tweeters.

I've recently become a ribbon tweeter convert after listening to Elac's BS 243 and 244 speakers.

The Monitor Audios of 10 years ago put me off metal dome tweeters - lots of tizz and an uncomfortable listen. The newer Elacs to me sound better, but, as long as the speaker is well-balanced with a non-fatiguing sound, I'm not fussed

Soft Dome Tweeters it is! I used to be a big fan of B&W CM series, specially. But, the metal dome tweeters drove me crazy once I realized that it was the problem that I had with the system. After listening to the Excite series of Dynaudio, it was a night and day difference in the high end spectrum - CM 7/9 was too sharp and jarring and with excite it went off magically!!! Which brings me to buy the Contour series

As others have said, it depends on the execution (and why are we ignoring horn tweeters, and ribbon tweeters ).

The only thing I have found, from my experience with MAs, is that metal dome tweeters take a fair bit of running in and can very sound harsh and bright straight out of the packing. I think this can put people off. Soft domes tend to sound closer to their final state from the outset.

scene:

As others have said, it depends on the execution (and why are we ignoring horn tweeters, and ribbon tweeters ).
The only thing I have found, from my experience with MAs, is that metal dome tweeters take a fair bit of running in and can very sound harsh and bright straight out of the packing. I think this can put people off. Soft domes tend to sound closer to their final state from the outset.

Find it quite interesting regards different interpretations of hard domed tweeters. As I mentioned previously, I really do believe room acoustics is so influential. It's probably right if you hooked up MAs to an all Cyrus or all Leema system in a very reflective room, the sound could be brittle and edgy.

plastic penguin:

scene:

As others have said, it depends on the execution (and why are we ignoring horn tweeters, and ribbon tweeters ).
The only thing I have found, from my experience with MAs, is that metal dome tweeters take a fair bit of running in and can very sound harsh and bright straight out of the packing. I think this can put people off. Soft domes tend to sound closer to their final state from the outset.

Find it quite interesting regards different interpretations of hard domed tweeters. As I mentioned previously, I really do believe room acoustics is so influential. It's probably right if you hooked up MAs to an all Cyrus or all Leema system in a very reflective room, the sound could be brittle and edgy.

You're right there, whereas an MA RS (or Silver 8i) hooked up to a mellow Arcam (say an A85 or AVR250) produces a synergy that is greater than the sum of the parts (IMHO). And therein lies the heart of the audiophile adage of "demo, demo, demo"

Very happy with either - the 752s are fine speakers and they have mesh domed metal tweeters. Harsh? Far from it.

scene:

plastic penguin:

scene:

As others have said, it depends on the execution (and why are we ignoring horn tweeters, and ribbon tweeters ).
The only thing I have found, from my experience with MAs, is that metal dome tweeters take a fair bit of running in and can very sound harsh and bright straight out of the packing. I think this can put people off. Soft domes tend to sound closer to their final state from the outset.

Find it quite interesting regards different interpretations of hard domed tweeters. As I mentioned previously, I really do believe room acoustics is so influential. It's probably right if you hooked up MAs to an all Cyrus or all Leema system in a very reflective room, the sound could be brittle and edgy.

You're right there, whereas an MA RS (or Silver 8i) hooked up to a mellow Arcam (say an A85 or AVR250) produces a synergy that is greater than the sum of the parts (IMHO). And therein lies the heart of the audiophile adage of "demo, demo, demo"

Indeed: this is why a vast majority of my dems have been at home. Dedicated dem rooms are fine up to a point, but they won't give a true representaion of the synergy of any system.

After auditioning both metal and soft dome speakers I finally settled on Esoteric MG-20 which use magnesium. I believe they are the only speakers that use this technology but sound great to me!!

zekezebra:

After auditioning both metal and soft dome speakers I finally settled on Esoteric MG-20 which use magnesium. I believe they are the only speakers that use this technology but sound great to me!!

I was intrigued, so I did a quick search and turned up (from the esoteric-teac website) that: Esoteric exclusive Mg technology, ceramic coating and corrugation. The Focal Chorus range has (had?) a speaker with a Magnesium tweeter, and there are some others. They even have one with a berilium tweeter! I believe in all cases the magnesium isn't 100% pure, 90%+ (though I'm prepared to be corrected on that). So the MA c-cam technology isn't so different. It's the stiffness and rapid heat dispersion of magnesium (alloys) that attract manufacturers.

Eek! Isn't magnesium the stuff that would ignite spectacularly during school chem' classes?

Not that I want to give devious kiddies any ideas for when they're alone in a room with a relative's prize speakers...

MUSICRAFT:

maxflinn:

ive read many posts on here regarding both types, some prefer soft domes, some metal, and some say that there isn't much between them once they're partnered well..

well my own observations based on my old monitor audio rx6's and my current dynaudios are that in my room at least, and with my yamaha amp (which i never got to hear my rx6's with) the soft dome tweeters are much nicer..

i used to tire of listening to my rx6's after a couple of hours, but i can listen to my dyns for days (and literally have done), the highs are so detailed yet somehow smooth and easy on my ears, it's probably the wrong word but "velvety" keeps springing to mind, and there's no sibilence at all, just crisp,deft little sounds of cymbals, etc. very nice indeed..

any views?? 

Hi maxflinn

I like both. Dynaudio's Esotar2, Monitor Audio's Platinum Ribbon, Focal's beryllium and Yamaha's beryllium (as used in the NS1000) are the finest HF units i've heard.  ATC's first ever HF unit promises to be exceptional.

Btw, how are you getting on with your speaker cable?

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

Allright Rick,

I was under the impression that ATC made all of their drive units in-house.If,as you state,they don't manufacture their own HF drive units,then where do they currently source them from?

Should we expect ATC's new HF drive units to be a radical departure from technologies previously employed ie: Metal-Alloys,Ribbons etc.?

And how long will it be before we can see & hear the new models/variants for ourselves.

Regards & thanks.

BABUR.