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Tweeter type and brightness

I presently own Martin Logan Odysseys that I purchased new in 2005. I've enjoyed them very much but I'm having to replace the power supply board in one of them as I did in the other one about 5 yrs ago and I'm thinking that it may be time to look into speakers using more recent technology.

I auditioned several new sets at Sound Advice including the Monitor Audio silver 2, 6, 8 and 10 plus a small pair of ML's. I thought all of them were very good. Additionally, I bought a pair of Jamo Concert Eights several months ago that were fantastic for my type music which is mostly solo guitar. I regret selling them but at least I learned how good quality bookshelf speakers can be.

Anyway, I've read in several posts that metal dome tweeters have a tendency toward exaggerated or tinny brightness which can be very uncomfortable for me because of a hearing issue that I have. I want to avoid this and am asking for advice regarding this experience of others and what tweeter construction, if any, is generally best to avoid what I call screechiness.

I've been told that the technologies that best avoid this are ribbon tweeters or domes of some softer material than the various metals used in many of them. In one of the forums here on Audiogon this subject was discussed in some detail and at least several participants seemed to minimize the relationship between tweeter design and this problem. They suggested that more likely potential causes would be such things as room acoustics, interconnect quality, rake, crossover problems, etc.

I agree that each of these considerations could lend to the issue but I'm looking for a good starting point to at least minimize the contribution of the speaker design to this problem.

I've heard the gold series Monitor Audio speakers which do incorporate ribbons and they seem to work perfectly with my music but they, like the larger new ESL's are substantially outside my current budget limits. I'm currently using some borrowed temporary speakers while I'm waiting for the new circuit board so I can sell my Odysseys. In the meantime I would appreciate any advice I could use to help with an approach to selecting a speaker best suited to my needs. My upstream equipment includes Shanling solid state CD player, CAL DAC and Rogue Audio Sphinx 100W hybrid amp.
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lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,393 posts
 
I too have a hearing condition and am bothered by high frequencies especially from harsh digital thru metal tweeters. I have really tamed the harshness in my system with acoustic panels on the walls to absorb standing waves. I'm also using Cardas cables which seem to have a more rolled-off top end extension. But out of all my tweeks, the room treatments were the most effective and made for improved sound in every aspect. I must point out though, that good source material usually makes a metal tweeter no problem, but we can't always count on that.

I have recently auditioned Dali and Dynaudio floorstanders and been very impressed by how natural the highs and mids sound. The Dali uses a ribbon crossed over to a soft dome tweeter and the Dynaudio uses a soft dome tweeter. One of these will soon be my next speaker.
wolf_garcia
6,620 posts
 
Metal tweeters aren't always bright although logically it would seem they would be. There are many factors in design and implementation that make drivers, metal or soft dome or whatever, sound the way they do.
cdente
111 posts
 
You can try a pair of Spatial Computer VB1's first before moving to a new speaker. Darn near removed all the glare and harshness for the aluminum dome tweeters on my Paradigm S8 V1's. Check out their web site for more details. Money back guarantee as well.
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,393 posts
 
Cdente,
I see you wrote a testimonial after trying out the VB1's. Any idea what the theory is behind them; like what's in the box?
soix
8,723 posts
 
I guess any type of tweeter can sound like crap if it employs crap materials, is not designed well, or if the crossover isn't implemented properly. That said, you sound like a great candidate for a ribbon tweeter. I heard a pair of Selah speakers that sounded very sweet -- detailed with no harshness. Perhaps Goldenear, Dali, or Mark & Daniel as well?

Short of ribbon tweets there are some sweet-sounding speakers from Joseph Audio, Dynaudio, and Nola (all silk dome tweets) that have a detailed, refined sound that may not offend your senses as well. There probably are some good metal tweets out there too, but in the lower price ranges they may be a little more risky than these other alternatives. Best of luck.
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