We spend too much time talking about tweeters


I do it too. I'm guilty.

Just saying.  85% of the sound out of a speaker if not 95% is not in the tweeter, but the marketing people have us talking more about them than anything else.
erik_squires
I agree with everything Duke said. Kind of to add to my original thesis, how many times have discussions about entirely different speakers been focused on their tweeters? Is it Be? Diamond? Ceramic? AMT?

It’s as if the tweeter itself defined the quality of the entire speaker, and goodness knows the cost on the high end can be exorbitant for such little devices!

The tweeter gives everything its definition, presence, air and dimensionality. Texture, tone, instrument voicing and placement are all defined by the tweeter. Maggie’s ribbon and B&W’s Diamonds excel in these areas...the tone deaf or the high frequency challenged need not agree. Worst tweeter designs I’ve heard are ribbons...sand paper comes to mind!
" So yeah, if we think we can hear to 20k, and tweeters are crossed over at 3.5k then that’s 16.5k of a 20k range... "
What this says is true if one thinks only in Hz, but music is more commonly measured in octaves.  Music covers ten octaves and 3.5kHz to 20 kHz is less than 2and 1 octaves./2
Excuse the typo in the previous post.  What I meant to say is 3.5 kHz to 20 kHz is less than 2 and 1/2 octaves.
Nice job on the new tweeter thread.  grin.
I cannot imagine ever leaving the sealed ribbon tweeters in my speakers. The degree of incredible resolution and detail with no pain is astounding. They are so much better in every way than the Esotar II tweeters were to my ears, and I'd loved the Esotar until then.
I want it all in a speaker but if the tweeter isn't detailed and listenable then the speaker is out. I tried so hard but B&W diamonds-ouch to my ears over the long listen. I did love my old Martin Logan SL3s for transparency but their high frequencies fell away quicker, and could bite with the wrong amp.