beryllium vs diamond

I prefer the Diamond tweeters if for no other reason that even if you managed to cut yourself on a broken diamond tweeter it would not try to kill you like a Beryllium tweeter will.

That stuff is toxic.

In theory, the "diamond" ceramic tweet "should" have better extension & resolution than the be. Sound propagation is extremely fast & distortion characteristics are, allegedly, benign. The accuton diamond has a very low res frequency @ ~900Hz, which is great. As to whether these qualities make a significant difference to the music/audio phile in the 20-100kHz range, is another question altogether -- it's basically a matter of implementation in a speaker system

Compatibility-wise, I would prefer the ceramic tweet to mate with a traditional wide-range low-mid/bass driver (say a Supravox 400exc), for an exquisite two-way speaker -- on paper. But, at $~6k/pair for the tweets and ~2k for the other drivers, it's a very expensive experiment!

Also, be is toxic as rp1 notes (although a Grande Utopia seems hardly a domestic hazard!).

For some interesting reading on a unique product using beryllium as the source material for a midrange/tweeter concentric driver (think highly evolved Tannoy), check out the TAD Model 1.

http://tadhomeaudio.com/making-model-1.html

Ultra high-end, cutting edge stuff. The flagship Model 1 lists for $45K and has been met with RAVE reviews at all of the audio shows.

I'm not affiliated with them in any way. Just became aware of their products through meeting their Director of Product Development through an AudiogoN transaction.

Certainly the most unique cabinet and driver design I've seen in a LONG time. 50 layers of laminated 1" high quality birch. Pretty neat stuff.

There have been older posts in other threads that compared BE dome tweeters to other types of dome tweeters. My general recollection is that BE dome tweeters are much stiffer and lighter than most other (if not all) types of dome tweeter materials on the market. Of course, I am not speaking about ribbons or stats.

That said, IMO, there is more to the "quals" of a dynamic "box" speaker than just the tweeter. In particular, the start/stop speed and resonance point of a dome tweeter are not the only specs that count.

As to BE being toxic, ... yes I have read the same thing, but I gather that BE toxicity has more to do with the manufacturing process when BE may be in an aerosol or particulate state. Once it's formed into a final dome shape and mounted in the tweeter housing, I surmise that it's pretty harmless in that inert state.

FWIW, my Paradigm Signature 8(v3) speakers use BE tweeters. So I have a little background here. As an additional FYI, Magico and Focal also use BE tweeters. But going to my point above about overall speaker "quals," Paradigm, Magico and Focals employ many different manufacturing and technology approaches that make them sound differently from each other.

Not much more to say about this very narrow question. In the end, its all about how a particular good quality speaker matches up with one's amp and how the over-all combo of everything sounds in the listener's room. It has taken me years of mixing and matching stuff and I'm still not done.

One of my pet and not favorite irks is my bloody room. Neither BE nor diamonds will fix that problem. Think DEQX.