How do you guys feel about Ribbon Tweeters?

rnp614

I'm just curious how the polk community feels about ribbon tweeters vs the LSi Vifa tweet. I'm thinking about making/buying a pair of DIY speakers using a Swan Ribbon tweeter and an extremis 6.8 driver.

ohskigod

never side by sided them. I've heard both (I have 60" ribbons on my carver's) and Heard lots of Vifa at Polkfest. I like them both. I dont like the harsher sharper stuff, I like clear but laid back kind of sound for my highs. couldnt go wrong either way in my opinion

rnp614

anyone else?

madmax

I like the ribbons. Very smooth but still detailed.
madmax

Normanality

As much as I love the smoothe sound on my LSi 15's, I don't think I've
ever heard anything quite as detailed as the original Carver Amazings.
They blew the doors off the Theils and Energy speakers. Wish I had
room for some now. :rolleyes:

restanim

I have a pair of Legacy Audio FOCUS situated right next to my Polk Audio SDA-1C. The FOCUS has a 3" Ribbon tweeter. The SDA-1C have the new replacement RD-0194-1 tweeter. The RD-0194-1 tweeter is a superior replacement for the original SL-2000 tweeter that came with the SDA-1C. From the pictures that I have seen, the RD-0194-1 tweeter looks the same as the Vifa tweeter, but only in a different housing. The comparison between the RD-0194-1 to the Ribbon in the FOCUS is an easy decision. The ribbion sounds so much better. It is crisper, clearer and responds to very high frequencies much better. Much more detail in the highest frequencies. During moderate to loud listening levels, there is no fatigue at all. There was a lot of fatigue with the SL-2000, much less with the RD-0194-1 and none with the Ribbon. My choice would be the Ribbon. Hope this helps.

aaharvel

the only ribbon tweet i've ever heard was from a pair of Rat Shack lx-5's. But that was a long time go in a galaxy far far away and I'm sure doesn't count.

Steamer

Same opinion as madmax. Ribbons are a real pleasure to listen to. At least the few brands I've listened to. Nice neutral sound.

restanim

Well, what I really have is the original FOCUS. The FOCUS 20/20 came out in (what I believe) is 2001. The major difference in the 20/20 is that it has a refined lower end, among other improvements.
The FOCUS replaced my SDA-SRS-1.2tl. A definite sound improvement all around. I still liked the Polk sound though. Thats why I picked up a pair of SDA-1C.

restanim

Oh, I forgot to mention my amps. My home theater system is powered by three Sony TA-N77ES amps. Each amp is rated at 200 wpc. They are 2 channel amps.

mhardy6647

Not ribbons but these unassuming little R/S planars (knock-offs of the JVC planars ca. 1980) are among the sweetest, smoothest sounding tweeters I've heard. Now using them as supertweeters (1 uF 1st order XO) with my TQWT's, for which they excel.

jdhdiggs

I like the ribbons over the Vifa's all day. The problem is the cost and size needed to do it right.

rnp614

thanks for the input guys!

Mazeroth

I'll take a good ribbon any day of the week over a dome. Now, the Swans (actually Hi-Vi) you're talking about are planars, not ribbons.

Another problem you're going to face is crossing over a planar (or even a ribbon) to those Extremis. Most Extremis designs utilize a crossover in the 1.1-1.3k region to avoid the nasty midrange dip the Extremis have. I don't know of a ribbon under $300 that could even begin to cross that low.

I did a quick search on diyaudio.com and found this thread. There are a ton more like it. Take a look at the link that Grahamt posted. If you're dead set on using that Extremis with a ribbon/planar, you're going to need to consider doing it in a 3-way.

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=64916&highlight=extremis

This is also a chance to show off the line arrays I built utilizing Fountek JP-2.0 ribbons. Talk about crisp highs!

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=9548

gidrah

MRH - I use a pair of those in my DQ-10s. Great tweets indeed.

gatemplin

Mazeroth wrote:

I did a quick search on diyaudio.com and found this thread. There are a ton more like it. Take a look at the link that Grahamt posted. If you're dead set on using that Extremis with a ribbon/planar, you're going to need to consider doing it in a 3-way.

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=64916&highlight=extremis

That's me.

Hey Raj,

Ribbons are a bad choice for the Extremis as Maz just mentioned. The link to my project is probably objectively the best two way with the Extremis out there. Actually, it is hard to find a driver to pair with a ribbon in a 2way.

http://htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=12992 , this project is also mirrored here at polk. http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26971

jdhdiggs

Mazeroth wrote:

I'll take a good ribbon any day of the week over a dome. Now, the Swans (actually Hi-Vi) you're talking about are planars, not ribbons.

Another problem you're going to face is crossing over a planar (or even a ribbon) to those Extremis. Most Extremis designs utilize a crossover in the 1.1-1.3k region to avoid the nasty midrange dip the Extremis have. I don't know of a ribbon under $300 that could even begin to cross that low.

I did a quick search on diyaudio.com and found this thread. There are a ton more like it. Take a look at the link that Grahamt posted. If you're dead set on using that Extremis with a ribbon/planar, you're going to need to consider doing it in a 3-way.

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=64916&highlight=extremis

This is also a chance to show off the line arrays I built utilizing Fountek JP-2.0 ribbons. Talk about crisp highs!

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=9548

The big Maggie ribbon goes for $250 a pop, unfortunately you must provide a serial number to get them. They will go that low.

MrBuhl

mhardy6647 wrote:

Not ribbons but these unassuming little R/S planars (knock-offs of the JVC planars ca. 1980) are among the sweetest, smoothest sounding tweeters I've heard. Now using them as supertweeters (1 uF 1st order XO) with my TQWT's, for which they excel.

:eek: A blast from my past - my buddy used these same ribbons in college and they are AMAZING!! Alas they were short lived and replaced by a very inferior ribbon almost immediately at RS and I could not ever get my own pair.

Shizelbs

Well, I only have a modest exposure to the LSis, but I do prefer the overall high end sound of my Carver Amazings to that of the LSis. Both are pretty outstanding, but the Amazings' ribbons seem to have better detail and emotion behind them.