[rlee8394]

Jim,
I noticed on your gallery page:

http://www.salksound.com/gallery.html

That 4 of the 5 HT1's have a round tweeter faceplate, e.g. G2Si as opposed to the rectangular faceplate on a G2. Are these G2Si units, or are they actually G2's with a faceplate change. If you have had experiences with the G2Si's, what are your thoughts on them as compared to the twice as expensive G2Si? Thanks.

[jsalk]

rlee8394 -

Jim,
I noticed on your gallery page:

http://www.salksound.com/gallery.html

That 4 of the 5 HT1's have a round tweeter faceplate, e.g. G2Si as opposed to the rectangular faceplate on a G2. Are these G2Si units, or are they actually G2's with a faceplate change. If you have had experiences with the G2Si's, what are your thoughts on them as compared to the twice as expensive G2Si? Thanks.

The very first G2 ribbons we worked with (even prior to the introduction of the G2si) had round faceplates.  Later we decided to go with versions using the rectangular faceplates.  First, we thought they looked better and, second, they allowed closer spacing of the midwoofers in the Veracity HTC center channel design.  Other than that, they are the same tweeter.

We also use the G2si in our HTS Home Theater series speakers.  The G2si was chosen for this line as it is a lower clost line and not intended for critical music listening (although they work fine in this application as well).

The G2si cannot handle quite as much power as the G2 ribbon.  The G2 is an extremely good tweeter.  The G2si is a very good performer for the price.  For a speaker designed for critical listening, I would stick with the G2.  But the G2si can deliver great ribbon performance as well, at roughly half the cost.  So there is definitely a place for it.  But as I indicated above, it can't handle quite as much power and probably can't be crossed quite as low as the G2 if this is critical.

- Jim

[rlee8394]

Thanks Jim,
That's exactly the info I was after. I just couldn't tell much from the spec's in the Parts Express catalog. Sure, the cost and power handling was stated, but nothing describing any "real" differences as you have. Have you looked at the G3/G3Si and G1 units? Wonder what the additional cost would buy you over the G2 if any? Also I see that SEAS has come out with a new Excel woofer, the W16NX001 in both 4 and 8 ohm units. These may be nice for a smaller system or a new MTM model. Lifted shamelessly and gratuitously from SEAS news section:

"These totally new woofers represent a major step forward in high performance compact driver design. The new basket allows the same long throw excursion capabilities as our 18 cm drivers, but with an outer mounting diameter no larger than our W15CY001. Through careful design of the surround and outer rim mounting system, we have achieved a radiating area that falls right between that of the W15 and W18 drivers. Combined with the ultra long throw capability, these drivers are capable of very impressing bass performance in a compact cabinet. These drivers are offered in both 4 an 8 ohm versions, for use either in single or double woofer systems."

Maybe worth a look?

Thanks again,
Ron.

[jsalk]

Ron -

I have tested the G3 and G1 tweeters.  They have larger ribbon elements and can be crossed lower.  But speaker design is all about trade-offs.  The trade-off in this case is more limited dispersion.  So if you don't need to cross lower, the G2 is probably a better choice than the other ribbons.  The G2 and G2si ribbons are really the only ones we are interested in as we did not need to cross lower.

As for the Seas drivers, I have looked at them and I like the sensitibity ratings.  But the FR plots don't look all that flat.  It seems if you wanted a design with flat response (most often you would), they might require a lot of work in crossover development.  Look at the midrange frequency response and compare it to the M15CH002 for example.  That's not to say they aren't good drivers and wouldn't result in a great speaker, it just doesn't look like an easy driver to deal with.  Then again, I have never worked with one, so I am not speaking here with any degree of authority.

- Jim