[Big Red Machine]

Thinking about trying out some add-on super tweeters for fun. Don't know how much money I need to spend to experiment properly.

And sources for those?

I assume an L pad and maybe a cap or two might be needed.

[JLM]

Have you asked your speaker manufacturer for advice?

[Philistine]

I tried them many years ago, I believe they came from AV123, they didn't work for me so sent them back...even though I wanted them to work
I then had a later discussion on super tweeters with Danny Ritchie, he wasn't a fan due to poor integration, comb filtering and other stuff I also didn't understand...
If you can get them on a demo/return then it's worth a shot, nothing to loose.   

[JLM]

I added "Late Ceiling Splash" (search AC) ambience tweeters to my single driver speakers a year ago.  Not super tweeters, but $20 Dayton Audio DC28FS-8 soft dome tweeters in series with a 1.0 uF capacitor that I run in parallel with my single driver speakers (efficiency is a close match so no resistor/attenuator required).  They sit on the floor behind the speakers facing upwards to increase treble response and allow widening of my speakers to gain a wider soundstage before center stage collapse.  I tried swapping the recommended $1 cap for $50 and it did sound better, but just didn't make financial sense. 

Real super tweeters are quite expensive.  Top mounted Fostex currently run $215 - $1,034 USD a piece at Madisound.  And as mentioned integration can be a challenge.

[poseidonsvoice]

BRM,

Not surprised judging by the measurements you posted on pages 5 and 6 here: http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=145295.80

Best of luck in your search!

Anand.

[MttBsh]

I think it really depends on your personal taste and the kinds of speakers you use.

I use Cain & Cain Abby single driver speakers and love the sound they produce, but for my tastes they needed more bottom end so I added a pair of subs that really filled in the missing deep bass. On someone's suggestion I also added a pair of Fostex T500A super tweeters to bring in some high end sparkle and I've never looked back. In fact a couple of months ago one of my super tweeters failed and I immediately bought a replacement, that's how much I missed it. The T500As aren't inexpensive at $500 apiece (at least) but in my system they are very addictive.

[konut]

I use the VMPS super tweeters sitting atop my Timepiece Minis, in the same plane as the other drivers, facing the rear wall. Adds a nice bit of air and sparkle.

[woodsyi]

I used a pair of these with Omega monitors -- I want to say they were 8s but only see 6s and 7s now.  Anyway, just added 1 cap for first order highpass without any L pads.  I forget what the value was.  I can look it up.  It added a sparkle. 

Mine are out on loan somewhere.  Who has my super tweeters?  PM me.

[Big Red Machine]

I used a pair of these with Omega monitors -- I want to say they were 8s but only see 6s and 7s now.  Anyway, just added 1 cap for first order highpass without any L pads.  I forget what the value was.  I can look it up.  It added a sparkle. 

Mine are out on loan somewhere.  Who has my super tweeters?  PM me.

That's funny. Have them send them to me to try out.  That was the one I read about and seemed to have the highest value.

[MttBsh]

I also added a pair of Fostex T500A super tweeters to bring in some high end sparkle and I've never looked back.

Oops, meant to say a pair of Foster T900A super tweeters

[MttBsh]

FOSTEX T900A !! My brain isn't working today!

[Big Red Machine]

FOSTEX T900A !! My brain isn't working today!

Pants first, then shoes.....

[woodsyi]

I used a pair of these with Omega monitors -- I want to say they were 8s but only see 6s and 7s now.  Anyway, just added 1 cap for first order highpass without any L pads.  I forget what the value was.  I can look it up.  It added a sparkle. 

Mine are out on loan somewhere.  Who has my super tweeters?  PM me.

I will look over my PMs to figure out who has them.  I can have him ship them to you.  It will have to wait a few days.  I am off to the airport to take my daughter to Orlando.  Her birthday celebration will be at Disney and Universal.

[OzarkTom]

The very best are the Vaughn plasma tweeters at 7K. But it will make one of the largest improvements ever.

[Norman Tracy]

I will post my opinion/experiences in favor of super tweeters. The executive summary is I like ‘em.

I am a speaker agnostic, or you might say slut. By that I mean my experience is there are multiple paths to musical HiFi bliss in your listening space. I enjoy and cycle through the following speaker types:

• Single driver “full range” monitors especially the Fostex FE103 and FA120
• Full range electrostats, just finished a few months with my Stax ESL-F81s in the system
• Bi-amplified mini-monitors (with and without subwoofers)
• Bi-amplified monitors (with and without subwoofers) including configurations using Fostex, Radian, or Accuton drivers.
• Large format classic JBLs, Bozak, Altec, and Hartleys (hints on sneaking the 15” coaxs back into the living room without the wife noticing are always welcomed)

During my most intense period of Fostex FE103 adoration I had an experience where I “saw the light” (heard the sound?). Annually in Bartlesville Oklahoma we have the OK Mozart festival. As has become common in classical music a ‘name’ performer perhaps outside the classical world is included to expand the draw. In 2009 that name was “Chick Corea with his Trio”. On the night of the performance Chick strolled onstage and told us there had been a scheduling problem and his trio became unavailable so he had called an old friend for help. And he introduces Gary Burton. And that is how I spent an evening of pure musical bliss sitting 30 feet from Gary Burton’s vibraphone and the 9’ concert grand Steinway being played by Chick Corea as they performed selections from their classic 1972 fusion jazz album ‘Crystal Silence’. Driving home afterwards I had to admit that as good as the FE103 and FA120 are at high frequency reproduction (and they are quite good) for ultimate fidelity dedicated tweeters and/or super tweeters are needed. A paper cone or dome just cannot get those last overtones of Burton’s hammer hitting the bars of his instrument.

Over the years subsequent experiences especially some design commissions have led me to the belief that the ‘super-tweeter’ range 15k to 30k Hz is very beneficial when we are chasing that ‘ultimate’ HiFi facsimile of live reproduction experience. I have witnessed the ‘turning on the super-tweeter makes the bass better’ experience. Which I freely admit is weird and essentially the definition of counter intuitive. And getting the off path weird unconventional beliefs on the table I believe even listeners who no longer hear pure tones in the 15k to 20k audible ranges react positively to systems that do not cut off at 20k. Not weird but rather “it is what it is” comes from watching the spectrum analysis display on Adobe Audition show content above 20k Hz as I master my 96k/24 bit recordings. Violins and percussion seem especially prone to go above 20k.

Here are a couple of reasonably priced drivers you can experiment with that have useable output above 20k to 30k Hz.

• SEAS Prestige 22TAF/G (H1283) Alum/Magn. Alloy 22 mm Dome Tweeter
• Dayton Audio AMT Mini-8 Air Motion Transformer Tweeter Part# 275-095

Speaking (again) of 20k when computing the crossovers for a super-tweeter experiment do not be afraid to try crossover frequency values like 15k or 20k. Remember there is output below the corner frequency of a filter, if it’s a simple series blocking cap 1st order filter its significant output. We want to blend the super-tweeter in with your existing system.

Here is my FA120 speaker with Dayton AMT super-tweeter at LSAF 2016.

[RPM123]

Not yet, but I have been toying with the idea. The Townshend Maximum Supertweeters have received some good reviews.

http://www.townshendaudio.com/supertweeters/

[hi5harry]

If you get a chance to hear the Acapella Ion tweeters, they will convince you of the acoustic gains they add to a system. I am sure it can be done on a budget. One of the gains I did not expect was they can actually make the bass more articulate! Go figure.

[DSkip]

Rosso Fiorentino uses ribbon supertweeters in their Reference and Flagship series paired with a silk dome tweeter.  The dome plays to 25khz, then the ribbon takes over to 100khz.  I've been completely won over by their implementation and think they are onto something.  The best part of their solution is you get the airiness of the ribbon with the naturalness of the silk dome.

[OzarkTom]

Jim Jordan won the best show ever award from Stereophile and the owner of VAC bought a pair of Vaughns plasmas at 2016 RMAF. The plasma tweeters makes the biggest difference in Jim's speakers. 7K is a lot of money, but that would be the last you will ever spend.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/rmaf-2016-wrapping-herbo

What really impressed me was the Vaughn Plasma Signature's ($20,000/pair) exquisitely, perfectly resolved midrange, coupled to the best top octaves I have ever experienced. The plasma tweeters have control knobs that go from silence to full on. I listened in wonder as Jim Jordan (Vaughn's founder) turned the knobs and made the midrange go from extremely good to unbelievably good. If you love electrostatic speakers (as much as I and Michael Trei do), you might lose your mind for this dynamic-plus-plasma tower that out-stats your stats. Right now, Vaughn's Plasma Signature gets my vote for the only speaker that might actually do it all! Is it perfect? No. Now that I think of it, I did wish for a little more slam, slash, and wham-bam-do-da. But then I was listening to their records, not mine.

[Bendingwave]

How does those expensive fostex super tweeters compare to these cheap piezoelectric tweeters like these (that can reach up to 50khz) in terms of sound quality > http://69.64.35.188/piezo/files/KSN-1076A-Datasheet.pdf