A good day to you all. I am new to Selah audio.
I was recently introduced to these speakers by a good friend.
I am in the market for a good monitor with reasonably good bass extension and excellent highs and midrange purity.
I see different models on the site and one very striking feature are the use of ribbon tweeters. I am very new to them. I am used to various dome tweeters like the scanspeak, dynaudio esotar etc….My recently sold speakers had a scanspeak tweeter and a scanspeak 7 inch woofer.
How are ribbon tweeters different from a good dome tweeter ?
What are the differences between the RAAL and Fountek Ribbons ? Is one better than the other ?
Why are ribbon tweeters preferred over domes ?
I am completely sold on the scanspeak mid woofers because I am used to them. I am fishing for information on ribbons to help make up my mind.
The ribbons I think have an advantage due to their exceptional horizontal dispersion. The lower moving mass and wavelaunch (flat surface) may play a role as well. Domes still have their place though and can in some cases cross lower if the design dictates.
The differences in ribbons are due to the transformers, motor/magnetic structure,faceplate design, and the ribbon element itself. The RAAL tweeters are significantly more expensive than Fountek / LCY / Aurum Cantus ribbons but the engineering and design I believe set them apart (except from a new Raven tweeter I have here which is even more $$$!). The result is smoother frequency response,better dispersion, ability to cross lower, and lower distortion.
I chose Fountek over LCY / Aurum Cantus because they offered as good or better performance for less cost. At one time all three used the same ribbon material and then Fountek changed to a new material / termination. The result was less sibilance / ringing which is very audible on the other tweeters. For some listeners this isn't an issue because they like the extra "sss", maybe more exciting to listen to but not as natural or accurate sounding. The LCY ribbons also have upper octave response problems (verified to me in private by two different designers). The Fountek remains in our line because it still represents a very good value in speakers such as our SSR.
