[eric the red]

With all the glowing reviews of speakers with ribbon tweeters, why aren't more speaker manufacturers jumping on the bandwagon and incorporating ribbon tweeters into their designs?  

[Pez]

I think many are turned off by ribbon tweeters. Not that they think they sound bad, many probably acknowledge their superior transients and extention, however this day and age everyone wants a speaker that is universally good for home theater and music. If you notice 99% of manufacturers out their are more concerned about dispersion than they are about overall sound quality and transients. Many think (perhaps falsely) that ribbons are not capable of the Home theater type dispersion they desire for their design.

I readily admit that the 626's in a music setup don't have the greatest off-axis sound and judging from that many would think that they wouldn't be good for HT. I have heard the 626's in an HT setup and was very impressed overall. When you have 3 of them in the front it seems to really help out with their perceived problem.

[Ravi]

Eric,

As good as the best ribbons are, there is no such thing as the perfect transducer.  There are always tradeoffs.

I've heard a few ribbon or quasi-ribbon speakers.  Recently, this includes the GR Criterions and the Alpha's with the planar magnetics.

There are some things that the ribbons do extremely well, namely transient response.  Some like the Criterions, even have fairly good dispersion.

However, when compared to a highend dome like the OW1 (implemented well btw), there are things the OW1 does that are still better.  Sonic images are more fleshed out, and sound is more natural, and coloration is almost non-existant when comparred to the the best ribbons.  

Ribbons are facinating, look cool, and are better in some respects, but after the initial awe subsides, they still have some drawbacks.

[Rocket]

hello,

not sure if i agree with some of your comments.  my speakers are custom made mtm speakers using 7inch focal kevlar mid/bass drivers (7k4211db) and the raven 1 ribbon tweeter.  the raven has been well implemented in my speaker and is fast, has great transients, reveals the inner nuances of music and has a more natural top end than any other dome tweeter i have heard.  btw i have not heard the ow1 but have read great reports about this tweeter.

off axis is a slight problem but i don't listen to my music in that position.

home theatre why would i want it as my main listening system.  for ht i use axiom bookshelf speakers, you don't need top quality for ht.

jmho.

best wishes

rod

[fredgarvin]

I would agree that dispersion is a major factor and certainly the main consensus is that consumers like speakers better that have good off axis dispersion. Another factor is the cost of good quality ribbon drivers. The vifa xt25 is perhaps an example of a tweeter that has become very popular with manufacturers because, of its excellent  characteristics and attractive pricing. Probably no ribbon tweeter could accomplish that.  

[Ravi]

Rocket,

I've never heard a Raven tweeter, so my comments don't relate to it.  Some of my favourite pure ribbon tweeters have been the one in the Criterion (Ess I belive), and the 5' long ribbon on the Maggie 3.6.  You're right, it isn't fair to call all ribbons coloured, as the one in the Maggie 3.6 is one of the cleanest I've ever heard.  Unfortunately, it was almost clean to a fault, being a little on the analytical side.

[Tyson]

I think the main reason we don't see more of them is their cost, and the difficulty in getting a good blend between a ribbon tweeter and a cone midrange/midbass woofer (more expense and especially talent required from the designer).  Horizontal dispersion isn't the problem, as ribbon units are often quite a bit thinner than their cone/dome counterparts.  It's the vertical dispersion that cones/domes really would have an advantage in the dispersion department.  Of course, if you have a very long ribbon, then you have good coverage in the vertical plane, and also have less room effect from floor and ceiling reflections.

Listen to well implemented ribbons being driven by tubes.  It doesn't sound thin, but it does make cone/domes sound slow and thick (as in syrupy) in comparison.  Some cone/dome speakers are worse than others in this respect.  Among the better cone/dome setups I've heard, the Legacy Whispers, Thiel, and Dunlavy SC IV through VI all sounded very good, with impressive transient response and "speed".  The still are not as transparent or able to reproduce delicacy as well as the VMPS speakers (for example).

[Rocket]

hello,

i think the guy who built/designed the ribbon in the criterion is the same guy who designed the raven tweeter.

danny indicated to me that the raven was quite difficult to implement.  check out this website:

www.warco.com.au

there are 2 companies on the website check out war audio the owner is also the designer of my speakers.   he has been using the raven tweeters since about 1995, he appears to have overcome the difficulties in mating the ribbon to the cone drivers at least to my ears anyway.

one last thing the only problem with ribbon tweeters is that if you have only reasonable electonics in the rest of your system they wont perform.  i had an cambridge integrated which sound terrible with the ribbon tweeter it was too revealing.

anyway interesting discusssion.

regards

rod