Jason1,
I hope I'm not stepping out of line, but, as expensive as these speakers are I would expect at least a SS9700 or Seas Millennium tweeter.
In response to your comment I feel I should fill everybody in on WHY the 9300 was chosen for this application.
Upon review of the available drivers for this application, "no stone was left un-turned" in our quest to find an optimal match to our waveguide technology. Every SEAS and ScanSpeak driver, along with virtually every other product from most other reputable manufacturers, was rigorously researched and their specifications compared in order to select the most optimal fit. The ones you mentioned were thoroughly investigated and found to fall short of the requirements.
To be sure, unless one has a thorough understanding of the physics involved, one is not in a position to properly evaluate such complex matters. Your very comment here harkens to the philosophy upon which this company is based. That is: Simply throwing financial resources at a project IS NOT a formula for success.
There are many manufacturers that prey on the unwary or inexperienced consumer by offering products manufactured with certain exotic materials and/or processes that may or may not provide substantial improvements in performance. One of the most effective methods of gaining a certain level of prestige and marketing leverage is to simply offer such products at a substantially higher price. If it costs a lot, it must be really good, right? Caveat emptor.
As we state on our website:
“Often, materials of lesser cost are equal to or even out-perform their exotic and costlier counterparts. Every effort is made to minimize cost without adversely compromising performance or aesthetics. Good engineering usually dictates some compromise. We control costs by always selecting the most cost effective material or process that offers the least negative impact on performance, durability and final finish. Our intent is to provide you -- the customer -- with the highest value products possible.”
So…the SS9300 was chosen in lieu of one or two EXTREMELY costlier counterparts. The other options are still under evaluation but if and when, they will be offered in a product that will be considerably more expensive than the products in our present line-up.
Your comment
“but, as expensive as these speakers are,”
seems to ignore the extensive engineering bundled into our products. Just for everybody’s info, there are as many as 25 components in the “high-pass section” of all of the crossover networks in the various models that supply the tweeters their drive signal from the amplifier. These components are needed to provide both the crossover function AND flatten the frequency response of the tweeter/waveguide system due to the large amount of low frequency gain provided by the waveguide. This is no trivial matter…especially when you consider that every crossover is tweaked to +/- 1dB before the speaker goes out the door. And no, a “better” tweeter wouldn’t make it easier. In fact, the ones you mentioned and others of their ilk would only make it more difficult as they are not a proper fit to begin with...AND they don’t offer the low frequency linearity and/or excursion capability needed for a 600Hz crossover frequency.
I venture to say that we are the only company in the WORLD offering products with a crossover to the tweeter at, or even near 600Hz...without using a compression driver!!!One final comment with regards to cost: Recently in Denmark our Revelation was compared to Wilson Audio Grand-Slams and determined to equal and possibly exceed their performance (by a private individual). When you consider that the Revelation in our Studio Finish lists for under $10K as compared to the Wilson’s at $100K, yeah, I think we offer excellent value…even though we “only” use the SS9300. The idea that any product can even begin to compete with another at 10 times it’s price should speak volumes about the inherent value of the less costly product. You know, most of you guys out there have never even heard our products, and those that have haven't heard them since their "rebirth" with the new tweeter (and the waveguide has changed too). You really have no idea just what league of performance our products are in now. But you'll see - soon.
By the way, have you seen this month’s
Stereophile? Look at the “big name” speaker on the cover and its review. To think that anybody would produce a product that cost almost $45K with as lousy a set of specs as that product makes me just a little irritable.
I wouldn’t even let our new, upcoming lower cost products out the door with performance that bad. And even our little Timepiece blows it away – except maybe in sheer power handling. Even then, they’d be biting at their heels. You wait – we’re going to make W-A, S-F, E-W, A-G, Avln. et.al. embarrassed to even show their crap before it’s over with.
-Bob
