Hah! You just described what I have here at home. 🙂 I have the Peerless version of the ring radiators though. As has been mentioned, it is close but not an exact replacement for the SS.
For the money, either the Peerless or SS version are outstanding, at either price point, but they do trade off this fantastic performance for a narrow dispersion. Side by side with the Mundorf AMT's they are remarkable. I'm listening to desktops with the XT25BG tweets. Effortlessness and smoothness for days and days. If anyone wants to replicate my humble work:
A Speaker Maker's Journey: The LM-1 Bookshelf Version
Best,
E
Last edited:
Nope, that is on my todo list - do you know of any good commercial implementations?
RAAL grainy?! What speaker was this in? I've worked with the large RAAL and OEM RAAL. When used correctly, they are the cleanest tweeters I've heard.
cph2000 - Right now the Tekton brand is one I know uses a lot of them. I haven't heard the SB RR either, but lots of fans here.
Best,
E
Best,
E
even the best transducer in the world, if poorly integrated: it will sound bad.
Bad results with RAAL means bad integration. That simple.
It can also mean poor accompanying equipment and connections.
-worst sound I've ever heard was some solid-state amps connected to some old klipsch heresy's. Great thumpy midbass (fun-factor, not realism), but damn - that treble drove me right out of the room and very quickly thereafter the store it was in.
BTW, I'm not fond of the Vifa/SS ring radiator (..though the most expensive of the group (SS) is a lot better). The reason:
1. it's over-damped. Clean fundamentals? Yes. Clear low-level detail, NOPE. Depth? Marginal. Well developed imaging? NOPE, unless you like tiny focus points. Trailing-decay? Nope. (..I should note though that most of this isn't a problem as freq.s scale higher, above 6 kHz or so it's fine in most of these respects.. but see #2.)
2. it's a bit too directive. What good is a clean and clear presentation at higher freq.s if those freq.s are depressed in level relative to the average?
3. it's overall out-classed by any number of other drivers.
-worst sound I've ever heard was some solid-state amps connected to some old klipsch heresy's. Great thumpy midbass (fun-factor, not realism), but damn - that treble drove me right out of the room and very quickly thereafter the store it was in.
BTW, I'm not fond of the Vifa/SS ring radiator (..though the most expensive of the group (SS) is a lot better). The reason:
1. it's over-damped. Clean fundamentals? Yes. Clear low-level detail, NOPE. Depth? Marginal. Well developed imaging? NOPE, unless you like tiny focus points. Trailing-decay? Nope. (..I should note though that most of this isn't a problem as freq.s scale higher, above 6 kHz or so it's fine in most of these respects.. but see #2.)
2. it's a bit too directive. What good is a clean and clear presentation at higher freq.s if those freq.s are depressed in level relative to the average?
3. it's overall out-classed by any number of other drivers.
Last edited:
I don't know?
Never heard any RAAL tweeter that sounded grainy or bad as described...
But everything is possible, it's the easiest thing on earth to make sound bad a transducer! Anyone.
How would a JBL 2405 compare
Since a lot of Japanese audiophiles are praising the 2405, how would this one be a candidate for the best tweeter award? Anyone done (listening) comparisons? I am asking since currently they are in my system 😉 but no RAAL to compare to for example.
I designed a lot of loudspeakers including ESL (up to ESL full range) and by now I am trying to combine the best of this long audio trip. I never forget the weigth-less mid/high of an ESL or magnetostatic tweeter, but also want the dynamics that horns bring (instead of the ESL limititions).
Just curious about the 2405 😉
Arno
Since a lot of Japanese audiophiles are praising the 2405, how would this one be a candidate for the best tweeter award? Anyone done (listening) comparisons? I am asking since currently they are in my system 😉 but no RAAL to compare to for example.
I designed a lot of loudspeakers including ESL (up to ESL full range) and by now I am trying to combine the best of this long audio trip. I never forget the weigth-less mid/high of an ESL or magnetostatic tweeter, but also want the dynamics that horns bring (instead of the ESL limititions).
Just curious about the 2405 😉
Arno
I don't know about the JBL 2405, but I have compaired the Raal to Fostex T800-something, and it was a bit sharp, probably due to distortion, compaired to the ultra clean Raal. But the Raal has similarly weak sound as ESL, although you won't notice that if you cross it high enough. I crosed my Raal at 2kHz, because I was sick of distortion from compression drivers when crossing them too high. I was satisfied at first, but my next project will be to cross it a bit higher and add a smaller horn with a compression driver. My midrange horn is a bit too large for 2kHz and the Raal is a bit too weak sounding to be crossed so low. I miss the powerful dynamic sound of compression drivers, just not above about 8-12kHz.
Rewind, what crossover slope are you using, 6/12/18/24? I'm also using the 140-15D crossed at about 2khz as well, my midrange is a Audiotechnology -15H52, spec'd by Skaaning himself to match my Dynaudio 30W100.
Last edited:
I tried 12db bw and 24 bw, and 24 sound better actually. The 140-15d needs a horn to go down to 2khz, btw. You loose a bit of splash in cymbals, if you know what I mean, but gain very clen upper midrange. A bit weak, and not so dynamic, as I said previously.
i used the 140-15d dipole with a waveguide crossed at 2,5K, and though it sounded very good, it lacked a bit of body and punch compared to the compression driver in my current setup (radian 475 beryllium)
i'd try to keep the crossover around 3,5k, since above that the RAAL's are world class.
i'd try to keep the crossover around 3,5k, since above that the RAAL's are world class.
it is fun to compare notes but ultimately it does not help a whole lot since there is no such thing as "the best tweeter", only the best tweeter for the job (given the rest of the speaker). I find that even matching amplifier with speaker has impact on the top freq reproduction.