Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Has Axiom Ever Considered Ribbon Tweeters?

Just a thought. What about a ribbon tweeter that's designed to sit on top of an Axiom speaker, that you can swivel up or down a few degrees, and it just hooks up to the same wires on the back of the speaker. Axiom could sell these as an add on for those that would want it.

If that is the case, the ribbons are pretty much a waste.

1. There is not much content above 10-12 kHz.

2. unless you are 19 or female, you most likely can't hear that high.

I don't think it's specifically about frequency range. Frequency range is covered. It's about the actual sound of certain higher frequency instruments that the ribbons to my ears handle better. Cymbals, percussion, etc. And add-on with built in cross over is a great idea. I wonder if anyone anywhere has that.

I haven't seen a ribbon add-on but there are add-on supertweeters available. I would guess a web search would let you know rather quickly if anything like that is available.

Sounds like the Oskar speaker line that employed the Hiel tweeter.

I seem to remember that power handling was an issue and a magazine (UHF if memory serves) managed to easily burn one while testing

I have heard others say that, but I've never listened to a speaker with ribbon tweets. My understanding is that the trade off is off-axis response.

Yes, Onix has done that. Onix ERT (Extended Range Tweeter) is designed as an add-on to an existing speaker. They are ribbon super tweeters that have an adjustable cross over with two settings, 11kHz to 15kHz, and 4 settings for sensitivity, 87.5dB-89dB-90.5dB-92dB. They are about $350-400/pair and available from Onix distributors in North America. LCY-100K is another one and costs about $550-600; Madisound and e-speakers no longer carry it. Townshend supertweeter is a third choice at around $1500/pair. There are others.

Relatively speaking, dome tweeters have good horizontal and vertical dispersion whereas ribbon tweeters have good horizontal but poor vertical dispersion.

But count, the "actual sound" of high frequency instruments is "specifically about frequency range". Well-designed dome tweeters, such as those used by Axiom, do the job within audibly meaningful frequency limits with no significant problem.