I have not been around this forum as long as some of you have. Does anyone recall there being discussions concerning implementing different types of drivers? Such as ribbon tweeters for instance. I personally have only heard one brand of speaker that utilizes ribbon tweeters. I liked what I heard. Perhaps Axiom might consider ribbons as an option? Just a thought.
Jeff

There were some discussions about soft-dome vs metal tweeters maybe 10 years ago, and a "your woofers look wimpy" discussion more recently that might have encouraged work on the HP bass drivers, but I don't think I have seen any discussion on ribbon tweeters. There was at least one board member running external super tweeters with his Axioms (2x6spds ?) but those were piezos IIRC.

I would like to try some speakers with the RAAL tweeter and occasionally think about picking up some Sierra Towers with the RAAL upgrade...

... but I keep having to do other things with the money - and besides, I am disgustingly happy with my M5HPs right now, after spiraling through M60s, Sierra-1s and M3s first.

I guess I could upgrade my Sierra-1s to Sierra-2s, but it might be more fun to just buy the tweeters and start a forum thread for hacking the M60 crossovers to work with them.

That would make for a fun GTG when the work was finished

The one residual concern with ribbon tweeters is comments like this...


... basically very little dispersion, particularly vertically.

Probably not an issue with bookshelf speakers where raising & lowering to match your ears is as simple as changing stands (the tops of my M5HPs are somewhere around 47.5" off the ground) but more of a challenge for towers where you need to get into raising the front legs & tilting them back.

Ribbons are difficult to integrate with the drivers. The Axioms enjoy a pretty seamless integration throughout their frequency range.

I had a Merak center channel, don't recall the designation, twin 6.5" and a 0.75" Titanium tweeter. Swapped in a pair of Axiom aluminum 6.5s and cobbled a tweeter/capacitor from a Reference de Capo 3a I found on ebay in place of the Axiom Ti tweeter. The Reference 3a did not use a cross-over, much like the Axiom M3s, just a cap and a resister, allowing the driver to mechanically roll off where the tweeter picks up. It's actually a stunning sounding speaker.

I modified some Radio Shack super tweeters with Solen caps. I think they help. Dogs love 'em.

Ribbons need to cross over a bit higher than normal tweeters. They only make sense in true 3 way designs. I recently built some speakers that used ribbons from a design at speakerdesignworks.com The result was pretty good.

I can't believe I missed that, thanks for the reminder. I must have been spending too much time admiring the cabinet pics you posted.

Hi Jeff,

We have played around with both Ribbon and Planer-magnetic tweeters but have not found any good reason to consider using them. Maximum output before compression can be a problem with these designs and the off axis response lacks uniformity. If you are in the camp of wanting your tweeter to operate out to 40kHz and beyond then a Ribbon tweeter crossed over as a Super-tweeter would be a good thing to do. I have run tests with this in the past and did not find any reason to be concerned with the response out to 40kHz.

Thank you Ian for sharing your thoughts on this. Your response is greatly appreciated.
Jeff

Hey SN, what was the name of your speaker building thread.
Thanks Jeff

Somewhere around here or a few pages back...

https://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/ubbthreads.php/topics/425662/33

... although looks like PhotoBucket is being difficult.

The image from Princess Auto still displays OK though

With my somewhat limited experience with speakers utilizing a ribbon tweeter I have not found this to be an issue, this "head in a vise" scenario. Perhaps because the full range, three way towers I have listened to are approximately 44" inches tall? IDK, they are quite wonderful sounding. I do realize everyone's experience can/will be different .
Jeff

Hi Strider. When photobucket stopped 3rd party hosting my build thread was pretty much gutted. The last dozen pages or so in the thread Bridgman linked pertain to the speakers. Here is a pic of how they turned out. I built three as an LCR set for behind our screen wall. Pretty nice for movies.

Serenity Now, wow they look great! Hope they sound as fine as they look. What ribbon tweeter did you use?
Jeff

They look great

It's disturbing that I knew the answer from memory (I really enjoyed the build thread), but IIRC according to the plans it is this one .

It occurred to me that the degree of "head in a vice" behaviour would probably be a function of the mid-tweet crossover frequency, but it's too late at night for me to remember whether higher or lower is better.

Yeah that's the one.

In this design it was crossed at 3500hz I think to the Mids. I think the designer uses a rule of thumb of filtering a whole octave outside of the drivers "safe" range. I think the tweeters could be crossed at 2500hz according to the manufacturer.

I wonder if Serenity Now (aka AAAA) is still enjoying these speakers.?
Jeff

Heck yes.

Cant listen to that system before bed. Too many “just one more song”. Even now.

What do you want to know?

Trevor, you still liking the sound of the ribbon tweeters?
Jeff

Yep. You betcha. Outstanding. The only issue is vertical dispersion as others may have mentioned. You need to listen on the same plane if you are really wanting perfection. Not an issue in my setup while seated.

I can understand what Ian was saying about distortion. If you push them crazy loud the ribbon tweeters cry for mercy before fluid cooled domes. But that is crazy loud for mine.

I can push the towers to over 105dbc (95dba) and it still sounds very good and balanced. They go louder but I’m chicken. I should make a vid and post it. Hilarious loud.

Axiom builds fool proof products, so I can see them wanting to ensure people being crazy doesnt turn into 5yr warranty claims.... There are a lot of gonzo folks out there. And booze..... lol.

I've pushed the active LFR1100 to ridiculous 115dBC peaks at 15 feet away. The HP drivers were doing a belly dance as they experienced asymmetry. But they held together and still sound great.

Trevor,
Yep, I feel the same about my two channel system. I was curious concerning ribbons , found a local manufacturer and went for a listen. Also listened to some Legacy’s. I liked what I heard and ordered a pair (not Legacy’s). Although, to my ears my tower speakers with the Raal 70-20 D ribbon tweeter aren’t very forgiving on some of my older rock recordings. But, well recorded music is spectacular and there is the reward. I’m good with that. Outstanding they are!
Jeff