DIY Tweets that are on par with Electrostats

[TLS Guy]

Well it is a cold rainy day here at Eagan also. My wife is just working one day this week which is today. So I have just done what we should do and use the equipment. I have just finished watching a glorious performance from the Met on Met Player. A performance of Nabucco by Verdi. His first big hit, and what a hit.

One of the last performances Jimmy Levine will conduct I'm sure. He was conducting from his electric wheel chair as he has been paraplegic for some years now. He is also battling against Parkinson's disease now, which was fairly obvious. Placido Domingo sang the tittle role at age 76. It was just a marvelous performance. This is a very dramatic opera with lots of huge choruses. The audience demanded the great chorus of the Hebrew Slaves be repeated.

Met Player has improved dramatically since introduction and the quality is now excellent. Since Bright Cove took over the streaming service it has gone from strength to strength.

If this performance is released on BD though I will splurge on a copy.

The system here also rose to the occasion splendidly. My wife now claims this as her system. She loves it.

Lately she has embraced this hobby as never before. I'm certain it is that vital blend of high quality picture and audio that has been key to this.

It is such a shame when we get posts from members of wives and GFs complaining about AV equipment in the home. They really miss out.

 

[Irvrobinson]

I think those tweeters would have to come from the factory with a grill. EPA laws here and certainly Europe forbid the possibility of touching Beryllium. That was why Shure had to stop production of their V15 series cartridges. As I'm sure you know, Beryllium is a highly toxic metal and carcinogenic as well.

Not true, Mark. The Revel Ultima2 tweeters are pure beryllium, and they only use two wires to protect the dome, but do not preclude touching it:

 

[TLS Guy]

Not true, Mark. The Revel Ultima2 tweeters are pure beryllium, and they only use two wires to protect the dome, but do not preclude touching it:

Well you should not be able to touch it.

 

[Swerd]

Those guard wires at least deliver the message of 'look but don't touch'. For some people, that may not be enough.

If I understood correctly, the real danger from beryllium was to the factory workers who inhaled the dust made while machining the metal.

Touching the finished dome probably damaged the metal surface by contamination with finger tip secretions (a mixture of lipids and amino acids all at a slightly acidic pH) more than it endangered the fingerer.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Those guard wires at least deliver the message of 'look but don't touch'. For some people, that may not be enough.

Well, at least in my house, the threat of involuntary amputation has worked for several years. Replacement Be tweeters are expensive!

 

[mmphoneman]

Have you considered AMT tweeters. They are closer to par with electrostats than most speakers. I am currently moddifying a pair of Heresys with Dayton Audio AMT tweeters.

 

[annunaki]

I am not opposed to AMts and have heard good things. The Daytons seemed a. It on the lower end of things but I can't truly judge without hearing either.

 

[lovinthehd]

I remember there was a bicycle once offered in beryllium (usually titanium or aluminum or steel alloys are used), remember the rarity and beryllium's toxicity working with it made that bike super expensive ($25000 for a frame set when really expensive complete bikes at the time were more like $3k). A bicycle guy's take on metallurgy including beryllium here

 

[MrBoat]

I remember there was a bicycle once offered in beryllium (usually titanium or aluminum or steel alloys are used), remember the rarity and beryllium's toxicity working with it made that bike super expensive ($25000 for a frame set when really expensive complete bikes at the time were more like $3k). A bicycle guy's take on metallurgy including beryllium here

I know a bicycle nut, who I have done welding work for in the past, who wanted to shave some weight off of his bike frame.

I suggested Jenny Craig.

 

[lovinthehd]

I know a bicycle nut, who I have done welding work for in the past, who wanted to shave some weight off of his bike frame.

I suggested Jenny Craig.

The specific term is weight weenie. Even a dedicated site http://weightweenies.starbike.com/

 

[MrBoat]

The specific term is weight weenie. Even a dedicated site http://weightweenies.starbike.com/

 

[KEW]

My understanding is that the hazards of beryllium do not really become an issue unless you do something to get dust from it.
In other words, I believe in any typical alloyed form it is harmless, but if you start grinding it (as you would for weld-prep for a bicycle frame), the dust is very problematic!
In this way, it is similar to asbestos exception being that asbestos was commonly used in a suspension that was friable (such as insulation "fluff" or asbestos shingles which if exposed to the elements could crumble into dust).

Focal Solo6 with inverted Be tweeter. This is a pro audio item and is subject to being handled much more than any home speaker. No guard for the tweeter. The Utopia home audio line has the same tweeter without any guard.

 

[j_garcia]

My guess would be like most metal dome tweeters it is beryllium deposited onto some other substrate, possibly not solid beryllium. I would expect no flaking or issues with off casting from something manufactured this way unless you physically started messing with it.

 

[MrBoat]

Do you think beryllium is really necessary in speaker manufacturing?

 

[Irvrobinson]

My guess would be like most metal dome tweeters it is beryllium deposited onto some other substrate, possibly not solid beryllium. I would expect no flaking or issues with off casting from something manufactured this way unless you physically started messing with it.

Nope, Focal and Revel use solid beryllium.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Do you think beryllium is really necessary in speaker manufacturing?

Revel's argument is the lowest Poisson's ratio of any suitable material.

 

[KEW]

https://www.livescience.com/28641-beryllium.html

But workers who handle the metal need to watch out, as airborne beryllium has been known to be highly toxic.

I am probably wrong about it being alloyed (though it certainly is in some cheaper speakers that include a little bit so they can use the term Beryllium in their ad-copy).

I can't say nothing else can get you there, but quality Be tweeters do indeed have a great sound.

I brought my Focal Solo6's for Dennis to hear and he commented that the Be tweeters have the same sound signature as the RAAL he uses in the Phil3. Whether or not they have some other benefit or liability as compared to RAALs such as power-handling, efficiency, or dispersion characteristics, I couldn't say.

 

[Irvrobinson]

https://www.livescience.com/28641-beryllium.html



I am probably wrong about it being alloyed (though it certainly is in some cheaper speakers that include a little bit so they can use the term Beryllium in their ad-copy).

I can't say nothing else can get you there, but quality Be tweeters do indeed have a great sound.

I brought my Focal Solo6's for Dennis to hear and he commented that the Be tweeters have the same sound signature as the RAAL he uses in the Phil3. Whether or not they have some other benefit or liability as compared to RAALs such as power-handling, efficiency, or dispersion characteristics, I couldn't say.

BeAL is one of the dome alternatives listed in Revel's brochure for the Ultima2 series.

 

[Swerd]

Do you think beryllium is really necessary in speaker manufacturing?

I can't say nothing else can get you there, but quality Be tweeters do indeed have a great sound.

I brought my Focal Solo6's for Dennis to hear and he commented that the Be tweeters have the same sound signature as the RAAL he uses in the Phil3. Whether or not they have some other benefit or liability as compared to RAALs such as power-handling, efficiency, or dispersion characteristics, I couldn't say.

The beryllium tweeters that Dennis Murphy and Jim Salk like, and are beginning to use, are made by Transducer Lab.

The slide show on the TL home page shows the variety of dome tweeters they make: beryllium, magnesium oxide, aluminum oxide, and fiber composite.

Somewhere I read that all those TL tweeters seemed to share a similar sound quality, including those not made with beryllium domes. I cannot remember where I saw that comment, but it suggests TL may have learned a thing or two about making good sounding hard dome tweeters regardless of the composition of the dome.

 

[Irvrobinson]

I brought my Focal Solo6's for Dennis to hear and he commented that the Be tweeters have the same sound signature as the RAAL he uses in the Phil3. Whether or not they have some other benefit or liability as compared to RAALs such as power-handling, efficiency, or dispersion characteristics, I couldn't say.

The Salon2 tweeters are still equal to or better than any tweeter I've heard on any system, but I have no idea if that has anything to do with the dome material, and frankly I suspect it doesn't. The B&W diamond tweeter still sounds as good to me, Poisson's Ratio detriment or not. Spending too much time on the ingredients rather than the end product is probably the wrong thing to do.