Although not relative to this thread someone over at the Ascends forum posed the question regarding Be vs. RAAL....and here is Dave's reply....
Ascend Acoustics Community - View Single Post - RAAL vs. Beryllium Dome
If it were my money, I'd go with the RAAL.....
Many fair points
But one metric where the best Beryllium tweeters still hold an advantage is in sheer output capability and dynamic headroom. Even Dave will tell you to stick with the Ascend NrT tweeter if you're sitting far away in a very big room, or when you simply want the highest output levels possible from Ascend's own speakers
Focal's Beryllium domes hold the same sort of sheer output advantage and can absorb more Wattage than the RAAL ribbons. I'll fully agree that when it comes to "typical" output levels though - as in what most people would consider "very loud" in, like, 90% of cases - it's awfully hard to match the nearly flawless transient response of those RAAL ribbons though
Focal went with the inverted dome design for some of the very reasons that Dave described. Inverting the dome allows them to use a smaller, lighter motor structure as the force can be applied to just the peak of the inverted dome, instead of the perimeter of the dome as with all traditional "outward"-facing domes. They've patented the heck out of their design though. I doubt Dave was able to evaluate their particular Beryllium tweeter, unless he was looking into sourcing tweeters from Focal themselves
In the end though, I really don't care about the tweeter design or material. I care about how it sounds to my ears, and I'm both an Ascend and a Focal Electra fan based on my listening
Looking at that lovely Anthem P5 amp though, I just think the Focal Electra speakers and their particular Be tweeter might better suit all of that lovely, lovely high Wattage that's on tap
