Ribbon tweeters...out of favor these days?


Hi,

Just a quick question about ribbon tweeters on tower speakers. Has the technology with metal dome and fabric dome tweeters produced results that obviate the need for or advantage of ribbon tweeters. I know that some manufactures such as VMPS and Legacy still seem to favor ribbons, at least as a super tweeter.

But I have been researching speakers, and it seems most of the mid to upper line brands such as B&W, Thiel, Vandersteen, Eggleston, and others employ some type of dome tweeter.

What are the relative advantages/disavantages of each type for a 50/50 mix of music and home theater?
mtrot
In speaking with one speaker manufacturer who had worked with ribbon tweeters, I was told that while they may sound excellent in and of themselves, they are extremely difficult to integrate with a pistonic (cone) woofer.
That said, the LSA1 Statement monitor, which has been very well reviewed, uses a ribbon tweeter.
Ribbon and ribbon-like tweeters are "faster" in that they can produce extended ultrasonic frequencies. The questions to ask are, how important are ultrasonics, and are they in the recording?

Ribbons/planars typically have a rising response or peak in the mid/upper treble. This response is often favored by those with some high-end hearing loss.

Ribbons typically have higher levels of distortion, interpreted positively as detail and speed, or negatively as etched and "too hi-fi."
Thee debate of Ribbons and Domes they both have their +&-
The new Raal Amorphous core is the best ribbon out there they have the actual specs avaialble on their page which have been verified .Very clean fast and dynamic .
I have compared these to a great tweeter such as the hand made Hiquphon tweeters which are only 3/4 " BTW Salk , Devore and a few others use them .In the past fried used them they are super balanced with superior dispersion.THe dome especaily these are great even 60 degrees off axis ,were a ribbon is much more directional .The smaller tweeter does not have the range down to 2k but with a good mid driver to Xover at around 2.5 k that is not a problem great dispersion and under .5 distortion per matched pair.
The Ribbon is more airy and open and inner detail is a little better .For rock and roll the dome is clearly better
mainly because of it's more flexibility off axis and imaging can be slightly better on the leading edge with a dome , it all comes down to preference and implementation of the Xover and drivers used in the application.
The Raal I think is slightly better than the best dome for my taste ,BUT that is my preference .
Well put Audioman...

There are other tweeters that have much greater range such as the Accuton BD20-6-031 3/4 " diamond tweeter frequency of 2500 HZ- 80KHZ.

And you pay for that performance in the product application @ $2900.

Prefer the ribbon tweeter for more open and inner detail for instrumental music and listening to percussion. Would love to AB higher fabricated dome tweeters against higher end ribbon tweeters.