Adding a Super tweeter to 4430's

[pelly3s]

I was just wondering what anyones opinion might be on adding lets say a Tannoy super tweeter to the top of my 4430's. just a little something to make up for that highend rolloff that they have

[Zilch]

Use 2404H to match the dispersion characteristics of the 2344(a) in the 4430's.

[pelly3s]

i thought of that but then i also thought of the way the Tannoy specs out and it is almost too good to be true. I guess its time to spend some money and just see which one works better

[GordonW]

Though it's possble this is where the trend falls off the tracks... but I have yet to hear any speaker of good quality and proper execution, that a Tannoy supertweeter did NOT make sound better. Having honest-to-god extension to 47KHz and beyond, makes group delay a non-issue in the upper octaves (5-20KHz).

You would think that the pattern of the Tannoy wouldn't work well with horns... but think of it this way: The primary use of these, is built-into systems with dual-concentric drivers... in which, the tweeters are EFFECTIVELY HORN LOADED (90x90 dispersion, pretty much). If they work with THOSE, they definitely should work OK with other horns...

Regards,
Gordon.

[pelly3s]

good point gordon. i have some of the mid line tannoy cabinets at the shop and they image so well. We unhooked the super tweet and it almost felt as if the sound stage became small and had a less natural feeling to it. I was looking into the ST-100's even though they list for $1000 each and they arent much cheaper at dealer price.

[Maron Horonzakz]

If you insist on listening to high frequency bat farts try the TAD ET-703 its also a compression horn. 5000hz to 45000hz.

[Zilch]

If you're gonna pay that much, JBL's 045Be used in Project May is cheaper. :p

[Mr. Widget]

I would probably go with the Tannoy in this application. I suppose an ideal would be to try them all but that is probably not practical.

I have heard the Pro version of the ST-1000 and it was an excellent super tweeter.

Widget

[Zilch]

Whatever you add on top of 4430, there's the problem of integrating it with N3134 crossover. Even bi-amped, the HF section remains very much in play.

Has anybody thought this through or done it?

[4313B]

Has anybody thought this through or done it?Nope, wouldn't waste my time.

[Mr. Widget]

The Tannoy has an integral high pass network. You simply bypass the network of the 4430 and let the supertweeter do do it's thing. Set the 4430 so it isn't doing much way up top. This will lower it's HF output and distortion.

I am sure there will be some comb filtering and other response anomalies, but the benefits outweigh these issues. As for the polar response differences between the 2344 and the supertweeter of choice, I think it is an overrated issue. I think it is better to have the highs reproduced by a purpose built high frequency device that is capable of putting out high frequencies with low distortion than to maintain the directivity index and do it by cranking the output of a distorting mid driver.

Just one person's opinion.:)

Widget

[Mr. Widget]

Nope, wouldn't waste my time.

Come on Giskard, 4430s aren't that bad... they are worth fixing. :applaud:

Widget

[John]

Come on Giskard, 4430s aren't that bad... they are worth fixing. :applaud:

Widget
:rotfl: :rotfl:

[yggdrasil]

You could also try an active 2/3-way crossover.

[leif]

Yes, there is made a active crossover network for the 4430 and 4435. But not for an extra supertweeter. So then you would have to buy another network that is not made _for_ these speakers.

Leif Arild
(going to Bodø soon)

[4313B]

Come on Giskard, 4430s aren't that bad... they are worth fixing. :applaud:

WidgetThere's nothing to fix. They are fine as is and don't need a supertweeter.

[Robh3606]

"There's nothing to fix. They are fine as is and don't need a supertweeter."

Agreed I think they sound fine the way they are.

Rob:)

[pelly3s]

the crossover issue isnt a matter the crossovers dont exisit in my boxes as it is. I use a DBX Driverack to take care of that task. reason one for my want to add to them is that i can roll the horn off at 15k very steeply and have the super tweeter pickup around 14k just to get that extra high end response. reason number two is i can still here to 20k so i figure what the hell why not do it

[Robh3606]

Well you got me beat. I can still hear tones out to about 16K and then nada:( Only problem is the ripple you will get as you will never be able to get it set-up where you won't get some inteference. All of the 434X's had this with the slot. Take a look at the attached plot. I have 4344's and can see it on the RTA but I sure as hell can't hear it on program material. Check out this Japanese aproach.

Rob:)

[Mr. Widget]

... i can still here to 20k so i figure what the hell why not do it

Lucky Bastard! We're just jealous. Go ahead add the tweeters. :bouncy:

Widget

[Zilch]

Fine. Use 2431 or 2435 on PT waveguides instead of 2426 on 2344(A).

Help us push the two-way envelope here.

You already KNOW they sound good from the SRX700's:

http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=4204


Rob: Them spikes are makin' the ripples, obviously. :p

[Tom Loizeaux]

I have a small PA that is intended for small rooms. It uses a pair of 15s on each side and a Altec 811 horn above each of these 2-15 bass cabinets. This system is bi-amped and crossed at around 1.2K. I felt I needed a little more "air" on the top end, so I added a JBL 2405 slot tweeter to each horn cabinet. I simply put a resistor and the appropriate cap between the high end input and the slot tweeters. They sound nice! The slots do add some top end where the Altec 802s start to leave off and the horizontal pattern of the slots helps spread that top end around to add to the horns upper mids.
I wouldn't want to push these to normal PA levels, but they seem to work fine in smaller spaces that this PA speaker set-up was designed for.

Tom