What is the consensus on Seas DXT tweeters? Best tweeters under $100?

[burokas]

The DXT is a very exciting tweeter from the great company Seas. It looks extremely good on paper and incorporates a lot of the latest technologies like the DXT waveguide. If you were making your top 10 current tweeter list under $100 each, where would you rank the DXT? So far, my list looks something like this:

1.) Seas DXT
2.) Seas H1212
3.) Scan-Speak D2608 (HDS)
4.) Vifa XT25
5.) Seas H1189
6.) SB Acoustics SB29
7.) SB Acoustics SB25AC

[johnnyrichards]

Re: What is the consensus on Seas DXT tweeters? Best tweeters under $100?

There are no Dayton or Usher tweeters on that list.

[Jeff B.]

Re: What is the consensus on Seas DXT tweeters? Best tweeters under $100?

There are no Dayton or Usher tweeters on that list.

Good point. The RS28a has to be one of the best tweeters made for the price. I've yet to try the silk version, but if it is as good as the Usher 9950 then it will be high on my list too.

[rpb]

Re: What is the consensus on Seas DXT tweeters? Best tweeters under $100?

It's not always a clear-cut decision. I measured an old RS28 tweeter yesterday along with a Morel MDT39. This is at a very high spl, and I intentionally boosted the low end to see how good or bad distortion is at 1k and a little below. With a x-over, both of these get much much better. Reading these HOLM distortions can get a little confusing, but where the SPL is the same, the lower distortion curve is the better one.

For second order, I'd call this one a tossup.

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For 3rd order, the RS28 is clearly better, but I question how much difference there would be with a reasonalble x-over, and at a reasonable SPL.


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[rpb]

Re: What is the consensus on Seas DXT tweeters? Best tweeters under $100?

I've had three Morel tweeters for quite a while now. The DMS30 is my first choice, but the MDT39 may be as good for some designs. It's been a while since I've used the 39s because of the lower power rating. The MDT39 also has a square plastic flange, and is more work to recess the flange. The DMS30 looks better, and is rated for more power.

[edlafontaine]

Re: What is the consensus on Seas DXT tweeters? Best tweeters under $100?

There are too many options...and no one has evaluated them all.

For example, the SICA LP90:

http://hifi-selbstbau.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=393:lp9028n92tw-z009160&catid=16:hocht&Itemid=61

~around $50 + shipping

[Pete Schumacher]

Re: What is the consensus on Seas DXT tweeters? Best tweeters under $100?

And another tweeter that tested very well, and sounded really nice in Iowa 2010 on DoubleTap's entry, is the Tang Band 28-537SH. Build quality is exceptional. Beefy metal flange, heavy motor. Easily crosses at 2000Hz and lower.

[dlr]

Re: What is the consensus on Seas DXT tweeters? Best tweeters under $100?

I've had three Morel tweeters for quite a while now. The DMS30 is my first choice, but the MDT39 may be as good for some designs. It's been a while since I've used the 39s because of the lower power rating. The MDT39 also has a square plastic flange, and is more work to recess the flange. The DMS30 looks better, and is rated for more power.

I have a pair of MDT44's, arguably their best at the time. I had a lot of hope for this one. The response was simply horrid. How they got the measurements that they advertise is beyond me.

This is on my 2m x 2m baffle:


The dip is due to way to small a vent opening. I could find no way to improve the response after I opened one.

dlr

[burokas]

Re: What is the consensus on Seas DXT tweeters? Best tweeters under $100?

The reason why I didn't include any Dayton, Usher, Tand Bang, and other Asian made tweeters on the list was because of poor consistency, questionable build quality, and poor business etiquette. Some samples and batches can measure very well and make for great sounding speakers, while others are pure lemons. For example, the Seas Prestige line has excellent build quality and consistency and they cost only a fraction more.

Some of the Asian made tweeters get overlooked and ship without ferro fluid. Another example, Dayton's non-inductive resistors are a fraud. They only have a single winding, not Ayrton Perry winding. They steal and copy a lot of innovative technologies from Scan-Speak.

I'm not knocking anyone who uses these drivers, but myself, I rather pay $10 per driver extra and give my business to the more passionate and honest European companies.

By the way, the Morel's are also fairly inconsistent. They measure fairly poor, as was just posted in the previous posts and the build quality is only ok. But they charge a premium, Seas and Scan-Speak prices.

[AMC]

Re: What is the consensus on Seas DXT tweeters? Best tweeters under $100?

I have a pair of MDT44's, arguably their best at the time. I had a lot of hope for this one. The response was simply horrid. How they got the measurements that they advertise is beyond me.

This is on my 2m x 2m baffle:

The dip is due to way to small a vent opening. I could find no way to improve the response after I opened one.

dlr

I think sometimes that fact that we can measure things very accurately can get in the way. At first glance, that response doesn't look so great, but then you realize it's +/- 1.5db from 2500 - 20K. That's darn good. And might drop to below 2000 if that dip wasn't there.

[Pete Schumacher]

Re: What is the consensus on Seas DXT tweeters? Best tweeters under $100?

I think sometimes that fact that we can measure things very accurately can get in the way. At first glance, that response doesn't look so great, but then you realize it's +/- 1.5db from 2500 - 20K. That's darn good. And might drop to below 2000 if that dip wasn't there.

to me, the repeating shape of the peaks and dips indicates inadequate attention to the rear chamber and damping. There are certainly better tweeters out there for that kind of money that aren't limited to 2500Hz.

Think how good it "could" be with better attention paid to the capturing the rear wave. A small format tweeter with far better performance is the SB29RDCN or the XT25SC.

[rpb]

Re: What is the consensus on Seas DXT tweeters? Best tweeters under $100?

The reason why I didn't include any Dayton, Usher, Tand Bang, and other Asian made tweeters on the list was because of poor consistency, questionable build quality, and poor business etiquette. Some samples and batches can measure very well and make for great sounding speakers, while others are pure lemons. For example, the Seas Prestige line has excellent build quality and consistency and they cost only a fraction more.

Some of the Asian made tweeters get overlooked and ship without ferro fluid. Another example, Dayton's non-inductive resistors are a fraud. They only have a single winding, not Ayrton Perry winding. They steal and copy a lot of innovative technologies from Scan-Speak.

I'm not knocking anyone who uses these drivers, but myself, I rather pay $10 per driver extra and give my business to the more passionate and honest European companies.

By the way, the Morel's are also fairly inconsistent. They measure fairly poor, as was just posted in the previous posts and the build quality is only ok. But they charge a premium, Seas and Scan-Speak prices.

My two DMS30 appear to be quite close, and I wouldn't call these poor measurements. These boxes still have square cut edges, and the recess on one is a little deep. The other is not deep enough. I'm inconsistent. These are "test boxes". A protection cap of 30 microfarads was used.

My ECM8000 mic is not calibrated, so the actual measurements could be even better. Or worse.

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[jonasz]

Re: What is the consensus on Seas DXT tweeters? Best tweeters under $100?

Don't really know how it measures but the B&G neo3pdr certainly has the most enjoyable sound I've come across in this pricerange, a real gem!

[Deward Hastings]

Re: What is the consensus on Seas DXT tweeters? Best tweeters under $100?

The reason why I didn't include any Dayton, Usher, Tand Bang, and other Asian made tweeters on the list was because of poor consistency, questionable build quality, and poor business etiquette.

Thinly veiled racism has no place on the PE forum. Not to mention that some of the manufacturers on your "approved" list actually have (some of) their drivers built in China and/or Indonesia. Do you know which?

[r-carpenter]

Re: What is the consensus on Seas DXT tweeters? Best tweeters under $100?

Thinly veiled racism has no place on the PE forum. Not to mention that some of the manufacturers on your "approved" list actually have (some of) their drivers built in China and/or Indonesia. Do you know which?

ehhhhh it's not racism at all. More like protectionism or a protest against "good for the price" rat race. And you are not the only member of this forum so pleas don't generalize.
Vifa is build in China. I would think budget line of SS is build in China.