Aluminum vs. Silk Dome Tweets
0 Watt CAFz'r
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 12
I find that aluminum or some other metallic dome tweeters somewhat on the harsh (bright maybe?) side for my ears. My last two component sets were silk dome since at that time i found the metal style not to my liking. When I recently needed new set of speakers I decided to try aluminum (Kicker KS6.2), and i find them too harsh. A better quality set would probably produce much better sound, but from what I've read (and heard), metal domes=bright, silk dome=smooth, so it really depends on what type of sound you prefer. (first post!!
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0 Watt CAFz'r
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 28
Basically with a silk or man made textile material dome it will need to be treated with a coating to develop stiffness. The material has a high degree of internal damping.
A good example of coating is the Hiquphon. All their tweeters are pretty much the same with different coatings.
Due to the high degree of internal damping, without the proper coating, the textile dome will not produce properly. You can have issues with timbre, attack, decay and duration being absent.
A metalic dome normally has issues with resonance due to its surround.
This is why you can get a Focal TN52 and have much better performance than a TN51 when they are basically the same driver with different surrounds.
The metal dome with poor surround design will have too long of a decay and/or duration resulting in a bright sound.
So some silks you have things missing, some metalics you have too much and what you need everything in the right amount.
A good example of coating is the Hiquphon. All their tweeters are pretty much the same with different coatings.
Due to the high degree of internal damping, without the proper coating, the textile dome will not produce properly. You can have issues with timbre, attack, decay and duration being absent.
A metalic dome normally has issues with resonance due to its surround.
This is why you can get a Focal TN52 and have much better performance than a TN51 when they are basically the same driver with different surrounds.
The metal dome with poor surround design will have too long of a decay and/or duration resulting in a bright sound.
So some silks you have things missing, some metalics you have too much and what you need everything in the right amount.
Originally Posted by 2deep2
Basically with a silk or man made textile material dome it will need to be treated with a coating to develop stiffness. The material has a high degree of internal damping.
A good example of coating is the Hiquphon. All their tweeters are pretty much the same with different coatings.
Due to the high degree of internal damping, without the proper coating, the textile dome will not produce properly. You can have issues with timbre, attack, decay and duration being absent.
A metalic dome normally has issues with resonance due to its surround.
This is why you can get a Focal TN52 and have much better performance than a TN51 when they are basically the same driver with different surrounds.
The metal dome with poor surround design will have too long of a decay and/or duration resulting in a bright sound.
So some silks you have things missing, some metalics you have too much and what you need everything in the right amount.
A good example of coating is the Hiquphon. All their tweeters are pretty much the same with different coatings.
Due to the high degree of internal damping, without the proper coating, the textile dome will not produce properly. You can have issues with timbre, attack, decay and duration being absent.
A metalic dome normally has issues with resonance due to its surround.
This is why you can get a Focal TN52 and have much better performance than a TN51 when they are basically the same driver with different surrounds.
The metal dome with poor surround design will have too long of a decay and/or duration resulting in a bright sound.
So some silks you have things missing, some metalics you have too much and what you need everything in the right amount.
I prefer silks.
50 Watt CAFz'r
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 148
Originally Posted by liv2ride
should of made this a poll 
Silk for me, Just thinking of titanium or aluminum gives me a headache
Silk for me, Just thinking of titanium or aluminum gives me a headache
just really big and square mounting plate make them very prohibitive to use
50 Watt CAFz'r
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 148
Originally Posted by 2deep2
Basically with a silk or man made textile material dome it will need to be treated with a coating to develop stiffness. The material has a high degree of internal damping.
A good example of coating is the Hiquphon. All their tweeters are pretty much the same with different coatings.
Due to the high degree of internal damping, without the proper coating, the textile dome will not produce properly. You can have issues with timbre, attack, decay and duration being absent.
A metalic dome normally has issues with resonance due to its surround.
This is why you can get a Focal TN52 and have much better performance than a TN51 when they are basically the same driver with different surrounds.
The metal dome with poor surround design will have too long of a decay and/or duration resulting in a bright sound.
So some silks you have things missing, some metalics you have too much and what you need everything in the right amount.
A good example of coating is the Hiquphon. All their tweeters are pretty much the same with different coatings.
Due to the high degree of internal damping, without the proper coating, the textile dome will not produce properly. You can have issues with timbre, attack, decay and duration being absent.
A metalic dome normally has issues with resonance due to its surround.
This is why you can get a Focal TN52 and have much better performance than a TN51 when they are basically the same driver with different surrounds.
The metal dome with poor surround design will have too long of a decay and/or duration resulting in a bright sound.
So some silks you have things missing, some metalics you have too much and what you need everything in the right amount.
