why not
car audio manu. dont sell them. l got magnaplannar home stuff.
are they too directional.
whats the word on the street. thx dave

 

quite directional is probably the #1 reason. hertz makes a ribbon mid range also very dirrection specific! sounds great but like i said limited listening area!!!!

 

other issue might be the durability of the ribbon. heat ,spl.
some have said yes and other have had no issues. l dont recall any magazine installs using them. the trend would be neutral.

 

they also need to be quite larg due to the size of the magnet even if they use neodimium. kinda sucks. they sound natural though!

 

back in the 90's, infinity had a set of ribbon tweeters called the emit-n. Sounded real fantastic. I bought two pair..still have a set at home in my closet with the matching 4 inch mid. The thing is that ribbons generally have a very wide dispersion pattern of approx 160-170 degrees wide, but very narrow vertical dispersion. (about 70 degrees when standing the ribbon vertical). This can make the angle and mounting location a bit challenging because they work very differently than a conventional dome.

 

Ribbons in a car is a bad idea.

You'll open the window once and it'll never sound right again.

Ribbons aren't durable enough for car apps, unless you drive with the windows up all the time.

The ribbon will stretch and you'll have ruined a good set of ribbons that will never sound right, even in yer house.

 

I am not aware of the construction of the new hertz model but the old ones were made from a thin aluminum/titanium mix. never had any stretch issues. Not too sure about the window comment and what was meant by that, but anyway....I took my car to the iasca finals with them in the car in both 1993 and 1994 before changing the install. Got great SQ scores with them in both spectral balance and tonality. Imaging, however....tough one. Mind you< back then, no one had used any other technique than door panel installs...ha ha! Anyways, they are rare, they are expensive, they sound great, but they are hard to get the right soundstage with if that is your goal. It really depends on what your target is with your car.

 

the window open creates suction and COULD stretch the ribbon.

 

one of my fav home speakers of all time is the Appogee Duetta and Diva. They are still around but many have had new ribbon tweets and ribbon (panel) bass drivers replaced due to various and sundry age related traumas. I remember them for their phenomenal tonality and imaging/staging.

As long as you cross them over correctly you wont run into any impedance issues because if you cross them over too low your amp will croak (and the ribbon will too).

at CES the last 2 years my LEAST favorite speakers had ribbon tweeters, bright, edgy, no beauty just too much energy over 15K Hz.

My point, they can be great but buyer beware they need to be set up correctly for tonal and spatial reasons. Also, sawnicxs is spot on in his discussion on dispersion pattern, it is an issue and you will image like butt if you miss the install angle (or the judge is too tall or short).

I have only heard of fragility issues on car audio forums

 

Hey this is so funny that you guys are talking about this.
I just sold a set of ribbon Tweeters on Ebay the other day.
Got a good buck for them.
Anyway later.