ok i'm confused

[sq4me 10+ year member]

silk vs titanium

from reading the forums, i've read that metal tweets are harsher on the ears than silk. I thought silk was better for sq. but yet utopias and hex components are mentioned as some of the best sq comps. I looked them up and both use titanium tweets. So if these are some of the best sounding comps on the market, does it matter whether the tweets use silk or titanium?

Somebody set me strait.

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[Berry47 10+ year member]

The harshness of aluminum just occurs in most comp sets. I've heard harsh silk tweeters it's in the install and design behind the tweeter.

 

[outbacksport 10+ year member]

Soft-dome tweeters are not as bright as metal domes b/c their frequency response tends to exhibit a gentle "roll-off" above 16KHz. This makes them more natural sounding by virtue of design, but also makes them favor a more on-axis mounting scheme. There are a few soft dome tweeters out there that have extended high-end response (Dynaudio, for example) because they were designed SPECIFICALLY for off-axis mounting in cars. (The Dynes actually were designed for kick panel applications where extended freq response and off-axis mounting yield the best results and best path lengths).

Conversely, hard domes, by virtue, do not exhibit much high freq roll-off at all, and likely extend ABOVE 20KHz (which we cant hear anyways). Many mfg’s of hard dome tweeters must in turn design their crossovers with switchable resistances to tame the tweeter's output depending on mounting location. These are the "-2dB, -3dB, -4dB, etc" settings for the tweeters.

I have Focal 165V2's and they dont sound harsh to me at all, actually they sound really detailed. I might try to replace it with a LPG NFA soft dome just to see if it will sound better.

 

[adam71 5,000+ posts]

Soft-dome tweeters are not as bright as metal domes b/c their frequency response tends to exhibit a gentle "roll-off" above 16KHz. This makes them more natural sounding by virtue of design, but also makes them favor a more on-axis mounting scheme. There are a few soft dome tweeters out there that have extended high-end response (Dynaudio, for example) because they were designed SPECIFICALLY for off-axis mounting in cars. (The Dynes actually were designed for kick panel applications where extended freq response and off-axis mounting yield the best results and best path lengths).
Conversely, hard domes, by virtue, do not exhibit much high freq roll-off at all, and likely extend ABOVE 20KHz (which we cant hear anyways). Many mfg’s of hard dome tweeters must in turn design their crossovers with switchable resistances to tame the tweeter's output depending on mounting location. These are the "-2dB, -3dB, -4dB, etc" settings for the tweeters.

Wow, those were a few things I did NOT know. Well under my posts you see what I'm running for components. The tweeters I'm using are NOT really what I'm looking for and could sound better. Would you know what might be a good replacement tweeter? I'm not worried about certain brand names since you see I'm running MTX Black Gold drivers with an MB Quart 3-way crossover. So let me know if you know a good replacement.

Adam //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/cool.gif.3bcaf8f141236c00f8044d07150e34f7.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/scared.gif.f134e57c6c93ccd0f15aa5ac32c7d4a0.gif

 

[sq4me 10+ year member]

so in short, you're saying that if you use kick panels (which I plan on building and installing anyways), titanium tweeters won't be as harsh sounding and sound better than in the doors or anywhere else?

 

[sq4me 10+ year member]

and when i do install components in kick panels, what is the best way to aim the midrange and tweets for optimal sound staging?

 

[adam71 5,000+ posts]

and when i do install components in kick panels, what is the best way to aim the midrange and tweets for optimal sound staging?

Its ALL trial and error. Different automotive interiors are going to act different accoustically. You'll have to experiment along the way. I mean you wouldn't want to build a "*****in" set of kicks and find out they would have sounded better in a different angle. It sounds like a pain in the *** and for the most part it WILL be. But the time you spend on it now will allow you to enjoy them instead of cuss at them in the future. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/banghead.gif.8606515f668c74f6de0281deb475b6fd.gif

Adam