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Im officially a "No" tweeter guy

#21
beans-on-toast said:
Forgive them that use tweeters, for they know not what they do.
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Thats a funny post and I "like it" but it's true. Most people don't know when a woofer dies out @4khz and when a tweeter (with well designed crossover) takes over from there. Don't blame the messenger, it's just a tweeter doing what good little tweets are designed to do. This is one reason I really like bass cabs with a high pass filter and the signal to the woofers is full range. The beauty being you can achieve that wonderful old school high mid thing without having to compromise your tonal preferences.

edit: "forgive those who have not discovered the tweeter level control" for it attenuates EVERYTHING above the crossover threshold.
 
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#25
Sorry Mike, but I've heard some of the most excellent tweeters in the business and I still don't like them. It's more of a case that I don't like those freqs in bass tones rather than a problem with tweeters themselves. I like them for piano, cymbal, and vocal sounds...just not for bass.
 
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#29
SanDiegoHarry said:
Yes, tweeters, round-wounds, anything new or having any level of fidelity must be bad. I'll keep my tweeters, thank you - and I'll still sound *great*.
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Fidelity is in the ear of the beholder. And complaining about other people's tastes never results in them changing their minds to suit you.
 
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#30
JimmyM said:
Sorry Mike, but I've heard some of the most excellent tweeters in the business and I still don't like them. It's more of a case that I don't like those freqs in bass tones rather than a problem with tweeters themselves. I like them for piano, cymbal, and vocal sounds...just not for bass.
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Agreed. It's more of a tone preference thing than a tweeter quality thing, assuming we're talking about good tweeters. Some of them found in bass cabs either aren't that good, aren't incorporated very well, or both.
 
#31
I'm in the opposite camp. I leave the tweeters on and turn off the woofers! :woot:

But seriously it depends on the music that I am playing. If I want a good crisp slap sound then I turn the tweeter on. If I am playing music that the bass emulates an upright bass sound then I turn the tweeter off.

I like an amp that has a "horn off" control. GK Combos have that switch. GK RB1001-RBII amps are biamped (I know I know boo hiss) but this allows you to control the level of the tweeter without reaching around to control the L-pad on the cabinet.
 
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#33
It just depends on what Sound you are looking for. Playing my Sadowsky NYC with rounds I turn the tweeter all the way on for a modern punchy and funky sound. Playing my P-bass with flats I turn the tweeter of and I got a perfect vintage blues sound.

I think I got a pretty good tweeter in my Glockenklang Quattro.
 
#37
A lot of the problem IMHO is the crossover design. I don't like the sound of just adding a tweeter to a full-range woofer.
I didn't like tweeters on my cabinets until I started using the fEARful with true 3-way crossover (mid driver rolls off as the tweeter rolls on). This avoids frequency holes and weird phasing issues. Now I can get darker/smoother sounds even though the tweeter is working. And of course I can get super bright if I want. I'm currently playing almost exclusively P-basses with flatwounds, and I find the horn in my cabinet gives a nice chewy texture to the attack of each note. Not bright, just defined and present, and I can really hear the sound of my finger or pick on the string. On the other hand, my B100R is emphatically tweeterless and that sounds great too.
 
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#38
Interesting discussion reminds me about some philosophic principles, one of which more or less states; anything not understood or understood less is also generally liked less or appreciated less. Understand something better and you may find yourself not minding it as much as before. (for example: I hate tweeters, I hate blondes, I hate democrats, insert your personal favorite disliked item)
 

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