Question about tweeter

[Skel]

Many cabs today have a tweeter. I assume a "horn" is the same thing. If I understand correctly, there is a passive crossover in the cabinet, and this crossover routes high frequencies to the tweeter, and the rest to the speaker. What I don't understand is, if you turn the tweeter off like I do most of the time, does this mean there are frequencies that, without a crossover, would be heard by the speaker? Or does the tweeter only receive frequencies the speaker would not be able to reproduce anyway?

Thanks - Skel

 

[billfitzmaurice]

Or does the tweeter only receive frequencies the speaker would not be able to reproduce anyway?

That, or frequencies that even if the woofer could reproduce them it would not do so with adequate dispersion.

 

[Skel]

Thanks Bill - I wonder how much the crossover and tweeter cost, for those of us that don't even use it. Hopefully it's very minimal.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

Thanks Bill - I wonder how much the crossover and tweeter cost, for those of us that don't even use it. Hopefully it's very minimal.

In fact most cabs would benefit far more from a midrange driver than from a tweeter. Tweeters for the most part operate only above 3.5 kHz, while even ten inch woofers don't work particularly well above 2kHz at best, leaving a response hole nearly an octave wide. But midranges and the required crossover are on average twice as expensive as tweeters, so they don't make the cut.

 

[Kelly Lee]

In fact most cabs would benefit far more from a midrange driver than from a tweeter. Tweeters for the most part operate only above 3.5 kHz, while even ten inch woofers don't work particularly well above 2kHz at best, leaving a response hole nearly an octave wide. But midranges and the required crossover are on average twice as expensive as tweeters, so they don't make the cut.

I agree. That is why I searched until I found a Trace Elliot 4052H "Bright Box". It isn't quite a mid driver setup but close. It has four 5" drivers that really bring out the upper mids and highs without the harshness (IMO) that a more traditional tweeter/horn has. Man I love my 4052H!

 

[KJung]

Many cabs today have a tweeter. I assume a "horn" is the same thing. If I understand correctly, there is a passive crossover in the cabinet, and this crossover routes high frequencies to the tweeter, and the rest to the speaker. What I don't understand is, if you turn the tweeter off like I do most of the time, does this mean there are frequencies that, without a crossover, would be heard by the speaker? Or does the tweeter only receive frequencies the speaker would not be able to reproduce anyway?

Thanks - Skel

From what I understand, many tweeters use (I get my terms mixed up here) high pass or low pass filters. In other words, in a 410 cab with a tweeter, the 10's run at full frequency, and the tweeter ads in the very upper treble sound that the 10's cannot reproduce. It you adjust the tweeter attenuator so that the tweeter is 'out of the system', it's no different than having a 410 without a tweeter.

As far as a mid driver, it depends on the sound you want. Personally, I've always found those 'three way cabs' to sound somewhat unnatural in the mids, and also to lack mid punch out in the room... since usually a little mid driver is not going to project the upper mid punch of a bunch of tens. I'm sure there is the 'hole' in the reproduced frequencies between most 10's and tweeters mentioned above... but many times it's that 2K or 3K frequency that can be somewhat obnoxious to the ear IMO.

As always, depends on the sound you are looking for. I agree if you are looking for an 'old school' sound (like a 2x15) but with a little more definition, a mid driver can really help. However, a mid driver with 10's and a tweeter is another thing IMO.

 

[greenboy]

In fact most cabs would benefit far more from a midrange driver than from a tweeter. Tweeters for the most part operate only above 3.5 kHz, while even ten inch woofers don't work particularly well above 2kHz at best, leaving a response hole nearly an octave wide.

And that's assuming the tens have a polar response that isn't icepick sharp above 1.5 or 1.6K. That would be a very nice dustcap design indeed that minimizes beaming. Maybe whizzies should be in use more often ; }

But midranges and the required crossover are on average twice as expensive as tweeters, so they don't make the cut.

As neither do compression/driver horn combinations that can deal with more power and lower crossover frequencies. Though those are common in nicer compact two-way PA boxes. The only thing missing in a lot of those boxes is better xmax and maybe lows extension (though so many bass cabs don't go any lower really), because the assumption in SR/PA is that you put a subwoofer under there anyway so you don't need a lot of xmax.

 

[fdeck]

But midranges and the required crossover are on average twice as expensive as tweeters...

Man, you ain't kidding.