OT: Silk or aluminum????

 

Silver Member
Username: Pike110

12w6v2s, Indianapolis...

Post Number: 346
Registered: Oct-05
I am going to order some diamond d6 components and I'm just wondering if I should order silk or aluminum tweeters? Nobody answers the speakers sections.
 

Gold Member
Username: Extrmndor3

Sit and Look pretty

Post Number: 3260
Registered: Feb-06
silk its better souindin aluminum sound harsh and u get tired of listening to for a long time except good made alu tweeters like the jl's they sound really smooth
 

Silver Member
Username: Pike110

12w6v2s, Indianapolis...

Post Number: 347
Registered: Oct-05
Sorry, should have stated I listen to rock music... korn, tool, etc..
 

Silver Member
Username: Pike110

12w6v2s, Indianapolis...

Post Number: 348
Registered: Oct-05
Silk is what I was thinking, just making sure.
 

Silver Member
Username: The_image_dynamic

San Diego

Post Number: 187
Registered: Dec-06
Definately silk or fabric/plastic for rock...the hi-hats alone on the bands you mentioned would kill you with metal domes. I have the Hex S600S silks and they are still really bright and crisp, and LOUD, but like Rob said they are less fatiguing in the long run.
 

Gold Member
Username: Mixneffect

Orangevale, Ca. USA

Post Number: 1413
Registered: Apr-05
Silk by default.

Good alluminum, titanium, or ceramic tweeters are hard to find for cheap. A good silk tweeter is easier to come by, cheaper, and will be easier on your ears.

Silk FTW
 

Platinum Member
Username: Rovin

New sub : 1 ...

Post Number: 10464
Registered: Jul-05
silk is smoother & gentler on the ears

however if u like to play it damn loud with agressive crashing highs then the metal domes maybe to ur tastes ......
 

Silver Member
Username: Pike110

12w6v2s, Indianapolis...

Post Number: 350
Registered: Oct-05
Silk is the way to go then. I drive my car around a 1000 miles a week, so I definitly need something that isn't harsh on the ears. Thanks everyone!
 

Gold Member
Username: Bestmankind

Www.15inchwangers.com

Post Number: 9514
Registered: Oct-05
horn tweeters FTW.

i would choose silk out of the 2.
 

Silver Member
Username: Pike110

12w6v2s, Indianapolis...

Post Number: 352
Registered: Oct-05
I wouldn't know how to do horn tweeters in a porsche.
 

Silver Member
Username: Pike110

12w6v2s, Indianapolis...

Post Number: 353
Registered: Oct-05
Also, how the hell do I change by sub title to have color and change the font???
<----------
 

Bronze Member
Username: Fi_car_audio

Hades, NV

Post Number: 94
Registered: Sep-06
Well it looks like I really dont need to chime in given everyones preference (and mine) for silk. I have designed with Al, Ti, Mg, C, C14 and others and simply go back to silk everytime. Simply sounds more natural... although there are many benefits to other materials, silk is simply so easy to sound make things sound natural and usually reduces the number of elements in a crossover as well....

Silk :-)
 

Gold Member
Username: Mixneffect

Orangevale, Ca. USA

Post Number: 1424
Registered: Apr-05
"Simply sounds more natural... "

I disagree.

IMO, metal tweeters have better clarity and get better upper end results than soft or silk twtters.

Due to the sloppy recordings, cheap mics, cheap musical equipment, and bad micing techniques, we the consumer usually get robbed when it comes to clarity.

A metal tweeter (say MB Quart, Focal, or Vifa) will usually bring out all these imperfections. Metal sounds much more natural, but because the recordings suck, we get irritated prematurely, not by the tweeter, but by the poor recording. It is not the tweeters fault that the signal is trash. It is simply doing its job.

So by default I choose silk, but if recordings were true, then I would not even hesitate one bit and go back to my fav Vifa Aluminum domes.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Fi_car_audio

Hades, NV

Post Number: 96
Registered: Sep-06
Depends... I have measured quite a few tweeters and the spectral decay of most metals leave something to be desired with their incessant ringing. Some of the more exotic materials help this (and hurt as well) by having the break up pushed above 20k... but it is still there and can color things below it. Most "good" silk domes dont have this issue... similar to the ubiquitous paper and poly mids... they are easy to work with and simply work well. Using carbon fiber or other materials can have specific benefits... but also inherent issues as well. I would rather take a simple and smooth driver with less filter elements to make a nice system than exotics with their "interesting" characteristics and obscene amounts of filter elements to get rid of the problems.
Neither are bad... one is just easier.

And I do think you touched on something that is of note... recording quality. And while I wont chalk as much of it up to bad mics and equipment... I will give a good portion of the blame to how people master digital recordings and feel the need to compress it to an obscene level. Dynamics are what get lost... and that is a good portion of the detail and clarity I think you might be referring to. Highly dynamic recordings where the reference level is much lower than most mass recordings to many people is "bad"... "louder" is perceived as better in most cases so compressing dynamics makes music better to most. Popping in a reference disc and having to turn the volume up to a level you are used to vs mass recordings is an exercise in learning how much headroom you actually have in your system... and for most it isnt much.

Now to go even more off topic...lol
I think it was QSC that purchased a drum kit and spent lots of time recording drums trying to figure out why you cant get the "blink factor" with snares and cymbals on recorded music like you can with being their live. If I recall correctly it all came down to dynamics and the initial energy release in the snare hit. You simply need obscene amounts of headroom to properly reproduce it... on the order of 40dB more than what one normally might have at a reference level.

So anyway... silk :-)
 

Silver Member
Username: Pike110

12w6v2s, Indianapolis...

Post Number: 356
Registered: Oct-05
Scott, I was going to ask you. Did you design the 06XXX?
 

Gold Member
Username: Mixneffect

Orangevale, Ca. USA

Post Number: 1428
Registered: Apr-05
Recordings depend heavily upon setup.

There are many micing techniques that are good while others distroy the sound. It all depends on the Sound Engineer. If the engineer knows how to set up the stage for recording (not concert staging for show), then you will get good results. If the engineer is fly-by-night and is there just because it is a job, then you get poor results.

You mentioned drums and snares in particular. I recommend Phil Colins CDs for that. You will appreciate his recordings, especially for concentration in the percussion. Phil was the drummer for Genesis. He has an excellent ear for sound and his recordings prove it. I also recommend Tom Petty for crashing cymbals with speed and clarity. Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever, and Learning To Fly are great Audio reffrence CDs, especially for tweeters.

BTW, nobody comes close to how MB Quart tweeters perform when you listen to piano. I recommend Bruce Hornsby, Don Henley, and other piano recordings from Waive Aid 5, or Narrada Collection cds.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Fi_car_audio

Hades, NV

Post Number: 97
Registered: Sep-06
Pike110... yes, I am the culprit for that one.

mixneffect... I will definitely have to pick up the Henley and Hornsby selections noted. I know Ive got plenty of Phil floating around in the "rarely listened to" CD folders...lol Not sure about TP Learning to Fly though. Might as well pick that up too... I have always liked his stuff.

Agreed about setup. And it seems I am still stuck in the past with analog/records as well... I cant recall how many times in the early days of CDs that a record sounded infinitely better than its CD counterpart when mixed from the exact same master... it seems to have taken some of the old analog engineers a while to figure out that you simply cant push things to the red in digital like you could in analog.
Thanks for the info :-)
 

Silver Member
Username: Tanmanfosho

Fi SSD, 15 Wangers Yeah, Its 15...

Post Number: 564
Registered: Nov-06
r u Scott as in the owner of fi? just a guess
 

Bronze Member
Username: Fi_car_audio

Hades, NV

Post Number: 98
Registered: Sep-06
Yep. You can direct all the complaints my way :-)
 

Gold Member
Username: Bestmankind

Www.15inchwangers.comFI Audio BTL

Post Number: 9587
Registered: Oct-05
scott are you ever gonna use the 06 xxx basket on the fi subs? or is that a trade mark of re now.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Fi_car_audio

Hades, NV

Post Number: 100
Registered: Sep-06
Its REs tooling. That was left behind. But thats not too say that I dont have anything else done up in Autocad and ready to roll :-)
 

Gold Member
Username: Basshead86

FTW

Post Number: 9893
Registered: Aug-05
a fat and hearty "Silk FTW" would have ended this thread early on. too bad i wasn't here earlier. lmao
 

Silver Member
Username: Pike110

12w6v2s, Indianapolis...

Post Number: 358
Registered: Oct-05
Yeah, sorry everybody. I was 99% sure, that silk was the way to go. Just making sure. Thanks for everyones opinions... mix & Scott for the intriguing debate. I am going to order a couple of fi subs this coming week Scott. So, thanks in advance for a great line of subs!
 

Silver Member
Username: Jblanford

Post Number: 327
Registered: Oct-06
hey scott since your here...how much for a rubber gasket ? 15"
 

Gold Member
Username: Mixneffect

Orangevale, Ca. USA

Post Number: 1432
Registered: Apr-05
Scott,

Have you ever contracted with Elan, KSC, Xantech, or Aura? Just wondering.
 

Silver Member
Username: Lil_jon

Post Number: 389
Registered: Jul-05
if you didnt buy the diamonds yet i would suggest Rainbow. They arnt the best sq coponets but they sound better then diamond and take more power
I melted my Diamond Hex tweeters with 85 watts
if you need help finding a pair I can get some to you
 

Silver Member
Username: Fi_car_audio

Hades, NV

Post Number: 104
Registered: Sep-06
Joe... email me at Scott@FiCarAudio.com and Ill let you know.

mixneffect... usually I cant mention who or what I have worked on due to NDAs. But I have worked with Aura (no NDA there ;) )

Muddy... You know I tend to ramble on and derail everyones posts. But mixneffect had good points and I found it nice to talk to him (or her?) You on the other hand... sheesh ;)
 

Silver Member
Username: Lil_jon

Post Number: 399
Registered: Jul-05
while silk domes do sound quite nice, very rigid dome structures that push break up modes upwards in frequency above 40khz are very effective at eliminating coloration while they are more expensive than your average silk dome to produce there are currently some efforts to bring down production costs so that they can be competitive
 

Gold Member
Username: Mixneffect

Orangevale, Ca. USA

Post Number: 1445
Registered: Apr-05
Scott,

I stand to p-e-e. :-)

I didnt mean to be nosy, it was supposed to be just trade talk. I shoulda used a diff approach. Sorry.

BTW, Muddy is kool.
 

Silver Member
Username: Fi_car_audio

Hades, NV

Post Number: 108
Registered: Sep-06
Not nosy at all... Im more than willing to talk about things when I can ;) So you are a guy... or have one heck of a messy toilet...lol

Oh... and no news to me about Muddy. He is a very cool guy :-)
« Previous Thread Next Thread »



Main Forums

Today's Posts

Forum Help

Follow Us