Ribbon tweeters - speaker shortlist

[insider9]

I'm looking for suggestions of speakers that incorporate ribbon tweeters. This is with a long view to upgrading as I've not seen a list as such anywhere. Links to external websites are welcome if such lists already exist. May be relevant to someone in the future and would be good to have them all in one place.

Money no object attitude as well as age not relevant. Exotic or not, all are welcome as long as they have ribbons.

I've no idea what to expect from this thread. Specific models or ranges welcome or manufacturers who usually incorporate ribbon. Both standmount and floorstanders. Whether you heard or not and whether you have anything good or bad to say.

I appreciate more experienced members may know more speakers than they care to write down in this thread if so please can you just mention the ones you've been most impressed with.

To start it all off, here's some I can think of:

Roksan
- Kandy K2 TR5
- Darius S1

Quad
- S series
- Z series

Monitor Audio
- GX and Gold series
- PL and Platinum series

Apogee speakers

Red Rose Music speakers

Thanks all for participating, in advance

 

[Blacksabbath25]

I'm looking for suggestions of speakers that incorporate ribbon tweeters. This is with a long view to upgrading as I've not seen a list as such anywhere. Links to external websites are welcome if such lists already exist. May be relevant to someone in the future and would be good to have them all in one place.

Money no object attitude as well as age not relevant. Exotic or not, all are welcome as long as they have ribbons.

I've no idea what to expect from this thread. Specific models or ranges welcome or manufacturers who usually incorporate ribbon. Both standmount and floorstanders. Whether you heard or not and whether you have anything good or bad to say.

I appreciate more experienced members may know more speakers than they care to write down in this thread if so please can you just mention the ones you've been most impressed with.

To start it all off, here's some I can think of:

Roksan - Kandy K2 TR5 - Darius S1

Quad - S series - Z series

Monitor Audio - GX and Gold series - PL and Platinum series

Apogee speakers

Red Rose Music speakers

Thanks all for participating, in advance

I currently own Dali opticon 8s which use ribbons as well as a normal tweeter

i have also owned the Dali opticon 6s as well in the past but the 6s , 8s are both very good floor standing speakers .

i am over a certain age so I really can not hear my ribbons working so can not comment if they are good or not .

 

[jonathanRD]

IPL speakers - http://www.iqspeakers.co.uk/speakers

 

[steve_1979]

Clicky

 

[insider9]

Clicky

Interesting, I was wondering whether there are any active options.

 

[drummerman]

May I ask why necessarily a ribbon?

 

[insider9]

May I ask why necessarily a ribbon?

I prefer ribbons over soft or metal domes. They're fast, detailed and make vocals and horns sound stunning. They can very realistically recreate timbre and image well. Not easiest to incorporate but when integrated well give a great coherent sound.

 

[ellisdj]

Raidho

 

[ellisdj]

Steinway model d

 

[drummerman]

May I ask why necessarily a ribbon?

I prefer ribbons over soft or metal domes. They're fast, detailed and make vocals and horns sound stunning. They can very realistically recreate timbre and image well. Not easiest to incorporate but when integrated well give a great coherent sound.

What speakers are you using at present and what ribbon equipped speakers have you heard?

(Correct myself, Seeing you have Roksans)

If this is your preference based on experience I won't argue but many of the best speakers available, regardless of cost, don't use ribbons.

My experience with ribbon speakers is almost non-existent but personally I wouldn't narrow myself down to whether that driver is used or not though it kinda looks sweet

 

[Al ears]

Hi insider9,

The Quad Z3 floorstanders you mention are worth an audition if you have the room also many U.S. speakers use ribbon tweeters such as my Acoustic Zen Adagios. I'd recommend these to anyone but as previously mentioned they are very rare in the UK.

In my particular listening room I find that positioning of these speakers is critical and most do not require any degree of toe-in or they can appear a little 'bright'.

Generally speaking there are more floorstanders using these than standmount, although there are plenty of those.

On the vintage front some old Sony and Yamaha's used them.

Infinity speakers and Aurum Cantus can also be added.

P.S.: I don't think this is going to be a 'short'- list. ;-)

 

[insider9]

Thanks ellisdj! Nice suggestions

What speakers are you using at present and what ribbon equipped speakers have you heard?

(Correct myself, Seeing you have Roksans)

If this is your preference based on experience I won't argue but many of the best speakers available, regardless of cost, don't use ribbons.

My experience with ribbon speakers is almost non-existent but personally I wouldn't narrow myself down to whether that driver is used or not though it kinda looks sweet

My experience in hifi is limited overall. Got back to music after 15 years or so, so plenty of catching up to do. I have heard a good number of "standard" design speakers over the years. Roksans are actually the first pair I purposely bought/listened to because of ribbon tweeters. I was instantly amazed.

You are right though I won't restrict myslelf. The purpose of this thread is more to have a good number of ideas for a shortlist. In hifi I veer towards second hand goods for uniqueness as much as value. Allegedly they were also built to a higher standard back in the day. These in turn are difficult to find / audition.

I find it strange that hifi shops categorise speakers by size (standmount / floorstander), need of external power (powered / active / passive) but you're unable to search by type of tweeter, size of drivers, frequency response etc.

Hi insider9,

The Quad Z3 floorstanders you mention are worth an audition if you have the room also many U.S. speakers use ribbon tweeters such as my Acoustic Zen Adagios. I'd recommend these to anyone but as previously mentioned they are very rare in the UK.

In my particular listening room I find that positioning of these speakers is critical and most do not require any degree of toe-in or they can appear a little 'bright'.

Generally speaking there are more floorstanders using these than standmount, although there are plenty of those.

On the vintage front some old Sony and Yamaha's used them.

Infinity speakers and Aurum Cantus can also be added.

P.S.: I don't think this is going to be a 'short'- list. ;-)

Indeed not particularly 'short' already. It is interesting that you mention that it's mostly floorstanders that use ribbon. It does make quite a lot of sense since ribbons are unable to go as low as dome tweeters. To be integrated well will require a fast midrange driver that will most likely not go very low, hence an extra driver may be necessary.

In terms of toe-in, quite agreed. I use only a slight toe-in on Roksans. One of the ways I determine toe-in is by listening to Louis Armstrong. His vocals sound too polite when speakers are positioned too much off axis, so I turn them towards listening position until he sounds like he just finished a bottle

 

[davedotco]

There are plenty of ribbons in the pro and pro-sumer market. A lot of brands seem to think they need a 'ribbon model' in their range. This is a big market, bigger than the specialist hi-fi market by a fair margin, and like all such markets, there is a fair amount of dross, there some real gems too.

The market leaders are probably Adam and Eve Audio (gettit...?) who use proprietory units, most of the rest use OEM models from china. The uk pro manufacturers remain in thrall to domes with the exception of the redoubtable Rock Monitor from Unity Audio, based on Elac units.

If you are really interested in ribbon designs you should look into the differences between 'planar' and 'folded' ribbons as popularised by Oscar Heil. It is a big subject, interesting though.

 

[shadders]

The market leaders are probably Adam and Eve Audio (gettit...?)

Ta boom, tsshhh.

 

[nopiano]

I've heard a number of Elac models with ribbon type tweeters, and all sounded very good. Also, Quadral Aurum, which was publicised a lot a couple of years ago, was very impressive.

Proac have ribbon models which I've not heard.

 

[nopiano]

Double post, sorry!

 

[perseus]

Martin logan motion series.

Salk sound.

 

[gowiththeflow]

Already mentioned - Raidho.

High end and very high end prices, but there is a more affordable range from the same stable, sold under the Scansonic brand. The Scansonic MB series uses a less esoteric, but very capable versionof their ribbon tweeter.

http://www.scansonic.dk/hdproducts/mb-series.4054/mb-2.5-slim-floorstander.4035

http://www.scansonic.dk/hdproducts/mb-series.4032/#z

 

[Leeps]

I'll just share my experience with ribbon tweeters. Personally, I wouldn't restrict myself like this. Speakers that would be good enough to reach my shortlist would concentrate on the end result, "they sound good" not in the method of getting there.

For example I owned Monitor Audio Gold GX50's for about 6 months. Their treble was thin, at times sibilant and unnatural. By contrast, MA's own Gold Dome Tweeters (available in different incarnations from Bronze, Radius, Silver and Apex ranges) sounded fuller and more real to my ears, despite being cheaper.

So I'm just saying, why discriminate against speakers that you've not heard. Some of my favourite speakers I've ever listened to have not had ribbon tweeters. I do like the ribbons in the Neat Iotas though.

 

[insider9]

I'll just share my experience with ribbon tweeters. Personally, I wouldn't restrict myself like this. Speakers that would be good enough to reach my shortlist would concentrate on the end result, "they sound good" not in the method of getting there.

For example I owned Monitor Audio Gold GX50's for about 6 months. Their treble was thin, at times sibilant and unnatural. By contrast, MA's own Gold Dome Tweeters (available in different incarnations from Bronze, Radius, Silver and Apex ranges) sounded fuller and more real to my ears, despite being cheaper.

So I'm just saying, why discriminate against speakers that you've not heard. Some of my favourite speakers I've ever listened to have not had ribbon tweeters. I do like the ribbons in the Neat Iotas though.

I see it more as educating myself. I absolutely agree that a poor design will sound poor whatever components are being used. You're just as likely to have great speakers with soft dome tweeters as poor ones with ribbons.

My understanding is that for every pro of using a ribbon is about twice as many cons, hence lower popularity. However this doesn't change the fact that info is difficult to obtain. Thanks to this thread I already have my eyes on some Infinity speakers now it's only a matter of getting them at a correct price.

If anyone has any other ideas please keep them coming. It's a pleasure to read.

 

[insider9]

Already mentioned - Raidho.

High end and very high end prices, but there is a more affordable range from the same stable, sold under the Scansonic brand. The Scansonic MB series uses a less esoteric, but very capable versionof their ribbon tweeter.

http://www.scansonic.dk/hdproducts/mb-series.4054/mb-2.5-slim-floorstand...

http://www.scansonic.dk/hdproducts/mb-series.4032/#z

Thank god! I nearly fell of my chair when I saw Raidho prices *shok*

 

[Al ears]

Already mentioned - Raidho.

High end and very high end prices, but there is a more affordable range from the same stable, sold under the Scansonic brand. The Scansonic MB series uses a less esoteric, but very capable versionof their ribbon tweeter.

http://www.scansonic.dk/hdproducts/mb-series.4054/mb-2.5-slim-floorstand...

http://www.scansonic.dk/hdproducts/mb-series.4032/#z

Thank god! I nearly fell of my chair when I saw Raidho prices *shok*

Get on, they are cheap...... if you sell your house..... ;-)

 

[busb]

Many Quadral speakers have ribbon tweeters. I'm new to ribbons & if Quadral's efforts are anything to go by, they are very worthwhile. Quad's Z3s are similar to mine & are getting very positive reviews but somewhat more. Quad's use of ribbons is nothing new.

 

[steve_1979]

The market leaders are probably Adam and Eve Audio (gettit...?)

LOL!

I knew that Eve Audio is run by ex Adam Audio engineers but had never noticed the connection in the name.

 

[Al ears]

The market leaders are probably Adam and Eve Audio (gettit...?)

LOL!

I knew that Eve Audio is run by ex Adam Audio engineers but had never noticed the connection in the name.

I for one don't adam and eve it..... ;-)