For the sweetest sound, try ribbon-tweeter speakers

There was a time when ribbon-tweeter speakers were hard to find.

Published on December 12, 2007

For the sweetest sound, try ribbon-tweeter speakers

Wijit Boonchoo

However, manufacturers around the Pacific Rim - particularly in China - have established a growing presence in high-end audio by reintroducing the ribbon tweeter to the market.

The Chinese can manufacture to a high standard at prices that are very hard to match.

This may be obvious, because all kinds of manufacturers from around the world have moved to China for its low manufacturing costs. However, it has come to pass, audio pals, that a speaker manufactured in the Chinese province of Shandong has evolved into something so good that it competes in the world's high-end audio markets.

The ribbon-tweeter speaker to which I refer is the Aurum Cantus Leisure 2 Special Edition (SE), which is very acceptable in the audiophile world for its sweet and transparent sound.

Ribbon tweeters have an upper high-frequency response that is far beyond that of conventional tweeters. Pure aluminium ribbon tweeters are rated out to 40 kilohertz, which is beyond the range of human hearing. However, the ultra-high 40kHz is beneficial for digital sources like super-audio CDs and for upgrading overall high-frequency requirements.

Aurum Cantus-branded ribbon tweeters are made by a Shandong company called Jinlang Audio, which was founded in 1994. It manufactures and exports aluminium ribbon tweeters throughout the world, and they are widely recognised for their very high quality and performance. Aurum Cantus is also one of the world's most prolific original-equipment manufacturers of aluminium ribbon tweeters. However, the Aurum Cantus Leisure 2 SE is a folded aluminium ribbon tweeter of the highest quality and very difficult to make.

One of the major problems of ribbon tweeters is seamless driver matching and phase alignment. In fact, ribbon tweeters are difficult for any designer to integrate into a sound system, because they have a very low impedance and low sensitivity and may require a matching transformer, impedance and proper crossover points, such as woofers at 12 decibels per octave and tweeters at 18dB per octave. It is also hard to match the speed of this transducer with conventional pistonic drivers. But when woofers and tweeters are correctly matched, the ribbon tweeters can render treble details with a sweetness and airy quality that is at the cutting edge of what is possible.

The aluminium ribbon tweeters used in the Aurum Cantus Leisure 2 SE measure 70 x 8.5 x 0.01 millimetres.

I've listened to the performance of several brands of ribbon-tweeter speakers, such as Emit (used in an Infinity top-of-the-line reference series), Decca, Pioneer and ESS, and I believe they offer sweet and detailed music, especially on the highs. However, the Aurum Cantus Leisure 2 SE delivers truly sweet music that is warm and very romantic.

Throughout many music albums, the Leisure 2 SE exhibits the middle range of the human voice, piano and violin, which is both organic and lifelike. From the low and middle ranges up to the frequency of a dog whistle, you hear nothing but the electronics, all of the connective cabling and the quality of the source recording.

Try ribbon tweeter speakers. You'll love them, just like I do.

By Wijit Boonchoo

The Nation