How I Transformed My Home Listening Experience

I think for many people that have more money than they need in a couple of lifetimes, priority of placement is way down the list. In other words, they desire very fine equipment, however the arrangement of their home is the #1 priority, the loudspeakers must fit in a certain place and optimum positioning is not relevant to them at all. In the picture you refer to, if you will notice, they have purchased pieces to sit on the table to match the horns on the speakers. Those speakers are probably used for nice background music with a nice glass of wine. Being a Realtor, I have seen many beautiful audio systems (speakers), terribly misplaced, and they could care less. As you can see, it's a home theater set up, and that must be a 25 foot hallway and it's even further to the seating, heck they need a 400" screen, but again, for these people placement is secondary.

 

Blasphemous behavior....and a waste of equipment that could be appreciated better by a true music lover

 

Well, I tried to fight off the urge for a number of days but with multiple knowledgeable members weighing in on the positive side, and your convincing endorsement (plus great photo's), I've decided to give these a go. My hearing may not be up to the task but after all, whats to lose with a 60 day trial period?
I'm still a little bruised up from selling this purchase to the wife but thinking she'll get used to my new look...over time.

 

Well, I'm glad you are going to jump in there and have some fun with the tweeters, and let me say this, I'm a very young 66, or at least I think I am! I can hear a tremendous change with the tweeters in play, they can be very pronounced. The thing I had to do is taper the addition down. I would start off by opening them up all the way with no attenuation and then start cutting back until you get where you need to be with your specific speakers and this could take a few days to achieve the perfect balance. changing settings takes all of 5 seconds, so it's a very easy process. I'm glad to see you are taking the plunge, and believe you will certainly enjoy them! Happy listening.

 

I just had to check back with you to see if the tweeters arrived and what you thought about them? or

 

Just arrived the other day and unfortunately I've had a lot going on and only had about 2 hours with them. so far with first impressions. I plan on spending more time over the next week. You were right on about the stability. I'm comfortable with them on top of the 705's.
More listening time will tell but I think they are going to be a nice addition.

 

When I first received them, I crossed at 8 KHz with no attenuation, however for me, that was a bit strong. I reduced their output by 3 dB and have moved up to 10 and lately 12 KHz, and they still bring a very robust audible sparkle to everything I listen to. I will probably stay at 3dB attenuation and a 12 KHz crossover point, that seems to be the sweet spot, but I could go higher, not sure yet. Finding the sweet spot with ALL music is a bit more challenging for sure.

 

"Graphs" are not much a help here.

 

Got my Aperion's today. Installed and playing now. Definitely an audible difference in sound. On horn-less records, like I like it a lot - I get to hear the cymbals and high-hats better and with more definition, and prefer them at the 0 dB setting. At -3 dB I can hear no difference in high-hats compared to my speakers without the Aperion's.

With alto, and even tenor sax, the sound gets noticeably brighter - at 0 dB it makes me wince at times, so I found myself playing with the jumpers between -1 and -2 dB, and so far settled on -2 dB. I suspect that with trumpet-centric records and flutes I may have to resort to the -3 dB setting.

Overall, it's certainly not bad, but it gives me yet another thing to futz with during play of different records. The Verdict - I'm keeping them.

EDIT: Oh, one more thing - all of the above was at 8 kHz setting.

 

My initial post was for 8 kHz setting - perhaps that's what makes me wince at 0 dB with horns. I will try it at 12 kHz, too, although I know my hearing starts diminishing at about 12.5 kHz. Will report back.

 

At 12 kHz and -2 dB the brightness is tamed, but the high-hats receded again. I guess it's a trade-off.

 

I thought I had them right where I wanted them, however after lots of different music material, I readjust, but I think I have them locked in now. With my set up, I have to tame the output as over time they can overpower the presentation, so there is absolutely an adjustment period. I'm thrilled you liked yours! I am hearing the same things you are describing. Happy listening.

 

Just checking, how are you doing with your super tweeters. I have enjoyed mine so much I am purchasing a second pair to use with my Polk LSiM 703 speakers in the bedroom I have a great deal of the Canadian Brass, and with all of their discs, I am not hearing any harshness, everything seems to be enhanced and sparkling, they just add so much to the presentation. I'm wondering if any other forum members jumped on the bandwagon.

 

I'm at 10 kHz and -1 dB. Pretty much used to them already

 

Thank you very much for adding your most excellent commentary to this important discussion. At age 66, I'm pretty much in the same situation as you are, which is one of the reasons I've been finding this discussion of super tweeters fascinating! (BTW, I'm using Harbeth SHL5 plus speakers, which have built-in super tweeters, along with an Ashly 31-band equalizer to make up for deficiencies in the recorded material, the room and, last but not least, my hearing.)

 

Having run the Aperion super-tweeters for a while, as a side benefit, I now have a better understanding of the Zu speakers' character. It is their built-in super-tweeter that gives them that perceived brightness. That's why, I think, people either love 'em or hate 'em. Myself, I love them with Jazz and acoustic music, but do find them a bit fatiguing with particularly HF-heavy music, like trumpets and vibes, and find myself turning the volume down from my usual listening levels on those occasions. I also pretty much prefer not to play music heavy on electric instruments through them, in my case mostly fusion and prog rock, because the brightness increases therewith.

The one thing I certainly appreciate about the Aperions is their adjustability - the frequency cutoff dial and the 0 dB through -3 dB jumper positions. With them, it is easy to tailor their impact to your ear's liking. It actually makes me wish the Zu's had something like that as a feature, having the ability to tame the super-tweeters a bit - I'm pretty sure then a lot more people would be in the "love 'em" category, and fewer in the "hate 'em". It also makes me curious to hear a full-range speaker with no super-tweeter, for by now I think the Zu's are not representative of the "full-range" species, precisely because of the inclusion of a super-tweeter.

 

I bought my Zu, Omen Definition's MKI, used. You have the new "improved" upgraded tweeter's in your Omen DW's.

I tried living with them with a SS amp that works wonderfully with the Polk LSiM707's that sit right next to them.

Finally I gave up on SS amps and the Zu's and went to a PrimaLuna Prologue Five, with the KT88's (I know you have the EL34 based Four).

Even then and with music that is intrinsically not harsh, I still found them fatiguing.

The day before I packed them up and put them in the warehouse, I tried this with them.



The improvement was 100%. If I use them again, I plan on disconnecting the tweeter's all together.

Then I can use a set of the adjustable Aperions, in their place. Problem solved.

With their tweeters disconnected, the Zu's sounded so much better and the listening fatigue was completely absent.

I really hate their tweeters. So much that I can't possibly fathom why they used them in the first place.

Your 100% correct. People who don't like the Zu sound, probably don't like them because of these stupid tweeters.

 

One final thanks for posting this thread. I'm sure I would have never stumbled across these on my own. I was content without them but I do like the added dimension they provide. Cool little speakers.

 

Thanks so much for your post, I was so surprised at just how much they add to my Polk LSiM 707, and they already have a nice high end. I just purchased a second pair to use with my bedroom system, where I am using the Polk bookshelf speakers, the LSiM 703s. I am surprised more people on the forum have not tried these, as price wise, there about as inexpensive as they could be.

 

Pulled the trigger on these today. I expect to have them cut in at the 16kHz setting, since that will put their sensitivity closest to that of my mains. Most other super tweeters I considered are just too dang sensitive and I don't want to futz with building an attenuator box.

 

Let me hear from you when you have them up and tweeting, I know you will enjoy them!

 

Congrats on the nice find OP. Especially at that price!

 

You absolutely should try them, the company offers a 60 day trial, and they cost less than any other super tweeter out there, plus they are cool looking and so adjustable!

 

Got the ST's setup last night. First impressions are mixed. I first set them at 16kHz and -3db. After experimenting with multiple settings they ended back where they began. The extra "air/sparkle" is nice in many recordings, however, I think I'm definitely hearing effects of comb filtering, which I was a bit afraid of.

The coherence and soundstage suffers when they're near the baffle edge. If I move them to the rear half of the speaker tops, this is mostly alleviated but something still sounds off. I plan to take some measurements some time this weekend to see what's really going on.

I figured my SB-88s would be good candidates for these STs since their big brothers (LS3/6s) have built-in STs on their front baffles, yet produce minimal comb-filtering.

 

That's a bit out of the ordinary. You usually notice comb filtering when multiple drivers are arranged along a horizontal plane, which is why it is not noticeable in tower speakers with multiple drivers arranged on a vertical plane.

At these high frequencies, the effects of comb filtering should be difficult for your ears to discern.

But there definitely seems to be some sort of alignment issues going on.