Planar & Ribbon tweeters

[bre's dad]

I'm building a set of home brew speakers (actually trying to improve on an existing design. Its a dual 4" woofer w/ Peerless dome tweeter crossed over about 4k. They're great, but borrowed from another set of speakers. Looking a two tweeters from PE and am trying to figure out which one might suit me best. Between the two, the planar gets higher ratings but I've always heard very good things (like the accuracy) about ribbons in general. Oh, the cabinet is about 3.5" wide & deep, 48" tall (approx. 588cu). I don't have time to write out all the specs, but here are links to the tweeters:

ribbon: http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=277-110
planar: http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=275-085

For reference here are the woofers I'm using: http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=299-279

Trying to decide whether to go with the ribbon or the planar. Anyone have any experience with either or can offer suggestions?

 

[mhardy6647]

The links didn't work for me, so I am only commenting generically.

...all things being equal, I think that you'll find planar drivers to be cheaper and more robust than comparable ribbons. Ribbons will generally have the best "power to weight ratio", so to speak... both can be just excellent.

EDIT: Just re-parsed the links:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=277-110 the inexpensive (cheap 'n' cheerful) little Beston ribbon
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=275-085 Dayton audio planar

 

[westend]

Go with the planar.
You will get better performance, more efficiency, larger power handling. If you were going to a better ribbon like a Raal, Aurum Cantus, or Fountek, the advisement might change but between the two you listed, the planar is best.

One thing comes to mind:if you're going on a low-budget build (the woofers are certainly low priced), why not use a dome tweeter and forgo the stat types? I bet you could get good performance out of a dome like this Dayton silk dome.

 

[RayW]

Is this for your Fencepost 3.0?

The planar does have more efficiency and power handling but since you're crossing over at 4k the power handling probably won't be an issue. Using 2 x woofers you'll need some efficiency (or you'll need to pad the woofers). The downside is that being 6" long the planar will fall off pretty quickly off axis (vertical). The difference between sitting and standing can be dramatic depending on how far away you are.

The Beston may not have enough efficiency to run with 2x woofers depending on crossover parts/design.

The dome westend linked is the one from the Indignia. The planar will give you a bit more zing on the extreme high end. This usually translates to more "air".

 

[bre's dad]

yes, this is the pl;anning phase of FP 3.0. As far as using a different tweeter, the Peerless sings and is very detailed. However, those were borrowed from another speaker set & needs to go back. I want to experiment some, the main reason for the change. Plus I'm planning so other DIY speakers and would like to maybe user a ribbon or planar tweeter array. In other words, I have too much free time.... but I'm having fun & learning