Should tweeters always be at ear level

[hvbias]

Given they're the most directional frequencies, what do members think about this?

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

It's been said they should be (at least that's what I've always heard), so I have mine at ear level.

 

[Vincent Kars]

In general, the more off axis you are, the worse is the accuracy.
Tweeters at ear level and pointed straight at you will probably yield the most accurate response.

 

[JackD201]

Not necessarily physically at ear level but ideally be directed at the listeners ear level.

 

[Bruce B]

Not necessarily physically at ear level but ideally be directed at the listeners ear level.

I'm not for "pointing" a tweeter at you because it means you'll be having to tilt the speaker forward or backward and moving the rest of the drivers.

I'd much rather have the tweeter at ear level physically or in Wilson's case, be able to move the tweeter and midrange independantly.

 

[JackD201]

I use very little toe in myself (my speakers don't require it), I meant the lateral plane not directly at the listening position. Tall speakers point source speakers like the X2 are angled downward a bit aren't they?

http://www.avreview.co.uk/news/images/wilsonmain210409.gif

 

[Nyal Mellor]

Your ear should be where the speaker designer intended it to be. That could be off axis, below the tweeter, or maybe even above.

 

[DaveyF]

Your ear should be where the speaker designer intended it to be. That could be off axis, below the tweeter, or maybe even above.

+1. However, a speaker designer who designs his speaker with the tweeter designed to be one inch off the carpet may be in for a rude awakening, LOL.

 

[Gregadd]

Some tweeters are off axis.

 

[hvbias]

I'm not for "pointing" a tweeter at you because it means you'll be having to tilt the speaker forward or backward and moving the rest of the drivers.

I'd much rather have the tweeter at ear level physically or in Wilson's case, be able to move the tweeter and midrange independantly.

I figured as much. I was a bit perplexed when I auditioned two high end speakers (very tall) with the tweeters set pretty high, and didn't have vertical adjustments like Wilson or Focal. It was no surprise that the sound was not too great.

 

[JackD201]

The angle of the tweeters of the big Focals (Stella to Grand EM) are adjustable with a crank in the rear.

 

[andromedaaudio]

Ive experimented quite a lot , and just above earlevel is whats most pleasing to me in general , my next model will be also adjustable but thats merely because its placed fairly high on a large basscabinet , with angle adjustibility you also change the FR balance of the speaker a bit , as you also do with toe in /speakerplacement .
Anybody heard the big YG s???? they have a very high positioned tweeter with only some angle adjustibility on the bottom of the basscabinet .

Note: in my opinion it also depends on the way the mid is positioned , if its placed above the tweeter the soundstage will be higher as well , the dynaaudio C1 is a good example , it also has a very good FR .
You can get a flat FR with a tweeter exactly on ear level , you can also get a flat FR with a tweeter placed a bit higher than ear level , the wider the ear -tweeteraxxis angle gets the less high output you get in general , thats great because i prefer a FR with a slight downslope anyway (" in general " it depends on the tweeter material also , the harder the material the bigger the angle )


One more reason to use ringradiator /softdomes from now on

 

[Robh3606]

I like mine at ear level and have built different size speaker stands to but the tweeter at seated ear height for different systems. I also have a computer chair so I can adjust my height as well. Some systems have defined listening positions because of lobing in the verticle axis. You want to be in that sweet spot. There is always the tried and true sit down stand up test to listen for them.

Rob

 

[garylkoh]

It really depends on the design and the designer.

Most tweeters are at least 1" diameter to maintain the efficiency (actually sensitivity) required to be "accepted". At that size, they will beam at 13.5kHz and above (wavelength of sound at sea level about 1"). Then, they are modified by horn loading, phase plugs, boundary effects, baffle, etc.

Soft/hard domes/cones do not make much of a difference in this radiation pattern.... only in the resonance frequency of the dome/cone. Then, as this "oil can resonance" is usually quite a bit above 13.5kHz depending on the cone material and mass, you only hear it when the tweeter points directly at your ear. Soft domes distribute this resonance and the resonance pattern is different - not one single frequency.

The various designs of ribbon tweeters have a different problem. When they are long enough to have high sensitivity, they have a string resonance that depends on the mass, tension and length of the string. They also become effectively a line source and the radiation pattern may be wide horizontally to an extremely high frequency (depending on the width of the line-source) but vertically there may be no dispersion at all (modified by wave guides, etc.). Other designs of ribbon or planar magnetic type tweeters (including mine) have chaotic diaphragm behavior that needs to be heroically managed.

A compression driver behind a horn may be the perfect tweeter - 1/4" diameter, with a horn to amplify. A plasma tweeter amplified by a horn IS the perfect point source tweeter - almost zero mass, almost zero dimensions. But the sound of a horn driver (to my ears anyway) is quite disturbing - I'm just saying that I do not prefer it with no mention of absolute sound quality.

There is no one right way to position any loudspeaker irregardless of design. Follow the recommendations of the loudspeaker designer, and then adjust to taste.

If you read specifications and charts and graphs, and find the loudspeaker with the flattest frequency response on axis, buy it and bring it home, at the listening seat you'll probably never have it exactly on axis to your ear. When you are listening perfectly on axis, then 1/2" makes a big difference. You'll need to have a clamp for your head mounted on the listening chair. Just saying.......