Whats With the Funny-Looking Tweeter?
Ribbon tweeters bring a level of accuracy and sophistication to high-resolution studio monitors that was previously unattainable. They provide exceptionally wide horizontal dispersion (for a larger “sweet-spot”), while holding the vertical dispersion extremely tight. And since our ribbon transducer diaphragm is virtually weightless, it reacts instantaneously to changes in the high-frequency content. Now, not only do you hear the dulcet tones of a flute, you hear the breath flowing through it… You hear the wind chimes bouncing off each other… You can hear the fingernails on the nylon strings of a classical guitar… Another reason why ribbon tweeters are so supremely accurate is their ability to reproduce frequencies far above our normal hearing range. Even though we can’t hear these “ultrasonics,” the lower harmonics they generate do aff ect the way we experience the stereo image. For instance, a 30 kHz signal is too high for us to hear, but we can hear its first sub-harmonic (15 k
