[pgwalsh]

Just wondering if anyone knows anything about this driver? Anyone planning a build?

*New Ribbon Tweeters - Limited Availability*
One of the most common questions we get is "what should we use for the high end with your woofers?" The extremely low distortion, wide bandwidth of our woofers really opens up many options. Compression drivers on horns/waveguides or ribbon tweeters are the most common when doing 2way systems. For many applications we really like ribbons. Having no wound coil, they have almost no inductance and have a very extended upper end. The large moving area can allow them to play quite low and still have good efficiency. Many have mated our TD woofers to the Beyma TPL-150 and TPL-150H with great success. They are great drivers that provide exceptional performance.

The only downside to the Beyma is the cost. At around $400 for the standard version and $480 for the horn loaded version, this can eliminate them as an option for many people. We set out to find an acceptable driver that could offer good performance and be affordable for more people. We evaluated options from 4 different manufacturers. Some had great performance but were very expensive. Others did not have the efficiency needed. Some were not very durable.
In the end, the RT1-8 proved to be a good all around option. Sensitivity is rated at 100dB 1W. It has the largest horn of any we evaluated, providing a usable range down to 800hz with recommended 1KHz 2nd order Xover. The 55W continuous power handling and 120W peak rating allow it to produce high overall SPL levels. They are ideal to mate to TD10M's and TD12M's but can also be mated to any of the other TD woofers as well. We have had good success using them in line arrays next to the TD8M's.

Normal pricing on this model will be $199 each. We currently have a short introductory run of 4pcs available for immediate shipment and an additional 16pcs available to ship next week at $175 each. Please email info(at)aespeakers.com if you would like to order.

 

[BllDo]

That looks like a modified version of one of these. Two bills for a nice ribbon seems like a good price if they are AE approved. I'd be interested to see how these compare to the AMTPRO-4 in a mid-priced ribbon shootout.

 

[tuxedocivic]

Looks identical to the CSS planar 2, even the specs. Which I've used and found to sound very good.

 

[pgwalsh]

The AMTPRO-4 and CSS Planar 2 both look very similar. John's only posted a tidbit on AE facebook account. I can't find anything on his website, but I haven't looked that hard. I've been curious to hear what a ribbon sounds like with the TD12M's.

 

[tuxedocivic]

If it's the same thing, I found a 10" woofer to be the largest I would use with it. I thought an 8" woofer would be more appropriate. It's very narrow, though deep. The depth to width ratio is high. The vertical directivity is high also. I felt there was about a 10 degree vertical listening window, if that.

 

[A9X-308]

I'd certainly be interested in a pair of these if they turn out not to be vapourware. I have just the build for them.

 

[Jon_B]

If it's the same thing, I found a 10" woofer to be the largest I would use with it. I thought an 8" woofer would be more appropriate. It's very narrow, though deep. The depth to width ratio is high. The vertical directivity is high also. I felt there was about a 10 degree vertical listening window, if that.

Too bad, I was kind of excited to see if this would work with the td12m.

 

[Tip24/96]

If it's the same thing, I found a 10" woofer to be the largest I would use with it. I thought an 8" woofer would be more appropriate. It's very narrow, though deep. The depth to width ratio is high. The vertical directivity is high also. I felt there was about a 10 degree vertical listening window, if that.

Tux, do you have direct experience with the CSS or AMTPro ribbons that were mentioned? I wonder how either performs compared to either the RAAL 15d and the Beyma TPL-150? The Beyma cost double and the RAAL is also significantly higher. Would any of these ribbons be suitable for ht? I know that there is a waveguidr available for the RAAL through DIYSG, but with the RAAL's costing between $300 and $400 each, and their coresponding waveguides costing almost $200 each that would make for a very expensive option, as opposed to going with the TPL150 which could be had for $500-ish, with waveguide included. I do not know much about the CSS or AE units, but I would be highly curious to find out how they all sound in comparison to each other.

 

[pgwalsh]

Tip-

Mike Garrett from AVS did a TPL150 TD12M build for his home theater and he's extremely happy with it. http://www.avsforum.com/forum/155-d...2-baffle-wall-build-using-beyma-tpl-150h.html - He's using an active crossover with the setup.

 

[tuxedocivic]

Yes I do. But not with any of the other tweeters you mentioned so I have no comparison to those.

 

[chrapladm]

Well I would be hugely interested in these also if they sound very similar to the Beyma. I love the TPL-150 and will be using them in my build. Wanted to use Raal's but they are an unknown to me sound wise. I have not heard any CD that sounds like the TPL so I am going back to them. BUT it would be great if there is another option such as these AE ribbons. I hope someone can have a A/B test with them compared to a TPL.

I could get a pair of these for the price of the TPL. Not really but sort of. Then I can save some coins to put into finishing some other ongoing projects. Then build a pair of Beyma TPL-200 PA speakers.

 

[John_E_Janowitz]

Hi Everyone. There are many ribbon tweeters out there that look somewhat similar. We have sampled some from 4 different vendors. We put all of them through some testing in some line arrays for PA use locally. The most efficient ones we found were 105dB 1W. They sounded great and work great if you can afford to go with a 3KHz xover. This higher xover isn't practical for most cases though. We really needed something with good efficiency, durability, and still good sound of course. The ones we settled on are rated at 100dB +/-3dB and 55W power rating. The Beyma TPL150H could be an additional step up, but at over 2x the cost. We are looking at Mundorf units for a very high end option.

The first system using the RT1-8 will use the TD12M at about 1.2KHz. You can see some images of the first prototypes below. These actually sit on top of a bass cabinet that uses the TD12H and dual PR15-1400's. This allows for a modular system that can be purchased or built incrementally. These will be marketed both to the home theater/hifi market and the home recording studio market.

A new site will go up sometime later this year including many high end kits. There seem to be many entry level kits but nothing well documented in the high end realm. Drivers can be purchased with or without cabinets. The DIY cabinet plans will not use the large radius corners as they are a pain to work with. The amps we are currently using are a Marani 2 channel DSP unit using a 500x2 Pascal module. We have a few of the amps in stock and are just waiting on horns for more of the ribbons that we have currently. Here are a couple pics of the progress as of a few minutes ago. Time for me to head home. 3:22am here. More will be up soon.

 

[chrapladm]

Sounds good John. I have some PHL 10" mids that I want to use below one of these and then have a pair of 10 SM110N bass drivers from Beyma. SO everything sounds like it will work so far. Look forward to hearing more about these.

 

[rhodesj]

The ones we settled on are rated at 100dB +/-3dB and 55W power rating.

Looks nice, can't wait to see some more detailed specs, maybe horiz and vert polars as well, if you've got them.

 

[beastaudio]

Gotta love new options in the ribbon realm, I am subbed here to stay afloat of any more info that comes out! VERY cool driver John.

 

[Mfusick]

I like it. I saw on FB and thought it looked awesome! I agree about the lack of high end kits too.

 

[Adhoc1]

Ordered 3 to check them out (instead of SEOS wave guides). Will pair them with TD12 M which I had on order since previously. If these turn out well they will replace the Altec 604K I have now as RCL. Then it will be only AE elements for the main speakers as subs already are 4xTD18H+ + 4xSPB15.

 

[Jon_B]

Ordered 3 to check them out (instead of SEOS wave guides). Will pair them with TD12 M which I had on order since previously. If these turn out well they will replace the Altec 604K I have now as RCL. Then it will be only AE elements for the main speakers as subs already are 4xTD18H+ + 4xSPB15.

Awesome. Be sure to give us a review after you get the all set up.

 

[Mike Garrett]

Anyone building with the RT1-08 yet?

 

[Erich H]

Ordered 3 to check them out (instead of SEOS wave guides). Will pair them with TD12 M which I had on order since previously.

All of the current SEOS waveguides are obviously for compression drivers. But the ribbon based SEOS models are being worked on and the dome tweeter SEOS should be here very soon.