Aperion Audio Ribbon Super Tweeter Speakers Pair for HiFi Home Theater

I bought these super tweeters since my Caintuck Audio Betsy open baffle speakers start rolling off in the treble above 10 Khz, although they still have some response to 20 kHz, so I wanted to get a flatter treble response in that region, or at least up to about 15 kHz where my 60 year old hearing starts to roll off according to test results. Since these Aperion super tweeters have an adjustable crossover from 8 kHz to 16 kHz and sensitivity adjustment by -3 dB to 0 dB, I was able to dial in the treble response I like. I found the best settings for my setup to be 10 kHz cross-over frequency setting and 0 dB sensitivity setting. I found the best position for the Aperion super tweeters to be on top of the Caintuck Betsy's open baffle, centered laterally on the axis of the speaker. With the Aperion super tweeters in my system, in addition to being able to hear some high frequency tones from such instruments as triangles, celestes, and cymbals that I could hear through some other speakers and through headphones, but which I could not hear through the Caintuck Betsy speakers, I was surprised to also hear faster leading edge transitions (aka attacks) even on bass instruments, which made string plucks pluckier and drum thwacks more impactful. I probably should not be surprised at this result since faster temporal transitions require wider bandwidths to be reproduced accurately. Unsurprisingly, I also heard more open and reverberant space reproduced from recordings. I was very glad not to hear any undue and irritating over emphasis of sibilance from adding the Aperion super tweeters. I also do not hear any noticeable so-called "comb filtering" (really acoustic interference fringe) effects with the Aperion super tweeters in my system with the settings listed above. I presume that this is because the drop in the Betsy's frequency response above 10 kHz and the turn on rate of the Aperion's crossover set on the 10 KHz setting are such that there is minimal overlap from the two in the 10 kHz to 15 kHz regime. The super tweeters are also well built and robust. I dropped each tweeter a couple of times during my setup testing while moving them around to find the best location, even chipping the finish on one of them, but I heard no audible degradation in performance after those drops. I don't recommend doing drop tests on these, but having accidentally dropped them I thought their robustness was notable. I should note that the Aperion super tweeters did sound to me a bit smoother and more refined after 24 to 36 hours of burn-in, but they are by no means harsh nor unrefined right out of the box. (Whether that is due to changes in the speaker's sound from burn-in or to accommodation by my sensory system, I do not know, nor do I care.) Overall, the Aperion super tweeters have been the best tweak for my audio system that I have ever bought.

These super tweeters are one of the best “tweaks” you can make with your system. Their adjustability makes them easy to integrate with a variety of speaker styles and designs. It took me a while to figure out how to best incorporate them into my system. I have large electrostatic panels, so placement can be problematic. I settled on placing them on 36” tall stands between and a bit recessed from the main speakers. This seems to mitigate any comb filtering effects that can occur when place on top of a speaker. The effect is more than a little subtle. They have transformed the sound in a big way. In addition to adding air and presence, definition and focus of the higher frequencies have improved dramatically. All of this has been accomplished with zero sibilance or shrillness to the sound. The better the recording, the more pronounced the effect. I highly recommend these to anyone who has speakers that may need a bit of help with the high end. Unlike some other super tweeters that only operate in the inaudible high frequency range, these have an instantly recognizable impact on sound.

I'm not sure what to make of these. They seem to suffer the same weakness of many super-tweeter integrations, comb-filtering. I measured my speaker's frequency response with the super tweeter perched on top. Sure enough, there were dips and peaks in the treble response that aren't there when measuring the speaker alone. It doesn't really matter where the crossover point is set either, I still get dips and peaks. Move the tweeter back and forth along the speaker top and the peaks/dips remain, merely changing in magnitude and frequency. Crossover slope appears to be about 6db/octave. How does they sound? It will certainly add extra "air," however, in my system, that comes at some expense to image focus, which I can only surmise is the result of the comb-filtering. As far as isolated tweeter performance is concerned, they're pretty good - not as fatiguing and peaky as some ribbons and AMTs. They remind me of the tweeters in Martin Logan's Motion series. Not sure yet if I'll keep them.

I love them right out of box for there looks There are not loud and obnoxious, but blend in nicely with my speakers, Because of there ability to go up to 33kHz records do pick up more clicks and pops. Not a bad thing if you have clean records. $299.00 a pair, Yes~! They do add a new dimension to the sound field I'm back to add some more, I'm now listing to The Dead South on CD, Fantastic High notes, Truly mind blowing Also played some Thelonious Monk with John Coltrain Truly amazing sound. I can't imagine what Classical Music would sound like 5 star, Yes again

The zero db loss jump does not provide enough signal to keep up with my Electro Voice speakers. Even with a six db boost in the highs above 6K and a wide Q, these can just barely be heard. I believe they might work perfectly, if I could hit them with another 3 to 6 db of highs. Does this manufacturer provide a little linea amp that can be added? If I had a 9.1 system, but was only interested in 7.1, I suppose I would have two separate amps for the job.