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Beryllium dome tweeters haver been proliferating over the last few years, which is likely a good thing, if not exactly a panacea. I was attracted to the SS 6640 due to it's extended response and lack of a pronounced breakup mode (compared with other hard dome tweeters) in both the on axis and distortion measurements made it an interesting choice for the Wavecor Ardent.
The 7140 has gotten attention because of what appears to be somewhat more robust output capabilities, and maybe a higher price? If it cost more, it must be better, right? With a more impressive chassis design, it looks in measured performance a bit more like a typical hard dome, but a polar plot at 10 degree intervals looks pretty reasonable. (if you keep expectations reasonable).
$500+ strains many budgets, though... and I've been getting a few inquiries about the idea of an "Ardent LE" - just what would that mean? Light Edition? Less Expensive edition?
This is where the SB29BAC-C000-4 comes in potentially, as it brings Be domes to a more practical price point from an established volume manufacturer. The specs look pretty fair; the only point I noticed particularly is that the Xmax is a little on the light side.
Now, it should be noted there is another budget Be tweeter from SB, a version of that uses the Satori style faceplate but with a ferrite magnet, the TW29B-B. It is not exactly the same as the SB29BAC as regard the motor and backplate, and as I found out, it is actually typically $10 less expensive! Of note, though, is that the most expensive version of the 4 ohm TW29B also has the flattest and most extended published response. Does it perform that way in real life? Maybe that will be the topic some day for another post...
Back to the SB29BAC-
This is just on axis, 15 degrees, and 30 degrees. This is the meat of the listening direct sound response, though. If it doesn't work well here, well, there's not much sense looking further. Clearly the dome design and construction (at least on this sample) adheres and perhaps surpasses the 6640 as regards freedom from classic breakup behavior in hard domes.
And the distortion plot seems to back that up, without any obvious artifacts attributable to resonance amplification of distortion products.
In my experience, that indicates a tweeter worth investigating further; probably a complete lineup worth investigating, maybe even their small form factor cousin, the SB29BNC-C000-4.
The 7140 has gotten attention because of what appears to be somewhat more robust output capabilities, and maybe a higher price? If it cost more, it must be better, right? With a more impressive chassis design, it looks in measured performance a bit more like a typical hard dome, but a polar plot at 10 degree intervals looks pretty reasonable. (if you keep expectations reasonable).
$500+ strains many budgets, though... and I've been getting a few inquiries about the idea of an "Ardent LE" - just what would that mean? Light Edition? Less Expensive edition?
This is where the SB29BAC-C000-4 comes in potentially, as it brings Be domes to a more practical price point from an established volume manufacturer. The specs look pretty fair; the only point I noticed particularly is that the Xmax is a little on the light side.
Now, it should be noted there is another budget Be tweeter from SB, a version of that uses the Satori style faceplate but with a ferrite magnet, the TW29B-B. It is not exactly the same as the SB29BAC as regard the motor and backplate, and as I found out, it is actually typically $10 less expensive! Of note, though, is that the most expensive version of the 4 ohm TW29B also has the flattest and most extended published response. Does it perform that way in real life? Maybe that will be the topic some day for another post...
Back to the SB29BAC-
This is just on axis, 15 degrees, and 30 degrees. This is the meat of the listening direct sound response, though. If it doesn't work well here, well, there's not much sense looking further. Clearly the dome design and construction (at least on this sample) adheres and perhaps surpasses the 6640 as regards freedom from classic breakup behavior in hard domes.
And the distortion plot seems to back that up, without any obvious artifacts attributable to resonance amplification of distortion products.
In my experience, that indicates a tweeter worth investigating further; probably a complete lineup worth investigating, maybe even their small form factor cousin, the SB29BNC-C000-4.
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