Hales tweeter

[mitchb101]

I was hoping I could get some info on the Hales tweeter(the one used in the T5's and T8's). What do they cost these days? Are they a good tweeter and what would be a significant drop in tweeter for them? I have a pair of Hales and am wanting to upgrade the tweeters but apparently upgrading tweeters isn't the easiest procedure to do. I have upgraded my crossovers in my Hales T5's but kept the origional Hales values. I was hoping to upgrade my tweeter to a much higher level and ordered a pair of Seas Millenium but apparently I would have to completly redo the Hales crossovers which is something I am not yet ready to do. I just want to swap to a better tweeter if possible and convenient.Please help! :E :E

[ThomasW]

I already answered the Hales tweeter 'quality' question in your other thread. Hales tweeters are VERY good tweeters.

As far a I know Hales tweeters are long gone from the scene, so they are now technically 'priceless'. More than year ago, someone had a few pairs for sale. That's where Jon got his. He has measurements for them; but that info won't be available for at least two weeks, because he's on his way to Singapore

As was explained to you both here and in your Madisound post. Given the nature of the interaction between drivers, both the midrange and the tweeter sections of the crossover will probably need to be completely re-built if you want to put in a Millenium tweeter. This means that most if not all of your 'new' crossover parts will be useless.

So if you want play with a Milleniun tweeter I strongly recommend doing so in a new scratch built design.

BTW unfortunately crossover upgrades aren't quite as simple as substituting one .5mfd cap, or one 1.2mH inductor for another of the same value. All the components in a crossover have technical specifications other those printed on their labels. Differences in things like DCR (DC resistance) means that one inductor that's say 1.2mh, can't accurately replace another, unless the DCR of the new one is also identical to that of the old one. The same is true for caps. Good speaker designers (like those at Hales) include these ALL these technical specifications of the components when they design their crossovers.

Hope this helps.

Regards
Thomas

[mitchb101]

tweeters

Thanks for your help Tom. I have resigned myself to the fact that the Seas Millenium won't work for me. I am happy that the Hales tweeters are good to begin with. My speakers do sound good as is. In terms of crossover mods by replacing values with better parts of the same values I know it is risky. I was warned by many that I could end up hating my speakers. I got lucky. For me the crossover mod was successful. I just thought I would shoot for more regarding the tweeters. I am now begining to realise that "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". I do have the option(which I will take)to return the Seas Millenium tweeters as they are new and unused.
You mentioned that the voice coils for the Hales were unavailable but I think Madisound may have some.
Thanks for all your help,
Mitch

[mitchb101]

tweeters

So I tried the Seas Millenium tweeters in my speakers as I had nothing to lose but the time to instal them and/or uninstal them. I like them. They work for me. They make my speakers have a smoothness to them without the loss of detail. I had the tweeter itself measured with the crossover values of my tweeter section and in theory the tweeters could work. The graphs generated by the computer with my crossover values and a Millenium tweeter looked good according to those who saw the graphs. I realise that the graphs don't take into account the actual cabinets and baffles of my speakers but the sound is extremely pleasing. I don't miss the Hales tweeters and I remember they were nice sounding but I find the Millenium make the entire sound of my speakers from top to bottom sound better. This is with the crossover mods I have done as well. I got lucky because the speakers could have turned out a sonic disaster but all is well.