Ribbon vs AMT

Quote:

Originally Posted by Otto

Any background on why the ribbon was chosen vs. the popular AMT's of today? I'm coming off metal domes so anything will be an improvement over mine
;)

I would love to use an AMT as opposed to RAAL true ribbon tweeters. AMT are mass produced in China for pennies these days, and the cost savings compared to true ribbon tweeters could easily pay for my daughter's college education ;)

I have yet to come across any AMT that is even close to comparable to the key performance metrics of a RAAL true ribbon. RAAL's offer:

a significantly more linear -on and off-axis frequency response
MUCH wider horizontal dispersion
Faster and more accurate transient reproduction (the total moving mass of the RAAL diaphragm is ~ 0.0075 grams

The only advantage an AMT *might* offer (depending on the size) is higher power handling and/or wider vertical dispersion (science has yet to prove this is an advantage)

AMT's are chosen because they have become less expensive than even quality domes and most factories in Asia readily offer them so they are easy for that factory to install into the speaker cabinet. Every RAAL tweeter is hand assembled in Serbia and must be shipped to the purchaser, they can't be shipped to a factory in China to install etc.

RAAL's are also extremely expensive, you are never going to see these in mass produced products...