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Thread: Diamond Tweeter?

  1. #1
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    Default Diamond Tweeter?

    Just yesterday I had the pleasure of having Claus from SEAS visit us for the day. We spent most of the time discussing our forthcoming Sierra Sat and about potential new business and new products. We have been working directly with SEAS now for 15 years -- hard to believe it but where has the time gone???

    Claus then tells me he has something he wants me to hear... He breaks out this small mysterious box, revealing two very well protected objects that look like tweeters. I have been a tweeter guy since I started in this industry so he instantly had my interest.

    To my surprise, he unwrapped 2 of the new SEAS White Diamond tweeters. My first thoughts were, wow, stunning craftsmanship but with a retail price of $6800 for (2) tweeters, I really wasn't too interested.

    Claus eventually convinced me to measure and have a listen...

    15 mins turned into 2 hours rather quickly...

    Everyone here also wanted to have a listen...

    I have evaluated countless numbers of dome tweeters in my 30+ years in this industry. From cheap $4.00 domes to the highest quality BE domes.. This diamond dome left me speechless, literally.

    I know the next question will be "well how does it compare to a RAAL ribbon?" -- truth is, it has a ribbon quality to the highs but does upper mids better, and has practically unlimited power and dynamics when properly implemented.

    For those of our customers who prefer the sound of a dome tweeter, let me tell you it simply doesn't get any better than this.

    Sadly, my time with Claus came to an end but we left with discussion about the possibilities of making us our own version of this tweeter that would be a drop-in-replacement (with new crossover) for any of our Sierra dome speakers. It is simply the most expensive tweeter I have ever come across and we could not afford to stock them here, but I am thinking we might have customers interested in what would likely be the finest dome tweeter bookshelf or tower speaker on the market.

    There is one 2-way bookshelf speaker out there that is using this tweeter, and the speaker retails for $25K/pair. Of course, we would be able to match or exceed this performance and offer the speaker for much less. Each would be custom ordered with likely a 4-6 week lead time - but Dina and Joe are convinced we would have interested customers.

    So naturally, I'm a bit curious. Anyone interested in a "diamond" line?

    I have a attached a few pics from yesterday.
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    Good Sound To You!

    David Fabrikant
    www.ascendacoustics.com

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
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    St George UT & Glenwood Springs CO
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    Default Re: Diamond Tweeter?

    I think a lot of people would be interested if the price was right. How about putting it in a new Sierra Max Tower? Ascend fans would follow the brand all the way up.

  3. #3
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    Grand Haven, MI
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    Default Re: Diamond Tweeter?

    Match this thing with some SEAS Excel woofers...I think you'd have a beast.
    -Ben

  4. #4
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    Post Re: Diamond Tweeter?

    Quote Originally Posted by davef View Post
    So naturally, I'm a bit curious. Anyone interested in a "diamond" line?
    Very interesting Dave! Just Yesterday morning, I was showing my best half the Seas T29D001 from Madisound..she loved the looks of the acrylic rear chamber (though it was Swarovski crystal...go figure)! I'm sure it does sound incredible and has its place, but...

    My impression is that a dome of this esoteric caliper would be 5 to 6x the investment cost of the RAAL with over 30x more moving mass. A RAAL replacement ribbon is about $50-$75...B&W Diamond dome repair, about $1,300! For a no holds bared speaker system design where price is the Last consideration, sure, the diamond domes are probably one of the top high range transducers in the audio market. Would a huge jump in system cost implementation to achieve a marginal upper midrange improvement be worth it???

    Although I've not yet heard the Ascend custom RAAL design systems, if they are in another league in accurate and natural high frequency reproduction (compared to my S1 NrT upgrade), other than gaining more vertical dispersion characteristics with an extremely expensive dome design, I believe Ascend has already overall achieved fantastic "Dollar Value" speaker reproduction systems!

    Just my 2 cents (from a NrT dome lover)!!

    Ted
    Last edited by theophile; 04-23-2016 at 09:56 AM.
    Sierra RAAL V2 Towers, Axiom EP 500 Sub, Morrow SP7 Grand Reference Speaker Cables, Phillips CD880 XLR Balanced Variable Line Output to Orchard Audio Strakrimson 375w/per ch Stereo Ultra GaNFET Amp..... (Dedicated 2.1 Acoustical Music Listening Room)!

  5. #5
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    Apr 2015
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    46

    Default Re: Diamond Tweeter?

    Wow! Does it come in cubic zirconia?

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Diamond Tweeter?

    BTW Dave, what is the 3db down Vertical\Horizontal dispersion characteristics of the 70-10 RAAL as implemented in the Sierra2?
    Sierra RAAL V2 Towers, Axiom EP 500 Sub, Morrow SP7 Grand Reference Speaker Cables, Phillips CD880 XLR Balanced Variable Line Output to Orchard Audio Strakrimson 375w/per ch Stereo Ultra GaNFET Amp..... (Dedicated 2.1 Acoustical Music Listening Room)!

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Diamond Tweeter?

    I already spent quite enough, I can't ever see myself going for that, but I'm just a lowly chemical engineer making glue. I love the detailed yet smooth character of the RAAL ribbons, so these would have to do that while also getting more vertical dispersion, because that's really the only thing missing with the RAAL.

    Also, yeah it would have to be mated to some kind of crazy new woofer to make the overall package all of the same caliber.

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Diamond Tweeter?

    Quote Originally Posted by theophile View Post
    BTW Dave, what is the 3db down Vertical\Horizontal dispersion characteristics of the 70-10 RAAL as implemented in the Sierra2?
    It's not a 70-10 in the Sierra-2. It is an entirely different model...not listed on RAAL's website

    On the measurements page, you can see the off axis characteristics.
    Last edited by curtis; 04-21-2016 at 10:51 AM.
    -curtis

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
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    Default Re: Diamond Tweeter?

    A few questions popped up in my mind after reading Dave's post

    1. Will the current woofer in the Sierra-2 be a good match to this new diamond tweeter or will it became the weak link?

    2. Will SEAS be able to make a lower cost version of this tweeter or is this $6,800 pair the only version they will offer and if SEAS does come out with a lower cost version, will it still be better than RAAL or even the diamond tweeter from B&W or the BE tweeter from Focal? (BTW, I believe RAAL is better than both)

    3. Base on answer to question #2, how will the pricing structure work? I can see Ascend's customer base spending $3,000, maybe $3,500 for a pair of bookshelf speakers but if we are talking about $6,000+ I really don't think you will get much interest from your current customers

    I believe most of the Ascend's customers who ordered the Sierra lineups are savvy internet users that value the great performance offered at such incredible price, which is the exact opposite from the cost is no objective crowd..

    The only way I can see this custom order model success will be for Dave to start attending audio shows and show case the finished product to attract those who are into the high price custom build market...

  10. #10
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    Thumbs up Re: Diamond Tweeter?

    Quote Originally Posted by curtis View Post
    It's not a 70-10 in the Sierra-2. It is an entirely different model...not listed on RAAL's website

    On the measurements page, you can see the off axis characteristics.
    Thanks Curtis for the heads-up, just overlooked the dispersion response graph. Understood it is a custom RAAL design, just looks like their 70-10D ribbon model.

    Ted
    Sierra RAAL V2 Towers, Axiom EP 500 Sub, Morrow SP7 Grand Reference Speaker Cables, Phillips CD880 XLR Balanced Variable Line Output to Orchard Audio Strakrimson 375w/per ch Stereo Ultra GaNFET Amp..... (Dedicated 2.1 Acoustical Music Listening Room)!

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