Tweeters are small, compact speakers that specialize in reproducing high frequencies in your music — guitars,vocals and high notes that make your music flow better and sound more brilliant and touching.They are also part of the picture for those of you who are looking for proper sound-staging and imaging as they can make your music sound like it’s coming from all around you, rather than just from your door or rear deck speakers.Tweeters are either built into speakers (the case with full-range speakers) or mounted separately (as in components).Having them mounted separately adds an extra layer of “realism” to your music.
Choosing the right set of tweeters can be quite a challenge considering how many options are out there.If you are a serious audio perfectionist,then you’ll need to shell out some serious cash,as high-quality tweeters tend to be very costly.
When you’re shopping for new car tweeters, make sure that you take this investment opportunity seriously.That means you should be aware of all the key points that make a good set of tweeters,including wattage (measured in RMS) , impedance (measured in Ohms), shapes and materials your tweeters are made from.Understanding these key factors will undoubtedly put you on the path to a brighter listening experience as they’ll help you make a well thought-out decision about what kind of tweeters is right for you.
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Pioneer TS-S20 20mm High-Power Component Dome Tweeter
The Pioneer TS-S20 is one of the best high-quality component tweeters we have come across.It features a High-performance strontium magnet and a solid ,fluid-cooled dome made from poly material,which makes it best suited for high power handling and effective resonance damping.Poly material or PPTA is quite as good as metal.However,it does a good job eliminating the harshness often associated with metal diaphragms which results in a rich, detailed music with reduced distortion even at high volume levels. The Pioneer TS-S20 can be either surface or flush mounted.
Highlights:
Tweeter Design : 7/8″ Dome
Sensitivity : 90 dB
RMS – Power Handling : 40 W
Peak – Power Handling : 120 W
Frequency Response : 2500 – 30k Hz
Warranty : 1 Year
Check out more tweeters from Pioneer :
Pioneer TS-T110 7/8-Inch Hard-Dome Tweeter
Pioneer TST15 3/4″ Soft Dome Tweeter
Infinity Reference 1031t
The Infinity Reference 1031T tweeters will enhance your music with crisp high notes and clarity it has been missing,making what used to be good music becomes great with them.Although,these tweeters aren’t made with the highest quality materials out there, their large voice coils allow high power handling and smooth response.Furthermore,the supplied in-line crossovers redirects high frequency audio signals to the tweeters for a cleaner and clearer music free of distortion.
Additionally,the Infinity’s provided Starfish™ bracket provide easy mounting of the tweeters in factory tweeter locations or under factory speaker grilles.
Highlights:
Tweeter Design : 7/8″
Sensitivity : 93 dB
RMS – Power Handling : 50 W
Peak – Power Handling : 150 W
Frequency Response : 2,500 – 21k Hz
Warranty : 1 Year
P.S : Bear in mind that you’ll need to use the supplied in-line high-pass crossovers in order to avoid redirecting unwated frequencies to the amplifier.If you do not use a crossover,you risk voiding your warranty.
Check out more tweeters from Infinity :
Infinity REF-075TX 3/4 Inch Textile Dome Tweeters
Infinity 109T 1–Inch Edge-Driven UHF Dome Tweeter
Infinity Kappa 3/4″ Soft Dome Tweeters-Pair (Black)
Polk Audio DB1001 1-Inch Silk/Polymer Composite Dome Tweeters
Polk Audio is a well-known, high-end audio products manufacturer, and their products are always a good bet;You can’t go wrong with Polk Audio products.They are made to last and they easily pass the industry’s most intensive long-term tests.
The DB1001 is an outstanding tweeter – it’s probably considered to be the best of Polk’s car tweeters.It is Polk Marine Certified,which means it’s built tough to withstand the most challenging environments including heat,stress and long-term outdoor exposure.The DB1001 features an 1-inch liquid-cooled silk/polymer dome tweeter with neodymium magnet for a precise and symmetric voice coil movement – even at higher volumes.
Highlights:
Tweeter Design : 7/8″
Sensitivity : 92 dB
RMS – Power Handling : 60 W
Peak – Power Handling : 180 W
Frequency Response : 4,000 – 23 kHz
Warranty : 1 Year
Rockford Fosgate Punch P1T-S Tweeter Kit
The Punch P1T-S from Rockford Fosgate is a decent tweeter kit. It features a 1” inch dome made from PEI (Polyetherimide),visually appealing external crossover,and a few mounting bezels for different mounting positions.
The included external crossovers make sure only higher frequency signals are forwarded to the tweeters.They also allow you to set your tweeters output to 3 different levels according to your preference.
As for cons, there are a few, but nowhere near outweighs the pros. We’ve actually found that this tweeter kit’s price is fairly steep. Some reviews have also stated that it’s lacking in terms of power handling.
Long story short,the Punch P1T-S is a good tweeter kit,but it could use some improvement to rise up in the ranks.
Highlights:
Top-mount depth : 1″
Sensitivity : 90 dB
RMS – Power Handling : 60 W
Peak – Power Handling : 120 W
Frequency Response : 3,500 – 22 kHz
Warranty : 1 Year
Check out more tweeters from Rockford Fosgate :
Rockford Fosgate Prime R1T-S 1-Inch Tweeter Kit
Rockford Fosgate Power T1T-S Tweeter Set
JBL GTO18T 1-Inch My-Ti Edge-Driven Tweeter
Finally, here’s JBL. JBL’s one of the best component car tweeters because of its combination of performance,value,price and design – these tweeters come packaged with just everything you’d ever need.They feature an edge-driven Mylar-titanium design built with reliability in mind.Best of all they sound impressive, and we’d highly recommend these to anyone looking for great product.To be honest, we weren’t too fond of this product prior to using due to the low RMS power rating.However,it turned out we were wrong , and its pros far outweighs the cons.
If you’re looking for an advanced JBL component tweeter than the GTO-18T , check the newer version labeled GTO19T.This latest model is pretty pricy, but it presents a whole different experience.
Unlike the old version, the newer GTO-19T features an oversized voice coils which dramatically improves heat dissipation and power handling resulting in sharp, bright high notes that cut through big bass and road noise.
Highlights:
Tweeter Design : 13/16″
Sensitivity : 93 dB
RMS – Power Handling : 45 W
Peak – Power Handling : 135 W
Frequency Response : 2,500 – 21k Hz
Warranty : 1 Year
How to Choose the Right Car Tweeters – Shapes
Tweeters come in various shapes ,and that’s the key that determines how well (or not so well) the tweeter distributes the high frequencies inside your car.Here’s a breakdown of the most commonly used tweeter designs.
The cone tweeter design : It’s the most common shape in car audio.It’s usually found in factory speakers,because of its low cost of production.Many factory tweeters implement the infamous “whizzer cone” design, which simply consists of a paper megaphone built on top of the woofer to increase treble response.This shape lags behind the competition in terms of performance as it doesn’t spread the high frequencies as widely as other designs,and both the tweeter’s shape and cheap material used in factory speakers have a direct negative impact on the sound reproduction accuracy.
The semi-dome tweeter design : It’s also referred to as “balanced-dome”.It consists of a small dome (usually made of woven fabric ,thin metal or some other less rigid materials) nestled inside a shallow cone.The cone and dome in this type of tweeters are nearly the same size.
Their low profile makes them less prone to damage and allows for an easy placement in tight mounting space.The semi-dome tweeters are a common design particularly in lower-cost-speakers such as coaxials.They’re rarely found in component speaker systems or in outboard tweeters.
The dome tweeter design : The dome tweeter is considered to be the best car tweeter design for overall performance due to its improved sound dispersion.Its wide dispersion pattern allows it to cover evenly over a wide area which will give you a larger sound stage and a more natural surround effect.
When you’re looking for new car speakers,particularly component systems,you’ll often notice that the dome tweeter’s size is listed with the speaker’s details.If you’re looking for tweeters with wide dispersion of sound at the highest frequencies,then smaller tweeters are your best shot.The only downside with these small dome tweeters is that they lack a bit of radiating capabilities which singnificantly limits their output at the lower end of their range.Moreover,their smaller voice coils limits their overall power output.Tweeters with larger domes on the other hand can effectively disperse higher audio frequencies inside your vehicle,but the require more power.
Inverted Dome design : It’s an other special design,first used by Focals.As its name suggests,the inverted dome doesn’t stick out from the voice coil,but it’s rather mounted upside down, like a crater in the center.This unique design improves the higher frequency response and sound radiation pattern.
How to Choose the Right Car Tweeters – Build Materials
Tweeters build materials are another crucial key element that has a significant impact on the resulting sound quality.Tweeters are usually made from less rigid and ultra-light materials such as titanium,silk, high-tech synthetic fibers.
Synthetic films : like Mylar, polyimide, and PET are known for being light weight and require less power to operate which makes them the best choice for low-cost audio system speakers manufacturers.Unfortunately,tweeters made from such materials lack stiffness,which virtually limits their damping capabilities and greatly reduces their chance of delivering high-quality sound output.
Textile materials : such as silk are hugely used in tweeter construction.Silk has a great advantage over other materials because of its ability to maintain a great level of sound accuracy.For maximum results,manufacturers usually tend to add extra stiffness to their tweeters by reinforcing silk with synthetic materials for improved damping.
Metals and blends : If you are an audio enthusiast who values clean and highs crisp, bright and loud,then metal tweeters are your best bet.Aluminum is the most used material in this category.It make a good choice for those of you want who want their higher frequencies to shine up through noise and bass.Additionally,Titanium is another popular material around,it’s known for being extra lightweight and less resonant than aluminum which makes it best suited for higher frequencies reproduction with ultimate accuracy.
Who knows what materials are going to be used to improve tweeter designs in the future.It is to be expected that manufacturers are going to expand into more exotic blends and material combinations as time goes by.
What to choose – textile or metals ?
Determining the right tweeters for your vehicle boils down to two major options:
If you own a car with noisy engine, or if you usually drive your car on highways with your windows down,metal tweeters are your best bet.They are capable of cutting through that noise while maintaining sound accuracy.
On the other hand,if you’d like to do some bargain hunting,and noise isn’t a problem in your situation,silk might be what be what you’ve been looking for.
Whichever option you decide to go with,bear in mind that you will be getting a much better listening experience if you’re willing to shell out some serious dough.