(note tweeter must be connected with reverse polarity -- not as shown)
Veritas Tweeter Substitution Guide
I regularly receive requests to provide suggestions for alternative tweeters for the Veritas design. While those who have built the design with the suggested Hivi RT2C have been very pleased, others do not have the budget to spend nearly $100/tweeter. For those of you, I have prepared additional, optimized crossover suggestions.
The following highpass crossovers are for use only with the Veritas design, to allow you to choose a tweeter that is commensurate with your budget. First is the low-priced Vifa D27TG-05, which will result in a parts cost for the project of about $315 (budget). The Vifa tweeter is excellent, costing less than $20, with excellent detail, imaging, and reasonably good transparency. Of all the tweeters I recommend for use with the Veritas, this is perhaps the smoothest sounding tweeter.
(note tweeter must be connected with reverse polarity -- not as
shown)
Next, for those of you looking for something with a little more "sizzle" (you know who you are) but don't want to break the bank, there's the Dayton 275-045 (or 055) tweeter. I'm not a fan of metal dome tweeters, but I've heard this unit in the Dayton Home Theater that I designed and I've never found it to be harsh or fatiguing. Those who prefer rock to jazz are likely to prefer this tweeter to the D27. Although the tweeter is slightly less expensive than the D27, it requires a slightly more extensive crossover network to achieve acceptable response, bringing the total parts cost for the project to about $325.
(note tweeter must be connected with reverse polarity -- not as
shown)
Third is the Vifa XT25. This tweeter weighs in at a healthy $60, but has exceptional detail and imaging capabilities. This unit does not use ferrofluid in the air gap, so it's built like a tank to provide excellent power handling and unbelievable speed. Be sure to use the best capacitors you can afford for use with this tweeter -- it will be well worth it in the added transparency and openness you'll achieve. I even optimized the highpass network to use only a single capacitor, so you might seriously want to consider using an Audiocap Theta (the 7 uF one will do fine). Total parts cost for the project with an Audiocap Theta capacitor will be around $425. With regular polypropylene caps instead (like Solen, Bennic, Axon, Dayton, etc.) the price comes down to around $360.
(note tweeter must be connected with reverse polarity -- not as
shown)
Finally, for those of you who don't mind going all the way, there's the Hivi RT2C. This planar has incredible speed, detail, transparency, and imaging. Couple it with only Audiocap Theta's (use a 1.0 uF and 0.47 uF in parallel to get the required value). You'll be glad you did. Total parts cost for the project with this tweeter is about $500. Is it worth it? If you're going to be sitting and listening. Yes, absolutely. If you're building the Veritas as a "family room" speaker and you'll be listening from a variety of positions around the room, or you may spend a fair amount of time listening when standing or moving about the room? Then go with one of the dome tweeter options, due to their better dispersion.
(note tweeter connected with reverse polarity, as shown)
From time to time, I may choose to add additional tweeters to this list. If there's a particular tweeter for which you would like a recommendation for use with the Veritas, let me know. If I have good measurements for the unit, I'll try and provide you with a suggested network. Please don't purchase a tweeter for use with the Veritas and then ask me for a crossover. If you're ready to buy your parts, use a tweeter on the list.