# Tweeter comparison. Vifa XT25/DX25, Peerless HDS, DLS Nob1



## Hanatsu (Nov 9, 2010)

_Here's a combined objective/subjective test of four tweets I had on the shelf. 

*Drivers:*

Vifa XT25-SC90
Vifa DX25
Peerless HDS 810921
DLS Ultimate, Nobelium 1 (Old version of Nordica)

*Testing equipment:*

Amplifier: Pioneer 2x180W/8ohm - Home audio amp (can't remember model, but it's a decent amp)

Speaker protection: 24uF/400V Jentzen audiophile cap in series

Microphone: Behringer ECM8000

Pre-amp: Some "ultra linear" tube amp with phantom power.

Software: aRTA

T/S Parameter measurement: DATS (Dayton WT3)

SPL meter: Some SPL meter off ebay, dunno if it's the most accurate one out there but at least it helped with setting the same level for all drivers.

*Method:*

I had no idea how to choose distance and SPL levels so I just replicated the conditions of which Zaph at zaphaudio.com used. 4" distance to driver when measuring HD. SPL levels was 90dB avg at 1m, taken at 2500-3000Hz depending on driver. Tested both drivers for continuity. Subjective testing is done inside the car. All drivers are placed on axis in ear height around sail panels. All drivers had the same EQ settings to tame the car's transfer function. Frequency response was measured at 0.5m distance, on-axis. The mic is NOT calibrated so take the frequency response with a grain of salt. The rolloff at 17k could be explained by the microphone. It's a pretty linear mic anyway so the response between 1kHz-16Khz should be pretty accurate. I listened to all tweeter on axis (0-10deg at most)_



*DLS Nobelium 1*

Specs

I've used these drivers for roughly 1.5 years in my current system. These are also the only specific car-audio tweeter in this test. I found these drivers be a little bright above 12k and therefore a placed a 6dB lowpass at 16k to tame the upper frequencies a little (not in the test though). Didn't like them below 2,5kHz, sounded a bit muddy and harsh there. I've used a 3,15kHz/12dB and lately 6,3kHz/6dB crossovers with good results. I listen to these on-axis in the car, I actually removed the sail panel instead of the driver itself as shown on the picture. Since I've listened so long at them I've become used at how they sound, if I compare them to my replacement tweeters, the Vifa XT25, I'd say that the DLS have a completely different sound. The Vifa's sounded almost dull compared to these. For the lack of better words I found the DLS to sound pretty dry and detailed with female vocals and pretty bright when reproducing cymbals and such. Transient testing from the focal cd was excellent (light bulb smashing). These have a slight in-your-face character compared to the other drivers, HF material seemed to be closer to you, reducing depth. Perhaps a weird review, not good with these "audiophile words" 

Okey, now to the HD-measurements. aRTA tracks f2 through f4 harmonics, the thing which worries me here is the high 3rd order HD at 5kHz. 3rd order HD is worse than all the other drivers tested here, the peak at 5kHz will present itself as "sparkle" at 15k and are likely the cause for the HF brightness. Since these are the most expensive driver in the test, the HD results are pretty disappointing. Frequency response is 4dB +/- from 2kHz to 20kHz which I consider to be good. Linear distortion is therefore probably pretty decent. DATS measurements show a Fs of 915Hz which is pretty close to the spec of 900Hz, however there are impedance bumps at 2khz and one other at 200Hz. Seem to be consistent between the two drivers, kind of weird to me. Anyone knows what causing that? Anyway, been using these for a while and I like them. This is not a bad sounding driver. Would like to get my hands on a pair of the new DLS tweets, Nordica 1 and see if there's any changes done. These are very clean at moderate levels but distortion increases rapidly with volume, do not recommend these at high volumes.





















*Peerless HDS*

Specs

These drivers were intended for a home audio project I had together with a pair of Usher 8945P. Anyway, tested them out in the car for a while. A very neutral sounding driver, seemed to disappear at some tracks. Sounded warmer than the DLS in upper female vocals. Transient test was good, the DLS sounded slightly more crisp. They had less "presence" than the DLS as well, sounding pretty laid-back at some tracks. I enjoyed these, however they sounded slightly duller than the DLS and XT25. Power handling is good, however efficiency wasn't. Had to increase levels by roughly 4dB in the car compared to all the other drivers. These drivers can be played at high volume without any degradation in clarity, if anything these seemed to sound better than any of the others at high volume (95dB avg). Can be crossed very low, 2kHz/24dB was not an issue.

HD tests was no surprise really. Distortion was composed by mainly 2nd order HD, giving them a warm tonality. High 2nd order HD at 8Khz gives a slight sparkle at 16kHz, also contributes to an airy feeling not seen in the others. Distortion is by all means low, excellent performance really. Frequency response is decent as well, slightly worse than the DLS being 5dB up/down in the usable range. Broad impedance peak with a small hiccup at 1,7kHz. Resonance at 730Hz, Peerless states 700Hz. Shows good continuity between drivers according to DATS.





















*Vifa XT25*

Specs

My new replacement tweeters, found these to be best for my application. I'm currently building new sail panels for these tweeters. I liked these the most of the four tweeters I tested. Very musical and warm without losing much detail. Less crisp than the Peerless and DLS on the transient test but more enjoyable to listen at for longer periods of time. These are also easy to place in a car since these are the smallest ones. Power handling isn't that great, actually the worst power handling of all tested. Starts to sound muddy at really high volumes. Excellent high frequency performance, staged deep and sounded neutral on female vocals. Much presence to them. Don't cross them low, 4kHz/12dB or 3,15kHz/24dB sounded fine to me. Lower than that and they sounded quite muddy at moderate levels. 5kHz and up these sound extremely good, no harshness whatsoever. It was hard to locate the drivers, suspect it was caused by less diffraction since the flange is small? Really don't know but they performed well in all areas except power handling.

Distortion testing wasn't that big of a surprise here either (I actually did the subjective part before HD testing the tweets so I wouldn't be biased by the results). Low 3rd and 4th order HD, moderate amounts of 2nd order HD. This rises with volume rapidly, the 2nd order HD at 700Hz coincides with resonance peak. Be careful with these, the cap did not attenuate the level enough to tame the resonance peak. That peak will contribute to muddy high midrange if crossed too low. Frequency response showed a 10dB rolloff from 3.5kHz to 2kHz. Once again, don't cross them low. Above that FR is pretty linear without any hiccups to speak of. DATS shows a 840Hz resonance peak, Vifa specifies 825Hz, close enough. Slight rise at 4kHz in impedance, but nothing to worry about. I like the ring radiator design. Low price and good performance would make this one the winner here.





















*Vifa DX25*

Specs

Hm. The Vifa DX25 was the only tweeter I found to be plain boring to listen to, it did nothing wrong but they sounded just dull. Very laid back character. I heard rumors that these share the same design as DLS Scandinavia 1, they sure sound alike. Neutral sounding through the usable range, cymbals and other high frequency harmonics sounded laid-back, low in amplitude. Presence was moderate, female vocals sounded decent, missed some of the "life" in the upper midrange. Transient testing was excellent. I actually started to mess with the EQ a bit on my P99 and increased 4k - 6,3k - 16k bands 3-4dB and found that they sounded alot better with some EQ compensation. Still had that dull feeling to them though, hard to explain. Turned down the EQ as it were again since this was plain comparison between the drivers, overall levels were changed between the drivers but not EQ when I evaluated the tweeters FYI. Power handling was the second best after the Peerless HDS, these are both efficient and good sounding at high levels. Very neutral even at 95dB, no harshness whatsoever, quite the contrary actually.

HD testing shows that 2nd order HD is slightly above 3rd order above 2kHz but still very low in amplitude. The 2nd/3rd order HD ratio was consistent at lower/higher volume. These actually outperformed all the other tweeters in terms of HD, showing no more than 0,33% THD at 90dB/1m through the usable range. Frequency response show an early rolloff at 14khz but almost completely linear response between 6-13kHz. Distortion and FR extension at the low end are both excellent, use EQ to increase 14kHz+ and you should be good. DATS measured Fs at 770Hz, Vifa specifies 703Hz. Not that close to spec as I'd hope. No hiccups in impedance response, clean in every way. Can be crossed very low, 1,75kHz/24dB actually works. Paired them against Dayton RS180 with good results.





















*Conclusions*

It seems that the driver which had the lowest distortion was also the driver I liked the least (DX25). 2nd order HD add to warmth and 3rd order HD to subjective amounts of detail and harshness (if it's too high). 3rd order HD peaks at the right place, like in the 5-6kHz area can provide an airy feeling. IMD (not shown) seemed to be higher with drivers with high 3rd order HD. Odd-order HD and IMD should generally be avoided as much as possible to provide a "musical" sound character. Anyway, for my application the XT25 is the clear winner, not only did I find this driver to sound the best overall but it's easy to place. This wasn't a blind test but I (think I) wasn't biased towards any specific driver, the mind is fooled easily so I always compare my findings with objective material like measurements afterwards. The DX25 was used in my old car, kick mounted and it required some careful placement to not lose too much of the HF material. The Peerless is a great driver and I'm currently using this one in my other car (have three cars lol). Very good compromise between high power handling, low distortion and warm sounding tonality. Low efficiency requires more amplifier power though. The Peerless hits the second spot with ease. My original tweeters, the DLS performed worse than I'd hoped for. But I've grown to like them anyway. They sound different than all the other drivers, sounds more crisp in lower treble/high midrange. I place these at 3rd place now that I've heard the others, they are by no means bad sounding, but the other two is simply better.

By this I conclude that price doesn't equal performance, the best performing speaker might not even sound the best. Guess that's individual, I'm used to the distortion profile of the DLS and therefore everything else sounded weird at first. Lot of things must be considered when choosing speakers. Dispersion patterns, frequency response (both on/off axis), distortion profile and power handling (talking about how they handling high power in terms of distortion and frequency response changes - not thermal rating, sorry for the confusion), also how big the tweeter is (install issues) and of course the price.

Hope someone find this useful.

Here's a THD - Percent, converter btw


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

nice 

thanks for telling me that i picked good tweeters lol


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## Candisa (Sep 15, 2007)

Why, o WHY did I sell my Peerless HDS tweets? 

Isabelle


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## Hanatsu (Nov 9, 2010)

Forgot to upload this yesterday:

A picture of the drivers, differ some in size. Might do a midrange/midbass test later on. A bit more complicated so I'll take some time.

Have DLS Iridium 8, Exodus Anarchy, Peerless SDS 6.5", Peerless HDS (phase plug), Usher 8945P, Seas L18, DLS Gothia 6.5", Paradigm 6,5" (unknown model) and Scan-Speak Discovery 8" available for testing.

Have 5-6 fullrange/midrange speakers I might test sometime as well.


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