# diy tweeter review + lpg 25nfa & BGneo3



## tdgesq (Apr 16, 2006)

A few preliminary remarks. Because of time and other constraints, the test conditions were not as ideal as I would have liked. I ended up testing all of these in my rig. My tweeters are in the sail panels on hinge mounts, so it was easy for me to use the existing wiring and physically tape the tweeters to the existing mount. x/o point at 3250hz 18db/octave. I reviewed each tweeter for approximately 20 minutes. I used the same music for all of them. They were powered by 35 wrms, and I did no off-axis testing. I used the balance control to "compare" the lpg 25nfa in the right sail panel to the tweeter being tested in the left. Not scientific, but the best I could do under the circumstances. The review proceeds from best to worst - to my ears at least.

1) LPG 25nfa. I have obviously been living with these tweeters long enough that it probably isn't fair for me to even review them along with the others. Since this was my "reference" tweeter, I listened to it far more often than the others during the test. You'll have to take my ranking here with a grain of salt. Nevertheless, it sounded the best to me of all of them.

2) Seas 27 neo and Vifa d26-nc55. A tie between these two. The seas is a robust tweeter. Voices sound so much fuller than most of the others tested. It can play low, and it takes power like a champion. Where the 25nfa would start harshing out, the Seas wanted more. All the instruments and voices were smooth and just sounded right with this tweeter. Although it had very good detail, the top end detail of the 25nfa was superior. Still, a very close competitor. One bad thing. The voice coil leads are exposed where they are soldered to the + & - male connectors. I was totally paranoid hooking these things up for fear that I would sever the lead. A very bad design idea by seas.

The vifa d26 was more laid back still than the seas. They are just so smooth and accurate. No part of the music overpowers another part. It also goes low like the seas, but all of the individual instruments are not quite as distinct. No major sizzle like the Lpgs, but very pleasing to listen to. They do tend to get harsh at higher volume.

3) Lpg 26na. Great top end detail, but a major problem I had with these is that snare hits tended to sound like someone was hitting a tin can at times. The 25nfa did not sound like that, the drums always sounded more natural to me. Major sizzle on cymbals and the like. These could take a little bit more power than the 25nfa before puking out. As might be expected, these two tweeters had a lot more in common than not. The problem I had, and it is likely a personal bias, is that the 25nfa already has about as much as I can stand of top end spark. The 26na goes even further than that. If you can stand it, it may be the tweeter for you.

4) BGNeo3. I reviewed this tweeter about five days after I reviewed all of the rest and I had to test it in a different place because of its size. So take this ranking FWIW. A very open sound that the other drivers didn't have. Laid back and enjoyable at moderate volumes. It started to kind of spaz out when I turned the volume up. Could have been the amp clipping because of the low impedance. It didn't seem to be as good as the seas or the vifa d26, but that was five days before.

5) The Dayton nd20. A lack of subtle detail, but not that bad. It could get fairly loud before being completely out of control. Voices didn't always sound right. I just don't think this tweeter can dig down low enough. But it does have fair top end and sounds better than you would ever expect for the price. Hey, if you are on a budget, match this up with some of the mids from the Dayton Reference line. For the money I don't think you could beat it.

6) This is highly depressing for me, but the Diy prototype just didn't do it IMO. Not the same detail as even the seas, much less the lpgs. It became a total mess at volume - harsh spitty - everything started to condense into noise. At moderate volume it was okay, but didn't have the same clarity as the seas, for example. I think these could have benefited from some EQ or maybe some off-axis placement, which I didn't do.

7) The Vifa XT25. No top end. No low end. Voices sound artificial and nasal. No power handling. I don't know that there is anything you could do to save this tweeter. I don't think it's worth the price tag.


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## ArcL100 (Jun 17, 2005)

Good review :-D

-aaron


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## tdgesq (Apr 16, 2006)

Thanks ArcL. You know as well as any what a PIA it is to listen critically to all of those drivers. It is exhausting. I wish I would have listened to the Neo3 with the rest of them. When I had both hooked up earlier this year I really liked them.


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