# Review: Morel Pulse TW-1 tweeter(half year impression)



## mvw2 (Oct 2, 2005)

(pics coming this weekend...)

This is a review of Morel's entry level Pulse tweeters. I picked up a pair these tweeters on Ebay to match with the Phoenix Gold Ti Elite component set I picked up from Phoenix Gold Direct. They were selling their Ti Elite sets without tweeters, so I needed something that would work well with them. These were suggested to me. I ran them for half a year before I bought my current Scan 6000, ala Alpine F#1 tweeters. Although these are great tweeters, they simply couldn't play low enough for the application.

Specs via their user manual:
http://www.morelhifi.com/support/pdf/mobile/pulse-tw1.pdf

Nominal Power handling - 120W
Transient Power (10ms) - 250W
Impedance - 4 ohms
Sensitivity - 90dB
Freq. Resp. - 2kHz - 20kHz
Resonant Freq. - 1100 Hz
VC Diameter - 1"
VC Former - Al
VC Wire - Cu
Neodynium magnet
Soft dome

*Impressions:*
In the past, I've demoed quite a few car audio sets from entry level to midrange and a few that are considered high end. This was my first attempt at building a system with what I'd call "audiophile" grade products. My initial impressions were very positive. The tweeters come across as very open with lots of detail but mild enough not to really annoy. Initially they seemed to work pretty well with the Ti Elite woofers I was pairing them to. The tweeter, although a basic level Morel product, was actually better sounding then anything I've listened to up to that point.

*Build Quality:*
This tweeter comes across as a pretty standard driver. It doesn't feel cheap, but there also isn't that presence of a "high end" product. The casing is plastic but seems to hold up quite well to normal use. Morel offers a variety of mounting options to suit most installs. The tweeter is pleasantly compact and easy to fit. As well, Morel created the tweeter with a built in swivel face that allows for wonderfully easy aiming. It's a feature I'd like to see in a lot more tweeters. It just makes physical tuning(aiming) so much easier.

*Sound Characteristics:*
Tonality:
These tweeters actually come across quite neutral and flat. I'd _almost_ go as far as saying sterile, but not quite. Although flat and neutral, sound doesn't quite come across as realistic. However, that's a hard feat to do, and being an entry level product, I wouldn't expect such a level of refinement. I've toyed with EQing quite a bit with these drivers, and I always seem to go back to flat for the majority of the frequency range. You generally had an easier time messing up the tweeter's balance than improving it when toying with the EQ. 

Detail:
Lots. For a silk tweeter, this suprised me. The tweeter's very engaging and straight forward. It offers a tremendous amount of accuracy and detail that reminds me more of a metal tweeter than a silk. However, like a silk, that razor's edge is smoothed off and keeps the tweeter from ever really coming across as harsh or very fatigueing. Morel seems to have a nack for bringing out a high level of detail in a way that's pleasant to the user.

*Usability:*
Morel states a usable range from 2kHz on up. Following a generic rule of thumb of 2 x Fs, you'd get 2.2kHz. I personally found this is really starting to push the driver. I tried all the way down to 1.6kHz and up to 4-5kHz toying with usable x-over points. I could generally get away with 2.5kHz without much issue, but the tweeter really felt more natural at 3khz or higher. The lower frequencies seemed to unsettle the driver. If you have a woofer that will happily play up to 3kHz or at least 2.5kHz, this is a very usable driver. However, you'll have a difficult time running below that. It will depend some on how loud you plan on playing this tweeter.

*Power:*
These tweeters are rated pretty high at 120w rms. When in passive, I ran a full 300w rms to the set. The tweeter was the limiting factor in the component set. The tweeter offered a lot of output, but eventually, it would max out and would became noticably strained and start screaming a little bit. I ran them off 75w rms when active, and that amount still allowed the tweeters to be very usable. They're rated for quite a bit but don't really need all that much to work plenty well. They just play happily without problems. When upping the juice, they'll audibly tell you when they've had a enough.

*Design Comments:*
This is a nice, clean looking, and compact tweeter. Although it doesn't scream "audiophile," the little touches like abundant mounting options and swivel face make this a very easy to work with and usable driver. It would be nice to see more companies offering this level of flexability. It's just a wonderful little package.


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