Ease of installation, price

poor x-over, placement sensative

I bought this tweeter for $14.97 (close-out) and added it to my Polk Audio SDA CRS+'s. I found that it colored the mid range a bit (probably the cheap 50v, 6db cap)so I by-passed the cap (removed) in favor of the speaker's own higher order, higher cut-off rate(3Khz) cross-over network. Made a huge difference. Remember, these are placement dependent speakers. They should be placed at least a foot from the rear wall and 2-3 ft from side walls. Still not quite up to par with Polk's silver voice coil tweeter for accuracy and detail, but does provide an expanded sound stage. Great add-on for low to mid fidelity speakers. Overall rating is for tweets retailing between $35-$60 ea.

upper highs are more cleaner and brighter

odd hookup design, should have used push terminals or binding posts at the very least, screw terminals are outdated

Having debated whether or not to try these tweeters on clearance I finally gave in today when I went to Radio Shack but forgot the # of the tube I was supposed to order. I took them home to hook up in my bedroom which consists of a Pioneer Minisystem XR-P770F, a pair of Acoustic Research 226PS speakers, an an AR S112PS subwoofer. The design is odd, bottom mounted screw terminals were a pain to use especially compared to ARs which all have binding posts. I wanted to hook them up with Monster Cable, but I did not have enough and after looking at the terminals I just used standard 14 gauge wire. After spending 20 minutes hooking them up I sat down and listened with a few of my usual CDs. The highs were crisp and they seemed to go higher into the treble than the AR's Horn Loaded dome tweeter. Aside from that it was not all that different from the existing setup, the AR's horn loaded domes do a fine job of creating a wide listening field, just seemed to reach higher into the trebles. At the prices they are going for it is hard to see where you can go wrong even with the odd setup, you dont really have to stick them to the speakers either, I just set them on top, the ARs resist vibration enough that it is not a problem. Rubber feet would work well too, gives you room to experiment with positioning then rather than being stuck to the speakers. Low price, good sound, cool looks I can't see any reason not to own them. I would not spend $60 on a pair (the build quality is not good enough), but for the $20 or less each they are going for it seems worth it to me.

Similar Products Used:

none that come to mind immediately

Good warmth, clarity, and dispersion of sound. PRICE!!!

Cheap connectors

I already knew what i was getting when i bought these. i have a pair of Optimus LX8's that use the same tweeter. I decided to get these to add on to an old pair of Pinnacle Speakers i got for free. i was in a mall when i saw them for only $10 a peice!!!! awsome price from $30! i wish they use binding posts instead of screws though. oh well. the opened up great highs on the Pinnacles. These things rock!

Similar Products Used:

Optimus Pro LX8

smoooth, detailed, non-fatiguing

Cheap domes simply can't compare to these.
At this price, I give 'em 5 starts for value.
5 stars overall,but imaging is a lil' imprecise compared to the best tweeters I've heard.

I loaded up on the close-out, and I've got a few extra pairs of these tweeters. New in box.

Will sell for $50/pair INCLUDING UPS ground shipping.

E-mail me if interested.

Thanks,
Den

price, ability to reproduce strings

crossover capacitor in an awkward spot

For some time, I've liked the sound of the LX-5, but everytime I read a review it went something like this,
"wrong sized cabinet, terrible woofer, badly implemented crossover, but what an incredible tweeter."
A lot of the mods for the LX-5 had been essentially complete rebuilds. When I saw the tweeter on sale separately (closing out unfortunately), I thought I'd have a chance to just get right to the point. I put together a fairly simple first order crossover at 2400 hz. Polypropylene capacitor, air core inductor, and an attenuation network, matched the tweeter to Seas 6.5" paper cone mid-woofer, and stuck it in a project box I had in the garage. I was very pleasantly surprised with the result.
For some reason, the optimus tweeter is extremely good with classical strings and female voices. It's less glassy, airier, and seems to be just as detailed as some of my very expensive tweeters. The image is very spacious, but not terribly precise. The dipole seems to make some of the dispersion issues with a first order crossover less of a problem.
Bottom line, for not a lot of money, you can put together a surprisingly credible speaker by matching this to a quality 5" or 6" mid-woofer. I would guess that I'll get even better results once I figure out how to measure a dipole and run the thing through LEAP.
For those who do their own cabinets, it's also one less hole to cut on the baffle.
These are an excellent value and I recommend them to anyone who likes acoustic music.

Similar Products Used:

Scanspeak revelator, dynaudio esotec, accuton, vifa

Range

they are now discontinued

I run four Optimus Prolx8 speakers in surround and am very pleased. I have a Optimus Center speaker with di-pole teweeter and I run a JBL DPS-12 subwoofer. All driven by a Harman Karden AVR85. I have secured four of the Tweeters to keep in reserve. Radio Shack is doing away with all the optimus products. These are well worth the 19.99 sale price thay are asking. Get Them if you can ASAP.

Good value and decent dynamic response.

Cheaper diaphragm material than original units.

This is a very good value, as others have said here already. However be aware that this version uses an inferior polyprolene diaphragm as do all late model and current Radio Shack speakers with a Lineaum design tweeter. The original Radio Shack version had a superior design using Mylar for the ribbon material resulting in better imaging and dynamics. This version is still available as a parts replacent for the original LX5 and LX10 Optimus speakers. Also, if you plan to use this tweeter design in a high end application but believe it is not suitable because of evaluation of the poly version you can use the mylar version with better results. If you want true audiophile quality, you can order the original pure silk diaphragm design that Lineaum used in their high end speakers. This version was manufactured and a limited supply is still available directly from Aura Sound, though this will cost more than the Radio Shack version the audible difference the silk material makes it worth the extra cost, shipping charges and hassle to order it. The original Lineaum tweeter manufactured by Lineaum is still avialable also, albiet only to existing owners of genuine made Lineaum speaker systems. A serial number is required to order one of these speaker drivers since the existing stock is old and intended only for original parts replacement. If you happen to have some serial numbers that a genunie owner has graciously lended you, you can simply contact just about any former Lineaum dealer to aquire the tweeters. Expect the cost of these drivers to be relatively high and since it is the same design used by the Arua dist. version the extra cost and trouble is not worth it unless you simly need peace of mind knowing you have bonafide Lineaums.

-Christopher Wolff

These tweeters are actually the Linaeum tweeters from the Optimus LX5's in a housing that sits on top of your current speakers. They can be attached directly to the amp (50watts max rms) and have a capacitor that cuts off everything below 2500hz. I matched these tweeters with a pair of Optimus LX7's. The sound stage opens up dramatically and with breathtaking clarity when these tweeters kick in. The treble is so smooth and detailed and voices come out with a clarity that really involves you in a recording. By matching these with speakers that have good midrange and bass you get first class sound on a larger scale than the LX5's could deliver. Plus you get the benefits of biamped speakers on the cheap! Get truly legendary treble detail and smoothness for only 60.00 for the pair!

Price

Low level noise

I recently tried a pair of these ($20 bucks each) and returned them.

I generally listen to classical music. My configuration is a Technics CD player, an old Carver receiver, and Sony SSU-6100 speakers (acoustic suspension 3-way with 12 inch woofer).

Based on the feedback in AudioReview, I thought that these tweeters might open up the soundstage a little. When I hooked them up, I found that the speakers emmited a low-volume high-frequency noise, and didn't help the overall sound. In fact, my wife thought that they significantly deteriorated the sound.

Maybe I didn't hook them up correctly or something. They didn't work for me, but if they do for you, the price can't be beat!!

Anyway, I returned them- no hassles from RS.

Greatest strength at this point in time is the rock-bottom price: $2.97

Only that they are discontinued & difficult to find

This is just to add that, if you can find them (somewhere out in the far reaches of interstellar space), the price is now $2.97. "Fascinating".

Similar Products Used:

Optimus Pro LX-series speakers (with the same or similar Linaeum tweeters, apparently made by Aurasound)