Enter the realm of musical revelation as we introduce the Townshend Maximum Supertweeter
At the heart of our innovation is the Townshend Seismic Isolation Podium, a breakthrough in vibration control that works from an impressive 3Hz by floating the equipment throughout the audio wave band. Unlike conventional rigid couplers that begin to isolate from around 14Hz, our Seismic Isolation system provides a more natural, less analytical sound, allowing you to enjoy music as it was meant to be heard.
Maximum SuperTweeters
BREATH LIFE INTO YOUR MUSIC
Why Super Tweeters?
Super tweeters are a pivotal component in the realm of high-fidelity audio, delivering an unparalleled listening experience. These specialized speaker drivers are meticulously engineered to produce ultra-high frequencies, venturing into the remarkable range of 20 kHz and beyond – frequencies that extend far beyond the scope of ordinary tweeters.
Why super tweeters?
Since the late 1940s, when the term “hi fi” was first applied to high-quality (high fidelity) sound reproduction systems, it has been conventionally accepted that the range of human hearing has an upper limit of about 15 to 20 kHz.
The signal used to measure this response is an artificially‐generated sine wave. However, modern research and long term experience working with High Fidelity systems now question this firmly held belief. Harmonically rich, highly transient, real‐life sounds extend well beyond 20 kHz; for example, the muted trumpet has a frequency response extending to beyond 100 kHz.
What people say
Technical Specification
frequently asked questions
Yes, it does and the crossover allows the Supertweeter to have low output at about 10kHz and significant output from about 20kHz + filter in at approx.
Yes, on setting 5 or 6 the Supertweeter integrates surprisingly well with these >very high efficiency systems
The Supertweeter is connected directly across the amplifier terminals or across the tweeter terminals at your speaker. The standard connection is by way of piggy-back banana connectors.
Yes, on setting 5 or 6 the Supertweeter integrates surprisingly well with these very high efficiency systems
Yes, the Supertweeter comes with 1,5m standard Enhanced Deep Cryogenically Treated (EDCT) Litz multi-stranded separately insulated Litz Wire. Longer cable may be supplied to special order.
There is a special bracket for the Quad 57, as shown in the pictures. Please order when ordering Supertweeters
Most speakers employ dome tweeters which do show a frequency response up to and beyond 20kHz, but the response is very ragged below 20kHz due to the build-up of standing waves in the dome material. These standing waves take time to dissipate so keep sounding after the signal has passed. The resultant sound is slightly “tizzy” and can become irritating over time. The Supertweeter response, in contrast, is extremely fast with no resonant hangover, so when the Supertweeter is used in conjunction with the dome tweeter, the faster Supertweeter signal takes precedence over the slower signal. This ability of the ear to discern the faster signal (the precedence effect) on preference to the slower smeared signal causes the resultant sound to be far smoother but sharper then before. And yes, this is counter-intuitive, but it is so. Please study the frequency response graphs to see that the supertweeter response, although attenuated, extends below 20kHz (Response Supertweeter plus speaker, setting 4 above). This is sufficient for the precedence effect to come into play.
What our customers says about us?
4.9
Rating of 185 reviews
How The Supertweeter was born -Max Townshend
In the early seventies, I made a version of the HQD speaker system which comprised two Hartley 24” bass drivers, a pair of stacked Quad ESL-57s and a pair of Decca Ribbon speakers The Decca’s were used as supertweeters here to augment the treble roll-off associated with the ESL-57s. Inevitably, the ribbons got damaged and repairs were routine and I became adept at repairing them. This system sounded awesome and I was a sad chappie when I had to leave all behind in Sydney when I came to the UK in 1978.
Why do they work when we can only hear up to about 15 kHz and the Maximum Supertweeters extend to 80 kHz? The standard test for frequency response is to play a pure tone sine wave and to ask the listener to indicate if they can hear it or not. This test is basically flawed since sine waves rarely if ever occur in nature. Extensive research has shown that it is the combination of the lower frequencies with the high frequencies that makes sound more realistic, just as a high resolution digital image looks clearer than a low resolution image because of the sharper delineation of the visual edges due to the higher amount of information in the hi-res image. So it is with audio. The ear is very sensitive to very fast transients and is able to detect very small time arrival differences between the two ears. This capacity evolved in the wild where it is essential to hear the slightest unnatural sound (breaking twig) when sleeping in the open. This capacity only diminishes slightly compared with normal frequency roll-off sensitivity to sine waves with age- related hearing loss.
Many normal sounds have frequencies extending way above 20 kHz, (see http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~boyk/spectra/spectra.htm), hence the popularity of high resolution audio in the form of Hi-Res downloads, SACD, DVD Audio and quality vinyl replay. The higher the bandwidth, even up to 100 kHz, makes a difference in the fidelity of the overall perceived sound. This can easily be proved experimentally. Latest research suggests that the very high frequency sounds are picked up by the temple and even the eye, where they are sent directly to the brain by neuron transfer, totally bypassing the ear.
Why do Supertweeters work on CD replay which extends only to 21 kHz, when the speakers extend to 20 kHz or beyond? The most common tweeter is the dome tweeter. The dome tweeter may measure well on sine waves, but, when playing music, less than 1% of the electrical energy sent to the tweeter is converted to sound, the rest being dissipated over a short time by rippling around the dome, while slowly converting to heat. The wave pattern of this dissipating sound is chaotic, not unlike the wave pattern in the sea on a rough day in an enclosed harbour. The Supertweeter however, which gently rises in output from about 12 kHz up, does not suffer from this problem as the ultra-light ribbon ceases moving almost instantly when the signal stops. This ensures a very accurate high frequency transient response where before there was smearing. An interesting property of the ear is that it responds to the fastest rise-time signal, from the supertweeter and ignores the jumbled time- smeared output from the dome tweeter. This is why it is unnecessary to attenuate the existing tweeter when adding the supertweeter.
How do they sound? The effect on the sound with the addition of the Supertweeters is quite unexpected. Bass notes sound clearer, especially plucked string bass. Everything in the sound stage appears cleaner and smoother with far greater width and depth. There is a sense of ease about the sound. The effect is most profound when the supertweeters are taken away. It is not subtle! A peculiar effect is that they are inaudible in the listening seat when the main speaker is disconnected. The ear works in mysterious ways! And there are many thousands of happy Supertweeter owners out there who will, agree.