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Audax TW010E1 10mm Polymer Dome Tweeter
I don’t think highly of polymer tweeters but since it was on sale at $5.90 at Madisound, I thought I’ll give it a shot. Worse case, it’ll join my collection of duds.
Audax TW010E1 Published Frequency Response Fig 1 – TW010E1 Frequency Response by Audax
Fig 1 is the frequency response and impedance plots of the TW010E1 by Audax. The tweeter extends to 20kHz but at the lower end, dies off at 3kHz. That’s expected of a miniature 10mm tweeter. What is surprising is the highly damped resonant frequency. Audax listed the Fs at 3kHz with a minimum recommended 1st order crossover at 6kHz.
Audax TW010E1 RAW Frequency Response
Fig 2 – TW010E1 measured frequency response without crossover
Fig 2 is my measurement of the TW010E1 with the microphone at 36 ins, tweeter axis. No smoothing is applied. Frankly, I was quite delighted with the response. It looks promising.
Fig 3 – Audax TW010E1. Black plot = RAW. Red plot = 2uF
Fig 3 is an expanded view of the TW010E1 response. The Red plot is beautiful. All it took was a single 2uF capacitor. With a response like this, I can actually cross a midwoofer at 3.2kHz.
 Fig 4 – TW010E1 Toneburst Energy Storage measured with a 2uF capacitor in series.
The Toneburst Energy Storage plot in Fig 4 threw up more surprises. There’s some ringing recorded in the TW010E1.
Fig 5 – Spectrogram of TW010E1 with 2uF in series
The spectrogram in Fig 5 shows the TW010E1 in the time domain. There is some smearing but it’s inaudible. It’s not possible to differentiate sound less than 1.5msec. Modern day measuring equipment is capable of picking out minutest details but it’s beyond human hearing abilities.
 Fig 6 – TW010E1 Harmonic Distortion. Red plot = 2nd harmonics. Violet plot = 3rd harmonics.
Fig 6 is the Harmonic Distortion of the TW010E1 with a 2uF capacitor in series. Generally, 2nd and 3rd harmonics are at -55dB below the fundamental. No anomalies are recorded.
Fig 7 – Audax TW010E1 Impedance
Fig 7 is the impedance of the TW010E1. As I had hoped, the resonant frequency is well damped. Fs seems to be at 3.5kHz with a minimum impedance of 6Ω.
My thoughts
Having done the necessary measurements, I’m rather impressed with this Audax TW010E1. I see a lot of potential with this tweeter, in particular for use with budget speaker designs. The flat frequency response with a single capacitor is definitely a huge plus. As for the ringing, I’m not too concerned. I will know for sure whether it’s a problem when I start testing it with music but I’m confident it’ll sound fine.
For $5.90, it can’t get better than this. Outstanding value for money. |
Fig 5 – Spectrogram of TW010E1 with 2uF in series
Fig 6 – TW010E1 Harmonic Distortion. Red plot = 2nd harmonics. Violet plot = 3rd harmonics.