In other areas of this website, we have mentioned tweeters, specifically when we talk about speakers. So, what exactly are they and what effect do they have on your car stereo system’s performance?

Essentially, a tweeter is a loudspeaker that is designed to operate at very high frequencies from about 2,000 hertz to 20,000 hertz, which is about as high as humans can hear. However, some tweeters go as high as 45,000 hertz. The reason it is called a tweeter, is because the high pitch sounds it make are similar to that of birds, while the subwoofer is similar to that of a dog bark.

Most tweeters use a voice coil that is suspended within a fixed magnetic field. These operate due to the current from an amplifier to a coil, and the magnetic field works against another magnetic field, which forces the voice coil of the tweeter to move. Most tweeters are now dome shaped and made of silk, or titanium. The tweeter design is intended to convert the signal of the amplifier into air movement with nothing taken in or taken out. This creates challenges with the tweeter design, like keeping the tweeter dome centered as it moves, as well as the problem of handling large amounts of power in a very small voice coil.

Types of Tweeters

The cone tweeter is the basic design and works like a woofer but with optimizations to operate at higher frequencies. Some of these changes are to have a small and light cone made of stiff materials that have good damping properties. The voice coils need to be very small as well, only about three-quarters of an inch usually.

The dome tweeter is made through attaching a voice coil to a dome, which itself is attached to a magnet. There is usually no frame or basket in this type of tweeter. Sizes of the tweeter can range between one inch and one and a half inches.

Tweeters are also susceptible to being damaged and dome tweeters are often dented due to movement in a car. Thankfully, that can be repaired by simply using sticky tape to pull the dome back into shape, using a vacuum cleaner nozzle or by removing and refitting the dome assembly.

Most people do not think too much about the tweeter but for some genres of music, a poor tweeter would result in horrible sound. That is why you need to think about the tweeter you are getting to ensure it is going to work for you. If you listen to a lot of Whitney Houston or Celine Dion, then the tweeter is very important. If you listen to a lot of Barry White, perhaps not so much.