What do tweeters do? This is the question people ask when someone says they’ve installed tweeters in their car.
In fact, installing tweeters can be quite a challenge for most users since it involves working with more wires and will require more effort than just replacing a set of speakers by itself.
Many people who start building their car audio system pay special attention to woofers and subwoofers. However, tweeters may be an underestimated part of your sound quality system.
Your mid-range speakers have significant impact on the final result listening to cymbals, pianos or human voices for example. This is why it’s necessary to choose tweeters’ type wisely if you want to achieve the best sound results possible.
What do tweeters do for car audio
Tweeters aren’t just small speakers. In fact, they produce high-end frequencies that make all of your favorite music, movies and games come to life. Tweeters play a key role in creating clear and crisp sounds, so using the right tweeters is important.
The size of a speaker determines the frequency range it can create. Bigger is better when it comes to speakers.
This is because the low frequencies are harder to create and you need bigger speakers to produce accurate sounds. If you pick out a component system instead of coaxials or component woofers, you gain the ability to separate tweeters from midranges for even better sound quality.
If you’re listening to music in your car, you want the tweeters behind your ears instead of in the back. Tweeters are designed to produce only high-end frequencies, which is why they should be pointed at your ears and nowhere else. As an example, factory sound systems such as Bang & Olufsen are precise. They direct sound precisely to the ears of passengers.
In most cars, tweeters are installed, but they are not pointed in the listener’s direction. This means that the overall audio experience might not be as good as in professional car audio systems, where the spread of sound waves is designed individually based on the vehicle’s cabin size and shape.
These tweeters are important. They will help your music sound even better. After listening to your new music with these tweeters, you will not want to come back to regular speakers.
If you don’t have a tweeter yet and are planning to buy one, make sure you know what to watch out for when buying a tweeter, You can see step by step to buy a tweeter that fits your car ” How to Choose Best Car Tweeters for Your Cars ”
Where to install tweeters in car
Installing a Tweeters in a car is not difficult. You can definitely do it yourself. There are many different places to put Tweeters in your car.
There are typical areas where you can add these small speakers :
A tweeters’ best place to be is at the top of the door. This is because it achieves a clear stereo effect between the front and back seats. A tweeters’ second-place location is in the “A” pillar, which is a gap between a car’s windshield and its “A” pillar. Tweeters are often installed in this area anyway.
Tweeters can be installed in the dash, but where you put them is very important. If you put the tweeters in a spot where there is a lot of windshield reflection, the sound quality will be terrible. Regardless of where you install tweeters, proper installation is critical for achieving high sound quality.
Types and tweeters designs in the car audio systems
When looking at the tweeters, you’ll see that there are many types. Some types are fixed in place, while others are adjustable so you can direct the sound in the exact direction you want.
Thanks to the central tweeter design, tweeters face the center of the car, which helps improve sound quality. There are several different types of tweeters you can use in a car, but one of the most common is a coaxial tweeter.
There are a few most commonly tweeter types you can see in the various systems:
Dome tweeters
While these tweeters produce good results in the midrange, they tend to have a very bright top end and lack the detail of more modern tweeters. They can also be very difficult to design for properly. Fully-dome tweeters are sometimes referred to as “doughnut” tweeters.
The most common dome tweeter is the semi-dome which uses a metal dome with a larger radius than a true dome tweeter. The larger radius helps control the breakup modes which plague most domes.
Cone (or ‘conical’) tweeters
Cone (or ‘conical’) tweeters are typically used in budget 2-way systems where high efficiency and/or low frequency capability are essential design requirements. Cone drivers usually have smooth frequency response up to 2 or 3 octaves above their resonance point, but will likely exhibit some cone breakup if pushed too hard or played at high volume levels.
Inverted dome tweeters
Inverted dome tweeters (sometimes called “inverted metal dome”) can offer an improvement over standard dome tweeters due to their extended bandwidth and reduced breakup modes. Inverted dome Tweeters are typically found in more expensive speaker systems where cost limitations prevent the use of better compression drivers or ribbons.”
In short, the type of material and other aspects affect how this small speaker sounds :
- If you listen to music in the car, metal tweeters are a good choice for you. They are loud and bright. They are especially suitable for cars with the windows down or convertibles. Metal tweeters need more power from the amplifier, but they are also louder and brighter than other tweeters.
- If you like softer sounds and music, silk tweeters are the right choice for you. Even though they aren’t as loud, silk tweeters can produce a more natural sound. Silk tweeters are great for Jazz or Classical music..
- Tweeters made of polyimide or Mylar are well-suited for low-powered systems. If you live in a rainy area or a place that has long winters, tweeters made of synthetic materials will not be affected by humidity.
How to install tweeter in your cars
Installing tweeters in your car is easy. But you need to know whether you have external or internal crossovers. If you have external ones, you just need to purchase a tweeter. You can buy a separate crossover, but most of the time they are already included in the tweeter sets.
You can see the installation steps in this article : How To Install Tweeters In Your Car Easy Guide
How to wire tweeters to coaxial speakers
If you want better sound quality in your car, add tweeters to your coaxial speakers. This is especially useful if your main speakers are installed on the bottom of the door and their tweeters are not adjustable. The tweeters can be connected to the coaxial speakers in two ways:
- Tweeters with built-in crossovers can be directly connected to the main speakers’ terminals. This is the simplest installation way without wiring them directly from the amplifier. However, for this connection type, you should not use tweeters with external crossovers. If you’re a crossover-less system, then tweeters will take care of the highs and mids, but not the bass.
- If you have external crossovers for your tweeters, connect them to the amplifier, and not directly to the speakers. This way, the normal speakers will not be affected by the signal cut. You can also connect additional tweeters in parallel to the same channels as main speakers, but this may affect impedance and change the power level that comes to the speakers.
Tips : With four tweeters in a coaxial speaker and a 4 channel amp, you can wire tweeters to coaxial speakers to get the best sound in your small car.
When you connect your car tweeter to a car stereo or external amplifier, it is ideal to add a capacitor. The steps to add a capacitor in your car are explained in this article.
Conclusion
A tweeters is the small speaker that is most commonly installed in the car. A tweeter has become the standard speaker. Tweeters have a different and refined sounds. They have very low frequency resistance and generate the frequencies which are a lot more than produced by woofer or woofers or full range speakers.