Dispersion, detail and durability

Perhaps lacking in a little "air, but I'm not above adding some EQ.

I too am a big fan of the Lineaum tweeters.
While the dipoles are no longer available on clearence, there still is a great deal to be had from Radio Shack Unlimited.
The monopole is still only $14.95[the dipole may well be available too. I didn't check, I got mine when they were $19.95].
I've been playing around for several yr.s combining these tweeters with better woofers and crossovers.
I recently expanded my main system to be tri-amp capable[using a quality 12V 3-way active crossover. Don't laugh, it works great] and I paired 4 of the 180 deg. Lineaums with four upper mid-fi. 6.5" woofers [I mainly listen to music in the standard Dolby suround, sans center channel].
With an 18db./octive high-pass, I've tried crossing them over at 2.5K, 3.5K and 5k Hz. They just didn't sound comfortable at 2.5k, so I settled on 3.5K. Which is fine with me , as the woofers will easily play up to that.
By using an active crossover, I avoided the need of designing[or have designed] a passive crossover for the somewhat odd Re. of 6 ohms for the Lineaum tweets. It also eliminates concerns for matching SPLs. Although the rather ineffecient Lineaums match well with many woofers without need for tweeter attenuation.
These tweeters, used as I described[crossed-over sufficently above their resonate Fq. and driven with a clean strong signal] are just superb. I really feel that I would have to go with floorstanders[perhaps magnaplaners or electrostatics] or 3-way mains to improve upon their performance.
I've read here that one reviewer felt that they were plasticky sounding, but I feel that looking at the tweeter diaphram may have colored his perception.
I also read of of Cory Greenburg's remark that the Lineaum monopoles were "beamy". Perhaps I don't understand the meaning of the word in his context, but I've always been amazed at how little the tweeter response drops off, off-axis with these transducers. Almost to the perpendicular. In a suround set-up, these tweeters offer a homogeneous swrill of sound without the diffusion of dipoles.
On the subject of dipoles, I use them as well, in my second modest system using only a pair DIY 3-way floor standers. They are crossed over from the 5.25 in. mid-woofer with a simple 1st order high-pass[with a quality cap] at 3k. An L-pad was inserted, but is not really needed. Being larger, I think the dipole is more tolerent of a less sharp filter and lower X-over fq. But I think 3k hz. is the lowrange limit for a 6db. filter . On the other hand, they roll quite a bit faster over 14-15K hz. Perhaps this is why some people have had problems matching timber with monopole centers and dipole mains. There doesn't seem to be any problem matching monopole mains to dipole surrounds though. I've done it myself. For a two speaker system[I'm using SRS] the 360 deg. Lineaums are fantastic. Like another poster mentioned, You can walk into a different room with out hardly any drop-off in sound.
To sumize. These are an outstanding value. For mere lunch money, a guy can walk into his local R.S and order tweeters that are not only very sweet, but durable as well.
We budget wana-be-philes never had it so good.

[I suppose people will ask, Why not spend the money to tri-amp on really good speakers in the first place? Well, for one thing, I went on the upgrade as you go plan and the two Pioneer recievers[ VSX 209 and VSX 608, I already had a nice Sony Pro-logic rack amp. to run the sub.s.] only came to $500 on Ubid. That's [an optimistic]640 watts of four speaker power for less than a dollar a watt. Add in another $300 for the cross-over, connects[I make my own using R.S stuff. Buy the long three packs and the 12"gold"RCA ends and make 24 cables] and extra speaker wires and I think I'm still ahead of the game.
To better the sound of this system with one reciever, I'm sure that I would have to be looking at speakers starting well over $1,000.
There is a downside though. Three recievers does take up some space and would not appeal to those with minimalist tendencies. And things like source switching and 5.1 sound can present connecting challanges[I wimped out and use a switching box. One of the weird things about the new budget Pioneer, Optimus and RCA recievers is that the tape loop needs to see a record signal to become functional.]
And I'm necessarly locked into an anolog system, even though the major componates are digital capable. But that's ok because the DAC in my Denon DCM370 is superiour to those in the Pioneer recievers[but they have great surround processors].
Other "budget" componates in my systems are:

Similar Products Used:

LX7s, Pro77s, BIC62s, Mission 701s and Infinitys with the EMIT ribbon tweeter[an excellent but fragile tweeter]

Vocals, strings and acoustics are incredible

None

I use this tweeter as an attachment to the Optimus Center Channel ProCS5. It opens this speaker up even more. I occasionally listen to music from the center channel only, since I have added this tweeter. It is a remarkable product. What makes it even more remarkable is the price.($30.00) Jump on this one. This should be an improvement for just about any speaker.

Similar Products Used:

None

Price. Sound.

Cheap connectors...they use a sheet metal screw

I just purchased another pair of these tweeters (on sale now at Radio Shack for $19.99 each -- $10 off!)for use with my Sony MF-315 towers. I've used them some weeks with the center channels on both of my systems. One is the Optimus CS5 pro, which I thought was great by itself. But the dipole tweeter made it superb. The otehr is connected to my Cambridge Soundworks center channel and it really opened this center up. I'm hoping this difference will come about whne connected to the Sony's, which are the fronts on a system driven by a Technics AV-DX930 (which hasn't had the heat problem noted in other reviews). I know lots of audiophiles have problems with both Optimus and Sony. Maybe some of it is base don snob-appeal..some I'm sure based on a lapse in quality a few years ago by Radio Shack, But I know what I like when I hear it. The Sony's are a very, very good tower for the money -- you can spend $300 more if you want. And anyone who hasn't tried these tweeters really ought to give it a shot.

Unique, good value, easy to tinker with

Some will consider the sound "soft", ie lacking in the top octave (but see below)

Mr. Fong hits the nail on the head in the previous review: grab a pair of these while you can. Why?

They're unique. You won't find another dipole tweeter at anywhere near this price ($20, closeout).

They're dipoles. Ask someone with ESS speakers with the dipole Heil tweeter. Find, then ask, someone who owns electrostatics or planar-magnetics. Go to a computer shop and listen to the Monsoon dipole multimedia speakers. What dipoles do is first, evenly disperse the highs, giving what's called a flat power response in your room for the high frequencies. All tweeters are supposed to do that, but a top-mounted dipole is one of the best ways to *actually* do it. This presents a "what-you're-used-to" problem, since most speakers are bright on-axis but dull everywhere else, so they sound as if they have more highs. The Optimus dipole will sound laid back, even dull at first... until some real high frequencies come along, and suddenly you'll perceive the sound to have an "all there" quality. And you'll notice this quality will be heard everywhere in the room, even in the next room. Hard to explain, easy to demonstrate.

The second thing dipoles do is throw a little out-of-phase stereo enhancement into the room. This is subtle but audible as increased stereo width, and it very much depends on speaker placement. You have to have them at least a foot and a half away from the back wall, and you can experiment with varying amounts of toe-in to vary the effect.

So if you liked the "sound" of the LX5s but hated the bass, and/or like your present speakers' mids and lows but suspect something like a dipole tweeter would sweeten the highs, grab the Optimi. Regarded simply as a tweeter, spatial qualities aside, it just plain sounds good.

Note for tweaks: I suspect that it operates as a cross between the Walsh driver used in Ohm speakers (utilizing the surface wave on the diaphragm rather than using it as a piston, which eliminates the problem of breakup) and the Heil tweeter (there's probably a little squeezing action where the diaphragm emerges from the voice coil). Just my guess. The plastic diaphragm material (polypropylene?) is self-damping on top of everything, so you have a tweeter that doesn't *measure* smooth (because of the spatial properties, I suspect) but *sounds* smooth. Smooth is good. Smooth means you can crank up the treble if you want the bright sound of normal tweeters, and it'll still sound nice.

Let us know what you stick these things (they come with adhesive pads) to.

Similar Products Used:

Heil tweeters (various sizes), Motorola piezo tweeters, Philips dome tweeters, KLH planar-magnetic tweeters