That is no normal tweeter there. In fact, it's not a tweeter at all, but a full range driver known as Manger. What makes Manger drivers different is that a single flat membrane covers 80Hz to 40kHz with the star shaped pancake vibrating at different frequencies in different areas. Manger drivers fall into that category of conceptual technology that is supposedly possible but is damn hard to actually pull off. Manger pulled it off a few years ago and now the German Manger is primed to jump into the US market (again) through TMH Audio.

The speaker shown is one of Manger's own speakers, though Manger also sells its MST driver to the DIY scene and boutique speaker companies like Overkill Audio whose speakers start at $10k. Shown is the Zerobox 109 with a Scanspeak 8" driver flushing out the bass. Frequency range is 40Hz-25kHz. Price is $7500. Manger also makes the $16k Swing and Subsonic combo shown on the next page. Stylin'.

The whole idea of a single point source driver is to create a unified, coherent sound stage and image in ways traditional tweeter/woofer combos are theoretically not able to. The downside of Manger drivers is said to be that listening position and placement is more difficult. People usually say that Mangers can sound amazing, but that you've gotta put in the time to make them shine. Also that the Manger sound is described more for easy listening jazz and classical over rock and Ludacris/Fiddy duets. Ah well, can't have everything.