Dai-Ichi PT-6 Horn Tweeter

Over a year ago, I blogged about the cheap 'n cheerful locally manufactured Konzert/Micro PT6A horn tweeter which visually looks like a lineal descendant of the highly regarded Pioneer PT-6.  I have no experience with the Pioneer PT-6, but have owned and enjoyed the similar Pioneer PT-3K.

My buddy Rex chanced upon another PT-6 local clone made by Dai-Ichi which used to supply OEM drivers for the late lamented Radio Shack. He also supplied an original Pioneer PT-6 but unfortunately, it has a blown mylar diaphragm. So I pictured it in the middle of this trio as a visual reference.

The Dai-Ichi PT-6 is finished in a nice black powder coated cast aluminum instead of cheap molded plastic in the Konzert/Micro. However, the mostly useless specs are similar: 

100 watts max, 60W nominal (Good marketing, but...)

8 ohm voice coil impedance +/- 15% (...hmmm)

2.5khz-20khz frequency response (parameters??)

94dB sensitivity +/-2dB (ditto???)

Off the bat, I will caution anyone not to even consider using either the Konzert/Micro PT-6A or Dai-Ichi PT-6 as a super tweeter for speaker systems with 96dB/1M/1W (or greater) efficiency. In spite of the horn loading, they are just not efficient enough to match the 99dB/1M/1W efficiency of my Altec 414 or 416 woofers.  My ears tell me that these tweeters should be rated 95dB/1M/1W, tops!

However, if you are looking to augment the falling high frequency response of a typical low to mid 90s efficient 8" full range driver or woofer on a budget, the Dai-Ichi PT-6 and Konzert/Micro PT-6A are worthy of consideration.