What’s an electrostatic speaker?
Subscribe to Ask Paul Ask a QuestionAn electrostat is a very different speaker than those made of cone and magnets. In fact, there are no magnets anywhere to be seen. How do they work? How do they sound?
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I am really enjoying these videos, thank you so much Mr. McGowan!
Thanks to you for watching!
Hi Paul , I’ve owned many electrostatic speakers – – Crown 224s , Dayton Wrights , Beveridge and about a dozen Martin Logans from Sequels through Statements . Ok , there is a narrow sweet spot but is it any less than that found with Wilson speakers ? I’ve heard them all but the latest iteration
( $685K and needs a $90K sub to sound right ) and they ought to come with one of those head clamps they use for brain surgery . I did get tired of the electrostatics narrow sweet spot and moved to the polar opposite- – MBL Xtremes .
“A head in a vise” was never an issue with the acclaimed Beveridge electrostatics and their “cylindrical waveform technology” design — one of the original reference standard line source loudspeakers that predated the Infinity IRS models.
See patent: https://patents.google.com/patent/US3980829A/en
Photo: http://audio-database.com/BEVERIDGE/speaker/system2sw-2.JPG
None of the speakers I’ve owned have had a narrow sweet spot and , other than my current MBL Xtremes , the Beveridge , with their acoustical lens , had a 180 degree dispersion pattern . I happily owned them for several years and mated with a pair of Janus subwoofers , they sounded great . My comment was really only responding to Paul’s video . The only electrostatic I can think of that has as narrow a sweet spot as the Wilson speakers ( and several other dynamic speakers that are similarly afflicted ) was the Koss with its impossibly narrow horizontal and vertical dispersion . What were they thinking ?
“Koss . . . What were they thinking ?”
Well, maybe they were “thinking” like contemporaneous social media companies today (e.g., Facebook): “Release early, release often”
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Release_early,_release_often)
I owned the Beveridges as well.
I first discovered the Model 2s at Jonas Miller Sound in Beverly Hills. Fell in love with their almost “holographic imaging” capabilities.
I was the first hire into the marketing department at Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab. Taking advantage of a “trade accommodation discount,” I commissioned Beveridge to make me a pair of Model 3s — the 2s were too large for my home listening space.
(As was the Harry Pearson-devised Infinity QRS-Magnepan 1D hybrid. We at MFSL were also friends with the Infinity and Magnepan folks, as they — and countless other manufacturers — used our recordings at CES.)
Prior to taking possession of the Model 3s, I visited Beveridge’s Santa Barbara facility to take a guided tour.
More recently, I donated the Model 3s to Brooks Berdan’s “audio museum” in Monrovia (CA) — we being former work colleagues at GNP Loudspeakers.
Beveridge’s son Rick continues the legacy of his father:
http://bevaudio.com/products.html
With no disrespect to Beveridge or Infinity or Wilson or unnamed others, but the most jaw-dropping/suspend your disbelief loudspeaker I ever heard (and later sold as a retailer) was the Plasmatronics.
(See: http://hillplasmatronics.com/)
I never heard John Iverson’s Force Field speaker.
(See: http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?8390-What-is-the-most-highly-resolving-speaker-you-have-ever-heard&p=434049#post434049)
And I have this vague recollection about missing an ultra-low moving mass loudspeaker designed by . . . Nelson Pass circa early 1980s? . . . that purportedly created quite a bit of ozone in the cramped environs of an exhibitor hotel room at CES. (I invite others with better memories to chime in here.)
More time at my disposal, more digging on the Web.
Regarding the Nelson Pass plasma loudspeaker system, I found this forum discussion:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pass-labs/1841-pass-plasma-speaker-history.html
A comment from Nelson Pass:
“The ‘ion cloud loudspeaker’ used photocopy machine ionizing nichrome wire strung in a flat array a bit like a window screen, but with more space between the wires, and charged to a variable DC potential of about 10 KV.
“This screen developed a layer of ionized air, and was enclosed between two stators, much like an electrostatic speaker, except that instead of a charged plastic diaphragm, you had a charged semi-flat layer of gas, and you could push-pull it with high AC voltages on the stators.
“It worked fairly well, and gave new meaning to the word ‘transparency.’
“It also had several flaws, one of which did result in a
trip to the local emergency room with breathing problems similar to those sometimes experienced by arc welders and caused by extended exposure to ozone.
“The Wall Street Journal printed my comment: ‘It was the perfect high end audio product: Exotic, inefficient, expensive, unavailable, and toxic.'”
At this forum, scroll down to see the cover of Stereophile (Vol. 6., No. 1) for a photo of Nelson Pass and his loudspeaker:
https://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general/ot-unusual-vintage-stereo-speaker-designs-216910/