OT - Everything is perfect
 

On Tue, 02 Nov 2004 17:51:08 +0000, Chris Isbell
wrote:

http://www.linkwitzlab.com/

His open baffle designs look as if they could equal ESLs in most ways
and exceed them in dynamic range capability. The open baffle design
immediately puts them at the same level of ESLs in terms of two of the
ESLs main advantages: no boxy colourations and a figure eight polar
response to reduce room mode excitations.

How does he get over the high levels of distortion generated by
speaker cones, especially at low frequencies?

He starts off by choosing low distortion drive units, he uses multiple
drive units for the lower mid frequencies, and if you want high levels
at very low frequencies he has a design for a boxed woofer.
I think to say that moving coil speakers inherently have high levels
of distortion is a bit of an exageration, the best modern drivers seem
to be very good in this respect.

I suspect that one of the reasons for the 'openness' of electrostatic
designs is their linearity, and hence low levels of intermodulation
distortion.

That will certainly help, but ESLs still have their problems, diaphram
resonances, protective grille resonances, transformer non-linearity.
With the honourable exception of the Quad 63 and its derivatives
various degrees of HF beaming.

If you have the time and inclination it's worth looking round Mr
Linkwitz site, he goes into considerable depth about his design
decisions.

Bill

OT - Everything is perfect
 

On Fri, 29 Oct 2004 15:56:49 +0100, "Mike Gilmour"
wrote:


"Stewart Pinkerton" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 29 Oct 2004 11:56:39 +0100, "Mike Gilmour"
wrote:


"Andy Evans" wrote in message
...
I can't tell the difference between ss amps, if that helps?

We haven't started on hybrids yet............ would we all praise them
or
hate
them?

=== Andy Evans ===
Visit our Website:- http://www.artsandmedia.com
Audio, music and health pages and interesting links.

Praise them. IMO many of the best sounding audio amplifiers are hybrids.

Indeed yes, a combination of IC preamp section and discrete transistor
output stage has always given me the best results.

Very droll.... but it's no good twisting it around Stewart - the rest of us
were talking hybrids as being a combination of valves & SS.
Nice try though.

Actually, I have no technical problem with valve voltage amps driving
SS output stages - it just seems a little pointless when a SS input
stage works just as well, *unless* you actually *want* some tube
'warmth' *added* to the signal - but then we're not talking hi-fi any
more.................

OTOH, those oddities which have SS input stages and valved output
stages are simply dumb, dumb, dumb, worst of all possible worlds.

--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

OT - Everything is perfect
 

On Tue, 02 Nov 2004 17:51:08 +0000, Chris Isbell
wrote:

On Tue, 02 Nov 2004 10:02:03 GMT, wrote:

On Mon, 01 Nov 2004 13:30:49 +0000 (GMT), Jim Lesurf
wrote:

Meridian is the leading advocate of this approach in the field of Hi-fi.

Yes. My regret is that they don't make Electrostatics. ;-)

Have you seen Siegfried Linkwitz's web site?
http://www.linkwitzlab.com/

His open baffle designs look as if they could equal ESLs in most ways
and exceed them in dynamic range capability.

Um, that depends on the ESL - they're not *all* made by Quad!

The open baffle design
immediately puts them at the same level of ESLs in terms of two of the
ESLs main advantages: no boxy colourations and a figure eight polar
response to reduce room mode excitations.

How does he get over the high levels of distortion generated by
speaker cones, especially at low frequencies?

He uses big ones with long Xmax, of xourse!

I suspect that one of the reasons for the 'openness' of electrostatic
designs is their linearity, and hence low levels of intermodulation
distortion.

True, but you *can* achieve the same linearity with cones and domes,
indeed the classic Yamaha NS1000M had linearity as good as its other
classic contemporary, the ESL-63.

--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

OT - Everything is perfect
 

In article ,
wrote:
On Tue, 02 Nov 2004 17:51:08 +0000, Chris Isbell
wrote:

I suspect that one of the reasons for the 'openness' of electrostatic
designs is their linearity, and hence low levels of intermodulation
distortion.

That will certainly help, but ESLs still have their problems, diaphram
resonances,

For various reasons I doubt that diaphram resonances are a problem with a
correctly designed ESL. The drive force is distributed, the mass is too
low, and any 'unintended' movements are controlled via forces from the
plates.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Audio Misc http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/AudioMisc/index.html
Armstrong Audio http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/Audio/armstrong.html
Barbirolli Soc. http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/JBSoc/JBSoc.html