Constraints and Considerations
I am wanting to join the club of people who have designed and built their own ESLs. I know there are great sources out there like jazz an if I just wanted to copy what someone else did, but that doesn’t excite me as much as designing and building my own. Part of the motivation for designing my own comes from the reality that everyone has different constraints and Considerations. Some of use need to limit the height of our build to 3 ft while others of us can build 6 or 12 ft towers. Some can use mylar while others may opt for cheaper or more expensive materials. We also all have different considerations. Some may need or want a built in sub, others have a sub and don’t need to worry about integration. Some have crossover at 250hz others at 150hz. And then there is the greatest limiter of all, the wife acceptance factor. All of these constraints and Considerations effect the choices and designs we make. My intent for this thread is to try and compile a master list or decision tree that can help myself and others understand there constraints and Considerations. From the area of the driver, to segmentation, to film coating. I want to understand all the different variables and the consequences of each path taken both in terms of realistic output of the end product and in terms or how one decision might effect the rest of the ecosystem (driver size and power requirements or spls and stator design). If you know any good sources feel free to share, or if you want to share the story of your journey highlighting the constraints and Considerations that guided your design, or if you just wanna mention one thing that you wish you or fathers had known. Also any limitations of els and the various methods of engineering used to try and Address them would be relevant and worth sharing. Thanks.
Ps math’s and physics very much encouraged.
I am wanting to join the club of people who have designed and built their own ESLs. I know there are great sources out there like jazz an if I just wanted to copy what someone else did, but that doesn’t excite me as much as designing and building my own. Part of the motivation for designing my own comes from the reality that everyone has different constraints and Considerations. Some of use need to limit the height of our build to 3 ft while others of us can build 6 or 12 ft towers. Some can use mylar while others may opt for cheaper or more expensive materials. We also all have different considerations. Some may need or want a built in sub, others have a sub and don’t need to worry about integration. Some have crossover at 250hz others at 150hz. And then there is the greatest limiter of all, the wife acceptance factor. All of these constraints and Considerations effect the choices and designs we make. My intent for this thread is to try and compile a master list or decision tree that can help myself and others understand there constraints and Considerations. From the area of the driver, to segmentation, to film coating. I want to understand all the different variables and the consequences of each path taken both in terms of realistic output of the end product and in terms or how one decision might effect the rest of the ecosystem (driver size and power requirements or spls and stator design). If you know any good sources feel free to share, or if you want to share the story of your journey highlighting the constraints and Considerations that guided your design, or if you just wanna mention one thing that you wish you or fathers had known. Also any limitations of els and the various methods of engineering used to try and Address them would be relevant and worth sharing. Thanks.
Ps math’s and physics very much encouraged.
"The Technology of Full-Range-Element Electrostatic Loudspeakers" by Strickland is a short read that covers some important points.
One of the primary ones being that volume resistivity of stator insulation needs to be in the right range for it to function properly.
Along similar lines, it's worth noting that the optimum bias voltage and drive voltage are limits set by the spacing and the breakdown voltage of the atmosphere they are operating in. There's no getting around that with the inclusion of insulation. If your panel needs a lot more drive or bias voltage than suggested, there's basically a problem in your design. Some relevant links:
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/esl-efficiency.326489/
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/measured-my-esl-attempt.264972/page-3#post-4163640
What this also points to is an output limit per unit area for electrostatics that is lower than that for most other speaker technologies. You can jiggle the voltage sensitivity with changes to transformers, bias, spacing, etc., but you don't get around the ultimate output limits. For practical designs this typically leads to reducing spacing to the lowest value you can get away with in order to make a more reasonably sized speaker.
Those are some points that I wish I had understood earlier.
One of the primary ones being that volume resistivity of stator insulation needs to be in the right range for it to function properly.
Along similar lines, it's worth noting that the optimum bias voltage and drive voltage are limits set by the spacing and the breakdown voltage of the atmosphere they are operating in. There's no getting around that with the inclusion of insulation. If your panel needs a lot more drive or bias voltage than suggested, there's basically a problem in your design. Some relevant links:
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/esl-efficiency.326489/
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/measured-my-esl-attempt.264972/page-3#post-4163640
What this also points to is an output limit per unit area for electrostatics that is lower than that for most other speaker technologies. You can jiggle the voltage sensitivity with changes to transformers, bias, spacing, etc., but you don't get around the ultimate output limits. For practical designs this typically leads to reducing spacing to the lowest value you can get away with in order to make a more reasonably sized speaker.
Those are some points that I wish I had understood earlier.
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