Has anybody made an ELS headphone?

[chinsettawong]

Vaughn,

Make yourself a pair. You won't regret it. If you need any help at all, let me know.

Wachara C.

[chinsettawong]

Guys,

I see a lot of people don't like to coat the diaphragm with graphite powder. Beside it being messy, what are other disadvantages that make it inferior than other material? I have tried only liquid soap and graphite powder. The liquid soap would attract humidity in the air and make the diaphragm wet. I don't get that problem with graphite powder.

Wachara C.

[Phil47]

Wachara,

How many electrostatic headphones I made ? I don't know exactly, maybe 30 or 40 (or more) of different types.

Acrylic varnish are used by painters and maybe you can find it in shops for artists. Use it with an antistatic fluid and water and, after drying, try my diaphragm testing method (with safety precautions !) with 200-300 VDC and a 10 Mohms resistor.

Maybe, I tested in the past a conductive coating made of acrylic varnish and a few amount of liquid soap, I didn't wrote down all my tests.

Philippe

[vaughn]

Originally posted by chinsettawong
Vaughn,

Make yourself a pair. You won't regret it. If you need any help at all, let me know.

Wachara C.

Thank you Wachara, that is very generous of you!

I have to admit the lack of a cnc machine to make all of the parts so perfectly is what is
holding me back. I know I could make the parts with my drill press, a hand held "nibbler", files
sanding etc. They just wouldn't be as nice as yours and Philippe's work.

Still, this is something I have been thinking about for a few years now and I think it is time to get to work doing some actual experimenting.

[chinsettawong]

Originally posted by vaughn



Thank you Wachara, that is very generous of you!

I have to admit the lack of a cnc machine to make all of the parts so perfectly is what is
holding me back. I know I could make the parts with my drill press, a hand held "nibbler", files
sanding etc. They just wouldn't be as nice as yours and Philippe's work.

Still, this is something I have been thinking about for a few years now and I think it is time to get to work doing some actual experimenting.

Dear Vaughn,

All you have to do is ask me for the kits.

I can make them this weekend and send them to you next week. Let me know your address.

All I ask for is that you really have to make them work. I hate to give to those who say who will do, but do not really care to finish the project.

Wachara C.

[arend-jan]

Wachara, that's is such a nice offer! Can I apply for such a kit as well?

I guarantee you I will make the headphones and post pictures here.

[chinsettawong]

Originally posted by arend-jan
Wachara, that's is such a nice offer! Can I apply for such a kit as well?

I guarantee you I will make the headphones and post pictures here.

Hi Arend-jan,

Since you ask me for it, I'll make you one set as well. Please let me know your address.

Please make sure you finish the project and post a lot pictures here.


Wachara C.

[Phil47]

Hello,

The electrostatic cells made with rods electrodes sounds better (to my mind) but are very hard to make. I used brass, iron and copper rods. These electrostatic cells have the same dimensions and electrodes spacing, same diaphragm and polarizing voltage as the cells with perforated epoxy electrodes. Measurement also gives a bit better square waves and frequency response. The capacitance of the cell is 27 pF.

With a 500 VDC voltage applied to the the center of a diaphragm and the copper frame connected to ground, I measured a current of 0.2 µA which gives a 2.5 gigaohms resistance.

Thank you all,

Philippe

[chinsettawong]

Originally posted by Phil47
Hello,

The electrostatic cells made with rods electrodes sounds better (to my mind) but are very hard to make. I used brass, iron and copper rods. These electrostatic cells have the same dimensions and electrodes spacing, same diaphragm and polarizing voltage as the cells with perforated epoxy electrodes. Measurement also gives a bit better square waves and frequency response. The capacitance of the cell is 27 pF.

With a 500 VDC voltage applied to the the center of a diaphragm and the copper frame connected to ground, I measured a current of 0.2 µA which gives a 2.5 gigaohms resistance.

Thank you all,

Philippe

Hi Philippe,

That's is very interesting. Maybe I will give this kind of stator a try in the future. Thanks a lot for your information.

Wow, the resistance is so high and yet it works. Thanks for sharing.

Of all the headphones you have made, may you show us your favorite? How about your favorite ES headphone amplifier?

Wachara C.

[vaughn]

Wachara you are a credit to this community, I have sent you a pm regarding the parts.
I promise that I will build them into a working headphone or die trying!
It make take a bit as I would also have to build the energizer, but I have made a few tube amps, preamps and headphone amps so this should not be overly difficult.