Easy ESLs

[rick57]

Wonder who'll be the first to build & report on the new Rod Elliott
ESL modules?

http://sound.westhost.com/project105.htm


(If I wasn't well stocked in parts & projects I'd probably do one myself)

Cheers

[cowanrg]

that is a nice little project. but like you, i have way too many other projects to finish first.

[SY]

I hope the panels end up getting priced reasonably cheaply; I'd like to see large arrays of these, maybe 16-20 per side.

[rick57]

It will be interesting to see the pricing.

Even more interesting, what to do below the 500 Hz cut-off. My first thought was a Linkwitz dipole woofer, which should match with an ESL better than an isobaric, and provide minimal room interaction benefits. But they only go up to c. 150 Hz, so you’d need a mid-bass for possibly 150 -500 Hz, which is a nuisance. Any suggestions?

If you could find a big woofer that had the Xmax to suit the dipole, *and * go up to 500 Hz

About an 8 inch driver would be best, perhaps the Usher 8 incher a good value option.

[rick57]

Another option is the Peerless 850146, a 10 incher which D-S-T say gives “excellent transient response”, and based on cone breakup can be run up to 460 – 560 Hz.

If four were used as a dipole, this could allow the simplicity of a two-way.

[ashok]

As Rick57 said the Peerless driver does work very well up to about 600Hz. I have a pair that I use with a Neo8PDR crossed over at 600Hz. Very good Lf and good transients.
It should work out well.
The catch might be that dipoles benefit quite a bit with high Q woofers . A Q of 0.9 to 1.2 would be great as the eq required would be decreased considerably.
Cheers.

[rick57]

(I will be building the Linkwitz Phoenix when time permits) having studied that, using a fair amount of EQ doesn’t deter me. Still, if there was a better option . .

Some if the Lambda woofers would have been perfect, but unless someone buys Nick’s business . .

[SY]

Even more interesting, what to do below the 500 Hz cut-off.

Well, if the panels end up being cheap (or available with a hefty quantity discount), you can use a large array to get around the 500Hz limit. I'd be happier crossing over a couple octaves below that if I could. That makes bass system design much, much easier, since the cone driver won't be asked to reproduce midrange.

[rick57]

> I'd be happier crossing over a couple octaves below that

That's the best approach for sure