Building a large curved ESL

[chinsettawong]

Nice!

 

[bentoronto]

Friends, to your attention a few photos:

Truly beautiful.

Frequency response curve is astonishing. But can you provide the setting: distance from panel, smoothing, distortion, etc.

With the REW software, you can plot frequency response and distortion on a single nice chart. The software is free.

Always a difficult decision about low frequency range. 300 Hz is excellent, but a little bit lower is even more excellent - but hard to accomplish. Cutting off lower might meal losing some of your exceptional high frequency response.

Ben

 

[keyboard123]

Well, I never did get around to posting a picture of the ESL in it's frame, so here it is.

It's quite plain-looking compared to most final projects here, but as I stated before, this is going into a very dark theater room and doesn't need to be anything fancy.

I had a problem with some arcing under the tape bond area for a while but thank goodness it was near a corner, and I was able to carefully seperate the tape from the stator long enough to fix the problem, and they have been working fine ever since.

Again, many thanks to all of you for your help and guidance, I would not have been able to do it without you...

Hi WreckingBall,
How did you clamp the stator/diaphragm cell to the frame. I believe the cell itself would be pretty floppy under tension of the diaphragm.

A metal frame would provide a solid support to the cell , but could be a nightmare for arcing. A woodframe would be nice , but is prone to warping in the long run.

Great build. Thanks.

 

[wreckingball]

Hi K123,

A wooden frame is what I used..but not without being of the laminated variety, as to avoid warpage.

I fastened the stats with an industrial strength velcro...worked wonders..

Hope that helps?

 

[keyboard123]

Thanks WreckingBall. Didn't think of it,Velcro is a neat way to do it. How've they been playin' ?

 

[wreckingball]

Thanks WreckingBall. Didn't think of it,Velcro is a neat way to do it. How've they been playin' ?

The velcro worked great, and no doubt supplied stability to both the panel and frame itself. Think 'unibody' construction of modern, no-frame automobiles (sort-of).

The panels sounded as good as any curved panel since this thread was completed, but now, the one panel is back to arching in another spot, not so easily accessible, so yesterday, I used a guitar string and some handles to cut it apart to redo... NOT a pretty sight, and because of the curve, some of the powder-coat was removed as well...*SIGH*

I'm going to hire a different powder-coating company this time, and show them the desired outcome in picture form, before even getting a quote.

Yes, it's re-build time for one, (if not BOTH) of these panels...

Wish me better luck the second time around guys...

 

[keyboard123]

Arcing

Arcing ? What arcing ?
Sorry was just kidding. After reading all about perforated stators, I was persuaded by Jazzman away from them and also the added benefit of stretched wire segmented panels am enjoying ESLs , never experiencing an arc.
But, yes make sure they are PCed well this time round. Good Luck.

 

[wreckingball]

The arching, first time around, was near the edge of the ESL, (which I could fix) this time, it was in the middle of the panel...*sigh*

I like these curved panels, even after exploring any/all alternatives ...I actually like the beaming, (as long as 3-4 people can simultaneously experience it)..

Congrats on your build, but alas, I'm going to need to start from scratch...

BTW, Thanks or relating your experience, K-board123...