To ESL or to Ribbon?

[PhaseLockLoopy]

..that be the qweschun.

I did search the forums (hoping an admin doesnt delete his account )

Does N E 1 know of a review that pitches ESL's against Ribbon planars?

If so I would appreciate a pointer


thx

[moray james]

why don't you listen to some Maggies listen to some Eminent Tech's listen to some Quads to some ML's to some Inner Sound (Roger Sanders). Decide what you like for yourself. If you don't know what you like or want then the best solution is to do some listening and you will.

[el`Ol]

Two important differences are that an ESL is easier to build, and the magnets you need for a planar magnetic are expensive.

[Calvin]

Hi,

there´s another big difference!! Sound!
The resolution, detail, precision and naturality of a good ESL is unrivaled (if the ESL is built properly, which is unluckily more than often not the case). I disagree with el ol. about the ease of building...a ESL looks simple but to get outstanding results the effort literally explodes! Ribbons are the try to get the advantages of an ESL out of a dynamic drive system. Of course....this failed.
It´s quite similar to the story of high output-MC-pickups compared to MM- and true MC-pickups. While true MCs need more effort with regard to amplification, they won´t be beaten in their overall sonic qualities.

jauu
Calvin

[PhaseLockLoopy]

I'm interested in building my own planars -- but have not decided on which direction.

Do I opt for the simplicity of ribbon - but as someone pointed out - huge magnetic expense

Or the complexity of ESL and the refined design aspects to think about to get it right - but with comparitively less expense.

I was hoping to find a hi-fi review that pitched ESL's up against Ribbon to see the varying differences on paper.

[moray james]

that way all the difficult stuf has been taken care of and you can enjoy the construction assured of your finished results. Take a look here http://www.eraudio.com.au/. You can contact Toppsy via World Design forum who has experience with these speakers and he is close to you, http://wduk.worldomain.net/forum/showthread.php?t=3917

[ABJensen]

Elektrotats are too wide 20 cm .Planars (my diy) is 2 cm wide

[Calvin]

Hi,,

Yeah, great stuff... You defy physics with a 2cm wide ribbon!
Size matters! This holds true even for ribbons.
btw. I can´t see that the speaker is 2cm in width. There´s a baffle of considerably more width. A ESL doesnt need a baffle at all, just a thin frame to hold it. And more active diaphragm area and less baffle is always better than the other way round.
Besides: compared to the weight of an ESL-membrane, coated with a sub-µm coating a ribbon is heavy like a tank (small ESL: 1.500cm² -->less than 10mg, large ESL: 6.000cm² --> less than 40mg, typical 25mm dome tweeter: 5cm² --> around 250mg). This membrane is driven by an inherently linear drive system, whereas the ribbon features a nonlinear magnetic circuit. So distortion in a ESL is magnitudes lower.

jauu
Calvin

[ABJensen]

Hi Clavin

you are right size does matter. In this case it effekts the sweet spot.The active part of the membran is 20 mm wide.I am only saying what i can live with. Not what you can

http://stereophile.com/images/archivesart/Kayfig07.jpg

Inner sound kaya

[Calvin]

Hi,

Yes, You´re right and I fully agree with Yoor last posting.

The pic shows an example of a flat panel where no measurements are taken against the extrem narrow dispersion, like segmenting a flat panel, or curving the panel.
In my eyes this is a example for one of those rather unproperly built devices.
I know that it is the design philosophy of some designers, but to my opinion such a flat panel is of no sonic advantage. Instead are there severe penalties to pay, as for eg. an extrem small sweet spot which renders the system rather impractical for everyday usage.

jauu
Calvin