curved esl question

[jerryo]

I have been reading Roger Saunders esl book and especially the chapter on dispersion and the "laser like" beaming of flat panels.
A convex curved stator remedies this beaming to a degree according to the amount of curvature used in the design.
Being dipoles the sound emitted from the rear will be proportional to that from the front, but what about the radiation/dispersion pattern of the sound emitted from the back of a curved esl.
What are the differences between convex and concave dispersion patterns?

Just thought I would ask!

[jerryo]

Nobody out there with any thoughts on this?

I was just wondering because of Roger Saunders description of the
"Beam splitters" that he uses in some of his designs at the back of his esl's to prevent reflected sound waves going back through the diaphragm and to aid dispersion characteristics into the room.
So I was thinking about the differences in concave and convex surfaces as applied to esl's radiation pattern.

[CharlieM]

I wish I could add something but I don't have any experience with curved panels. Calvin builds curved panels (maybe he will chime in?) but most of us here go with flat panels; which I would think are much easier to build. I do, however, use a beam splitter behind my panel and it works very well.

[jerryo]

Hi CharlieM,
thanks for the reply.
At some point in the future I would like to build some esl speakers so I have done quite a bit of reading on the subject including your threads concerning your builds. They will be very helpful to me if I can get the idea past my wife!
There seems to be very little general consensus about whether a curved esl is worth the effort for DIY'ing so I think a flat panel/hybrid will be my most likely way forward.
I have never read anywhere about the dispersion pattern of a concave surface like the back of a curved esl.

I'm just kinda curious; perhaps someone who owns a curved esl could just turn them around for me and report back what they hear.