P105, ESP's New ESL Project! Check It Out!

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dhaen

dhaen

Ex-Moderator
Joined 2002
keystrobe.co.uk/
He specifically prohibits reproduction of anything from his article, so there is little scope for discussion. That's a shame, as it looks interesting.
Technically the picture posted violates his terms and conditions, so I'll remove it and link to one instead.....:rolleyes:
Courtesy Rod Elliot Sound Products
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
 
A

azira

Member
Joined 2003
There's a lot of ESL information on the web. A lot of it is way more detailed than his site with regards to making the stator and etc. It seems like he purposedly left some of the construction details out so that you'd have to buy the kit.
I haven't mustered up the courage to build my own ESL but I've been interested in them for a while. One thing I like that he does is use a charge pump to generate the high voltage field. I had an idea to do that when I was ready to build one.
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Danny
 
Few

Few

Member
Joined 2004
It's too bad the only reference to the diaphragm/stator distance states that it's smaller than usual (nothing more quantitative). Given the small size of each panel, I'd be concerned about the SPL limit. The site mentions using at least two panels per side, but that gets you 4" x 16"---not a lot of area, especially if the excursion is limited by a "smaller than usual" diaphragm/stator distance. The fairly high 500 Hz crossover frequency will help some, but even so I'd still be reluctant to try fewer than four panels per channel. 4" x 32" is still a pretty small ESL.

I'm currently using admittedly large DIY ESL's that are about 20" wide by 6 feet tall. If I were to do it again (not unlikely, just for fun), I'd probably try something as small as 12" wide by 5 feet tall, but not much smaller.

For what it's worth, I found one of the best parts of the ESL adventure is that you start with raw materials rather than pre-built drivers. It's really gratifying to have such wonderful sound coming from a few parts you've put together yourself. Buying prebuilt ESL panels cuts out part of that experience---and really doesn't save you that much trouble. Putting the panels together isn't hard. The materials aren't very expensive either. So, I'd say that if you want to jump into the ESL game, I'd recommend building your own ESL panels and maybe relying on someone else for the bias supply and/or active crossover (if you go that route).

Of course different people find pleasure from different aspects of this game so my comments should be taken as a reflection of my own interests rather than DIY Audio Rules to Live By. I hope this at least partly addresses what you were originally looking for.
 
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