Planar Magnetic Diaphragm Material

[TheAHan]

I am building a pair of planar magnetic headphones starting with the drivers. I have all of the materials figured out except for the most crucial one: the diaphragm.

I have looked through many forums and found a few potentially viable options under the aluminized Mylar and Kapton brands:

AL/PET TAPE (ALUMINUM MYLAR TAPE)
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I am wondering if anybody out there has experience with this and/or could give me advice as to which material to go with. Will aluminized Mylar be better than aluminized Kapton? Is thinnest best? Any better sources? Best etching methods? Any help is welcome.

 

[TheAHan]

bump

 

[SY]

Thinnest is best, but more difficult to handle.

Mylar has several advantages and one disadvantage compared to Kapton. On the plus side: much better tear resistance, ability to be tensioned via heat, lower moisture uptake. On the minus side: lower temperature before damage.

 

[xrk971]

Are there links on how to diy planar mag headphones? Is this the perforated steel plate with Nd magnets and a membrane with conductive traces approach? Where do you get the membrane traces printed?

 

[TheAHan]

Are there links on how to diy planar mag headphones? Is this the perforated steel plate with Nd magnets and a membrane with conductive traces approach? Where do you get the membrane traces printed?

I am 3D printing an enclosure to hold the neodymium magnets to start. If it doesn't hold, I will make it thicker or find a different material.

As I understand it, the easiest (cheapest) way to go about the diaphragm is to get some sort of aluminized film (Such as Mylar) and use chemicals to etch a trace pattern into it. There may be ways of printing on a trace, but I suspect that they would be much more expensive than etching.