With planars, how low can you go?

I don't believe that planar magnetics will supplant ESL's. They are both fringe technologies, and the free market is deciding that in general they don't want either.

And ESL is inherantly a uniformly driven source, planar magnetics are not.

ESL diaphragms are much lighter and have less moving mass (2g for a set of 4 panel quads). This is both good and bad, as it impacts resonant frequency drastically.

ESL's have annoying drive requirements with high voltage power supplies and high drive voltages. Planar magnets are so much easier to deal with in that regard.

I could be wrong, but the distortion of ESL's is amongst the lowest drivers, and I don't think planar magnet is anywhere close. A set of quads is below 0.1% distortion above 300hz or so

Sheldon
A buddy of mine had a set of planar magnetic speakers by KLH, I think. He sawed a rectangular hole in the wall behind each speaker so that the speakers fit in the hole, flush with the wall. The rear of the speakers faced into a good-sized bedroom. Bass was taut and bottomless.
 
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erm yeah putting a planar in a infinite baffle solves almost all problems, except having an extra room for doing so :)
and the DIptique will have the same problems as all planars. i think, unless they can finally make a measurement for a change, i think they function as all others
 
this is done to get a little more efficient as far as i know. plus resonance goes up. maybe together they are more stable then one alone over that distance. i made a few esl's with multiple membranes, and besides more output, nothing changes in slam , whatever that is. nothing changes in fr besides raising resonance, and more output. if there was a suckout it would be still there.
Of course, the double diaphragm and three stators increase efficiency and the fundamental resonance of the panel is increased.
I made such speakers in 2012, their effective part height was 2000 cm, the bass panel was divided into 4 sections of different sizes to break up the resonance of the common panel.
Their most important advantage in comparison with a single membrane was the increase in sound pressure, that is, these speakers were already beginning to reproduce that same drum, but still very weakly, the drum truly became like a real one, not even with three membranes and five stators, and with six membranes and eight stators, only in this case the pressure of the membrane package began to reproduce low-frequency instruments at the proper energetic level.

In the case of a single planar membrane, the sound in the low frequencies was stroking and licking.
 
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@havun : if you use different segments to break up resonance you are pushing resonance frequencies upwards compared to a single segment of the same total size. Those resonances will partially fill up the huge suckout improving the frequency response / balance. Not only will it play louder but also more balanced. This could explain your perception of the sound as being more punchy and powerful. As an experiment I invite you to mount some additional panels on the backside ("wings", like the audiostatic 'wings'. This is like creating a larger baffle. It gives more punch while driving force is still the same. I did this once myself but as it ruined the great looks of the speaker I removed it afterwards.
 
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I’ve been watch videos and I’m ready to try and build my first planar speaker, I’m having trouble find the right rubber magnets. Does anyone have a good source?
well i got rubber magnet but cant give you a source... but shipping might be expensive :( i got 800 meter left) 8.5mmx3mm, i used it many times in mid and bass drivers ala Magnepan. seen on my youtube channel under the name Big guns https://www.youtube.com/@joppepeelen
 
@havun : if you use different segments to break up resonance you are pushing resonance frequencies upwards compared to a single segment of the same total size. Those resonances will partially fill up the huge suckout improving the frequency response / balance. Not only will it play louder but also more balanced.
These huge cabinets that I barely brought into the apartment I posted here on the forum. I sold them 10 years ago.
Yes, they played better than exactly the same ones with single membrane.
But much better than all this play those that I have now, they have one-piece membranes 50/50cm (6 pieces) I made them taking into account all the practices and mistakes based on my own experience, of course others will have a different experience.
 

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4:00 in he mentions both bass and tweeter are user replaceable.
Would like to see just how the bass diaphragm is replaced. Does this mean
you have to cut out the old one ? ( like quads/apogees) requiring mechanical skill levels
beyond simply “user replaceable”

Or do they have a simple non glue clamping method that is user friendly ?

Also this model is not using their new crossed magnet arrangement they use in their reference model from the looks
of the vertical slots being equal on both sides
 
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Speaker manufacturers claim a lot of things that are in the nevergoingtohappen.com league.
Hardly ever supported by measurements and/or supported by numbers made under far from user realistic conditions.
My reaction is mostly ROFL with these kind of claims.
But then again audio consumers want to be fooled with larger numbers and rediculous claims, so who cares.
 
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Agreed. Unfortunately, this hobby of ours is filled with baseless claims and unproven specifications. Their new crossed magnet technique may have merit, but unless they can show measurements of their standard panels and the new style, tested under exact conditions, we will never know.
 
Even the largest Diptyque will drop in response below 30 Hz. Due to the limited size of the diaphragm and the small excursions it can make, the maximum SPL will certainly be limited as well. You need to move a lot of air, even more so when it is a dipol speaker. Some believe stronger magnets (or more field strength) will be good. For low frequency response it is more the other way, you need a rather weak field strength not to kill the low frequency peak necessary to counter the out of phase wave while the sound travels around the baffle. You can see the tuning of these peaks in most dipole ESL or planars. For Quad ESL is higher up the range than for a large Magnepan Tympani. Samller Magnepan seems to have its fundamental at circa 70 Hz. The Apogee Fullrange have a very large peak at about 30 Hz. They also have a different diaphragm, one that is not restricted like a piece of tensioned polyester film (Mylar, Hostaphan etc.).