Woollett Electrostatic Tweeters

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316a

316a

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Joined 2002
#1
Hello ,
Just picked up a pair of old electrostatic tweeters for next to nothing . Made by Woollett , 'upper register speaker' in the 1950's these use an 8"x5" curved element . Both have smart-looking veneered cabinets but have very crude looking perforated steel stators using curtain hooks to clamp the stator assembly together :bigeyes: The EHT supply is inside an enclosed dome attached to the the stator assembly , both units are in excellent condition internally with vacuum-varnished transformers . The stator assembly appears to use cotton to provide spacing , some of the cotton has broken at the front but I don't see that posing too much of a problem . Does anyone have any advice regarding testing such panels ? So far I have only inspected the eht sections and removed excess dust . Otherwise if anyone has experience with these in the past , and the things are crap , let me know and then I'll just chuck 'em and not bother 🙂

316a
 
#2
These are excellent HF electrostatics, I have been using a pair since the late 1950'2 - YES 1950's and they still cannot be beaten by anything with a cone!
Woollett also made a full range speaker using the above incorporated into a Bass reflex cabinet, I also have a pair of these bought from Woollett in 1962 and in every day use.
Don't be put of by what appears to be a DIY construction they last for ever. If you like to E-mail me I will send you a picture. Unlike many electrostatics they can be driven with solid state PA's without them taking off or showing an signs of distress, the PA that is!! There is nothing to wrong except the transformer might give up on early models - however the later models, post 1962, had no transformer and the AC was applied directly to the element to charge it.
 
#4
Curved with cotton for a diaphragm support/spacer?

Sounds suspiciously similar to the Stanton Isophase ESL.

That used a wooden "aircraft wing" style construction for the curved frame, and foam for the spacers on either side of the diaphragm. It was about 3 ft wide and 2ft tall... curved horizonatally.

I own one that had decomposed foam/diaphragm. I attempted a
rebuild which was only partially sucessful (many years ago).

Iirc, the speaker is featured in Vol I of the AES Louspeaker Anthology series.

_-_-bear
 
#9
Lol, Reiner. You can't even get your own hosts correctly?

I'd say that's what you get from hostname spamming. A nasty habbit with one single purpose: to trick search engines into listing you more and higer than your competition. It's considered bad practice by every search engine.

Together with your obvious borderline-advertising spam in this thread, this put's you in the shady category in my book.
 
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