Homemade electrostatic speakers
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Diy Electrostatic Headphones
But you already know about their wonderful attributes or you wouldn't be interested in making them, so I'll dispense with the BS. I present here a simple process for making ESLs. I have not included anything about crossovers or cabinets.
This is strictly a "how to make the drivers" article. Warnings: Before we go any further, I want to warn you about a couple things you may not be aware of.
Electrostatic loudspeakers use high voltages to operate. The DC bias is usually supplied by a power supply running off VAC electrical circuits which can be dangerous. The AC voltages used to drive the ESL are usually produced by connecting your stereo amp to a vacuum tube amplifier type output trans former. The voltages produced by the trans former are dangerous!
Don't screw around! If you have little kids in the house or if anyone might for any reason touch the speakers while they are operating, design your speakers so that it is not possible to come into contact with the drivers. If you don't know how to handle high voltage circuits, enlist the help of someone who does, or buy one of the commercially available ESLs.
Section I: Making the speakers Building ESLs involves the use of tools and materials that if handled improperly can be hazardous. Please make sure you know how to use these things before you begin. By all means, use safety glasses at all times. If would be foolish to trade your vision for the pursuit of audio ecstasy! What you need: 1 Trans formers, one or two per speaker - use tube amp output trans formers, 4 ohm:8K K ohm.
You can use trans formers by Triad, Stancor, etc. Just get units that are good for about W at 30 Hz and give a large impedance i. Tube amp output trans formers are available from Antique Electronic Supply, , and other sources. This can be obtained from companies that make plastics for industry- this film is commonly used to make capacitors don't get metalized film! I have used about 15 m of it so far.
I have heard of people using Saran-wrap, but I have never heard a driver built using it. If you're making small drivers, or experimenting, try it! It certainly won't cost much Powdered graphite is available from K-mart or your local hardware store for lubricating locks.
Graphite has to be rubbed into the film using cotton balls. Dish detergent and antistatic solution will work also, and are easier to apply, but may not be "permanent". I use graphite. Someone in Australia suggested that drafting ink formulated for drawing on "film" the draftsman's name for polyester will make a good, easy to apply, high resitvity diaphragm coating.
I haven't tried it yet, but applying a colored liquid ought to be easy and make it easy to verify that it only went where you wanted it. Hole size? The stuff I use has holes that are about 3 or 4 mm diameter. Your local hardware store may have some available also. Aluminum is much easier to cut than steel, and it is much lighter weight, but may cost a little more than steel. If you buy from a perforator you can get them to cut the metal to size and roll it flat for you.
Fiberglass is hard to cut you need a carbide blade , and the dust from sawing is a health hazard, but epoxy will bond to it. Acrylic or other plastics are easier to work with, but epoxy may not form much of a bond to them contact cement will probably work just fine. You can get fiberglass from a PC board company- try to raid their scrap pile- and get them to cut the pieces to size for you. We'll talk about thickness later. Epoxy works fine for attaching the perforated metal to the insulator frame.
The problem with epoxy is that it doesn't really bond to the mylar film. A little mechanical stress can break the very weak bond and allow the film to peel away. This can be an advantage. If you find that a driver doesn't work, if you assembled it with epoxy it will be easy to rip apart and rebuild. I have done some additional research and found a contact cement manufactured by 3M that works for attaching the film to the insulating frame.
Scotchgrip is the stuff to use. You put a little on one or both surfaces to be glued and let dry for minutes. Then you put the two surfaces together and Voila! The bond is so good that the film will tear long before the glue lets go.
Other contact cements may work well also. The only disadvantage is that once you've assembled the driver using contact cement, you have to live with it. If the driver doesn't work, you'll have to build another because you won't be able to tear the old one apart. This can be made as a voltage multiplier that works off the power lines.
You'll need high voltage diodes and capacitors, a few resistors, a circuit board and a line cord. You can get away with one supply, but one for each speaker is easier to deal with- you won't have to run high voltage wires all over your listening room.
See the Bias Supply section near the end of this document. Optional: Plastic coating for the perforated metal. I've heard that latex house paint works fine If you have a trans former that is rated for VAC in and Vrms out, the DC output voltages you will get from a doubler, tripler and quadrupler circuits will be , , and VDC. The components used in the voltage multiplier circuits must be capable of withstanding these high voltages, so shop carefully!
Each speaker needs high voltage bias, but you really only need one bias supply. If you're on a budget or not sure you want to go whole-hog into this project, start with one bias supply. You may find later that it's more convenient to use two bias supplies that way you don't have to string high voltage wire all over your listening room. There are a few things to keep in mind when shopping for bias supply trans formers. First, you don't need any appreciable amount of current, so get the physically smallest, lowest cost HV trans former you can find.
Don't use neon sign trans formers usually too much voltage and always too much current. You can steal trans formers out of old vacuum tube electronic junk, or buy them for a few dollars from companies like Antique Electronic Supply or Fair Radio Sales.
If you can't find the exact voltage you want, don't worry about it- you can use the voltage multiplier circuits to get you where you want. Sometimes you can find DC supplies from photocopiers available in the surplus market. Sometimes they are even adjustable. They usually put out higher voltages than needed, but that is easily taken care of by adding a resistive voltage divider to the output.
Here are a few sources for HV parts, power supplies, etc. Colorado Blvd. Box Bristol, Pa. It is there for three reasons. First, it insures that you can't get enough current out of the power supply to hurt you. Second, it helps force the speaker to operate in the "constant charge" mode. Third, it helps minimize damage to the speaker in the event the diaphragm comes into contact with one of the stators. Comments or questions about this article should be sent to akikoi earthlink.
Patent includes schematics of vacuum tube servo control amplifier. The drivers are triangular, with multiple units assembled into a kind of geodesic dome structure for control of directivity of the speaker. British Patents 1,, Enock, June Describes electrostatic transducers in which the stators are insulated to allow the use of high operating voltages, thereby increasing the sensitivity of the transducers.
A detailed mathematical analysis of circular ESL driver resonances and frequency response. Phone: , fax: Describes operating theory and construction of ESLs. Loudspeaker and Headphone Handbook , edited by John Borwick.
ISBN no. Contains a mathematically detailed description of ESL operation written by Peter Baxandall, including enough detail about the venerable Quad ESL63 to allow close duplication of the design if you're so inclined.
How to Make an Electrostatic Loudspeaker
Below you will find a description of the developments of a large 'full range' electrostatic loudspeaker. The outline won't contain fine drawings and accurate measurements of components for building an ESL; what you will find are some important issues that need attention during construction and design of your ESL. For a fundamental description of the basics of an ESL I refer to the official Quad site, this site will give you a tutorial description of the true physical basics of ESL's. Reading other articles from designers on this web page is highly recommended for gathering information and idea's about ESL's, but you probably already did You will find during the construction that several issues are not that evident as expected: coatings, behaviour of high voltage terminals, problems with construction etc. Once this seems under control a large panel can be built. ESL's need fairly high drive voltages.
DIY Electrostatic Headphones.
Published: Duration: Definition: hd View: Like: Dislike: 27 Favorite: 0 Comment: DIY Electrostatic Headphone Drivers version 2 Published: Duration: Definition: sd View: Like: 2 Dislike: 0 Favorite: 0 Comment: 1 Pair of homemade electrostatic headphone drivers The first time that I've had two of them working at the same time that responded anything close to like a pair. The audio part of the video for the first 50 seconds was recorded by holding Published: Duration: Definition: hd View: Like: 9 Dislike: 1 Favorite: 0 Comment: 4 How electrostatic speakers work Here's how electrostatic speakers work. Unless your an audiophile, you've probably never heard of the electrostatic loudspeaker. Electrostatic loudspeakers are pretty hip in the audiophile So I made my own controls. The standard for inline controls is so simple that Step up transformer's core is from a microwave. The mylar need some more tension however, it works!
Diy dml speakers
Symmetrically segmented wire-stator ESL's. Introduction Greetings all from the Jazzman,. It still amazes me that an average Joe with practically no electronics experience can build a speaker at home that rivals the high-end commercial offerings, and bests most of them. And building the actual driver from scratch takes DIY to a whole new level.
Building a DIY electrostatic speaker system
DIY electrostatic speakers for dummies. Is there any low tech with all details and dimensions building plans-blueprints for building decent ESL? It would be great help if someone can point me to some web sites, etc. Originally Posted by stera Thanks for your post, great news for me. Actually I'm very experienced in woodworking and my question was more about metal grill, step up transformer and foil dimensions.
Build an Electrostatic Loudspeaker
The amplifier uses 2 6SN7 tubes and 2 12AX7 tubes. Currently I have just built a prototype, and am working on reducing hum and increasing bass response. See Also : Electrostatic headphone amp for sale Show details. Wilson, Philip D. Harvey and Neil Pollock.
Acoustically Transparent Screen + Eletrostatic Loudspeaker
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It is a hybrid speaker with an electrostatic element to cover the midrange and up Hz — 20 kHz and a traditional dynamic loudspeaker to cover the bas 20 Hz — Hz. If you want to build an electrostatic speaker, you are faced with a number of practical challenges like how to stretch and coat the diaphragm, how to glue it, how to insulate it and how to achieve the high voltages needed. Information on these subjects are available in several cookbooks and is not included here. In the following, I will assume the reader has some knowledge on the subject and I will focus on the specific design that we have implemented.
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Is there a way past that thanks Ronan Daly. It's been a while since I tested those modules, but IRIC, one of the leads was positive and the other negative. Power the device up and if you get a spark between the two white leads, you'll know for sure.
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