[SteveFord]

That is clever, I wasn't sure WHAT I was looking at.

[Q3Di]

My TubePlanar system

[a.wayne]

Nice , Full BAT setup .....

[ajzepp]

My TubePlanar system

Beautiful...black on black is how I roll, as well...

[jmanes]

I've been working on these for a while. Thanks to some friends at Wright Patt AFB, I was able to find a panel material that would give me volume and good frequency response in a small size panel.

[jmanes]

Testing mic did not come in today but I took these tests with an iphone app today. Certainly not professional but they do show a fairly flat response all the way down to 125hz which I think is not bad for a small panel of just 11" x 14".  The high frequency response is what I thought was much improved from other panel materials I have tried and the response is good even 90 degrees off axis.

[maplegrovemusic]

Here ar some pics of the King Sound - King version 1  . They are available for sale as i am moving to a much smaller room . They have a great shipping box . So big no one would ever attempt to lift it off the ground with out a dolly . Pm me if interested . I will be posting in the sale ads as well .

[Jazzman53]

[SteveFord]

If they sound as good as they look you're a lucky man.
How heavy are they?

[jamesbos]

[jamesbos]

[Jazzman53]

If they sound as good as they look you're a lucky man.
How heavy are they?

I kinda went off the deep end with the transmission line bass cabs.  I haven't weighed one but I can tell you that each consumed 1 1/2 sheets of 3/4 MDF, 1 1/4 sheets of 1/4" oak plywood sheathing and a couple of 1x6 x 6ft oak facing boards.  It takes two men to pick one up.  I moved them into the house with a hand truck.

They sound perfectly electrostatic-- very fast, very clean and detailed and their segmentation eliminates the "head-in-a-vise" sweet spot that you'd otherwise get from large flat panels.

I did over-tension the diaphragms bit, however, and I can hear them booming on certain bass notes that excite their drum-head resonance.  I'm going to spend the day doing some tuning to identify the offending resonant frequency and apply a parametric EQ to tamp it down. 

FYI:  All drivers have resonances.  Conventional cone drivers have many resonances and break-up modes.  By contrast, an ESL has only a single resonance at the diaphragm's fundamental (drum-head) frequency-- but it's a nasty one.   

One advantage with a hybrid ESL is that it doesn't have to play in the bass region where the drum head resonance typically falls-- so the resonance is not excited as much.  My rule of thumb is to keep the resonance below 90 Hz and set the crossover frequency at least two octaves higher using a 24db/octave filter slope or at least one octave above it if using a 48db/octave slope. 

If I can't tame the drum-head resonance with a parametric EQ, I will have to raise the crossover frequency to excite it less. 

[Jazzman53]

Jamesbos,

Let me guess:  Those artful panels are actually magnetic planar speakers, right? 

[jamesbos]

Yes using 25 x 6 x 3 mm neos and using the picture as the diaphragm, my latest and best design up to now after many years of building and re-building.Don't use Mylar any more too noisy! The design is easier to build and lighter than my previous designs! Very happy all round. Have a few more ideas in my head, waiting for more magnets to proceed. Have a few more pictures to use up. Should keep me occupied for a little longer, you never know what other ideas may arise!

[Jazzman53]

I thought so.   

I've read some of your posts on the DIY Audio Forum.  Those panels are beautiful... easy wife approval for those but from the look of your mad scientist lair I'm guessing you're either unmarried or exiled to the garage with all that other gear.

You should start a website and share your planar build know-how with the world.   

[jamesbos]

Actually been living on my own for over 30 years so don't have any problems in that respect. I am overloaded with planars, all over the house garage and sheds. So no problems with wives, lucky me!Although I could put any picture on to keep her happy if need be. Thinking of using HOLLOGRAPHIC pics as well, should look great in the sunshine moving as well!Have a few white diaphragms to use as such. So easy to build as well!

[Odal3]

Jazzman -

WOW - those look great! How's the sound compared to the other ones you built?
BTW: What kind of subs (?) are those you have on the side?

So easy to build as well!

- not sure if I fully believe in this (at least if considering my novice skills) 
Jazzman/jamesbos - so what would be an EASY build for a beginner to try out and what is approx the parts costs?

[Jazzman53]

Jazzman -

WOW - those look great! How's the sound compared to the other ones you built?
BTW: What kind of subs (?) are those you have on the side?
 - not sure if I fully believe in this (at least if considering my novice skills) 
Jazzman/jamesbos - so what would be an EASY build for a beginner to try out and what is approx the parts costs?

Thanks Odal3,

The subs are called "Ripoles", which is short for "Ridtahler dipole", in honor of the German speaker builder who first built them, Axel Ridtahler.  There is a write up about them on my website here:  http://jazzman-esl-page.blogspot.com/

I only have experience building hybrid ESL's.  They easiest type to build use perforated metal stators.  The cost of the panels runs about $350, including coating the stators.  The transformers and bias supplies run another $170.  The rest is the woodwork, crossover and amps.

Wire stators are more difficult as you have to build a jig and build the supporting structure.  In the end they all cost about the same.
They all sound wonderful too.  The perf metal types have the best slam and imaging but they beam like crazy ("head-in-a-vise" effect) and they don't sound as good off axis as the segmented types. 

Segmented wire stators have a much wider sweet spot, at the expense of less precise imaging at the focal sweet spot.  A hybrid ESL can be fairly complex or fairly simple--- like a wooden frame with a dipole woofer mounted on an open baffle below the panel would be easiest.

Charlie (Jazzman)

[josh358]

OK, I know I promised to post a picture a long time ago! And what with endless renovations and life it's taken me all that time to get the IVA's where they'll ultimately live. The good news is that they're sounding remarkable, much better for some reason than they did on the adjacent wall -- even with a too-small room and rough, preliminary setup. (The diffusers were just sitting on the floor when I took the picture, they do improve the sound when mounted but one of them goes over the window -- not wild about losing my view!).

Split config:







In line:

[SteveFord]

That looks like you could drive yourself crazy setting them up.
Are you using them in line?