AudioCircle
Audio/Video Gear and Systems => Planar Circle => Topic started by: SteveFord on 8 Oct 2010, 01:29 am
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Acoustat 2+2
Stereophile, March 1984
http://www.stereophile.com/category/floor-loudspeaker-reviews?page=3
Tone Audio, No 6, 2006 pg 15
http://www.tonepublications.com/MAGPDF/TA_006.pdf
Acoustat Factory Tour
http://www.audiocircuit.com/Home-Audio/Acoustat/Article:Acoustat-factory-photo-tour
Acoustat Spectra 11
Stereophile, August 2014
http://www.stereophile.com/content/acoustat-spectra-11-loudspeaker
Acoustat Spectra 1100
Stereophile, September 2014
http://www.stereophile.com/content/acoustat-spectra-1100-loudspeaker
Eminent Technology
Manufacturer's Website
http://www.eminent-tech.com/
Bruce Thigpen Interview
AV Enthusiast, Aug 2008
http://aventhusiast.com/audio/interviews/av-enthusiast-interview-bruce-thigpen-of-eminent-technology
Eminent Technology LFT-VIII
The Audio Observatory, Vols 3 & 4
http://www.eminent-tech.com/TAOreview.html
Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity, March 1997
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_4_1/eminent.html
The Sensible Sound, date unknown
http://www.eminent-tech.com/SensibleSoundReview.html
Stereophile, April 1987
http://stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/eminent_technology_lft-iii_loudspeaker/
Stereophile, Feb 1993
http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/308et/
Eminent Technology LFT-VIIIAs, Stacked
Positive Feedback, Vol V, No V
http://www.eminent-tech.com/stacked8review.html
Eminent Technology LFT-VIIIB
The Absolute Sound, April 2014
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/eminent-technology-lft-8b-loudspeaker/
Eminenet Technology ]LFT-16
Bound For Sound, #171
http://www.eminent-tech.com/boundforsoundlft16review.html
Stereophile, October 2008
http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/1208et/
GT Audio Works
Manufacturer's Website
http://www.gtaudioworks.com/
2015 Capitol Audio Fest Reviews
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/Capital_Audiofest_2015/Part1a.htm
http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/home-theater-audio-video-news/130625-2015-capital-audiofest-best-show.html
JansZen
Manufacturer's Website
http://www.janszenloudspeaker.com/
JansZen zA2.1
The Absolute Sound, Dec 2013
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/janszen-za21-loudspeaker/
Positive Feedback, July/Aug 2013
http://positive-feedback.com/Issue68/janszen.htm
King Sound
Manufacturer's Website
http://www.kingsaudio.com.hk/index.html
Best of Show, Axpona 2013, Enjoy the Music
http://enjoythemusic.com/axpona_2013/friday/
King Sound Prince II
The Absolute Sound, February 2011
http://www.avguide.com/review/king-s-audio-prince-ii-electrostatic-speakers-tas-210
Audio, August 2010
http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A//www.magazine-audio.com/2010/the-prince-ll-by-king-sound/&sl=fr&tl=en
Dagogo, Sept 2009
http://dagogo.com/king-sound-the-king-panel-speaker-review
The Stereo TImes, August 2007
http://www.stereotimes.com/speak080807.shtml
Sound Lab
Manufacturer's Website
http://www.soundlab-speakers.com/
A-1
Stereophile, July 2013
http://www.stereophile.com/content/sound-lab-1-electrostatic-loudspeaker
A3
Stereophile, Sept 1986
http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/893/index.html
Stereophile, June 1988
http://www.stereophile.com/content/sound-lab-3-loudspeaker-j-gordon-holt-june-1988
Stereophile, Nov 1988
http://www.stereophile.com/content/sound-lab-3-loudspeaker-j-gordon-holt-november-1988
Stereophile, Jan 1992
http://www.stereophile.com/content/sound-lab-3-loudspeaker-j-gordon-holt-january-1992
Dynastat
The Sensible Sound, Jan/Feb 2004
http://www.pettinaudio.com/Dynastat_files/Published%20Review%20of%20the%20Dynastat.pdf
Millennium 1
The Absolute Sound, Feb/March 2000
http://www.soundlab-speakers.com/m1_review.pdf
Sound Lab Overview
Essential Audio, Vendor
http://www.essentialaudio.com/lit/SL_paper.pdf
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The King Sound speakers are quite nice electrostats, the Prince 2's at $6000 are a killer speaker, IMHO.
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king sount the king review
http://www.dagogo.com/View-Article.asp?hArticle=513
http://www.stereotimes.com/speak080807.shtml
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Thank you, Steve, for the topic and the work it took to make. Old Acoustat owner here. Three's. Miss em.
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Steve,
I have a pair of Acoustat Model 4s, with one model 121-2 that will not stay lit. Do you know of a source for the schematics?
Does anyone in the Planar circle have a source?
Thanks,
Bob
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Is this what you're after?
http://www.izzy-wizzy.com/audio/acoustat.pdf
If not, this would probably be the best place to find what you're looking for:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/planars-exotics/183168-acoustat-answer-man-here-19.html
although it may be in the form of someone helping you to diagnose and repair the problem.
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Steve,
This is a great start. I most certainly will enlist the aid of someone far more qualified than I. The 4s have a bad habit of retaining serious juice for a long time.
Thanks,
Bob
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There are many good stats out there BUT for me this is one of the best dollar for dollar and most IMPORTANT they are reliable yes Acoustat's these are my 1984 1+1s modified by Jocelyn Jeanson Quebec Canada 14x94x3 - - - - - 200 pounds and a picture of me with Jocelyn's one of a kind modified Spectra 8800 = 43x102x10 - - - - - 800 pounds both are all steel metal frames, more pictures in my Flickr photo galery. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mracoustat/
(http://cdn-2.dastatic.com/forums/gallery/data/500/medium/Keep_It_Simple_1000_X_750.jpg)
(http://cdn-2.dastatic.com/forums/gallery/data/500/medium/Acoustat_Spectra_8800_05.jpg)
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Steve,
I have a pair of Acoustat Model 4s, with one model 121-2 that will not stay lit. Do you know of a source for the schematics?
Does anyone in the Planar circle have a source?
Thanks,
Bob
Hi Bob i don't know if you have found what you're looking for but here is a link to everything there is to know on Acoustat's if you need more specific information you can email me at mracoustat@videotron.ca and i will direct you to my friend Jocelyn.
http://www.audiocircuit.com/Home-Audio/Acoustat
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That picture of you made me laugh thinking about how dangerous those would be in an earthquake!
Thanks for posting that.
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There are many good stats out there BUT for me this is one of the best dollar for dollar and most IMPORTANT they are reliable yes Acoustat's these are my 1984 1+1s modified by Jocelyn Jeanson Quebec Canada and a picture of me with Jocelyn's modified Spectra 6600.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz61/MrAcoustat/KeepItSimple1000X750.jpg)
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz61/MrAcoustat/AcoustatSpectra6600MrAcoustat.jpg)
Now find you a pair of the Acoustat DD tube amps, and you will be in audio heaven. :thumb:
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Mr. Acoustat,
Thanks for the All about Acoustat link. The next step is the repair phase.
Bob
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Acoustat factory photo tour, or how they use to make the Acoustats.
http://www.audiocircuit.com/Home-Audio/Acoustat/Article:Acoustat-factory-photo-tour
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For those who consider JansZen speakers a worthy entry to this thread, here are two recent reviews.
Robert Greene for the absolute sound
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/janszen-za21-loudspeaker/ (http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/janszen-za21-loudspeaker/)
Hugh Mandeson for the audio voice
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/janszen-za21-loudspeaker/ (http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/janszen-za21-loudspeaker/)
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A small blurb from Robert Harley about the mighty Sound Lab in this month's TAS from the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest highlights:
It's a rare treat to hear the Sound Lab A-1 full range electrostatic - one of the greatest loudspeakers ever made.
MSB Technology had a pair driven by their entry-level analog DAC with wonderful results.
This system had a startling tangibility with the massive panels completely disappearing in the tiny hotel room.
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I'd like to see a review of Essence Electrostats. At least on paper they do everything right, and for a lot less $$ than everybody else.
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I've never heard of the Essence speakers so I went to their website. They are very, very nice looking and as full range panels have the potential to be special.
With a bottom reach of 48Hz +-3dB that doesn't really ring as full range for me however. Most people will need augmentation with a subwoofer (their web site says as much) and now you've got a hybrid design, with the added cost of a quality SW or two, with integration up to the skills of the buyer, and that now levels the playing field. It would be great if full range could be had at $4-6k, but truly full range stats cost way more and get you into those room dominating big panels.
It took the industry awhile to offer a couple really good hybrid ESLs (JansZen zA2.1 & Martin Logan Montis) where the woofer integration was really seamless, bass reach is flat to 30Hz, and could be had under $10k. Earlier hybrids, especially from ML, had some integration issues IMO. I have the JansZens so I'm biased for those.
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Steve, I just noticed that you adjusted the subject line on this thread to include the JansZens along with a couple of useful links. Thanks. These are somewhat newer to the stat scene, but I think we will continue to see additional models from David in the future as well.
Scott
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I think so, too.
We could use some more major players in the planar field and I keep waiting for The Year of the Electrostatic Speaker.
Maybe it will be 2014.
Hopefully, the prices will come down as the manufacturing volume goes up.
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I hope no one has a problem with this post but thought some might be interested in a recent photo of the new demo room here which is nearing completion. The sound traps with enclosures are not in place yet.
(http://www.essentialaudio.com/humor/20140117_track.jpg)
We will be demonstrating Sound Lab speakers at the Axpona show here in the Chicago area in late April.
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Hi Steve,
Another fan of the resurgent Janszen speakers here. There have been two reviews at PFO. The first one quite frankly I didn't find very informative, but the second one presented much more information. Here is a link to that:
http://positive-feedback.com/Issue68/janszen.htm
Now not to let an felines out of any cloth containers but a new stand mounted model is just about to be introduced. And rumors persist the line up will include at least four models eventually. We shall see . . .
As you might guess, I'm impressed by achievements with the zA2.1 and look forward to the expansion of the Janszen product line.
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When the room is done post a photo or three in the Planar Porn thread, could you?
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:D I've a pair of 2+2's I bought new back around 1985. They have served me well but I'd trying to decided to let either them or my B&W 801's go.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=110900)
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These are the absolute best sounding panels that you can ever own, the Acoustat Monitor 4's with DD servo amps, used for sale at $3995 or best offer in Long Beach, Ca.
http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/for/4817956355.html
(http://images.craigslist.org/00y0y_3AZL77f4UVP_600x450.jpg)
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GT Audio Works added.
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GT Audio Works added.
Steve, Please add to GTAW
1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F06GTlH2YWQ At the 12 minute mark he talks about the GTA 2.5s Peter at AVShowrooms
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StevsFord, Please add Peter Brunnunger's AV Showrooms Video review. Peter makes some awesome statements about the GTA 2.5s and the system at 5:46 and 7:25, listen in HD if possible. The link; http://www.avshowrooms.com/Cap_Fest_2015_Vids_2.html GTAW is 11 rooms scrolling down.
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Go look at PS Audio Copper Magazine issue 8 to see an excellent article on the history of ESL speakers, especially the Acoustats.
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Not yet available to all of us (we'll have to wait a few hours) :lol:
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Let's see if this link works for the ESL article.
http://copper.psaudio.com/issue8/13/.
I will never forget hearing a pair of Acoustat x's back in the late 70's, what great sound.
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I heard the Magnepan LRS as well as Janszen Valentinas at Capitol Audiofest. The LRS were nearly perfect save for the lack of bass. I was disappointed they didn't have them set up with a cheap sub as that's how I think most of us would prefer them. The Janszens were my favorite speakers at the show aside from the Genesis Maestro room. I spoke with David Janszen at length and among the improvements he has made over the last few years to the prior design is the addition of dual Hypex Ncore 500 watt amps (with build in DAC) in each of his active Valentina speakers. I thought I would hate class D, and I was wrong. I also assumed that a DAC built into a class D amp would be poor/harsh... I was completely wrong again. The Valentinas are my new dream system, and at about $12,500 for the whole system they were "cheap" compared to nearly every other room at the show.
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The Janszens were my favorite speakers at the show aside from the Genesis Maestro room. I spoke with David Janszen at length and among the improvements he has made over the last few years to the prior design is the addition of dual Hypex Ncore 500 watt amps (with build in DAC) in each of his active Valentina speakers. ... The Valentinas are my new dream system, and at about $12,500 for the whole system they were "cheap" compared to nearly every other room at the show.
I used to own Maggies (a very long time ago) and last summer got some Janszen za2.1 (sort of like Valentinas without the powered woofers). In my room they are flat to around 20Hz (dunno how or why) and sound amazing once I placed them properly.
I had my wife listen to Hadestown on them and she said she'd never heard music sound that way before.
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addition of dual Hypex Ncore 500 watt amps (with build in DAC) in each of his active Valentina speakers.
So you have to feed the active Valentina with spdif digital signal?
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Nice to see so many Acoustat folks here. I use 2+2s which I have had for 30 years. The only speaker I would consider selling them for would be Sound Labs 845s. Why?
There is a magic that a one way ESL has that no speaker with multiple drivers can match. The second reason is that a full range line source projects a powerful image that no other type of arrangement can produce. In order for a line source to be full range it either has to be 32 feet tall or it has to have solid boundaries at both ends. The floor and ceiling will do. So in most situations an 8 foot speaker will work. Sound Labs also makes a 9 foot speaker for those with 9 foot ceilings. Speakers that are say 6 feet tall convert to point source at about 250 Hz thus they do not project bass well and lack the authority a full range line source has.
I have had Tympani IIIs, Apogee Divas and several different models of Acoustats. Nothing matches the 2+2s for image clarity and overall neutrality. With the right subwoofers set up to produce a line source the power produced by these speakers is amazing. They are no where near as efficient as horns but with the right power they have no problem producing high volumes (if that is what you like) and IMHO a more realistic image size. My system with 4 12" balanced force subwoofers has no problem running at 115 dB as measured with this,
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=212566)
ESLs are IMHO the most thrilling speakers to listen to because of their detail and transient response. The only problem that has to be addressed is the very low bass. Dipoles never do low bass well. The large excursions needed Doppler distort all other frequencies and you get wild room interactions due to the out of phase nature of dipole radiation.
Using just two subwoofers will not work well. You are expecting point source subwoofers to keep up with line source speakers and they just can't. The solution is a line source subwoofer system. I did it by using 4 subwoofers in a horizontal line source configuration using the side walls as boundaries instead of the floor and ceiling. The whole business looks like this,
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=212568)
The subwoofers cross at 125 Hz, much higher than usual. I get away with it because I use digital bass management and the subs are exactly in phase and time with the 2+2s.
The end result is with eyes closed you would never guess there were subwoofers playing until a real low note came along and rattled your teeth. The other advantage of this is the headroom of the 2+2 increases by 20 dB and that is HUGE. God knows what the same arrangement with Sound Labs 835 will do. I can't wait to try :wink: