World Premier Electrostatic System ESL-1

Roger A. Modjeski · « **on:** 5 Oct 2007, 05:55 am »

Tuesday October 30, 2007 Come hear the new ESL from Music Reference and I will tell you all about it and more. I promise to entertain you with inside stories, the path of the development and how I came up with the first resistance loaded woofer designed to match the speed of the ESL.

This really, really big shoe will happen in Phoenix Arizona at 7pm till we drop dead. Please email jeffreybehr(at)cox(dot)net, President of the Arizona Audio Video Club with questions or to let you know you are planning to come. We want to have enough chair for everyone.

Through the generosity of the Phoenix Club we will have two rooms; one for the talking and one for the music. The listening room is 17 x 15. You are welcome to bring your own source material.

What makes the Music Reference ESL special is:

Wide dispersion that allows good coverage for 4-5 seated individuals.
- Excellent imaging both width and depth
- Exceptional detail allows listening at lower, less fatiguing levels. When I hear new things in familiar recordings I know I have reached a new level of resolution.
  - Easy to drive 8 ohm load, 4 ohms minimum.
  - There are no capacitors or inductors in the signal path. I have designed a new type of step-up transformer with minimum loss, superb linearity and wide bandwidth. This is not a multi-transformer design
  About the system shown in the pictures below.
  
  The first picture below is the system with solid Teak trim. All our woods are hand selected for color and interesting grain patterns. The system consists of a mirror imaged pair of electrostatic panels, two sub woofers and an electronic crossover (24 dB/octave Linkwitz-Riley at 100 Hz). The speakers are designed to have a high WAF (wife acceptance factor) and will not dominate you room. Custom cloth and wood finishes are available. The Electrostatic Line Sources are 54 inches high, 15 wide and 2.5 inches deep. The base is 18 x 12 inches and is removable for shipping. The sub woofers are 12 x 9 x 7 inches. The crossover is under the RM-10. The crossover has calibrated level controls for the sub and the line source. These controls provide easy application of any two amplifiers of any gain plus a very handy way to change the bass balance with out affecting the lower midrange. The crossover is designed so that no male vocal can be heard from the woofer alone. Therefore, it can be placed where most convenient and/or most efficient. This design came out of many years of careful study and experimentation. The system is priced at $12,000. This includes the pair of line sources, two woofers, and electronic crossover.
  .
  
  The second picture shows a popular alternative combination; creamy white cloth and maple trim. The RM-200 MK-II, also in maple, is in the foreground. The RM-200 will drive the speaker beyond 100 dB SPL in a typical room. For those with large rooms and high listening levels the speaker can be built in a variety of sizes while retaining all the features of this first model.

Double Ugly · « **Reply #1 on:** 5 Oct 2007, 06:44 am »

Congrats on the woofer design, Roger. Wish I could be there.

IkeH · « **Reply #2 on:** 6 Oct 2007, 12:13 am »

Any plan for a demo in the east coast?

TONEPUB · « **Reply #3 on:** 6 Oct 2007, 12:56 am »

I've owned darn near every other panel made. (Except sound labs..)

We'd love to review them. Any chance they might become available?
Will they be at RMAF or CES/The show?

thanks!

Freo-1 · « **Reply #4 on:** 6 Oct 2007, 01:35 am »

Well done, Roger!

Would love to hear these with my modified Citation II!!

Could you please explain how the panel differs in construction from my old reference (Acoustat Spectra33?).

Thanks much.

PS: Is there someplace to listen to these in the Boston area?

Duke · « **Reply #5 on:** 6 Oct 2007, 01:42 am »

How is the wide dispersion obtained?

Thanks.

Duke

Roger A. Modjeski · « **Reply #6 on:** 16 Oct 2007, 12:53 am »

60 degrees (included angle) and very constant over the entire frequency range.

NealH · « **Reply #7 on:** 16 Oct 2007, 01:00 am »

I'm impressed, though I don't understand how you obtain 60 degrees of dispersion unless the panels are curved or, we're talking 6 or more db down or something like that. Would love to hear them though. They look super nice.

Roger A. Modjeski · « **Reply #8 on:** 18 Oct 2007, 06:11 am »

There is a new method employed to get the horizontal dispersion. It's proprietary.

cisco_kid · « **Reply #9 on:** 30 Oct 2007, 10:58 pm »

I've heard these speakers, and they are GREAT!!

Another triumph for Roger and Music Reference.

Russell Dawkins · « **Reply #10 on:** 30 Oct 2007, 11:12 pm »

The tiny subs are intriguing at 12 X 9 X 7 inches! I guess it's safe to say they're sealed, but do they have a contouring network ahead of them, like the Bag End?

I'll be looking forward to response from tonight's presentation in Phoenix.

Roger A. Modjeski · « **Reply #11 on:** 3 Nov 2007, 06:02 am »

Yes, they are sealed and have an EQ network that lives in the active line-level crossover. To further simplify my system, I have added to my crossover a second pair of input jacks and a master volume control, thus eliminating the need for a preamp and one pair of interconnects. Multiple inputs and the master volume are options for those who are ready and willing to go preampless.

Jeffrey Behr: here it is Saturday night and Roger is still stuck in Phoenix at my house. The club meeting was a great success; our big crowd throughly enjoyed Roger's stories and his speakers....

...to which we've listened quite a lot today, and they sound mighty good. aa That's Roger's gorgeous 'stat on the left of my big LS prototype-2.

Roger A. Modjeski · « **Reply #12 on:** 6 Feb 2008, 05:35 am »

Let's give this one a bump from the designer... Several listeners have visited me and bought the speakers. All sincerely interested are welcome.

The last fellow who was here got it in about 30 seconds. He had never heard anything like this though he has had a lot of gear pass through his hands.

doak · « **Reply #13 on:** 2 Mar 2008, 01:48 am »

"The RM-200 will drive the speaker beyond 100 dB SPL in a typical room."

What is the efficiency/sensitivity spec on these stats?

Roger A. Modjeski · « **Reply #14 on:** 12 Mar 2008, 05:24 am »

yes, you can get 100 db and you may find that the speaker has such resolution that you won't have to play it that loud. In the long run, your ears will thank you. Figure around 85 db for 2.83 volts input for the standard model. We offer a variable polarizing option which will allow the speaker to play with amps as small as our EM7-5. For those who listen in the 70-80 db range this is a great benefit.

gsm18439 · « **Reply #15 on:** 15 Apr 2008, 01:06 pm »

What are the placement constraints?

Thanks

Roger A. Modjeski · « **Reply #16 on:** 28 Jun 2008, 06:42 am »

These are the most easily implimented ESLs I know of. I have mine 12-18 inches from the back wall. Although my living room has no special treatment if benefits from simple comforts of carpeting and a full wall of bookcases behind the sofa. A wall of shelves with books and nooks of varying depth is a practical and low cost solution to breaking up and reducing reflections.

The woofers are purposely separate, small and best placed in a corner or against the speaker wall. Having them separate allows for best sound and ease of placement. They are powered by a separate amplifier (not included but you likely have a non-descript 100 watt solid state amp in the closet or on audiogon).

I didn't care much about imaging before I had the these speakers but now I do. Casual (non-audiophile) visitors notice the sound stage immediately. In most cases, they have never heard or even considered that speakers could present a sound stage. I find this most rewarding, it's a bit like giving a blind person sight for the first time.

Roger A. Modjeski · « **Reply #17 on:** 12 Oct 2009, 12:29 am »

This is becoming a big seller in Denmark and points north.

Roger A. Modjeski · « **Reply #18 on:** 30 Jul 2010, 06:10 pm »

Bumping this for people asking about my ESL. In the process of building a large shop to produce these in quantity. The new lab is going well also and hope to have all the building done before the rains come in October.

Roger A. Modjeski · « **Reply #19 on:** 9 Jul 2012, 04:59 pm »

Hi,

I am bumping this topic to go along with the discussion on direct drive for all ESLs, including mine. In the process of making a pair for my speakers I have found how to adapt them to the QUAD 57, 63 and all that have followed. They also will drive the largest 8 panel Acoustats, all Beveridge systems, Sounds Labs and a host of others including DIY.

Direct drive is really the way to run an ESL.

To see the pictures and description go to the beginning of this thread.