[SteveFord]

I would love to play around in that room!

[Jazzman53]

Now that's a wall of sound!  I recognize the Maggie but what are the two ESLs?  I'm guessing one or both is a Kingsound?

[maplegrovemusic]

Yes , Kingsound  . Models are king and ks-17 . Wish I still had the pair of Quad 2905 I sold here to include in the pics !

[maplegrovemusic]

Jazzman , Can you recommend a great amp for stats ? A member of the Audio by Vanalstine team is loaning me a amp he designed for a friend who has stats and it sounds excellent !

[Jazzman53]

I really have no expertise with amps but I do know that ESLs require big voltage swings, which equates to big power from the amp.  And the impedance falls with rising frequency and can drop below 1 Ohm at 20kHz.  But the bigger problem for the amp is the high phase shift (approaching 90 degrees in extreme cases) pushed back to the amp by the ESL's capacitance that can dive the amp into an ultrasonic oscillation death spiral.  And amps with high negative feedback are more prone to suffer the ESL death spiral.

Generally, choose an amp with at least 150 watts/channel and low negative feedback.  The best amp for any ESL would be a Sanders Magtech ($$$), which was designed specifically for ESL's. 

Most ESL's are a difficult, capacitive load but an electrically segmented wire ESL powered thru an RC network (like mine) is predominantly a resistive load which practically any decent amp could drive and survive.

 

[Mike-48]

My planar approach could be considered minimalist:  A pair of Janszen Valentinas with ESL panels down to 500 Hz and cone woofers below. The sound: clean, involving, and beautiful. I used to have a pair of Apogee Caliper Signatures, and the Janszens are more neutral and just as involving.

 

[Pryso]

Mike, what amp are you using now?  Your last photo showed an AVA 400R I believe.

[Dieterle Tool]

Jazzman , Can you recommend a great amp for stats ? A member of the Audio by Vanalstine team is loaning me a amp he designed for a friend who has stats and it sounds excellent !

I know I'm not Jazzman, but I have a little experience with ESL'S and planars. I've heard the Parasound JC1 (mono blocks) paired with Sound Labs with great results. An ugly but effective option is the Hafler 9505. It has gobs of power, sounds warm and punchy and has true balanced outputs. A real sleeper.

I use a custom made pair of Hafler XL-280's from Musical Concepts for my Magnepans. They are totally rebuilt for mono application, giving me (12) Exicon Mos-fets per channel and (4) 10,000 uF Jensen (4 pole) caps per side for clean, quick power delivery. I highly recommend Musical Concepts, John can build you something that suites your needs for a very reasonable price. His driver boards are state of the art which he constantly upgrades and tunes by ear.

-Dieter

[Mike-48]

Mike, what amp are you using now?  Your last photo showed an AVA 400R I believe.

It's a Bryston 4B3. I like it a lot. Great match for the Janszens!

Other changes were moving the subs to just behind the listening chairs -- this got rid of a room null at 40 Hz -- and supplementing & rearranging acoustic treatments. In particular, the two GIK Alpha panels on the front wall are new, while two Vicoustic diffusers were moved from the front to the side walls (one seen on left).

[timind]

It's a Bryston 4B3. I like it a lot. Great match for the Janszens!

Other changes were moving the subs to just behind the listening chairs -- this got rid of a room null at 40 Hz -- and supplementing & rearranging acoustic treatments. In particular, the two GIK Alpha panels on the front wall are new, while two Vicoustic diffusers were moved from the front to the side walls (one seen on left).

Room looks awesome.
Are those diffusers made with wood blocks? If so, how much do they weigh?

[Mike-48]

Room looks awesome.
Are those diffusers made with wood blocks? If so, how much do they weigh?

Thanks! The diffusers are by Vicoustic and made of EPS (= styrofoam). So they are pretty light. An entire assembly (two square diffusers glued to artist's stretcher strips, with Dynamat on the back for added damping) weighs about 15 pounds (7 kg), I estimate.

The Dynamat is needed only because the diffusers aren't glued directly to the wall, which would damp them better.

Wooden diffusers are beautiful, but the cost is far higher -- more than I can justify.

[timind]

Thanks Mike. Gonna check them out.

[Nick V]

This is a pretty impressive thread!!

I have a pair of these BG Radia SA-320 waiting to be installed in-wall in custom back boxes when I finish my basement.



Do they count?

It'll be a stealthy little in-wall 2.1 system at the poker table / bar area.

[FredT300B]

Oppo 95, Krell KAV400Xi, Eminent Technology LFT8b hybrid speakers, DIY subwoofer with Dayton Ultimax 12", 18th century oak equipment stand, all in our 22' X 38' great room.

[Jazzman53]

A phased array, wire-stator ESL mated to an H-baffle woofer:

[jsm71]

It's been since late 2012 that I posted a picture of my setup.  I don't browse this thread that often, but when I saw Mike in NC's post from a month ago with his JansZen speakers I had to post again because we have some of same stuff.  Maybe we were separated at birth. 

I also use both Vicoustic diffusors and GIK products in my room to support the JansZen Valentinas.  The second picture was from before getting the subs (Rythmik 12G).




 

[Mike-48]

It's been since late 2012 that I posted a picture of my setup.  I don't browse this thread that often, but when I saw Mike in NC's post from a month ago with his JansZen speakers I had to post again because we have some of same stuff.  Maybe we were separated at birth. 

I also use both Vicoustic diffusors and GIK products in my room to support the JansZen Valentinas.  The second picture was from before getting the subs (Rythmik 12G).

Maybe!  Nice setup!

[Mike-48]

A phased array, wire-stator ESL mated to an H-baffle woofer:

Looks wonderful! Thanks for posting.

[Jazzman53]

More porn:

https://vimeo.com/275719961

[SteveFord]

Just beautiful.
Jazzman53,
How many hours do you think you have into that pair?