[bummrush]

So Roger ..what do you think of transmission line speakers as many places use this? I've got old Clements speakers that aren't going anywhere any time soon . I had MMG,s they were ok but kind of non involving when it got right to it.

[hatrack71]

I have owned planars and horns and I have to say I am stuck on horns with tube amplifiers. Mostly big JBLs and Altecs are what I own. I have a few huge Klipsch but they just don't stack up to the prior mentioned.

[bummrush]

Well?????

[TONEPUB]

I have Acoustat I, II's, 3's and 4's each does something the other does not.  I use a RM 200 to drive them all with good success.  I attend the CES every year and I come home thinking (every year) I want to get a solid state amp, but when I turn on my system I end up keeping the RM 200.  No it doesn't have the dynamics but it is so much more musical and easy to listen to for hours on end, I know because my tube bill every year tells me so.  I would at some time like to buy a pair of sound labs but than I think I will have to change amps.....................Bob

   


Bob, If you ever decide to sell your two's would you let me know?  Been looking for a pair for years!

thanks!

[Ericus Rex]

Well?????

Patience, young Skywalker.

[neobop]

I had direct drive Acoustats and they were astounding. Acoustat made mono amps ('70s?) that sat on the floor behind each speaker. Dan Fanny of AHT designed new boards for these and reconfigured the amps. They used high voltage cap tubes. The panels work (bias?) at 50KV. Finding additional storage caps was a problem so we did things like string together banks of photoflash caps in series to get 50KV. They had some slam.

I had 2 panels/side and an emit tweeter in the middle of each. Danny had 2 +2 full range. I copied the tweeter from Dr Wax who came up with the idea. I didn't think a magnetic tweeter would work in the middle of all that, but they did. Wax didn't have DD amps, but he had a triamp system with a pair of large Entecs. Danny's 8 panels could do pretty good bass, but Dr Wax had the most real sounding system I've ever heard. IMO electrostatics have the best midrange of any speaker type. A ribbon in the middle can image like a coax. I also think you need woofers with EQ. Ribbons are beamy and you had to sit in the middle, but it was incredible. Servo control is the way to go for woofers. They didn't sound slow and neither did the tweeters.
neo

[steve f]

Just a guess, but Roger's woofer idea sounds similar to the set up used by Bag End.

[airhead]

As Roger knows, and as I believe I posted earlier, I have Stax F83 speakers, which are tall and fairly thin.
I had them rebuilt a year or so ago.  I am driving them with Futterman OTL amps (NYAL manufactured),
and using Roger's subwoofers for the bass.  I love them madly, but am frightened about what will happen when my amps deteriorate, since no other amp that I tried came close to the Futtermans when driving these speakers.  I had a pair of B&W DM2a's before these speakers. 

[jimdgoulding]

I have Acoustat I, II's, 3's and 4's each does something the other does not.  I use a RM 200 to drive them all with good success.  I attend the CES every year and I come home thinking (every year) I want to get a solid state amp, but when I turn on my system I end up keeping the RM 200.  No it doesn't have the dynamics but it is so much more musical and easy to listen to for hours on end, I know because my tube bill every year tells me so.  I would at some time like to buy a pair of sound labs but than I think I will have to change amps.....................Bob

Dang, son, you DO like Acoustats!  I owned Three's for a longtime and enjoyed them immensely.  SS mono amps and a tube pre, several, in fact.  I've heard the 1+1's to stunning effect on a Mark Levinson choral recording that was nothing short of celestial.

[Roger A. Modjeski]

Dang, son, you DO like Acoustats!  I owned Three's for a longtime and enjoyed them immensely.  SS mono amps and a tube pre, several, in fact.  I've heard the 1+1's to stunning effect on a Mark Levinson choral recording that was nothing short of celestial.

Glad to hear you are liking my subs. Unless they go ballistic, I can repair your Futtermans. I am working on my own design based on my earlier work on the Counterpoint SA4 and Futterman's original ideas. I do have all the tubes for the Futterman amps on tubeaudiostore.com

[Roger A. Modjeski]

Just a guess, but Roger's woofer idea sounds similar to the set up used by Bag End.

I don't know when Bag End figured out the below resonance configuration, I did my first one in 1976. Last time I checked they require one to buy a very expensive crossover/adaptive filter to drive the amp that drives the speaker.

[unclexray]

I have owned Apogee Scintillas, Apogee Duetta Sig., Vandersteen 3A sig.,Silverline Sonatina II, Tyler Decade D1s and just got a pair of Audiokinesis Prismas and I think they will bury me in these, very pleased.

[steve f]

Bag End does require a filter/crossover box.  A simple crossover scheme would be preferred.

[Roger A. Modjeski]

Bag End does require a filter/crossover box.  A simple crossover scheme would be preferred.

My crossover is quite simple by comparison and price.

Looking at the votes I see ESL speakers are not on many peoples want list. Frankly I can't see why not. If you care at all about detail, timber, sound staging you really need to consider them.

[Ericus Rex]

I have yet to hear an ESL that didn't have a thin midrange compared to its coned brethren.  But I admit, Roger, that I haven't heard your design.

(I've owned Acoustats, my father owned Martin Logans, I've spent quite a bit of time with Innersounds and, regarding other types of panels, I've listened to many Apogees, the new Maggie 1.7 and Eminent Techs and others that I've now forgotten)

[bullwnkl999]

My crossover is quite simple by comparison and price.

Looking at the votes I see ESL speakers are not on many peoples want list. Frankly I can't see why not. If you care at all about detail, timber, sound staging you really need to consider them.

Hi Roger.  Well I, for one, love electrostats, and fell in love with yours when you demo'd them here in Phoenix several years back.  I would have bought them on the spot, but didn't have enough money, even at the price you were offering them at the time, which was a steal.  Now they are out of my price range completely. 

I didn't vote because the options only allow one choice, and I have pairs in several of the categories:  Tannoy System 15 DMT II, Magnepan 2.7QR and a very low serial number, early pair of Quad ESLs, which I stole at a garage sale for $25(!)  They need to be rebuilt, still sound good but, as is, can't be played very loud anymore.  I wouldn't mind getting them rebuilt by Wayne Piquet, but frankly have been enjoying the high efficiency Tannoys so much I can't justify the cost.  And I'm looking forward to your OTL!

Off topic, but any progress on your phono stage?

[tubegroove]

Yes a traditional woofer does lag behind which is why i looked for another way. When we get done with having our fun on the how a dynamic driver works, I'll tell you how I made one that integrates.

Roger, are you able to share more about the speaker you refer to in this earlier post of yours?

[doug s.]

- ribbons
- full-range high-efficiency horns
- 2-way monitors
- line arrays.

all actively crossed over to subs...

 

doug s.

[JLM]

After hearing transmission line bass, nothing else compares.

[doug s.]

After hearing transmission line bass, nothing else compares.

having quality subs that are flat to below 20hz makes the bass of your mains irrelevant.  and it lets you use nice tube amps on the mains and s/s amps on the subs, w/o worrying about tube amps having to control the lowest frequencies.

ymmv,

doug s.