Electrostatic Speakers explained

[Irvrobinson]

I have heard their 'magic', I just don't know how to explain it well. I also decided a long time ago that I would pass on owning them because of their size and the room location needs.

I'm smitten by the magic of electrostatics. For strings, horns, and most percussion they are addicting. But they sound different than any box/cone-driver I've ever heard. What I can't figure out is if the electrostatics have a coloration or the box/cone speakers do. On recordings I make myself in my own rooms, I can make cymbals sound completely realistic on the Salon2s. Eerily so. Play those same recordings on a Martin Logan or a Sound Labs and they sound different, and oddly more attractive. So I wonder if the electrostatics aren't euphonically colored.

 

[shadyJ]

I'm smitten by the magic of electrostatics. For strings, horns, and most percussion they are addicting. But they sound different than any box/cone-driver I've ever heard. What I can't figure out is if the electrostatics have a coloration or the box/cone speakers do. On recordings I make myself in my own rooms, I can make cymbals sound completely realistic on the Salon2s. Eerily so. Play those same recordings on a Martin Logan or a Sound Labs and they sound different, and oddly more attractive. So I wonder if the electrostatics aren't euphonically colored.

Maybe the difference is a matter of dispersion. Those electrostats are going to have a very peculiar dispersion pattern, whereas your Revels will have a fairly wide dispersion. So the difference maybe a matter of the way they interact with the room acoustically.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Maybe the difference is a matter of dispersion. Those electrostats are going to have a very peculiar dispersion pattern, whereas your Revels will have a fairly wide dispersion. So the difference maybe a matter of the way they interact with the room acoustically.

Could be. I've also wondered if the electrostatics are equal to or more accurate than the Salon2s, because the Salon2s were in the rooms I made the recordings, while the Martin Logans and the Sound Labs were in completely different venues. The Martin Logans, especially, were in a rather weird dealer showroom, with a low ceiling and a lot of treatment. The Sound Labs were from several years ago, and they were in a rather dead room with no windows. The Sound Labs gave the cymbals a warmer sound, as if the cymbals were darker models than they really were. So I've wondered if the electrostatics accurately reproduced how the cymbals would sound in the room the speakers were in.

 

[Mikado463]

Having owned Maggies and Logans for over 30 years it is true they both require a great amount of 'attention to detail' when positioning in ones listening room. Without doubt they both require copious amounts of room to 'breath', minimum 4' behind them IMO with 6' being closer to ideal. In my 24'6" x 14'6" listening room I had them slightly over 4' from front wall and 42" from side walls.

I have yet to hear piano produced better than what electrostatics are capable of.

 

[ichigo]

Maybe the difference is a matter of dispersion. Those electrostats are going to have a very peculiar dispersion pattern, whereas your Revels will have a fairly wide dispersion. So the difference maybe a matter of the way they interact with the room acoustically.

I think it also has to do with the impulse response of an electrostatic driver. It starts very quickly, much quicker than a typical dynamic driver, but notes tend to hang for quite a while because there's no heavy voice coil to stop the driver from moving, so it tends to resonate and keep moving after an initial transient signal has ended. This is absolutely a type of coloration and seems to do very well with listeners when it comes to string and percussion instruments, perhaps because both instrument types are defined by resonating sound.

 

[shadyJ]

I think it also has to do with the impulse response of an electrostatic driver. It starts very quickly, much quicker than a typical dynamic driver, but notes tend to hang for quite a while because there's no heavy voice coil to stop the driver from moving, so it tends to resonate and keep moving after an initial transient signal has ended. This is absolutely a type of coloration and seems to do very well with listeners when it comes to string and percussion instruments, perhaps because both instrument types are defined by resonating sound.

That isn't quite the case. Look at Stereophile's recent review of the MG2.6R. The step response is derived from the impulse response, and I wouldn't say it is that good in the Magnapan's case. What you would really want to look at here to make this determination is the group delay. I think what people characterize as a 'faster' transient response in these speakers is really just a lack of bass.

 

[Mikado463]

That isn't quite the case. Look at Stereophile's recent review of the MG2.6R. The step response is derived from the impulse response, and I wouldn't say it is that good in the Magnapan's case. What you would really want to look at here to make this determination is the group delay. I think what people characterize as a 'faster' transient response in these speakers is really just a lack of bass.

Maggies aren't electrostatics .......

 

[shadyJ]

Maggies aren't electrostatics .......

I meant planar.