saw gayle martin sanders tonite.....
oscarc...@my-deja.com
and it was an enjoyable show. mr sanders was quite warm and told many
stories about his garage days, adventures with mr pass (of pass audio)
and the rise of the martin logan company. he spent actualy very little
time talking about his newest speaker line the prodigy, and seemed
happy just to be out and about (he sait it had been 5 years from his
last "meet the people" tour). he answered many questions from the
hobby, and did not seem the least bit guarded about "trade secrets".
he no longer uses mylar, but uses a polyester from a company called
IYI. his drivers are scanspeak or vifa depending on the model. he
stretches the "mylar" in a vertical fashon, in order to use the curved
stators. the black insulation on the stators is from 3m. he could not
be nailed down on the tube/transistor debate, but stated that his own
was a combination system. he is working on a direct drive amp in order
to avoid transformers (a long way away). his new prodigy has forwand
and reverse firing woolfers (the rear woolfer is designed to cancel any
waves that are coming from the back wall). the new prodigy also
achives 91db AT ONE WATT/METER !!!! now tell me that electrostatics are
ineffencent! after an hour, groups of 12 were led into a seperate room
to hear the prodigy hooked up to an all mcintosh system with 1000w mono
blocks powering each one. to say that the demo was startling would be
an understatement. increadable volumes (much louder than i EVER listen
to, and thats quite loud) were achived without any (and i was listening
for it) compression. the distracting mcintosh blue meters were peaking
just over a killowatt. the high end was nothing new (to us jaded
electrostatic owners anyway) but the low end was seemless and very
full. unless you were doing home theater, a subwoolfer is not even on
the wish list.
so to sum up a too long story:
go to the ML website and see when its coming to your town.
electrostatics can be painfully loud without any strain.
dont be afraid to ask gayle anything, he seems truly interested and
helpfull.
if anything, he will inspire you to go home and really listen.
oc
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Barry Waldron
oscarc...@my-deja.com wrote:
> saw gayle martin sanders, one of the founders of martin logan tonite,
> and it was an enjoyable show.
I'm glad to know that you went. How was the food?
>mr sanders was quite warm and told many stories about his garage days,
>adventures with mr pass (of pass audio)and the rise of the martin
>logan company.
From your accounting, it would seem like they "wing it"
as the demo you went to was somewhat different from what
we had in Sac. Many of those experiences from the early
days have been published. Nelson Pass is part of our audio
group and has talked about this from his perspective, also.
> he answered many questions from the
> hobby, and did not seem the least bit guarded about "trade secrets".
"Trade secrets" have more to do with technique, although I would
be willing to bet that if you asked for the exact type of Poly or
insulation, he would not tell you. The woofers are no doubt custom
made to their specifications. (We once tried to duplicate a
Spanish seasoning since the product was no longer available. I
had all the ingredients and the order in which they were used but
we could not come up with the same taste.)
> he no longer uses mylar, but uses a polyester from a company called
> IYI. his drivers are scanspeak or vifa depending on the model. he
> stretches the "mylar" in a vertical fashon, in order to use the curved
> stators. the black insulation on the stators is from 3m.
> he is working on a direct drive amp in order to avoid transformers
> (a long way away).
There have been a few circuit designs published over the years.
The most popular being those by David Hermeyer and Roger Sanders.
Alan Kimmel has an all triode design. Plans were sold by David
Lucas. This is a simple straight forward design that he states
is sonically superior to the Cl. A, units, above. Beveridge and
Acoustat both marketed integral direct drive amplifiers. They were
expensive even in 1970 dollars. Today, the supply of HV components
is fast becoming extinct. To make a reliable high voltage direct drive
amplifier, nowadays, will require tremendous capital. If the company
can pull it off, it will be worth the price.
> the new prodigy also achives 91db AT ONE WATT/METER !!!! now tell me
> that electrostatics are ineffencent!
This is not unique. DIY ESLs have been capable of producing
greater than concert hall ROW A levels for years.
> after an hour, groups of 12 were led into a seperate room
> to hear the prodigy hooked up to an all mcintosh system with 1000w
> mono blocks powering each one. to say that the demo was startling
> would be an understatement. increadable volumes (much louder than i
>EVER listen to, and thats quite loud) were achived without any (and i
> was listening for it) compression. the distracting mcintosh blue
> meters were peaking just over a killowatt. electrostatics can be
> painfully loud without any strain.
For those of you among us who want a high voltage amplifier tailored
specifically to energize electrostatic loudspeakers, I invite you to
visit the InnerSound web site at: http://www.innersound.net
and read about this company's all new ESL amplifier. It is AMAZING.
It will not eliminate the matching transformer, but from a practical
standpoint, it offers the next best thing.
Barry
ESL Information eXchange
http://www.jps.net/eslinfo