Electrostatic or Dynamic

Any of you Audiogon guys that are coming through the Dallas/ Ft. Worth Airport, that can work your schedule to have an extra evening, I would be willing to come pick you up to listen here. If you want to meet the entire group, Tuesday evening is the magic day. As far as bass, the sound of the big Soundlab is certainly not the same kind of bass as a piston woofer. However, there are times, like the cut, "Oh Yeah" from the rock group Yello, where I would swear I have at least two 15" woofers per side. Other albums, like "Some Like it Hot" where Barney Kessell is accompanied by a big acoustic stand up bass, your brain tells you that it can only be the real instrument. The only thing that is really hard to adapt to, coming from dynamic drivers, is getting accustomed to the absence of woofer lag. This is the sound of the excursion of the bass driver not returning to neutral position instantly. Of course, the weight and diameter of the driver plays as great a role in this as the magnet size, back wave pressure in the box and the damping factor of the amplifier. Considering the Soundlab only has to move a few thousands of an inch, and can speed along at the same intensity as 1.5 MM of compressed air, the speed, coherency and phase accuracy is undeniably only Soundlab. The total area of the face of the U-1 is over 15 square feet. I don't know how many 15" woofers that would equal, but it certainly would be more than four. The total excursion of this huge area is very low compared to modern woofers, but what it lacks in excursion, it makes up for in size. No doubt the sound is different, but once you get the associated equipment right for this speaker, the thought of returning to another design does not cross your mind.

Given the correct electronics and room setup, I think ESL's produce a more satisfying presentation of the music than a box loaded with dynamic drivers. The box induced coloration's, particularly in the midrange, bug the hell out of me. Every now and then I'll hear a box speaker that sounds pretty good. I suppose I'm fortunate as I have absolutely no desire to go back to building them or owning them in my main two channel system. The bass of an ESL, like the sound lab, takes a while to get use to. To my ears it does a far better job of reproducing orchestra and acoustic bass fundamentals than rock music. Rock music bass is usually produced with dynamic drivers so I think these drivers also tend to reproduce it better. One of the big problems of a box loaded woofer is dealing with box coloration and intermodulation distortion created by the back wave of the dynamic driver. I believe that a dynamic bass driver properly loaded in a transmission line enclosure best handles this phenomena. But an ESL doesn't have any of this to get in the way of the music and to my ears renders a harmonic truth that is simply alive! Regards; -Jerie

You are right about coloration. ESL sound is lifeless, and doesn't do live music a justice. Live music is highly involving and sometimes even "harsh". And i am NOT talking about Rock concerts and amplified music. If you like it that is OK, but taste does represent ones state of mind. In this case is dullness!

Wished I had known Albert, I was just there in January. That airport was just about confusing just to get out of, or at least exit on the correct side of. I was lost for 20 minutes trying to find the right highway! Have you heard the Dynastats?

Interesting how different people experience the same things so differently. The thing I've really liked about the electrostatics I've owned (in addition to their midrange clarity and lifelike soundstage) is their vivid "liveliness," yet Lindeman5 finds ESL speakers to be lifeless. Likewise, the main the thing I never quite liked about the electrostatics I've owned or auditioned was their bass performance, particularly at the very bottom, yet Shubertmaniac doesn't experience ELS to have any bass performance shortcomings. (Jerie's and Albert's comments seem accurate to me.) Different ways to invoke for different folks, I suppose. In any case, this thread seems to be getting a little off track -- I don't think the point of Philefreak's question was to ask people to defend one design or the other, but to find out if there were other people out there who also vascilate between ESL and dynamic designs and, if so, what they do about it. Sounds like a lucky few have found their holy grail, while some of us are still exploring the possibilities.