How many have heard the Beveridge Electrostatics?


Here is a commment by someone who has also listened to these amazing speakers. Anyothers with some impressions?

Posted by bartc ( A ) on July 06, 2003 at 18:39:26
In Reply to: Re: Correction: approximately $45,000 posted by kentaja@yahoo.com on July 06, 2003 at 17:59:43:

I was in the shop with Leisure7, who brought me in to show me these extraordinary speakers and these extraordinary men who make them. You have no idea what these sound like, but here's my best shot:
Rick Beveridge is one of 3 surviving sons of the originator, learned to craft these things by hand from his dad, and recently took up reviving them after rebuilding some vintage ones for prime customers. Well let me tell you, now I understand why someone would spend $45,000 on a pair of speakers, because these are beyond belief. (This is by way of apology to Stereophile, BTW.)

Some background: They're planar speakers built into georgeous wood custom crafted cabinets about 7' tall, 2' wide and 1.5 feet deep. Each comes with a tube amp driving them directly built into their bases and an accompanying major sized subwoofer. The ones I heard were updated Model 2s, the best of the 6 models they ever made. These sit in the homes of top musical entertainers, because they appeal to people who want to hear music exactly as they make it in real life and for whom price and specs are irrelevant. Well, they are in this case. The key to the speakers is a takeoff on 60 year old radar technology that disperses sound waves throughout a space via multiple verticle wave guides.

So here's the review and the real deal. They were driven by a Thiel CDP and somebody's preamp but no main amp since they have their own built in. Ok, first thing we fire up with was Billie Holiday recorded in 1957. I nearly dropped my teeth! Absolute realism on all frequencies, all instruments, all voices male, female and entire choruses! And this at NORMAL listening levels. So the quality of the sound was as lifelike as possible and I'm not exaggerating. We tried this out on all genres of music and even a test CD with rainstorm and rainstick sounds (ever hear a rainstick reproduced correctly?). Everything was as good as it gets. AND THIS IS NOT THE REAL KICKER....

The real deal is that the 3D soundstage imaging is perfect FROM EVERYWHERE IN THE ROOM, BAR NONE. This was in a 25' high 50'x50' or so room inside an old wine warehouse. About the least likely listening environment possible. From 2" back from the front grill forward from any side and any position throughout the entire room, the image was crisp, absolutely rock stable and totally convincing. Yes, there were sweet spots in the room: a plane at any height running front to back perpendicular to the middle of the speaker plane outward. At that plane the image was shockingly holographic! Jawdropping realism, period, and I cannot explain to you just how astounded I was. At that moment I would have dropped $45K in a heatbeat if I had it.

OK, so this is already super impressive (or I was hallucinating). We listened totally for 2 hours. Halfway through I asked Leisure7 if I was really hearing what I thought I was hearing or if he had slipped me something in the winery we had come from earlier. He just giggled.

Now if I haven't buit this up enough here comes the real shocking truth. We stepped backwards into a side hallway. Rick told me to keep both speaker grills in view until the last spot at which I could see both. At about 60' away off to one side down a hallway the sound was still crystal clear, engaging and the 3D imaging was still working as strong! Then he had me walk back through a doorway into a really cavernous warehouse room where I could only see one speaker. The 3D image was gone but the clarity was just as strong at 75' away! Then he had me walk outside to the open warehouse doorway where I could only see a corner of one speaker. At over 100' away the sound was still crystal clear and listenable and the volume was still at normal living room listening levels - not altered at all! No 3D anymore, but hell, what speakers do you know that can do anything like any of this?

leisure7 is telling the truth that he isn't financially tied to the Beveridges. They don't need anything but a listen for you to be convinced anyway. Leisure7 is trying to help them get the word out about the quality of their product, so that they can build their business.

I want to add my enthusiastic support as well (still wish I had the $45K to add to the pot!), because these are a couple of men working hard to make dream equipment - their father's dream. They have done a superb job and the audio world will be very much worse off if the Beveridge brothers don't get the shot at spreading their good work around
sanibelsteve
Please visit the website at http://beveridge-audio.com.
The new product uses all new materials ,transducers , and electronics. The lenses are computer modeled . The cabinets use a resin to produce rigidity, and the transducers are all new construction techniques. They are a total update and should last 30-50 years according to Beveridge. The new speaker is fashioned after the 2 which the transducers have worked for 30 years flawlessly. The sound is amazing. Room 437 at the RAMF.
I delivered a pair of classic-style Model 3's (6' 6" x 21.5" 180 lbs. each) to a friends house about six years ago, listened to them dozens of times.

He drove them with either a pair of Audio Research D-76's (bi-amped) or Melos Triode 400 monoblocks, the sound is sublime.

Judging from the remarks of the G3's I can only imagine their sound.

Way to go Beveridge !
I've heard the old model 2 SW2's and they ranked up with modified Dayton Wright XG-8's, magnepan typani 1d's,sound labs and hill plasmatronics as producing some of the best sound I've ever heard. I believe Rick Beveridge is working with former innersound founder Roger Sanders in designing new eliptical speakers. They should be world class given the talent of these two men.
Actually the Sander's project has been cancelled and Rick is building everything in house. The new speaker is a new cabinet design with space age materials and computer modeling. The product will only be available through one dealer and only 25 pairs, G1, G2, G3, G3 SW , will be produced. Delivery of the initial pairs are scheduled middle of November. It is actually the identical technology using todays materials and improved design devices to produce a far superior speaker to the original. The cabinets are less intrusive being the reason for the change in looks. Much better WAF.
Very interesting info. Has the price of the different models been released yet?