Digital and 'stats

[Liffy99]

http://i.imgur.com/wApeBcz.jpg?1 (https://imgur.com/wApeBcz)

Current setup.
FLAC library streamed to Raspberry PI.
Onward to Lyngdorf TDA2200i with room perfect and SDA2175 slave amp (each 200W/ch).
Actively crossed over to pair of Lyngdorf W210 corner woofers (the shiny black boxes lurking in the corners) and slightly upgraded Final 400i electrostatics.
Also on rack is PS4, and HDMI splitter, Oppo 103 disc spinner and Humax Freesat box.
Home made acoustic panels to diffuse rear sound from the dipole 'stats which are only a couple of feet from the wall.
Speaker about 7' apart and 9-10' from main listening position.
Being flat panels they have a relatively small sweet spot, but being quite narrow the dispersion isn't that bad (panels measure approx 4' x 1').
Corner woofers each have 2x10" lightweight cones, reflex loaded.

Fairly esoteric musical tastes from classical to blues with some prog rock, modern jazz and female vocals. Getting into previously unknown (to me) 'world music' and loads of other stuff courtesy of Qobuz which has proved utterly fantastic.

[jandl100]

That looks a very interesting system, Stephen.
what's the xover freq and what mods have been done to the stats?

[Liffy99]

Hi
Crossover is set at 280Hz (48db/oct Linkwitz Riley).
Stats have had upgraded panels fitted with improved coatings (the originals were often prone to failure) and the stators carry the high voltage now, not the membrane.
Made them slightly more efficient and a tiny bit clearer to my ears.
So the stats just don't see much in bass terms, allowing them to play louder in conjunction with the corner woofers.
The system needed considered setting up mind as there is a 10db+ efficiency difference between the two driver technologies.
The room correction software helped a great deal, although I felt it sucked a little too much bottom end away so I have the slave amp's output dialled in at -5db rather than the 10 the correction software would have left.
Itching to listen to the Sanders Sound hybrids though - rare as hens teeth in the UK.
How are the MBLs ???

[jandl100]

How are the MBLs ???

Marvellous. :)
Coming up on their 8th birthday.

[hornucopia]

I recall Lyngdorf being good in 'early' days of digital. Visited a nice set-up in Foul Ridge (!) about 15 years ago.

'World' music? You're in the right area -Glasto - for access!
Try Gerardo Nunez. Misia (Fado). Milton Nascimento.......I could go on!

[Barry]

Hi
Crossover is set at 280Hz (48db/oct Linkwitz Riley).
Stats have had upgraded panels fitted with improved coatings (the originals were often prone to failure) and the stators carry the high voltage now, not the membrane.
Made them slightly more efficient and a tiny bit clearer to my ears.
So the stats just don't see much in bass terms, allowing them to play louder in conjunction with the corner woofers.
The system needed considered setting up mind as there is a 10db+ efficiency difference between the two driver technologies.
The room correction software helped a great deal, although I felt it sucked a little too much bottom end away so I have the slave amp's output dialled in at -5db rather than the 10 the correction software would have left.
Itching to listen to the Sanders Sound hybrids though - rare as hens teeth in the UK.
How are the MBLs ???

Are the two stators, flanking the membrane, at the same high potential? If so, I don't understand how they can work.

The Finals have a relatively narrow width, so the dispersion in the horizontal plane shouldn't be too bad, whereas the dispersion in the vertical plane will be poorer.

I'm interested that you have actively crossed over the electrostatics to the two subwoofers. I have tried using a single subwoofer (with a built-in amplifier) with the upper frequency roll-off set at the highest frequency available (which from memory was 100Hz) and fed by the two speaker outlets from the main amplifier. But I couldn't really get on with it: no matter how I set the level, it was either too intrusive (level set too high) or didn't have any effect (level too low).

A lovely, unusual, but obviously successful system Stephen. Well done!

[Firebottle]

Lovely looking system from another 'stats and sub user. Bet it sound wonderful.

@ Barry, I have my sub crossover set at 40Hz with the '57s taking the full range, so I suspect you had your X-over set too high.

[paulf-2007]

Hi
Crossover is set at 280Hz (48db/oct Linkwitz Riley).
Stats have had upgraded panels fitted with improved coatings (the originals were often prone to failure) and the stators carry the high voltage now, not the membrane.
Made them slightly more efficient and a tiny bit clearer to my ears.
So the stats just don't see much in bass terms, allowing them to play louder in conjunction with the corner woofers.
The system needed considered setting up mind as there is a 10db+ efficiency difference between the two driver technologies.
The room correction software helped a great deal, although I felt it sucked a little too much bottom end away so I have the slave amp's output dialled in at -5db rather than the 10 the correction software would have left.
Itching to listen to the Sanders Sound hybrids though - rare as hens teeth in the UK.
How are the MBLs ???
Never liked what room correction does, prefer room treatment. Nice set up, needs a turntable though:)

[struth]

Never liked what room correction does, prefer room treatment. Nice set up, needs a turntable though:)

You don't need a turntable these days. If I didn't have all these records I wouldn't now. Digital is so good

[paulf-2007]

You don't need a turntable these days. If I didn't have all these records I wouldn't now. Digital is so good
Yes Grant I know but I find it doesn't keep my attention when it's so easy to move on to something else at a click.

[Barry]

Yes Grant I know but I find it doesn't keep my attention when it's so easy to move on to something else at a click.

Then just throw away the remote control! Fortunately my CDP doesn't have one.

[struth]

Yes Grant I know but I find it doesn't keep my attention when it's so easy to move on to something else at a click.

I find that an advantage if and when I do it

[walpurgis]

Then just throw away the remote control! Fortunately my CDP doesn't have one.

Mine do, but I tend not to use them. :)

[paulf-2007]

Then just throw away the remote control! Fortunately my CDP doesn't have one.i wasn't talking about a cdp. I use a notebook and Spotify but I like to play vinyl some of the time.

[hornucopia]

'Sitting'....in my suspended chair makes it somewhat difficult to get at equipment! So a remote for Mac, plus a volume remote on the 'Stereo Coffee' pre, is essential here.

[Sherwood]

Yes Grant I know but I find it doesn't keep my attention when it's so easy to move on to something else at a click.

Surely that is a indication that you are not enough into that piece of music! Or is it that changing tracks on vinyl when it doesn't hold your attention is too much effort. Don't confuse effort and convenience!

Geoff

[paulf-2007]

Surely that is a indication that you are not enough into that piece of music! Or is it that changing tracks on vinyl when it doesn't hold your attention is too much effort. Don't confuse effort and convenience!

Geoff
Ffs I give up

[Sherwood]

Ffs I give up

Vor you Paul, ze war is over! :)

[Liffy99]

Are the two stators, flanking the membrane, at the same high potential? If so, I don't understand how they can work.

The Finals have a relatively narrow width, so the dispersion in the horizontal plane shouldn't be too bad, whereas the dispersion in the vertical plane will be poorer.



I'm interested that you have actively crossed over the electrostatics to the two subwoofers. I have tried using a single subwoofer (with a built-in amplifier) with the upper frequency roll-off set at the highest frequency available (which from memory was 100Hz) and fed by the two speaker outlets from the main amplifier. But I couldn't really get on with it: no matter how I set the level, it was either too intrusive (level set too high) or didn't have any effect (level too low).

A lovely, unusual, but obviously successful system Stephen. Well done!

Sorry for the delay. My mistake with the Final inverter technology. The company that replaced the panels used to reverse the inverter tech (which is stepped up audio signal to membrane, static voltage to the stators) but they no longer do that, simply replacing panels with a slightly thinner membrane and improved coating. There is a Final white paper on the approach but they claim benefits such as avoiding very low impedance ( the Finals have a minimum of over 3 ohms) and ability to use a smaller audio transformer. Although Final ceased trading nearly a decade ago there are developments in the pipeline. The designs were taken over and tweaked under the ownership of Essence Electrostatic but that only seemed to last about a year (models were the Essence 1200 and 1600) and now Final seem to be reborn with a completely new range coming out using, I believe, perspex stators. They demo’d in Munich last year but there’s precious little on the web yet.

[Liffy99]

Something has changed, but I can't quite put my finger on it . . . .

https://i.imgur.com/D5FVT1Z.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/bMqfTMz.jpg

[Liffy99]

Amazingly, the wife prefers the Quads, despite their somewhat imposing size.
Perhaps I should have looked for some Soundlab Majestics ��

[Mike Reed]

I think your wife has an audiophile aesthetic, Stephen. Form follows function, although in this case the 2905s really look the business after the Finials, and deliver commensurately, as I think you're finding. Enormously wide soundstage. Doesn't matter where I sit on my 6'6"" sofa, there's little difference in dynamic coverage.

[Barry]

Amazingly, the wife prefers the Quads, despite their somewhat imposing size.
Perhaps I should have looked for some Soundlab Majestics ��

I have only heard the Soundlabs A1s at a Hi Fi show (at, I think, Swiss Cottage in London) back in the early '80s. They were massive in size and were being demonstrated in a hotel room that was far too small for them, with the consequence that they are in my experience the second worse speakers I have ever heard.

However they were not being given a chance to perform properly, so I don't have a prejudice against Soundlab, just the knowledge that they need a big room and plenty of space around them to perform well; as I'm sure they can.