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I finally found out what those "metal grille/mesh speakers" are! My friend and I were at a home audio/theater dealer and saw a pair of speakers that had two 12" woofers at its base and then a rising tower of what looked like a metallic grille/mesh.

I thought it was some sort of modern artistic addition to an otherwise boring looking pair of woofers. Boy was I wrong. When I put my ears next to it I actually heard music!

It turns out these are electrostatic speakers. Instead of using a voice coil to push and pull a circular/square/pentagon/octagon/hexagon cone (lol), these speakers have a thin film of diaphragm , aka the cone, in between two oppositely charged, conductive metal plates. When the audio signal is running though the diaphragm, it creates positive and negative charges, which would then be affected by the charged metallic plates, thereby moving the diaphragm and creating sound waves.

In any event, it seems like these types of speakers are great at accurate and quality reproduction of sound but is lacking in terms of high volume and low-frequency capabilities.

So what are the chances that this type of speaker will show up in high-end mobile systems?

In addition, if any of you know any other cool speaker technologies please share!

They're beautiful, aren't they? :)

The reason you don't see electrostats in cars are because they are so large, and tend to have a very narrow sweet spot, they won't work well at all with different pathlengths and minimal install space. They require a very large transformer. The panels attract a lot of dust and will do it even more so in a car. The entire car is grounded and the metal would be close to the panels in any location. They don't handle moisture well. They just aren't practical in a car.

http://www.martinlogan.com/esl_technology.html#diagram
A little more info on them. I had to read it a few times and im still kinda confused. LOL

TEDD

I'm thinking that the reason they are not used for many home theater rooms is because of their volume limits.

But it would be perfect for a relaxing session of quiet jazz/blues and classical music.

umm what you auditioned were probably MartinLogans, like the ones I use at home.
they are di-polar speakers by nature, and use the surface/wall behind the membrane to reflect half of their output as a first order reflection. they also tend to require a relatively large ESL to produce good output and good response. Their range is between 250Hz and 50KHz with a near-perfectly flat response, but they are extremely power hungry and require amplifiers with incredibly good damping and reserve power due to their very reactive load nature.

As for sound quality you'll probably never hear a better speaker, and that's exactly why I own a pair. For musicality they are as close to live as you'll find. That woofer under the ESL is to cover the range the ESL can't, which is 250Hz and below.
The reason you don't see a lot of ESL speakers in HT and such is the cost. That's it. That, and the finnicky nature of positioning for an ESL.. They are very picky about placement and room layout and to get ideal response from a pair of them you need to spend a whole day moving them a couple inches at a time till you get the image just right.

They start at around $1,500/pair and go up to $75,000 per pair for the flagship model Statement E2 towers.
Personally, I went with the Odessey mains for $6,500/pair, and a Krell STA-250 class A amplifier to drive them. I've been considering a Mark Levinson pre-amp to go with that setup and maybe a Meridian CD player or Basis turntable to round it out but fornow, money is going into the car instead.

Now you know why I'm such an avid proponent of MartinLogan ESLs though, and why you'll see me ranting about them for home stereo systems if you have the money.

by the way, don't be fooled by the output. with 250 watts RMS x 2, I can blow you out of a room with a pair of Odesseys.
They weigh 110lbs each and are well capable of reaching levels far beyond comfort.

Ever see the remake ot The Italian Job?
At the end, when the kid gets those speakers loud enough to "blow womens' clothes off," he's standing next to a pair of MartinLogans.. Odesseys in fact.

Now i have to watch "The Italian Job" again so i can see the speaks at the end. Damn you kiki.

LOL

TEDD

cant remember who it was but someone made these for cars back in the early nineties. now you guys got my interest up about trying to remember.........