Although electrostatic headphones are considered niche product, I would like to see more reviews of electrostatic energizers and also headphones. The Mjolnir amps, the Blue Hawaii amps, all that stuff about tube sound vs solid state--I would like some clarification. I'm hoping someone on this forum can do this.
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Regarding Electrostatic Energizers...
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solderdude
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The problem is the loads that need to be realistic and handle high voltages.
That would require paralleling a very low capacitance and very high resistance 'probe' with attenuation to suit the AP.
Also not all electrostatic headphones present the same load complicating the matter.
This has been discussed in one of the threads where Amir attempted to measure energizers.
That would require paralleling a very low capacitance and very high resistance 'probe' with attenuation to suit the AP.
Also not all electrostatic headphones present the same load complicating the matter.
This has been discussed in one of the threads where Amir attempted to measure energizers.
Soandso
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As a new electrostatic headphone owner with 2 designs of the manufacturer's energizers I'd be interested whether someone with technical insight would read my below synopsis of someone's late 2010s on-line post discussing the difference between self-biasing ("SB") and alternating current ("AC") bias energizers and be kind enough to comment on whether any of the included concepts seem appropriate. In my on-line reading about the different stock electrostatic energizers I kept coming across comparisons between different models and often personal descriptions of
comparatively "better" aspects the writer experienced utilizing an "AC" instead of "SB" energizer.
Below screen shot is of what I recently wrote, accurate or not I do not know:
comparatively "better" aspects the writer experienced utilizing an "AC" instead of "SB" energizer.
Below screen shot is of what I recently wrote, accurate or not I do not know:
Soandso
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Being an electrostatic novice I was surprised when channel imbalance occurred which hadn't been there the day before. Here is what I learned.
The bias energizer supplies no/minimal current making for high impedance into the electrostatic headphones' single ended restive membrane. This bias is laid onto the diaphragm membrane which is part of an open circuit having no linear flow. Since the diaphragm can have some spots of non-uniform resistivity a charge can become stuck on some points there. Channel imbalance apparently usually occurs when the diaphragm's ability to move is affected due to an opposing polarity charge accumulation somewhere on it in one ear piece or a disparity between 2 ear pieces in the opposing polarity charge build up.
Since bias supply components energize under design protection limits it takes the units a protracted amount of time to supply the higher impedance bias required to alter the accumulation of opposing static electric polarity charge stuck somewhere on a restive membrane. Electrostatic bloggers talk about channel imbalance and how long spells of shut downs or days left on with sound sometime inexplicably resolved channel imbalance.
Here's the tactic I learned for channel imbalance: remove the headset plug from the energizer and cover ALL pins with a finger which discharges the diaphragm membrane. When I tried this it worked for me the other day after an otherwise strong audio channel had suddenly become faint for 2 days.
The bias energizer supplies no/minimal current making for high impedance into the electrostatic headphones' single ended restive membrane. This bias is laid onto the diaphragm membrane which is part of an open circuit having no linear flow. Since the diaphragm can have some spots of non-uniform resistivity a charge can become stuck on some points there. Channel imbalance apparently usually occurs when the diaphragm's ability to move is affected due to an opposing polarity charge accumulation somewhere on it in one ear piece or a disparity between 2 ear pieces in the opposing polarity charge build up.
Since bias supply components energize under design protection limits it takes the units a protracted amount of time to supply the higher impedance bias required to alter the accumulation of opposing static electric polarity charge stuck somewhere on a restive membrane. Electrostatic bloggers talk about channel imbalance and how long spells of shut downs or days left on with sound sometime inexplicably resolved channel imbalance.
Here's the tactic I learned for channel imbalance: remove the headset plug from the energizer and cover ALL pins with a finger which discharges the diaphragm membrane. When I tried this it worked for me the other day after an otherwise strong audio channel had suddenly become faint for 2 days.
Soandso
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About self biasing ("SB") electrostatic energizers I see the instructions for my 50 year old non-Stax unit points out the following. Mine provides bias from the audio signal power driven along by an amplifier's right channel speaker terminal output [Stax "SB"s might be different - don't know]. And thus my brand of old electrostatic headphones can lose volume without the right channel signal from the amplifier "...for more than a few minutes" as the instructions qualify time.
Which nuance ("SB" energizers relying on only 1 audio signal channel) may explain why some electrostatic commentators on-line mention how during quiet musical passages they lose listening volume. I noticed something similar during a long breathy shakuhachi Japanese flute song - it's subtleties and fullness of notes dropped away.
When I 1st tried listening to my recent 'fleaBay purchased ~50 year old electrostatics plugged into it's "SB" energizer it was the headphone's right channel which soon gave some sound. But for minutes afterwards the headphone's left channel was dead quiet even as I raised the amplifier's volume and set the amp balance to it's left output selection. I thought had spent U$100 on defective vintage gear. A bit later I was suddenly blasted from nothing to too loud to listen to by the headphone's left channel sound!
The manual for my "SB" describes how when checking only the left channel (quote) "... you should give the right channel an occasional burst of signal for a few seconds in order to replenish the power supply and prevent distortion."
Which nuance ("SB" energizers relying on only 1 audio signal channel) may explain why some electrostatic commentators on-line mention how during quiet musical passages they lose listening volume. I noticed something similar during a long breathy shakuhachi Japanese flute song - it's subtleties and fullness of notes dropped away.
When I 1st tried listening to my recent 'fleaBay purchased ~50 year old electrostatics plugged into it's "SB" energizer it was the headphone's right channel which soon gave some sound. But for minutes afterwards the headphone's left channel was dead quiet even as I raised the amplifier's volume and set the amp balance to it's left output selection. I thought had spent U$100 on defective vintage gear. A bit later I was suddenly blasted from nothing to too loud to listen to by the headphone's left channel sound!
The manual for my "SB" describes how when checking only the left channel (quote) "... you should give the right channel an occasional burst of signal for a few seconds in order to replenish the power supply and prevent distortion."
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