The one person speaker

[oivavoi]

Had no idea something like this existed. But it exists. Looks pretty exciting: A one person speaker - an electrostat that is tailormade to create a soundstage for one person and one person only!

It's the "ESL Home" from German manufacturer Sombetzki: http://en.sombetzki-elektrostaten.de/
The information in German is more detailed than what they write in English though.

Found two reviews, both in German. Both the reviewers are very very impressed:
http://www.hoer-an.com/hifi-hersteller/sombetzki_lautsprecher.html
http://www.hifistatement.net/tests/item/1641-sombetzki-esl-home

In a way, isn't this the logical conclusion to the sweetspot oriented stereo paradigm? They are almost like headphones and eliminate the room, except that they create a phantom soundstage as well. Supposed to go down to 37 hz. Why make things complicated, treat your room and all that, when you can just buy this and be done with it? I'm actually considering this...

 

[Thomas savage]

I love that..

 

[oivavoi]

From their FAQ:
"Can two people listen to the speaker together?
No, you can not."

Hehe. What's not to like!

 

[Thomas savage]

From their FAQ:
"Can two people listen to the speaker together?
No, you can not."

Hehe. What's not to like!

Might be the perfect philosophy for a audio forum too

 

[amirm]

Pretty neat.

 

[Dynamix]

I'm sure this will work wonders as to how "normal people" view us audiophiles. Like they didn't already see us as antisocial weirdos...

 

[Thomas savage]

I'm sure this will work wonders as to how "normal people" view us audiophiles. Like they didn't already see us as antisocial weirdos...

If the cap fits ..

 

[watchnerd]

So he's listening in the near field.

Same as I do when sitting at a desk and doing mixing.

What's the big deal?

 

[RayDunzl]

Once upon a time I set up my SL3 for nearfield.

The result was really spooky.

My impression was of the soundstage being inside my head, but not at all like headphones. Still "full size" but, ???

Maybe I should try it again sometime, just to see if that effect could be repeated. It was 20 years ago.

 

[oivavoi]

So he's listening in the near field.

Same as I do when sitting at a desk and doing mixing.

What's the big deal?

I see your point. I'm also listening in the near field from time to time. What they say in their promo material is that this is much more coherent than dynamic two-ways, since the entire frequency spectrum comes from a panel. And maybe it can be even more encompassing than point source speakers in the near field, since it's coming at ya from a panel that aims at your entire torso? Just speculating here.

 

[Sal1950]

A modern take on the egg chair

 

[fas42]

So, a merging of the headphone generation, and the old timers ...

 

[Thomas savage]

Speakers for the single child..

 

[oivavoi]

But seriously: How many of you are doing your critical listening in the company of others? I'm not, at least. That has partly to do with the fact that my speaker setup - like almost all speaker setups - only sound their best when seated exactly in the middle. And it's for good reason. With conventional forward-firing speakers, the stereo image deteriorates quite quickly if one moves to the sides. Not to mention all the hassle many audiophiles go through with treating their room, implementing active room correction, etc. As I see it, such a one person speaker setup is the logical culmination of the audiophile quest for the ultimate sound in the sweetspot.

Now there are alternatives. Multi-channel doesn't have the same issues with the narrow sweetspot. I'm also interested in omnis, as they throw a much larger soundstage. I also like the idea behind the CBT, and really big horns. All of these speakers fill the room evenly. But these designs are still quite rare, at least among your average audiophile (including me).

In the future, if my social science research makes me rich (well, one can dream), I might opt for two setups: A social and inclusive music setup in the living room. Omni, multichannel, something else. And then something like this for critical, devoted sweetspot listening in a isolated man cave.

 

[fas42]

But seriously: How many of you are doing your critical listening in the company of others? I'm not, at least. That has partly to do with the fact that my speaker setup - like almost all speaker setups - only sound their best when seated exactly in the middle. And it's for good reason. With conventional forward-firing speakers, the stereo image deteriorates quite quickly if one moves to the sides. Not to mention all the hassle many audiophiles go through with treating their room, implementing active room correction, etc. As I see it, such a one person speaker setup is the logical culmination of the audiophile quest for the ultimate sound in the sweetspot.

You're my man! That type of listening is crap, sorry!! ... I listen in a very casual way, wandering around the room, and the house; it's background, but at very high levels - like being at an acoustic instrument concert, and talking to people at the same time, doing things, moving about. The system has to work well for that type of listening, so in one sense I'm much fussier than most people. The downside is that there is no sweetspot, which might be a bummer for some people - that is, if you sit in the "technically correct" position there is nothing special about it, it just sounds the same as everywhere else.

 

[RayDunzl]

But seriously: How many of you are doing your critical listening in the company of others?

Me, every (almost) Beer Saturday Night, when my Audio Buddy comes over.

We sit on either side of the Sweet Spot and it works out fine.

 

[oivavoi]

Me, every (almost) Beer Saturday Night, when my Audio Buddy comes over.

We sit on either side of the Sweet Spot and it works out fine.

Inspiring!

 

[Thomas savage]

Me, every (almost) Beer Saturday Night, when my Audio Buddy comes over.

We sit on either side of the Sweet Spot and it works out fine.

Sounds romantic

 

[Sal1950]

Had no idea something like this existed. But it exists. Looks pretty exciting: A one person speaker - an electrostat that is tailormade to create a soundstage for one person and one person only!

Interesting. I wonder at what point in closeness of nearfield listening the speaker like soundstage will collapse into something more headphone like? I would imagine that egg-chair soundstage gets unusual?

 

[Sal1950]

Ran a very quick experiment for my own curiosity.
Pulled my monitors and directors chair out into the room in a equilateral triangle, speakers toed to cross over just in front of me. AVR in Pure Direct Stereo mode, Audyessy disabled.
At the 4 ft measure soundstage was wide but fairly flat on a line even with or just behind the speakers.
As I pulled things closer to first 3 then 2 ft the soundstange narrowed with width sources collasping into the speakers and more of a mono dead center position for sources not panned hard right or left. Any closer and then the center jumped into my head headphone like, with L&R sources starting to get there.
What did I learn? Not much, but it was fun, LOL