The science behind Stax's magic

[posvibes]

I mean for the cure, not the imbalance problem.

Not sure what you mean by "source" I just googled star lambda channel imbalance fix and it came up with pages of links and I just went from there. I just tried the slap and discharge thing without success.

 

[egellings]

Hello fellow headphones (earspeaker) enthusiasts,


After, again, too much time spent on forum and other internet places I can't wrap my head around one issue. So, I reach you, the community that seems to be the most able to answer my question.

Last year I got the opportunity to compare a Stax L300 with an Audeze LCD-X, one white Grado (don't remember the name) and my EQd M1060. A few years prior to that I already could hear a Stax and the LCD-X and didn't like the Stax but loved the LCD so I had little expectations for the Stax.
But surprise, I loved the Stax. Ok the bass don't slam as much as what the Magnetic Planar could do but it had something else. There is some confusion with terms like detailed/clean/clear so I would just say that the Stax seemed more like there was nothing between me and the music. In this regard the LCD seemed barely better than my M1060 I could even be imagining it, but the Stax was definitely better.

So, I want to understand why.

Here a lot of people say that the technology behind doesn't really matter it's the implementation. I also read that the Electrostatic have thinner driver that let them move faster resulting in this effect. Some say that the Abyss can match this effect, but they don't seem to have good measurement to back that up.
Do the Stax have much lower distortion? It's difficult to find measurements of Stax and what I could find do not confirm this. Also, the LCD seems to have low distortion.
The frequency response that's better? I tried later at home to EQ my M1060 to death trying to reproduce what I heard without improvements.
My amp could be the culprit but it's a Drop O2 and the LCD or M1060 are pretty efficient and this amp does a good job as Amirm measurements revealed.

I also have a Shure SRH1840 who does worse than both ortho but this one is well known to have quite a bit of distortion.

The ultralight electrostatic diaphragm can accelerate very quickly with little electrostatically generated force applied to it. The magnetic distributed voice coil diaphragm has the added weight (mass) of the copper tracings to deal with. The added mass makes it more difficult to accelerate the magnetically driven diaphragm quickly. Also, the force in an electrostatic ear speaker is applied evenly and everywhere on the diaphragm. In a magnetic driver, force is applied only where the conductor is located, with areas between the conductor areas receiving no drive force. As a result of that, the diaphragm may need to be made a bit stiffer (read: heavier) to minimize the flexing.

 

[Keith_W]

The ultralight electrostatic diaphragm can accelerate very quickly with little electrostatically generated force applied to it. The magnetic distributed voice coil diaphragm has the added weight (mass) of the copper tracings to deal with. The added mass makes it more difficult to accelerate the magnetically driven diaphragm quickly. Also, the force in an electrostatic ear speaker is applied evenly and everywhere on the diaphragm. In a magnetic driver, force is applied only where the conductor is located, with areas between the conductor areas receiving no drive force. As a result of that, the diaphragm may need to be made a bit stiffer (read: heavier) to minimize the flexing.

What is the measurement that indicates the effect of a low mass transducer? (Genuine question open to all, not an attack on you).

 

[GaryH]

Weigh it.

 

[Cars-N-Cans]

What is the measurement that indicates the effect of a low mass transducer? (Genuine question open to all, not an attack on you).

Impulse response would be the obvious answer. But in terms of measurements we are familiar with I don't think there is any magical voodoo involved. Any differences should also show up readily in the usual type measurements done here at ASR for headphones, if there are any specific to that attribute of the transducer. I would surmise that the "secret" is likely down to their large size which will, in part, determine how they image compared to smaller dynamic headphones. That is one aspect of headphones that is still a bit of a "wild west" in that the FR is only part of the story since it doesn't tell you directly how it interacts with the pinnae, only if it will be perceived as neutral by most listeners.

 

[Blumlein 88]

I think those ES diaphragms are made of mylar with basically the same density as air.

 

[Newman]

I think those ES diaphragms are made of mylar with basically the same density as air.

Specific density of air = 0.0012

Specific density of mylar = 1.38

 

[egellings]

I think those ES diaphragms are made of mylar with basically the same density as air.

I had seen an article some time ago that indicated that a sheet of 0.0005" thick (thin?) mylar weighs about as much as a 1/4" thick sheet of air.

 

[Newman]

The less the panel weighs relative to the air around it, the more overdamped its step response will be.

Those well versed in ES speaker design describe the system as "grossly over damped" at high frequencies. This means that stat panels have a slow response to fast signals.

© WTWH Media LLC

It doesn't matter in practice -- real music allows plenty of build-up time for over-damped transducers to build up their response -- but please, let's put to bed this myth that stat panels have some kind of natural advantage in 'speed' with transients. The opposite is true: many conventional tweeters have the advantage in agility, by not being "grossly over damped".

 

[posvibes]

With music where there is a lot of simultaneous jangling guitars and splashy cymbals I tend to think that the Lambda's get a little congested and a bit messy, overwhelmed, but when there is space in the arrangements with a range of instruments they do particularly well.

But it is a different sound completely, a different presentation, the Stax world of my Lambda's is a created world of its own, a sort of parallel universe compared to other headphones. It's an optimistic world, a little brighter, a little clearer, a fictional world but on the whole very pleasant....for a while.

 

[Cars-N-Cans]

It doesn't matter in practice -- real music allows plenty of build-up time for over-damped transducers to build up their response -- but please, let's put to bed this myth that stat panels have some kind of natural advantage in 'speed' with transients. The opposite is true: many conventional tweeters have the advantage in agility, by not being "grossly over damped".

The practical upshot of a slow impulse response is to induce a roll-off in the high frequencies, but that's easily captured in the conventional FR measurement, anyhow. But usually the impulse response is fast enough relative to audio frequencies that its not a practical issue as you say.

 

[egellings]

Agree.