What are the advantages of Electrostatic Loudspeakers (ESLs) over conventional magnetic speakers?
A.ESLs resolve all the subtle, inner-detail from music — even at very low output levels. They have virtually zero distortion, so their sound quality is unbelievably clear and effortless. They produce a unified, coherent wave-front for precise, holographic-quality imaging. Because they have no high frequency resonances, their sound is very smooth and free from harshness or stridency. They can do these things because unlike conventional magnetic speakers, they have essentially no moving mass. Their only moving part is a film of Mylar that is thinner than a human hair. This diaphragm has far less mass than the air it is driving, so it can start and stop instantly, which gives ESLs their terrific resolving power. An ESL is driven equally over its entire surface. So it cannot experience “cone breakup,” which is the cause of speaker distortion. Because the mass of an ESL is far less than the air it drives, it is totally air-damped and cannot resonate at high frequencies. This is like trying
