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Electrostatic Headphone

Tube
Amplifiers

This
Issue

First of all, I apologize for the tardiness of this
issue. Almost two weeks of bronchitis slowed me down quite a
bit.
I have been meaning to write about my OTL
electrostatic headphone amplifier for over a decade, but I suppose I
have preferred just listening to it. This amplifier and a pair of
Stax Lambda Pros can ferret out more nuance than any speaker I have
ever heard. And yes, I have heard plenty.
Our first book
review begins with Bruce Rozenblit's fine effort: Audio Reality: Myths Debunked...Truths
Revealed. If you
know of a book that should be better known, drop us a line with its
title.
The unsinkable Circular / Balanced amplifier
appears once again in the e-mail section. Here I have given a
general purpose answer to a few hot e-mails.
Remember, if
you have a request or suggestion of your own for either an article
topic or circuit, please e-mail:

Editor

Electrostatic headphones excel. They reveal
information from a recording that no speaker can reproduce, at least
that I have ever heard. You hear a hiss appear in the music and then
a saxophone plays a few bars, then the saxophone stops and with it
the hiss. Until the hiss returns, you know you will not be hearing
from the saxophone. Overdubs, bad cuttings, breathing, floor
creaking, finger prints across guitar strings, car noise from
outside, George Harrison's guitar flubs, Alfred Brendel's humming,
page turnings--all can be heard. But along with the bad, the good
shines through. The greatness which was Ella Fitzgerald's voice is
made obvious. Many recordings that you thought were overloaded turn
out not to be. It is just that your amplifiers and speakers cannot
reproduce so huge a dynamic range.  No crossovers, no room
acoustics, just the thinnest piece of plastic film moving in
response to varying electrostatic fields.
If
electrostatic headphones are so wonderful, why are they so rare? Two
reasons: expense and step-up devices. Quality electrostatic
headphones from Sennheiser and Stax can cost up to $7000. Even
budgets models go for several hundred dollars. Part of the expensive
comes from the difficulty of making the film transducer. I
understand that the more expensive models use handmade
diaphragms   that require many laborious tries in the
making. In addition, the headphones require a polarizing high
voltage and a step-up transformer or a high voltage amplifier, all
of which must be housed in an attractive, i.e. expensive box.

In This
Issue

1
9
17
23

Electrostatic headphones Amplifiers
Book
Review: Audio
Reality
E-mail:
Class A Vs Advertising, again
Publishing
Information
Glossary
of Audio Terms

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