Effects Of Power Cords On Electrostatic Speakers

I used "audiophile" power cables on my Crosby Quad 63s. Once my ’57s were restored I used good quality standard power cables (part of the restoration by Electrostatic Solutions was converting the connectors to more standard types).

They sound fine, actually better than ever. I bought them in 74, they were made in ’73 and were my reference until around 1990. Now, they run in a second system, largely period, and great fun. Kind of how far we haven't come in almost 65 years.

@hsbrock Yes, I always replace the cones. An isobaric sub usually has a driver installed in the usual way in a cabinet of optimal size, plus a driver facing the other direction, the two drivers forming a clam-shell, and wired out of phase. The result is one cone compressing air inside the box, and the other cone driving air in the room, so that distortion is dramatically reduced.

Thinking of it another way, there are two motors to move the same amount of air.

I like drivers from Scanspeak. Their best are very clean and fast, and the isobaric configuration makes them faster. Also, you get another few Hz at the bottom end.

Another great thing about DIY - you don't have to use cheap amps with all their shortcomings. I began with cheap amps, but wasn't satisfied until I hooked up a Bryston 4B SST that I had lying around - BIG difference.

To keep this in perspective, most of my bass adjustment comes from Magnepan DWM panels, also Bryston powered. It's only a few notes every 20 records that need the sub, so it's not really worth the money unless you've got a lot invested, or you listen to a lot of organ music. IMO

Thank you @terry9 .  I will take a look at Scanspeak, Bryston & Magnepan. And I do listen to a fair amount of organ music, and I don't know of anything else that produces such sustained below 50Hz-low notes that can be so tough on subs, so maybe you've just put me onto something I need to be considering barely in time for me to make my purchase decisions, as I was about to place orders. 

Glad to help, @hsbrock . I run 4 large modern Quads (modified) as main speakers, but find that my room needs a bass assist. The Magnepan DWM panels are just the ticket - magnets on both sides of the diaphragm provide a push-pull configuration for low distortion and FAST response.

I asked Bryston for advice for driving DWM's, and they immediately recommended the 20 year old SST design for bass augmentation. He opined that the latest designs were better, but I would hear little difference in my application. I LIKE the combination of Magnepan and Bryston - it's in my HT too.

@hsbrock

Yes you want to listen to the speaker before buying, even if it means getting on a plane. If you love the sound, take careful not of what is feeding them.

Different speaker designs… particularly categories have strengths and weaknesses. We as enthusiasts have values and a history of listening to music and systems.

When you get in to the high end there are certain things that attract you. Typically details and slam… then you learn about sound stage and transparency, then imaging and microdetails and finally rhythm and pace. It is really easy to go around chasing the next thing you have learned about and loose site of the music.

It becomes an analitical activity to get a little better detail, or imaging… etc. planar do some amazing stuff. But they are a huge amount of work getting around their shortcomings and requirements. For instance most planar need optimization to tolerances of 1/8 “ in all three dimensions. But there is no formula… this can take months or even longer of moving them around. The support electronics must exactly be optimized for the job. Very high quality because planar are revealing, massive power, very nature The source must be really natural sounding. Room require to can be very critical.

For me, after decades of upgrades with planar. I got season tickets to the symphony. Which I have had now for ten years. I quickly realized that my fantastic system did an outstanding job of reproducing the venue and mastering qualities. But after 45 minutes of listening to my system i got bored. I was fascinated by its technical prownes and not by being pulled into the music. This is when I turned away and started to look for a really musical system.

I upgraded virtually everything. Moved to dynamic speakers (there is more than one reason most all speaks are dynamic, one is, in general they can be made to get more of the total picture correct). Changed all of my electronics… I no longer put lots of money into massive power but to highly musical. My system now sounds like my trips to the symphony. I listen three hours a day and have to drag myself away from it. Long journey. Happy to talk more about it.