Quote:
Originally Posted by hozo
familyman,
Can you give more info about that ribbon driver? Five rows of magnets? Commercial, DIY?
setmenu,
Of course, diy drivers forever! The worst rattles of your own driver is sweeter than the singing of any commercial driver... ok maybe not.
I was just about to seek your advice/experience on ribbons and etched diaphragms. I saw some 12 micron aluminum foil at mcmasters. Online sources are also popping up for strong magnets unlike few years ago.
Of all the operational differences between electrostats and true ribbons, I glossed over a key difference: tensioning. With ribbons, corrugation makes it not as important to a DIYer. The frame needs minimal force to keep a ribbon in the EMF. With (headphone sized) electrostats, tension is the key to diaphragm collapse, sensitivity, bass, treble, and just about everything else.
I'm still working on electrostats, but I'm thinking it's time to get an Omega II for reference. ehem. yes, reference purposes.
thanks for the tip. I'll give that a try. Probably better than foam dampening.
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Hi Hozo
The first ribbon experiments i made were simply kitchen foil strips between two magnets.
I then moved onto etched coils using flexible laminates.
Flexi laminate manufactures to look out for are Espanex and Toray.
Both of these make ahesiveless laminates, adesiveless is important to save
weight and reduce stiffness.
The thinest Laminate I have used was a sample of espanex which was
something like 12 micron of copper on 12 of polymide.[can't remember exact
figures]
The Toray product can offer 1-18 micron copper on 12 of polymide.
The main problem with these thinest laminates is getting hold of samples.
Generally one has to purchase a whole reel at many thousands of $$$$$$$$!
I was lucky to get the espanex, but had no luck with the Toray.
Perhaps you will be more fortunate and find a source of small samples.
The above makes using simple plain aluminum ribbons very appealing.
Well from a manufacturing perspective,driving them is another ball game
compared to the etched coil, they can be driven reasonably well by my portable amp.
I look forward to seeing your first ribbon transducers.
.