[chinsettawong]

Hi tigon_ridge,

Welcome back! Yes, I'm still around and quite active here. I guess I haven't found other more fun projects yet. Over the years, I've made too many headphones that I could count - some good, some fail. Many people have listened to my headphones in many occasions. Some think they sound good and some think they sound just so, so. But nobody so far think that they sound bad.

I have built many amplifiers to go with my headphones as well. I have built many KG amps such as KGSSHV, KGSSHV Carbon, KGST, Grounded Grid, and T2. I wish I could design my own circuit and build one. Unfortunately, my understanding of electronics is limited. I still have a few more KG amps that I will build and the SRX Plus by JimL too.

Making headphones is fun. You should try it too.

Wachara C.

 

[chinsettawong]

I'll be sending my Orpheus clone to @purk soon. Hopefully he can give a brief review of the sound after he has listened.

 

[purk]

I'll be sending my Orpheus clone to @purk soon. Hopefully he can give a brief review of the sound after he has listened.

Looking toward to listening to them again brother. Your DIY phones are all wonderful. I think my favorite is your Stax Omega Clone out of GG amplifier.

 

[100VoltTube]

HI,
When you spray-paint the stators, do you paint the entire thing, or do you use a spacer to cover the outside part?
Also, what's the order of applying the coating to the diaphragm and gluing it to the spacer? Which side of the diaphragm gets coated? or does it matter?
Sorry if any of these questions have already been answered.

 

[chinsettawong]

Hi 100VoltTube,

Before I spray paint the copper on the stator, I etch out the unneeded copper first. Then, I put the spacer on top of the stator and spray. The paint should cover only the copper part on the stator.

About the diaphragm gluing and coating, I glue the spacer to the diaphragm before I coat. I only coat on one side of the diaphragm and that is the side opposite to the side being glued. That way when you put the other spacer together, it acts as a bias ring passing the electricity to the diaphragm.

Wachara C.

 

[100VoltTube]

Thanks a lot!
So the spacer you solder to is the one without the diaphragm?

 

[chinsettawong]

Yes, that's correct.

 

[quintile]

Hi,

I have been a long time lurker here and occasionally piped up. I have recently got back into electrostatic phones,
though my target is repairing old headphones rather than building new ones - sorry if this makes me a second class citizen.

The headphones I am working on are micro seiki ms2's - these are definitely influenced by the stax design,
if not actually manufactured by stax. The where originally built with an chemically etched diaphragms but the
material was not stable and degrades over time (crumbles to dust).

The diaphragms are small (55mm) but the headphones are nicely made and quite straightforward to disassemble.

I have successfully repaired some in the past but am finding it very difficult to repeat my results.
I am using 2uM mylar doped with a little tecknik anti-static workbench cleaner fluid. This is a combination
which seems to work well. When I glue the diaphragm in the conductive support ring it has a
resonance of about 250Hz (this feels high but I always use the same tension).

sometimes when I do this I get an LF response that extends to about 50-60Hz, not great but adequate.
sometimes when I do it the rolloff is closer to 200Hz - which is of little use.

does anyone have any feeling for what effects the LF response from electrostatic headphones? i.e.
how does diaphragm weight, diaphragm conductivity, and tension interact to control the LF response.

I have been digging through Ronald Wagner's and Roger Sanders books but they relate to speakers rather
than headphones and don't seem to have any real answers (that I have found yet).

Thanks for any help,

-Steve

 

[bruma]

Hi Steve,
these ms2's tension the diaphragma, they clamp the diaphragm with a groove and a ridge in the holder. You have to glue it without any tension, just without wrinkles.
Atb, Markus

Hi,

...

I have successfully repaired some in the past but am finding it very difficult to repeat my results.
I am using 2uM mylar doped with a little tecknik anti-static workbench cleaner fluid. This is a combination
which seems to work well. When I glue the diaphragm in the conductive support ring it has a
resonance of about 250Hz (this feels high but I always use the same tension).

...

 

[quintile]

yep, I have seen this.
The diaphragms I made last night I fitted the other way round so I was relying on the tension I put on the diaphragm and the spigot in the stator surround
was not used to tension the diaphragm.

I will try doing as you say.

fundamentally this implies that increased tension on the diaphragm rolls off the LF response of the driver at a higher frequency.
I didn't think this was the case - I didn't think it was that simple, but i am happy to try again.

Thanks for your input.

-Steve

 

[bruma]

yep, I have seen this.
The diaphragms I made last night I fitted the other way round so I was relying on the tension I put on the diaphragm and the spigot in the stator surround
was not used to tension the diaphragm.

I will try doing as you say.

fundamentally this implies that increased tension on the diaphragm rolls off the LF response of the driver at a higher frequency.
I didn't think this was the case - I didn't think it was that simple, but i am happy to try again.

Thanks for your input.

-Steve

I did try it the same way once and was disapointed too - it seems that the clamping of the membrane is important for the sound. and another hint: if the mylar is too thin this mechanism does not work as it should in these phones. I like it best with 6uM Mylar.
Atb, Markus

 

[chinsettawong]

Hi quintile,

Can you show us some pictures? I really have no idea of what you're discussing about.

Wachara C.

 

[bruma]

Hi quintile,

Can you show us some pictures? I really have no idea of what you're discussing about.

Wachara C.

hi Wachara, these are the parts that we discuss:
(one picture in the original state, one restored)

 

[chinsettawong]

I can't see any pictures.

 

[bruma]

I can't see any pictures.

yes, sorry, I forgot to save