International CES / T.H.E. Show 2007 Report
    
Bonus Coverage By Dick Olsher
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For the third year running, I've enjoyed my visit to the Final Sound room. This year, I spent some quality time with the top of the ESL Reference series, the 1000i ($9,999/pr). Even with a modest front end and midfi ancillary electronics, sound quality was outstanding. Final's Senior Director and General Manager, Marc Mombourquette, pointed to the company's Inverter Technology™ as a major basis for sonic excellence. Unlike traditional electrostatics where a polarizing voltage is applied to a central Mylar diaphragm and the audio signal is applied to the outer stator panels, Final inverts the process and applies the audio signal directly to the diaphragm. An audio conductor is embedded deep within a 12-micron clear film used for the speaker diaphragm. The embedded design allows speaker impedance to remain above 3 to 4 Ohms across the entire frequency spectrum and protects against scratches, dust, cigarette smoke, and other environmental pollutants. The perforated and insulated "stator" assemblies are mirror imaged so the holes all line up. Vertical spacers separate the film from the stators and segment the diaphragm for improved dispersion at high frequencies.

As you can see, Final has also effectively adapted their ESL technology to the home theater 5.1 surround experience. The panels are modular and allow great flexibility in integration with an AV receiver and subwoofer.

 

The QUAD 2805 proved to be just a perfect match for the Venetian Tower standard room layout. Seen here in the Koetsu USA room, driven by Scott Frankland electronics, it sang beautifully. Its full bodied balance and natural perspective should serve as a beacon of good taste for box speaker designers. Peter Baxandall opined some years ago that "the availability of good electrostatic loudspeakers as a standard of comparison has undoubtedly played a significant part in the evolution of moving coil designs of much improved performance. And I certainly concur with that assessment when it comes to moving coil driver technology, though I'm less certain about many audiophile box speakers that unnecessarily emphasize the upper octaves. By the way, during the traditional Enjoy the Music.com^® writers breakfast at the Hard Rock Hotel, Alvin Gold hands me a copy of the current issue of HiFi Critic, a commercial-free (read: bias free) review magazine edited by Paul Messenger and published in the UK (www.HiFiCritic.com). I mention this since the January/February 2007 issue contains an definitive review of the QUAD 2805 by Martin Colloms.

 

No one but Ray Kimber would be audacious enough to array four pairs of SoundLab Majestic ESLs for an IsoMikeTM 4-channel recording demonstration - one pair in each corner of the room! The IsoMikeTM (Isolated Microphone) is an experimental acoustic baffle system that attempts to minimize the interference of intrachannel sounds in multi-channel recordings. Driven by Pass Labs amplifiers, the total cost of the system was said to be nearly $316,000. Each discrete audio channel was fed to its assigned speaker pair without any processing. The sensation of being there was quite remarkable. Bravo!

 

David Janszen, son of Arthur Janszen the noted ESL pioneer, is carrying on in the family tradition. It was Arthur Janszen who in 1954 developed and marketed the model 1-30 wide-range tweeter array - the world's first practical, high-fidelity electrostatic loudspeaker. Shown here is the model One ($32,500/pr), a 3-way system using three electrostatic tweeters, six electrostatic midrange/high-woofers, and one active woofer/sub-woofer. An extended audition of the model Janszen One convinced me that it possesses plenty of Zen magic; close your eyes and it can transport you to another dimension.

 

From Hong Kong we have interesting new ESL technology. Shown here is the King's Audio Emperor ($32,000/pr), a three-panel affair that is available in a variety of artwork. However, the product line comprises many other models (www.kingsaudio.com.hk). The large radiating area is built up using an array of small cells to ensure uniform tolerances and performance and allows the use of an extremely thin diaphragm.

 

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