IntroductionElectrostatic speakers are the just about the lowest distortion drivers that can be made. But you already know about their wonderful attributes or you wouldn't be interested in making them, so I'll dispense with the BS. I present here a simple process for making ESLs. I have not included anything about crossovers or cabinets. This is strictly a "how to make the drivers" article.
Warnings:Before we go any further, I want to warn you about a couple things you may not be aware of. Electrostatic loudspeakers use high voltages to operate. They need a DC bias of up to 5000 V and use AC voltages up to 5000 V. The DC bias is usually supplied by a power supply running off 120VAC electrical circuits which can be dangerous. The AC voltages used to drive the ESL are usually produced by connecting your stereo amp to a vacuum tube amplifier type output transformer. The voltages produced by the transformer are dangerous! Don't screw around! If you have little kids in the house or if anyone might for any reason touch the speakers while they are operating, design your speakers so that it is not possible to come into contact with the drivers. If you don't know how to handle high voltage circuits, enlist the help of someone who does, or buy one of the commercially available ESLs.

Section I: Making the speakersBuilding ESLs involves the use of tools and materials that if handled improperly can be hazardous. Please make sure you know how to use these things before you begin. By all means, use safety glasses at all times. If would be foolish to trade your vision for the pursuit of audio ecstasy!
What you need:1) Transformers, one or two per speaker - use tube amp output transformers, 4 ohm:8K -20K ohm. I have used Tango CRD-8 ( 4:8KCT) transformers that I bought in Japan. You can use transformers by Triad, Stancor, etc. Just get units that are good for about 15-20 W at 30 Hz and give a large impedance (i.e. voltage) transformation. Expect to pay about $50 each for transformers. Tube amp output transformers are available from Antique Electronic Supply, 602-820-5411, and other sources.
2) Plastic film for speaker diaphragms- Mylar or other polyester, thin (5-6 microns), and large enough to make the size of driver you want to build. This can be obtained from companies that make plastics for industry- this film is commonly used to make capacitors (don't get metalized film!). I bought a roll that is 1200 m long by 1 m wide for about $85 in Japan a few years ago. I have used about 15 m of it so far. I have heard of people using Saran-wrap, but I have never heard a driver built using it. If you're making small drivers, or experimenting, try it! It certainly won't cost much...

3) Powdered graphite, dish soap, or antistatic solution to coat diaphragm. Powdered graphite is available from K-mart or your local hardware store for lubricating locks. It will cost no more than $2 for enough to make about 50 speakers. Graphite has to be rubbed into the film using cotton balls. Dish detergent and antistatic solution will work also, and are easier to apply, but may not be "permanent". I use graphite. Someone in Australia suggested that drafting ink formulated for drawing on "film" (the draftsman's name for polyester) will make a good, easy to apply, high resitvity diaphragm coating. I haven't tried it yet, but applying a colored liquid ought to be easy and make it easy to verify that it only went where you wanted it.


I wanted to park the formula for using graphite here.triffid[/size][/font]

Just a short tutorial on LED lighting and how to get them bright enough to read by.   http://unclean.org/howto/led_circuit.html
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Cute kid on u-tube using his potato battery to power a calculator.Pay attention to his electrodes   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufoOJfzro2c  Its never too late to learn something new.triffid

Another u-tube video using pretty much a USB cord as electrodes.Also the guy uses what I would call junk to make his experiment work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuiPDBA3XZI&feature=related  If this really works then maybe we can use USB cords as electrodes in our rock batteries!
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More circuits using LEDs includes design for a joule thief.   http://www.talkingelectronics.com/projects/LEDTorchCircuits/LEDTorchCircuits-P1.html  triffid

 You know I was thinking about diodes and it appeared to me to be something special. most diodes need a certain amount to potential difference (voltage) that it causes it to conduct. Typical ranges of this switch on point is roughly .2v-???Volts... Since Voltage leads current ie a voltage difference must be maintained to cause conduction, once that potential hits a threshold it conducts. We should use this diode in a natural switch mode. It blocks anything below that threshold then it switches on at a predetermined level. A diode across a suitable cap should make for an interesting combination. If we make the cap in the cell of ours it should be very interesting at the bursting capability of that device. Series and parallel modes should be used because that will allow for a bigger push capable active capacitor.


 The active capacitor now transcends the regular capacitor. With "Active" meaning it supplies the oscillation and the voltage(potential) that is pulsed. The more you short it the more it fills from the surrounding environment. There seems to be ways to diffuse the environment network which gives it more connections or a higher density to conduct. This is the vibration on a network wide scale. With the network being the whole of the universe. Learn to listen in on those vibrations and you have the power of the universe in your hands.

 Another avenue that can help us in attaining more power could be the magnetic amplifier. This new approach will allow for the conduction based on the toughness of copper and inductive fields and not solely on silicon which is severely limited amperage wise.

My buttermilk cells need more drying out.48 hours is not enough drying time for them.Maybe I should have added vineagar like up to 5 drops in each cell.The voltages by themselves with just buttermilk are around 1.4 volts.With the vineagar cells I got 1.67 volts in the beginning.I went to radio shack today and bought some transisters to make blinking LED circuits using 9 volt batteries.triffid

 Yes it does make sense now that we have seen things like blocking oscillators and that kind of circuits. The diode and cap combination will be all one unit with the magnetic amp in cascade mode with other cells allowing for some incredible amping up of the cells discharges.


 The Magnetic transistor looks to be well established especially where durability is a requirement. and since it is made of coils the magnetic amp is a purely passive device except for what it amplifies. We just might have the whole package finally figured out.


 The better diodes seem to be included in most transistors. So we might be stuck there. Well unless you start looking at cat whisker diodes. <==Crystal!


The real diode in this case is the crystal matrix that is developed in the cell. With out the active inductive diode we set up by bringing these two different electrodes together we would have very little action and the crystal forms in it's natural state. But when you maintain the polarization of that crystal while it is forming it will grow in the direction of energy field in between the electrodes we present. So in effect we are conditioning the crystal formation to resist flow backwards. The growth period for this kind of density would be extremely high. Properly sized crystals that form as the solution evaporates. Oxygen must be used in the forming of the crystals base. After that they will change. They get thinner and spiny. Great outcroppings or bushes of these crystals form at nodes on the electrodes. Just like any living system we must exercise to grow strong and it is the same way with these. But once you get a great base to start with you will get a strong one.


 My strong one was the first one I made. The glass one I showed already. I learned a lot from that one. With the proper amount of borax around the aluminum I found an aquas solution that had salt added to it was fine for upto 3-4 months I believe. The glass allowed me to check on the crystal structure that was growing on the aluminum and glass. I know it was very very wet in there I disturbed it by tipping it over and I could see the water. It was not fully formed yet when I took it apart. So maybe another 4-5 months would have completed the formation I am guessing.


 Two reasons for the early dissection of that cell. One is my failing health and the other is that all my other cells dried up and I lost voltage to run the led head I was using. The led head was from a shake up flashlight. It had it's own full wave bridge rectifier built in with a 5v super cap as well that was on a switch. All I did was bridge the full wave in parallel and connected the cells directly to the led unit. With the switch off it ran the led straight and with the switch on it would parallel the cel with the supercap and charge that was well.


 The light from the leds were not that bright but acceptable for testing. When I had it charge the cap as well it lowered the voltage but not by much. You could tell it was running the cells hard to charge that cap. But it worked for short bursts of 1-2 minutes then swap back to run the led. I actually got the voltage to stay the same so that meant the electrodes were not degrading in the cells. As the cells dried out they lost a lot of the push they showed. But after I started adding bulk water it rejuvenated the flow. This I found to be a problem and is most likey due to the evaporation of the water from the crystalline structure. My first wet cell worked well and like I said was the most strongest cell to date.