[UniqueName]

did you cnc your own PCB or had it done by a company? Mind me asking whats your hole diameter and spacing?

I cnc'd my own with a cheap 3018 pro CNC router. Took a few tries to get right. Hole diameter is 2mm, spacing is 3mm center to center so 1mm of material inbetween, also done in a 60 degree pattern for maximum open area.

 

[SomeWhatUniqueUsername]

Bigger driver area tends to give a bigger soundstage. As for the different hole sizes, I hear very little difference.

Great, I was wondering why some high end electrostats use ultra thin metal mesh as opposed to the standard stators with holes.

 

[chinsettawong]

Have you ever listened to the original SR-Omega? Its sound stage is huge! The diaphragm is 90 mm while the stator is around 80 mm. Of course, the stators are wire meshed.

 

[SomeWhatUniqueUsername]

Have you ever listened to the original SR-Omega? Its sound stage is huge! The diaphragm is 90 mm while the stator is around 80 mm. Of course, the stators are wire meshed.

Interesting, if I was to make the stator out of mesh, would I need extra reinforcement? I see that lots of mesh stators have other pieces of metal around it. Are those for structural reinforcement or for acoustics?

 

[chinsettawong]

Interesting, if I was to make the stator out of mesh, would I need extra reinforcement? I see that lots of mesh stators have other pieces of metal around it. Are those for structural reinforcement or for acoustics?

Yes, you definitely need the extra reinforcements.

 

[SomeWhatUniqueUsername]

Yes, you definitely need the extra reinforcements.

If I was to add the reinforcements, would I need them to be on both sides or just one? Could I also 3d print them out of a hard plastic?

 

[chinsettawong]

The reinforcement on one side is enough. That’s how Stax has done. I think anything that is strong enough is OK. 3D printed parts is a good idea.

 

[SomeWhatUniqueUsername]

The reinforcement on one side is enough. That’s how Stax has done. I think anything that is strong enough is OK. 3D printed parts is a good idea.

Assuming I could do the same for the spacer then. What would be the ideal distance for the spacers? I'm considering using something like a 6xx or 58x as the chassis.

 

[UniqueName]

Assuming I could do the same for the spacer then. What would be the ideal distance for the spacers? I'm considering using something like a 6xx or 58x as the chassis.

Not sure what size you are planning for your diaphragm width/active area width but the 6xx chassis is only 84mm wide on the outside. Space inside the cup might be at a premium, you can see how my drivers barely fit inside my cup and my cup width is 105mm with an active area width of 75mm. I certainly could have been more space efficient and angling my drivers hurt me in this regard but I figured I would warn you. Certainly can be done tho as the HE60 uses that chassis IIRC.

 

[SomeWhatUniqueUsername]

Not sure what size you are planning for your diaphragm width/active area width but the 6xx chassis is only 84mm wide on the outside. Space inside the cup might be at a premium, you can see how my drivers barely fit inside my cup and my cup width is 105mm with an active area width of 75mm. I certainly could have been more space efficient and angling my drivers hurt me in this regard but I figured I would warn you. Certainly can be done tho as the HE60 uses that chassis IIRC.

I suppose so, though my main concern is with comfort, as I don't know of many other comfortable headphones that I can get for cheap outside of 3d printing one, which I need to rely off my friend's machine to do.

 

[chinsettawong]

The weight and comfort of DIY electrostatic headphones can be done to your own liking. All my headphones are very light and I can listen to them a long time. 3D printed housing is also a good idea.

 

[Lovediy]

We are a small custom hardware development company.
This topic seemed quite interesting to us, and I must admit that we have a business interest.
We believe we can offer the market quality headphones at a low price.
We have designed for now the class D amplifier and another class A transistor.
Both are STAX compatible.
However, the main purpose is headphones with a battery inside.
I don't think this has been done before by anyone.
Here are some pictures from the prototyping.

do you sale this amp ?

 

[Lovediy]

Hi,

I've just joined this site today. I just want to say hi to everybody and show you my version of electrostatic headphones and amplifier. I've successfully made the phones and the amp for about a year now. I just love them.

I hope my work might inspire somebody here.

Wachara C.

Hello, I just joined your post. Because it's been around for quite a while and a lot of the pages I didn't follow. So as not to be too long, I would like to ask you what determines the sound quality of electrostatic headphones? I have thin films under 5 microns. How much resistance do I need to apply to this thin film (high-good or low-good)? How much resistance should the 2 pieces of perforated copper on both sides have (high-good or low-good)? Thank you if you can give me some clue.

 

[chinsettawong]

Hi and welcome! About your questions: 1. the resistivity on the diaphragm should be very high (higher is better). The coating I use has the resistance of more than 1 G ohm. But, anything of more than a few hundreds of M ohm should be good enough. 2. About the stators, using anything that is highly conductive is good. Copper clad PCB is what I use.

 

[Lovediy]

Your answer provided me with a lot of useful information. I am planning to use graphite to coat the surface of the film. What do you think about this?