Strange Reccomendation for Mod to Aerius

[djmika]

Okay,

So I got an e-mail from someone who had viewed a previous posting in which I had described my variation of the cap-replacement mod I performed to the Aerius i's. The guy seemed nice enough but was a lousy typer and i couldn't understand what he was trying to tell me. Since I responded to his e-mail with an e-mail containing a signature with my phone number this guy decides to call me to talk about the his mod.

Strange, yes. Audiopile like... Possibly.

Anyway, this is what the guy tells me to do: Solder a 1 or 1.5 ohm 10W resistor in line with the black lead coming off the transformer for the panel. According to him this goes to ground. I have not opened my speakers to confirm this.

That's it.

He says it changes the face of the whole speaker. Everything opens up. You get more output and more extension out of the panel. He says the image becomes huge regardless of how far the speakers are seperated from eachother.

Before everyone writes this guy off as a complete nut, which he could be, he does have a lot of experience with electrostatics. Supposedly he knows Jim Strickland formerly of Acoustat and this mod was inspired by something that Acoustat aparently included in some or all of their speakers.

So, naturally I come here to hear what other have to say about such a mod. I tried to get a specific answer as to what this mod was doing electronically but this guy had had his morining coffee and another few and had little intention of taking a breath between sentances or letting me talk. So, I listened, a little creaped out by the guys enthusiams and glad that he lives on the opposite of the country buy still a little curious as to weather any of this theory held any water.

This guy apparently tried to join the forum but had problems. If his typing was any indication of how well he handled a computer I can see why this was a problem. Anyway, he had a sense of urgency to share his message and wanted nothing in return.

Oppinions anyone?

 

[JonFo]

I’d be careful. Don’t know that this is necessarily good advice.

There are several ‘black’ wires. None coming off the transformer. The jumper block between the transformer and the panel does have a black lead, but that one is typically one of the stator feeds (blue and black feed front and rear stators, red feeds the diaphragm).
Therefore adding a 1+ Ohm resistance to one or the other stator would unbalance the push-pull forces on the diaphragm. No a good thing.

Now, if you add a resistance in front of the transformer (where there is indeed a black wire) all you are accomplishing is raising the overall resistance of the signal into the xFormer, thus lowering relative output of the ESL vs the woofer. This would make the mid-bass (up to about 550Hz on an Aerius) sound more pronounced. Maybe this is a good thing in certain rooms, but using an EQ is much, much simpler and would let you fix other things as well (such as room bass modes).

Here’s an old thread from the audioaylum on Aerius x-over tweaks:
http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=mug&n=21413&highlight=routlaw&r=&session=


My recommendation: Don’t sweat it. If the speaker needs some EQ to sound its best (and any speaker in-room does), then get the best EQ you can afford along with some measuring tools and go to town. Or better yet, bypass the passive crossover entirely, go full active and bi-amp (the woofer can use a cheap prosound amp). Then they will sound like you’ve never heard an Aerius sound.

 

[kach22i]

One of these days I'll do mods to my Aerius speakers.

Be careful, a M/L is a beautiful thing.

 

[roberto]

I’d be careful. Don’t know that this is necessarily good advice.

There are several ‘black’ wires. None coming off the transformer. The jumper block between the transformer and the panel does have a black lead, but that one is typically one of the stator feeds (blue and black feed front and rear stators, red feeds the diaphragm).
Therefore adding a 1+ Ohm resistance to one or the other stator would unbalance the push-pull forces on the diaphragm. No a good thing.

Now, if you add a resistance in front of the transformer (where there is indeed a black wire) all you are accomplishing is raising the overall resistance of the signal into the xFormer, thus lowering relative output of the ESL vs the woofer. This would make the mid-bass (up to about 550Hz on an Aerius) sound more pronounced. Maybe this is a good thing in certain rooms, but using an EQ is much, much simpler and would let you fix other things as well (such as room bass modes).

Here’s an old thread from the audioaylum on Aerius x-over tweaks:
http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=mug&n=21413&highlight=routlaw&r=&session=


My recommendation: Don’t sweat it. If the speaker needs some EQ to sound its best (and any speaker in-room does), then get the best EQ you can afford along with some measuring tools and go to town. Or better yet, bypass the passive crossover entirely, go full active and bi-amp (the woofer can use a cheap prosound amp). Then they will sound like you’ve never heard an Aerius sound.

Hola chicos...Jason, you are right!...the electrostatic forces must be equal!...not a good thing to touch this!...it is the heart of ML sound. The Aerius is a wonderful sounding model as it is, and with all respect, I don´t think that it is in their design and inside of them that you need to tweak...try different electronics to drive them. There, you will find more options of what you are looking for. Trust your ears...Happy listening,
Roberto.