Electrostatic History 15
In 1947, Arthur Janszen, a young Naval engineer, took
part in a research project for the Navy. The Navy was
interested in developing a better instrument for testing micro-
phone arrays. The test instrument needed an extremely
accurate speaker, but Janszen found that the cone speaker
of the period were too nonlinear in phase and ampli-
tude response to meet his criteria. Janszen believed that
electrostats were inherently more linear than cones, so he
built a model using a thin plastic diaphragm treated with a
conductive coating. This model confirmed Janszen’s beliefs,
for it exhibited remarkable phase and amplitude linearity.
Janszen was so excited with the results that he continued
research on the electrostatic speaker on his own time. He
soon thought of insulating the stators to
prevent the destructive effects of arcing.
By 1952, he had an electrostatic
tweeter element ready for commercial
production. This new tweeter soon
created a sensation among American
audio hobbyists. Since Janszen’s
tweeter element was limited to high fre-
quency reproduction, it often found itself
used in conjunction with woofers—most notably, those from
Acoustic Research. These systems were highly regarded by
all audio enthusiasts.
As good as these systems were, they would soon be sur-
passed by another electrostatic speaker.
In 1955, Peter Walker published three articles regarding
electrostatic loudspeaker design in Wireless World, a
British magazine. In these articles, Walker demonstrated
the benefits of the electrostatic loudspeaker. He explained
that electrostatics permit the use of diaphragms that are
low in mass, large in area and uniformly driven over their
surfaces by electrostatic forces. Due to these characteris-
tics, electrostats have the inherent ability to produce a wide
bandwidth, flat frequency response with distortion prod-
ucts being no greater than the electronics driving them.
By 1956, Walker backed up his articles by introducing a
consumer product, the now famous Quad ESL. This speaker
immediately set a standard of performance for the audio
industry due to its incredible accuracy. However, in actu-
al use, the Quad had a few problems. It could not be
played very loud, it had poor bass performance, it pre-
sented a difficult load that some amplifiers did not like,
its dispersion was very directional and its power handling
was limited to around 70 watts. As a result, many people
continued to use box speakers with cones.
In the early 1960’s Arthur Janszen joined forces with the
KLH loudspeaker company, and together they introduced
the KLH 9. Due to the large size of the KLH 9, it did not
have as many sonic limitations as the Quad. The KLH 9
could play markedly louder and lower in frequency than
the Quad ESL. Thus a rivalry was born.
Janszen continued to develop electrostatic designs. He
was instrumental in the design of the Koss Model One,
the Acoustech and the Dennesen speaker. Roger West,
the chief designer of the Janszen
Corporation, became the presi-
dent of Sound Lab. When Janszen
Corporation was sold, the RTR
loudspeaker company bought
half of the production tooling. This
tooling was used to make the elec-
trostatic panels for the Servostatic,
a hybrid electrostatic system that
was Infinity’s first speaker product. Other companies soon
followed; each with their own unique applications of
the technology. These include Acoustat, Audiostatic, Beveridge,
Dayton Wright, Sound Lab and Stax, to name a few.
Electrostatic speakers have progressed and prospered
because they actually do what Peter Walker claimed they
would. The limitations and problems experienced in the
past were not inherent to the electrostatic concept. They
were related to the applications of these concepts.
Today, these limitations have been resolved. Advancements
in materials due to the U.S. space program give designers
the ability to harness the superiority of the electrostatic
principle. Today’s electrostats use advanced insulation
techniques or provide protection circuitry. The poor disper-
sion properties of early models have been addressed by
using delay lines, acoustical lenses, multiple panel arrays
or, as in our own products, by curving the diaphragm.
Power handling and sensitivity have also been increased.
These developments allow the consumer the opportunity to
own the highest performance loudspeaker products ever
built. It’s too bad Rice and Kellogg were never able to see
just how far the technology would be taken.
These developments allow
the consumer to own the
highest performance loud-
speaker products ever built.
